Many people need to be encouraged to seek help.
Five leading mental disorders affect 10 million Americans, but many people, especially those suffering from depression and panic disorder, do not seek help. It is estimated that during any one year, almost 18 million American adults will suffer from a depressive illness. Among people 65 years of age and older, an estimated 3% suffer from clinical depression.
Five Major Disorders
There are five major mental disorders.
Schizophrenia is a chronic disabling illness. About 100,000 patients with schizophrenia are in public mental hospitals. Schizophrenia affects men and women equally, but onset is earlier in men. The first psychotic symptoms are often seen in the teens or early 20s. Onset past the age of 40 is rare. A schizophrenic person may appear quite normal much of the time. Schizophrenia is not “split personality,” which is an entirely different, and rare, disorder. The children of a parent with schizophrenia will have a 10% chance of developing the condition.
Depression, the most prevalent mental disorder, is divided among a number of clinical conditions, ranging from transient depression to clinical depression, or depression that lasts for months on end. Two serious types of clinical depression are major and bipolar depression. Major depression frequently presents in one’s lifetime as one or more depressive episodes. First depressive disorders generally appear in one’s mid-20s. Major depression is more common in women, but in
children strikes boys and girls equally.
Bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, is characterized by mood swings and affects two million Americans at any given time. The disorder usually manifests in one’s early 20s.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is one of the anxiety disorders, and affects males and females equally.
Panic disorders affect more people than is realized because many sufferers do not seek help. A combination of drugs and psychotherapy is effective in alleviating this disorder.