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Common Disorders

COULD YOU BE DEPRESSED?

Everybody feels sad or blue at times.  But if you are sad most of the time and it is affecting...

•        your grades or attendance in classes
•        your employment
•        your relationships with friends and family
•        your choices regarding alcohol, drugs, or sex
•        your behavior in other damaging ways

...you may be depressed.

Approximately 12 to 15% of adolescents and 19 million Americans get seriously depressed each year.  Clinical depression is a serious illness than can affect anybody.  It can affect your thoughts, feelings, behavior and overall health.

There are two types of depression.  First, there is the sad kind, called major depression and there is manic-depression or bipolar disorder, when feeling down and depressed alternates with being speeded-up and sometimes reckless.

You should get evaluated by a professional if you have had five or more of the following symptoms for more than two weeks or if these symptoms prevent you from functioning as usual.

•        You feel sad, depressed, irritated or cry a lot and it doesn’t go away.
•        Nothing seems fun or you just aren’t interested in anything anymore.
•        You have less energy than you usually do.
•        You feel you can’t do anything well and you think negatively.
•        You think seriously about killing yourself or have tried to recently.
•        You have had trouble sleeping or you sleep too much.
•        You have had trouble concentrating or making decisions.
•        There been a change in your appetite (no appetite or eating too much).
•        You feel restless and tired most of the time.
•        You have feelings of guilt and/or worthlessness.

Most people with depression can be helped with treatment.  If depression goes untreated, it can get worse, last longer, and prevent you from getting the most out of your life.  Don’t wait—call a mental health professional today.



        DO YOU WORRY TOO MUCH?
•  You never stop worrying about things big and small.
•  You have tried to stop your worrying, to no avail.
•  You have headaches and other aches and pains for no reason.
•  You are tense a lot and have trouble relaxing.
•  You have trouble keeping your mind on one thing.
•  You get irritable or grouchy.
•  You have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep.
• You sweat and have hot flashes.

•  You sometimes have a lump in your throat.•  Your heart races, you can't catch your breath. 
 • You feel faint or dizzy.

You may worry all the time about work, school, your family, money, or your health even when there are no signs of a problem. Sometimes you aren’t worried about anything special, but you feel tense and very tired all day long.  These are signs of Generalized Anxiety Disorder and 4 million Americans will have it this year.

The anxiety disorders are the most common mental health disorders diagnosed in the United States.  Approximately 19 million Americans suffer from one of the different kinds of anxiety disorders listed below.

Panic Disorder:  repeated episodes of intense fear that often strike without warning.  Physical symptoms include chest pain, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness, abdominal distress, fear of dying.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder:  repeated, unwanted thoughts or compulsive behaviors that seem impossible to stop or control.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Symptoms that occur after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event: nightmares, flashbacks, numbing of emotions, depression, feeling angry, irritable or distracted and being easily startled.

Phobias:  Social phobia is a disabling fear of embarrassment or humiliation in social situations which leads to avoidance of certain activities.  Specific phobias are irrational fears of something that poses little or no actual danger.





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