Classification and Types of Mental Health Disorders
Understanding Major Categories of Mental Disorders
Like physical ailments, there are various types of mental disorders. The list of these disorders ranges from minor anxiety to severe conditions such as schizophrenia. The standard classification system used is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The branch of psychology that deals with these disorders is called abnormal psychology.
1. Disorders of Childhood
The DSM classifies various kinds of childhood disorders, usually first diagnosed during infancy, childhood, or adolescence. Examples include:
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Characterized by problems in paying attention or being extremely overactive.
- Autistic Disorder: Characterized by the child being withdrawn, not smiling, and having delayed language development.
2. Anxiety Disorders
If an individual persistently becomes fearful, apprehensive, and anxious without an appropriate reason, they may be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. These disorders manifest in different forms, including:
- Phobia: An extreme and irrational fear of something specific.
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Where the person has recurring intrusive thoughts or feels compelled to perform actions repeatedly.
3. Mood Disorders
A person suffering from a mood disorder experiences emotions for a long period of time in a restricted way, remaining fixed at one emotion or fluctuating across the range of these emotions. Mood disorders are generally categorized into two main types:
- Depression: A mental state characterized by sadness, loss of interest and pleasure in routine activities, difficulty in concentration, and negative thinking about self and others.
- Bipolar Disorder: Characterized by alternating phases of depression and excitement or mania.
4. Psychosomatic and Somatoform Disorders
Psychosomatic disorders are psychological problems that manifest with physical symptoms but have psychological causes. (In psychological terms, psyche means mind and somatic means body.) Contrary to this, somatoform disorders are characterized by physical symptoms that do not have any known, identifiable biological causes.
5. Dissociative Disorders
This category involves disturbances in memory, consciousness, identity, or perception. Specific types include:
- Dissociative Amnesia: The inability to recall important personal information, usually following a stressful episode.
- Dissociative Fugue: Where, apart from memory loss, the person also assumes a new identity.
- Depersonalization Disorder: Where the person suddenly feels changed or different in a strange way, often feeling detached from their own body or mental processes.
6. Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders
We often see individuals who are poorly oriented about person, place, and time—perhaps on the roadside in dirty clothes, eating unhygienic food. We might call them mad or insane. However, in clinical psychology, they are often referred to as schizophrenics.
Schizophrenia is a psychological disorder characterized by severe disturbances in thoughts, emotions, and behavior. Key symptoms include:
- Hallucinations: False sensory perceptions (e.g., seeing something physically not there, or hearing voices that are not actually present).
- Delusions: False beliefs about reality that are firmly held despite evidence to the contrary.
7. Personality Disorders
Personality disorders have their roots in early childhood development, resulting in inflexible and maladaptive patterns of thinking and behaving that cause significant distress or impairment.