What Are The 5 Signs of Mental Illness?

/in /by

Almost one in five Americans suffer from mental illness, with the most recent estimates placing the figure above 50 million. However, large numbers of these people suffer in silence and might not even realize they’re ill. As a result, they’re unable to seek out the therapy or medications that could help them heal. However, you can keep the following signs of mental illness in mind to consider if you or someone in your life might need to seek help.

The Five Signs of Mental Illness

Stress, Paranoia, and General Fear

Stress, anxiety, and other emotions relating to fear are common symptoms of many disorders. Of course, they can be the temporary result of specific events in someone’s life as well. It’s not always so clear-cut, though, and long-term suffering of this sort can boil over into a generalized anxiety or stress disorder. Even if these feelings aren’t resultant from a disorder, it’s still worth seeking therapy for your own sake.

Withdrawal From Social Activities

Mental illness can negatively impact socialization in many ways. For instance, depression can make every action seem exhausting and deprive someone of the energy they need to take part in social interactions. Anxiety can cause people to be afraid that others secretly harbor ill-feeling toward them and take pleasure out of being around other people.

Extreme Mood Swings

Mood swings can be the direct symptom of many mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder. However, mood swings can also derive indirectly from the level of stress and fear that other disorders produce. Either way, it’s worth considering that something more is going on when you or someone you know experiences sharp changes in mood.

Drastic Changes in Sleep, Appetite, Etc.

Mental illness can make it difficult to go about your normal day and make it emotionally taxing to brush your teeth or even eat. When someone has a sudden change in their basic habits and self-care, it’s frequently an indication of mental illness. Furthermore, it can form a sort of vicious cycle where a person is too drained to take care of themselves, which further worsens their overall mental state.

Enduring Poor Mood, Irritability, Sadness

Many mental illnesses are capable of producing chronic irritability or poor mood. Attention deficit disorder, for instance, can cause someone to become irritable as they struggle to perform their basic tasks and handle their responsibilities. Mood disorders and psychotic disorders can cause long-term poor mood much more directly, as well; bipolar, for instance, entails shifts between abject depression and unrestrained mania.

Alter Behavioral Health

The Alter Behavioral Health team specializes in providing primary care for adult autism but also treats primary mental health disorders. If you suspect you’re suffering from a mental illness, we can help you assess yourself via a diagnosis. Whether you’re suffering from a mental illness or not, we’ll be able to provide the services and support you need to feel your best.

The Five Disorders on the Autism Spectrum

/in /by

While the most recent edition of the DSM, the DSM-5 moved toward a unitary diagnosis for autism. Instead of defining several sub-diagnoses for autism such as Asperger’s or Rett Syndrome, the DSM regards autism as a single condition. Autistic advocacy organizations support this and view it as good for the community, as the old diagnoses had less to do with the individual and more to do with the non-autistic people around them. This change in the DSM has remained contentious since 2013. Whichever side of the debate a person falls on, though, it is important to recognize that the old sub-diagnoses are still commonly used and thus important to know.

The Five Autism Spectrum Disorders

Rett Syndrome

Rett Syndrome has often been regarded as an autism spectrum disorder and is perhaps the best example of the flaws in the old categorizations. Rett Syndrome is a genetic mutation that results in slowed brain and head growth, loss of hand control, trouble breathing, and other conditions. With regard to causes and internal experience, there isn’t much overlap between autism spectrum disorder and Rett Syndrome. Autism-related behaviors tend to only be present during a small window of the life of a girl with Rett, or in mild cases of the disorder.

Asperger’s

Asperger’s refers to the idea of high-functioning autism, wherein an autistic person is outwardly able to work and participate in society seemingly without much trouble. This diagnosis may be a useful tool, but shouldn’t necessarily be taken at face value. Even if someone is able to work and care for themselves, this can hide issues such as executive function disorder and other invisible disabilities that fly under the radar. While Asperger’s persists in popular usage, autism advocacy organizations generally reject it and functioning labels altogether.

Pervasive Development Disorder Not Otherwise Specified

PDD-NOS might also be referred to as moderate-functioning autism. It served the role of filling a gap between Asperger’s and Autistic Disorder, a space for people that didn’t fully meet the criteria of either. If someone did not have the life skills and relative independence of a person with Asperger’s, it was common that they’d fall under PDD-NOS.

Autistic Disorder

Also known as low-functioning autism, Autistic Disorder diagnoses referred specifically to someone who couldn’t take care of themselves. In addition to severe problems with social and language skills, unusual and self-injurious behaviors are common.

Childhood Disintegrative Disorder

Childhood Disintegrative Disorder has traditionally been used to describe a child who followed standard trends of development at first. Then, between two and four years of age, the child experiences a rapid loss of language, social, and other skills. This loss of skills is irreversible, and it’s common that the child will also develop a seizure disorder.

Alter Behavioral Health Treats the Individual

Every person on the autism spectrum is different, and Alter appreciates this. Our priority isn’t applying or rejecting specific autism diagnoses, but understanding each patient and giving them the best care possible. If you or someone you know is an adult with autism, come to us to learn more about how we can help.

Understanding PTSD in California

/in /by

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder has always existed and affected countless people throughout history. If you read through the primary sources of ancient battles, you’ll occasionally find mention of soldiers who were scarred by combat and exhibited what we now know as the symptoms of PTSD. It wasn’t until the First World War that something resembling the modern diagnosis entered the lexicon of mental health, however. The unique, unrelenting stress of life in the trenches produced innumerable victims of shell-shock, as contemporary experts knew it. While PTSD is generally associated with combat veterans, it doesn’t exclusively or even primarily affect soldiers. In truth, anyone who experiences a traumatic event may develop PTSD.

PTSD in California

PTSD is a disorder where the current public understanding is inadequate, particularly when it comes to non-military PTSD. For instance, the number of Californians who currently suffer from the disorder is currently unknown. However, there are national statistics that indicate 3.5% of all US adults will suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder throughout the year. Current data estimates that one in eleven people will suffer from PTSD throughout their life and that women are twice as likely to develop PTSD as men.

How Someone May Develop PTSD

Experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event such as sexual assault, the death of a loved one, or family separation may cause someone to develop PTSD. However, any proximity to traumatic events may also be a cause for someone to suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. For instance, hearing about the graphic death of a loved one, filing reports related to child trafficking and abuse as a police officer, or serving as a drone pilot in the military may produce PTSD.

Another type of relatively little-known trauma is complex trauma, where the event is actually the combination of many events. A child who suffers long-term neglect or goes through trafficking may not be able to point to a single event as the root of their traumatic stress, but will instead identify the prolonged helplessness of their situation as the cause. This is typically known as cPTSD, a related but different condition.

Measures to Understand and Treat Traumatic Stress in California

Chronic neglect and childhood trauma are not sufficiently prioritized as matters of mental health, but a new initiative is aiming to identify trauma in Californian youth. Californian pediatricians may now give surveys to children asking simple questions, such as whether they’ve been raised by a depressed or otherwise mentally ill caretaker.

By assessing risk factors for childhood trauma, pediatricians in the state will be empowered to identify and treat these issues as early as possible. There are also surveys available for adults to take, which may illuminate traumatic events that the victims dismissed as normal.

Treating PTSD in California

Many people might suffer from PTSD without knowing it. If you or someone you love has suffered from trauma and declined to seek treatment, you’ll always be able to find understanding and support at Alter Behavioral Health.

Depression in California Then and Now

/in /by

America has been grappling with a crisis in depression and mental health for years, but it has intensified with COVID. This is particularly true in California, which appears to have been struck harder than the nation on average. However, it’s also possible that it may just be better-reported and understood. California has a long history of being forward-thinking and proactive on the front of mental health, although there’s still plenty more progress to make.

Depression in California

Several state-based nonprofit organizations have been recording data on mental health in California. Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, Californians have consistently reported rates of worry, hopelessness, and other depression-related symptoms at higher-than-average levels. At times, the disparity can be as large as 45% of Californians reporting negative mental health symptoms compared to 40% of the general adult population.

State-Based Mental Health Treatment

California is unique in that the state and all of its counties have developed plans meant to identify and treat poor mental health as early as possible. This began as early as 1957, the year that the legislature passed landmark legislation in the form of the Short-Doyle Act. Under the Short-Doyle Act, the state allocated funding to local governments to help them combat depression and other mental health issues.

Two decades later, the state government passed a law that required all counties to develop programs for supporting mental health. Many states still have yet to catch up with these progressive measures from the Californian legislature that are roughly 50 years old. Today, the Department of State Hospitals helps local governments support the health of Californian citizens. As a result, you may have access to some depression care even without insurance.

Concern for Mental Health Crosses the Aisle

Today, the general public sees mental health and depression treatment as an unprecedentedly high priority. This concern covers all areas of California and is shared to a similar extent by state Democrats and Republicans. One particular area of concern was the conviction that California doesn’t have enough mental health providers, even as it has many more providers than most states.

In LA County, the Inland Empire, San Joaquin Valley, and the North Valley, a majority of citizens believe that the availability of mental health is inadequate. In the Bay Area and South Coast, this concern amounted to a strong plurality. The governor and legislature are under considerable pressure to meet the expectations of the public and improve access to mental health care for all citizens.

Treat Depression in California

Alter Behavioral Health strives to provide effective, evidence-based treatment for primary mental health disorders. Our experts are well suited to providing various forms of therapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy, antidepressant prescriptions, and other options. If you or someone you love is suffering from depression, calling Alter is a good step to take to learn how you can manage and treat this mental illness.