DEPRESSION
Depression (major depressive disorder) is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Fortunately, it is also treatable. Depression causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed. It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems and can decrease your ability to function at work and at home.
ANXIETY
Anxiety is a normal emotion. It’s your brain’s way of reacting to stress and alerting you of potential danger ahead.
Everyone feels anxious now and then. For example, you may worry when faced with a problem at work, before taking a test, or before making an important decision.
Occasional anxiety is OK. But anxiety disorders are different. They’re a group of mental illnesses that cause constant and overwhelming anxiety and fear. The excessive anxiety can make you avoid work, school, family get-togethers, and other social situations that might trigger or worsen your symptoms.
With treatment, many people with anxiety disorders can manage their feelings.
PANIC ATTACKS
A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear that triggers severe physical reactions when there is no real danger or apparent cause. Panic attacks can be very frightening. When panic attacks occur, you might think you're losing control, having a heart attack or even dying.
Many people have just one or two panic attacks in their lifetimes, and the problem goes away, perhaps when a stressful situation ends. But if you've had recurrent, unexpected panic attacks and spent long periods in constant fear of another attack, you may have a condition called panic disorder.
Although panic attacks themselves aren't life-threatening, they can be frightening and significantly affect your quality of life. But treatment can be very effective.
STRESS
Stress is our body’s response to pressure. Many different situations or life events can cause stress. It is often triggered when we experience something new or unexpected that threatens our sense of self or when we feel we have little control over a situation.
Many things that can lead to stress: bereavement, divorce or separation, losing a job or unexpected money problems. Work-related stress can also have a negative impact on your mental health. People affected by work-related stress lose an average of 24 days of work due to ill health
OBSESSIVE- COMPULSIVE DISORDER (OCD)
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) features a pattern of unwanted thoughts and fears (obsessions) that lead you to do repetitive behaviours (compulsions). These obsessions and compulsions interfere with daily activities and cause significant distress.
You may try to ignore or stop your obsessions, but that only increases your distress and anxiety. Ultimately, you feel driven to perform compulsive acts to try to ease your stress. Despite efforts to ignore or get rid of bothersome thoughts or urges, they keep coming back. This leads to more ritualistic behaviours — the vicious cycle of OCD.
OCD often centres around certain themes — for example, an excessive fear of getting contaminated by germs. To ease your contamination fears, you may compulsively wash your hands until they're sore and chapped.
If you have OCD, you may be ashamed and embarrassed about the condition, but treatment can be effective.
RELATIONSHIP ISSUES
Relationships are an important part of all our lives. Whether romantic or platonic, our connections with our nearest and dearest can bring us joy, meaning, and bonds like nothing else.
But in part because they mean so much to us, relationships can be stressful.
Some level of conflict in a friendship or romantic relationship is normal; it can even be a healthy way to grow and connect by developing good communication skills and build trust. Common relationship problems can also lead to symptoms of mental health conditions such as anxiety or depression. In some cases, relationship dynamics can escalate into emotional and/or physical abuse. When relationship problems become extreme or frequent, they often interfere with healthy behaviour and everyday life.
DIVORCE/SEPARATION
Divorce may influence well-being, with many individuals experiencing depression, loneliness and isolation, self-esteem difficulties, or other psychological distress. Parental divorce may also have negative effects on the psychosocial adjustment of children and adolescents.
Family break-ups, separation and divorce are highly stressful, and people often grieve over the loss of their former relationship and lives.
When you have separated or divorced, you will probably have very strong emotional and physical responses at first.
Everyone and every situation is different, so you will have your own response, especially if you experienced domestic violence or ongoing conflict in your relationship. Even if your partner was abusive, you may feel sad, angry and conflicted at the ending of the relationship.
ANGER
Anger is an emotion characterized by antagonism toward someone or something you feel has deliberately done you wrong.
Anger can be a good thing. It can give you a way to express negative feelings, for example, or motivate you to find solutions to problems.
But excessive anger can cause problems. Increased blood pressure and other physical changes associated with anger make it difficult to think straight and harm your physical and mental health.
GRIEF AND LOSS
Grief is a natural response to loss. It’s the emotional suffering you feel when something or someone you love is taken away. Often, the pain of loss can feel overwhelming. You may experience all kinds of difficult and unexpected emotions, from shock or anger to disbelief, guilt, and profound sadness. The pain of grief can also disrupt your physical health, making it difficult to sleep, eat, or even think straight. These are normal reactions to loss—and the more significant the loss, the more intense your grief will be.
Coping with the loss of someone or something you love is one of life’s biggest challenges. You may associate grieving with the death of a loved one—which is often the cause of the most intense type of grief—but any loss can cause grief, including:
Divorce or relationship breakup
Loss of health
Losing a job
Loss of financial stability
A miscarriage
Retirement
Loss of a friendship
Loss of safety after a trauma
TRAUMA
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), trauma is an event you experience as harmful or life threatening. It has lasting adverse effects on your mental, physical, emotional, social, or spiritual well-being.
Trauma is typically associated with significant events such as physical or sexual assault, violence, or accidents. But it can also involve responses to repeated events, like ongoing emotional abuse or childhood neglect.
Not everyone who has experienced a traumatic event will have long lasting effects. Around 20% of people who experience a traumatic event will develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and many others might still have subthreshold symptoms of post-traumatic stress.
CHRONIC PAIN
Chronic pain can interfere with your daily life, keeping you from doing things you want and need to do. It can take a toll on your self-esteem and make you feel angry, depressed, anxious, and frustrated.
The link between your emotions and pain can create a cycle. When you hurt, you're more likely to feel depressed. That can make your pain even worse. The link between depression and pain is why doctors often use antidepressants as one treatment for chronic pain. These drugs can help with both the pain and the emotional strain it causes.
Pain also interferes with sleep and raises your stress levels. Both a lack of sleep and more stress can make pain feel stronger.
ADDICTION
Addiction is an inability to stop using a substance or engaging in a behaviour even though it is causing psychological and physical harm.
The term addiction Trusted Source does not only refer to dependence on substances such as heroin or cocaine. Some addictions also involve an inability to stop partaking in activities such as gambling, eating, or working.
The American Society of Addiction Medicine defines addiction as “a treatable, chronic medical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and an individual’s life experiences. People with addiction use substances or engage in behaviours that become compulsive and often continue despite harmful consequences.”
Many people, but not all, start using a drug or first engage in an activity voluntarily. However, addiction can take over and reduce self-control.
IDENTITY ISSUE
What is identity?
Our identity is the way we define ourselves. This includes our values, our beliefs, and our personality.
It also encompasses the roles we play in our society and family. Our past memories, our hopes for the future, as well as our hobbies and interests.
A person without a sense of identity can instead feel a disconnect from who they have been, and/or no sense as to who they will become next.
They feel a different person sometimes from day to day. Some report looking in the mirror and finding it hard to believe it is them looking back.
An identity crisis is not related to your personality. You are not born with a uncertain personality. An identity crisis is thought to develop because the environments you grow up in don’t give you the support you need.
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