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  Psychiatric Disability

Core Information

People with a mental illness

Main types of mental illnesses

Mental illnesses are separated into two main categories: 

PSYCHOTIC ILLNESSES

NON-PSYCHOTIC ILLNESSES

1. Psychotic illnesses

The most common forms of this illness are schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. During a psychotic episode, the person can lose touch with reality or is unable to distinguish between what is real and what is fantasy. 

Common symptoms of psychotic disorders are:

• alterations in thoughts. Examples of this are confused thoughts, lack of logical connection between thoughts and speech, the belief that other people can hear or read their own thoughts, and delusional thoughts (false beliefs that are not shared by other people with similar belief systems). 

• alterations in perceptions. These include hallucinations and changes in sensory awareness. Hallucinations are the perception of something which is not there in the external world. They can be auditory ("hearing voices") or involve the other senses of sight, touch, smell and taste.

• alterations in emotions. The person may have abrupt changes in mood, experience conflicting emotions at the same time about the same thing, display inappropriate emotional responses, mania or elation that is excessive, depression and extreme sadness or despair.

• alterations in behaviour. These are changes in the usual patterns of behaviour for the particular individual and can include restlessness, agitation, unusual reactions and responses and day/night reversal (sleeping during the day, awake during the night).

1.1 Schizophrenia

The word "schizophrenia" was first used in 1911 by Eugen Bleuler, a Swiss psychiatrist. It comes from the Greek skhizo meaning "to split" and phren meaning "mind"  Bleuler chose this term because he believed it described the disruption caused to the harmonious balance that usually exists between the various mental functions of the human mind. Thus, the word "schizophrenia" has always referred to split-mindedness, not to "split personality".  There is no such thing as a "split personality"

F A C T S  A B O U T  S C H I Z O P H R E N I A

1 person in 100 will be affected by schizophrenia

• the illness often onsets (begins) in adolescence or early adult life 

• 20 - 30 percent have only one or two psychotic episodes in their lives

• some people will have periods of symptoms interspersed with periods without symptoms

• for some, the condition will be life-long

1.2 Bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder affects moods and emotions to an exaggerated extent. Moods can swing from one extreme to another and the person feels extremely "high" (mania) or extremely "low" (depression). Some people with bipolar disorder may experience only one extreme - either high or low. 

F A C T S  A B O U T  B I P O L A R  D I S O R D E R 

• less than 1 percent of the population suffer from bipolar disorder 

• it used to be called manic depression

• episodes of bipolar disorder can range from mild to severe 

2. Non-psychotic illnesses

This group of mental illnesses used to be called neuroses and include anxiety disorders and depressive illness. They cause considerable distress to people suffering them and can affect every part of their lives including work, relationships and leisure. 

Thus, the word "schizophrenia" has always referred to split-mindedness, not to "split personality". There is no such thing as a "split personality".

2.1 Anxiety disorders 

Anxiety disorders include phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post- traumatic stress disorder, agoraphobia, panic disorder and general anxiety disorder.

F A C T S  A B O U T  A N X I E T Y  D I S O R D E R S

• about 5 percent of Australians suffer from anxiety disorders 

• disorders usually begin in early adulthood and are often, but not always, triggered by a series of significant life events 

• they can cause physical symptoms such as heart palpitations, sweating, hyperventilation, dizziness, headaches, nausea, indigestion and loss of sexual pleasure 

• the person may think that these symptoms are the sign of a serious health problem, which only makes their anxiety worse 

2.2 Depressive illness

Depressive illness or serious depression is different from the emotional ups and downs associated with everyday life. It is much more than unhappiness and is a mental illness in the clinical sense. Major depression, postnatal depression and reactive depression (reacting to a distressing situation) are the main types of depressive illness.

F A C T S  A B O U T  D E P R E S S I V E  I L L N E S S

• the tendency to develop depression runs in families, that is, some people have a predisposition to develop the illness ¥ it is more common at certain stages of life, such as at childbirth, menopause and retirement

• it is associated with stress such as personal tragedies or disasters 

Depressive illness or serious depression is different from the emotional ups and downs associated with everyday life. It is much more than unhappiness and is a mental illness in the clinical sense.

3 Personality disorders

Personality disorders are not mental illnesses. The term refers to an enduring pattern of behaviour that deviates markedly from the expectations of an individual's culture. This behaviour is often life-long and causes significant distress and difficulties for the person in their social and occupational relationships and in other important areas of their life. The causes of personality disorders generally relate to the individual life experiences of a particular person whereby the person has developed a behaviour pattern to cope with these life experiences. 

4 Stress and mental illness

Everybody has a certain level of stress with which they are able to cope. When the amount of stress a person is under exceeds the level they can cope with, then adverse effects will occur, such as tension headaches, ulcers, high blood pressure, high irritability and so on. It appears that some people have a higher level of vulnerability to developing a mental illness and that stress may play an important part in triggering the illness and in determining the course of the illness. In the case of a person with a vulnerability (or predisposition) to developing psychosis, stress beyond the person's coping ability is likely to cause symptoms to appear (or worsen if they are already present). If a person understands their own stressors, then learning to avoid these or develop skills to cope with them can mean the risk of a recurrence of the symptoms of the illness is minimised. 

When the amount of stress a person is under exceeds the level they can cope with, then adverse effects will occur.