Restoration Medical Specialists - Psychiatry.
Psychiatry is a medical specialty dedicated to the diagnosis, prevention, study and treatment of mental disorders. To understand better, these include different maladjustments regarding mood, behavior, cognition, and perception.
Psychiatric assessment of people usually begins with a case history and mental status examination, which are then usually followed by physical examinations and psychological tests. In some cases, neuroimaging or neurophysiological techniques might be used.
Various mental illnesses and disorders are being treated in psychiatry. Here are some of them.
Major depressive disorder, known to us as depression, is a very common yet serious medical illness. The disorder has a negative effect on how people feel, how they think and even how they act. Some of the symptoms of depression include loss of interest in activities once enjoyed, changes in appetite, trouble sleeping, loss of energy, feeling of sadness, guilt and worthlessness. In severe cases, thoughts of death or suicide can be present.
Everyone experiences anxiety. That’s why there is a belief it might not be a real disease. However, anxiety disorders are serious medical conditions. One may experience anxiety that is persistent, uncontrollable and, at times, overwhelming.
Furthermore, anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric illnesses that also affect children. But the good news is that the disorders are highly treatable.
Manic-depressive illness, also known as bipolar disorder, is a brain disorder. Its main causes are unusual and uncontrollable shifts in energy, activity levels and especially in the mood. The four basic types of bipolar disorder are Bipolar I Disorder, Bipolar II Disorder, Cyclothymic Disorder and Other Specified and Unspecified Bipolar and Related Disorders.
All types of manic-depressive illness have strong effects on a person’s day-to-day activities and changes in mood.
The usual age of onset for bipolar disorder is generally considered late teens to early twenties. Moreover, the disorder is often misdiagnosed: for women as depression and for men as schizophrenia.
Bipolar disorder can’t be controlled by mood stabilizing medication. However, even though it’s a lifelong illness, the disorder is still very manageable: there are many effective bipolar treatments available.
Often chronic in nature, addiction is a complex disease, which affects the functioning of the brain and the body. Some of the common symptoms of addiction are severe loss of control and continued use, despite serious consequences, followed by an obsession with using, various failed attempts to quit, withdrawal and tolerance.
Fortunately, addiction can be 100% prevented, treated and managed, of course, with the help of healthcare professionals and family/peer support.
Any pain lasting more than 12 weeks is often defined as chronic pain. Compared to acute pain, which is considered as a normal sensation after an injury, chronic pain can go on for months or even longer.
Regarding how chronic pain arises; there may be different causes. For example, an injury, such as a back sprain, or an ongoing illness might be a source for a chronic pain. Of course, there may also be no clear cause.
At times, chronic pain does not come alone: other health problems like sleep disturbance, mood changes, decreased appetite and more may accompany the pain. In fact, chronic pain can limit a person’s movements. The latter may reduce flexibility, strength and even stamina on its turn.
As there is no test that can actually measure and locate pain with precision, pain is a very personal experience. Therefore, health professionals strongly rely on the description of the type of pain by the patient. Moreover, health professionals work with their patients to categorize the causes and symptoms of the pain and later on, identify how it can be relieved.
Eating disorders are serious and usually fatal illnesses, which cause severe troubles to a person’s eating behavior. One of the main signs of an eating disorder is the obsession with food, body weight, and shape. Eating disorders usually appear during the teen years of young adulthood. Sometimes they might occur during childhood, too.
Here are some of the most common of these disorders.
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder, a person suffering which may seem themselves as overweight when in reality they are underweight. These people strongly restrict their food: the amount of food and the types of food they eat.
Another common type of eating disorder is bulimia nervosa. People suffering from the disorder usually have recurring and frequent episodes of eating unusually large amounts of food. They also lack control over those episodes. But those episodes are followed by forced vomiting, excessive use of laxatives or diuretics, excessive exercising and more. Furthermore, people with bulimia nervosa usually maintain a relatively normal weight.
As the word itself prompts, binge-eating disorder is when people lose control over their eating. And as a result, they become overweight or obese. In fact, in the United States, binge-eating disorder is the most common of all eating disorders.
Any type of mental illness or disorder can be treated if consulted with a doctor before severe complications arise. If you suffer from any of the above listed mental illnesses it’s advised to see a psychiatrist.