Stigma and Its Effect on Mental Disorders

Mental disorders (or mental diseases) are mental conditions that interfere with your thinking, feelings, behavior, and mood. They can be long-term or sporadic (acute). They may interfere with your ability to function every day and relate to others. They are often difficult to diagnose and are sometimes confused with ordinary psychological problems. Often they go undiagnosed for years until a significant event triggers their onset.

An increasing number of adolescents are being diagnosed with an assortment of mental disorders due to their environment and social patterns. This increasing incidence is due to the fact that adolescence is a period of significant changes in biological and emotional systems, which are associated with greater stress and vulnerability to disease. For example, during this period, hormones undergo significant alterations and experience significant changes in their levels.

What is needed to determine the presence of an impairment or illness is a thorough assessment by a professional such as a licensed psychotherapist. The assessment is necessary to determine if the adolescent has an actual physical illness or if there are symptoms of another psychiatric illness that may have been masked by the teenager’s normal behavior. For example, teens who engage in delinquent behavior and have a history of violent behavior might be diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), which is a mental disorder that involves resistance to rules and dominant social cues. However, the teenager’s history of violence does not necessarily mean he has ODD. Conducting an ODD assessment is relatively simple and involves obtaining a history of the disorder from the patient and family and friends. In addition, mental health professionals can also assess a patient’s IQ and personality to determine if he is suffering from another disorder.

When diagnosing an individual’s mental disorder, mental health professionals use a checklist known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM) IV-TR. This checklist, which has been used since the 1970s, includes criteria that identify many different mental disorders and illnesses. In addition, the mental disorder checklist also includes information on current and past substance abuse, dependence, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, psychosis, mania, impulsivity, and several other conditions. Although substance abuse and dependence are considered to be common among adolescents, many people do not fit under the criterion for these disorders.

Substance abuse and dependence are considered to be among the most common mental disorder problems affecting adolescents. In fact, almost one in five adolescents in the United States are estimated to be dependent on alcohol or other substances. Although it is difficult to determine the exact number of adolescents with this problem because many adolescents fail to disclose their substance abuse problems to their parents, an estimate of three to four million people in the United States alone are considered to have this problem. An even higher figure of nearly six million people are considered to be addicted to drugs. In addition, an additional ten million people in the United States are estimated to be dealing with an illegal substance at some point in their life.

As a result, the number of people with this mental disorder continues to grow each year. Fortunately, there are an estimated three to four million people who are able to receive effective treatment for their condition. In recent years, the number of adolescents who are being treated for anxiety disorders has also been steadily increasing. Anxiety usually begins during the teenage years, although it may surface earlier in some cases. As a result, the number of adolescents receiving treatment for this mental disorder has also been steadily increasing. One of the most effective treatments for teenagers with this mental illness is the social support group program.

Today, one in twenty adolescents in the United States suffers from some type of social disorder due to social conditions created by their families, friends, or peers. In addition, one in twenty children has a sibling who has a mental disorder or disability. These numbers create a major problem because they create a sense of shame or stigma around people with mental disorders or disabilities. In fact, the stigma has been so powerful that many schools have adopted policies prohibiting students with mental disorders from joining clubs or taking part in school events or extracurricular activities.

Social scientists have developed many theories about why people develop these feelings and how they may be handled. For example, Dr. Helen Davidson believes that childhood experiences can cause feelings of guilt, shame, and isolation. These feelings may need to be dealt with through effective therapy and counseling. Conversely, some researchers believe that anxiety and depression are caused by chemical imbalances in the brain. According to this belief, patients need to learn to recognize certain signs that their minds are telling them that they need help. In addition, doctors believe that the social support that patients receive from people with mental disorders may help to alleviate some of the negative symptoms associated with these disorders.