Young Adults And Mental Illness-what Are The Warning Signs?

By: TiCraig Elliott

Mental illness is not just an affliction that you are born with; mental illnesses can develop over time, whether as something that was predestined to occur or as an illness that develops over time. While some mental illnesses are certainly not generally found in young people, like Alzheimer's disease, others such as depression can strike as early as childhood and mental illnesses like ADHD, though over diagnosed, does affect many children and adults.

Young adults can suffer from a wide range of mental illnesses, and are more commonly afflicted for the first time than any other age group because of their rapidly developing brains and the many new circumstances to which they are exposed to during their late teens and early twenties. Young adults are not necessarily particularly vulnerable; however, whatever mental illnesses they were possibly born with are more likely to come out of dormancy at this point in their lives.

Schizophrenia is one mental illness that often strikes for the first time in young adults. Individuals may suffer moodiness or paranoia, which can both be potentially recognized by a loved one and reported to the individual's physician. Other warning signs might include the young adult hearing voices or seeing things that are not there. Schizophrenic individuals may also experience apathy or lack of emotions and might become worse at social functions. They may also begin to have trouble concentrating or following directions and completing tasks, and their memories might suffer. Schizophrenic patients also almost always begin feeling depressed before their symptoms degenerate.

Depression is another mental illness that is very common in young adults. It is characterized by feelings of extreme helplessness, hopelessness, and is not nearly the same thing as "feeling blue" or being "down". Depression is a serious mental condition that affects millions of Americans, and can cause suicidal thoughts as well as over, or under-eating, over, or under-sleeping, and a change in moods. Depression is not something that people can just "get over" or "snap out of", and may in fact require medication or therapy or a combination of both before the individual begins to see a lifting of their symptoms. The symptoms of depression can come and go, and are similar but slightly different from the symptoms of bipolar disorder.

Bipolar disorder, which is also known as manic depression, can be managed with medication. It is characterized with intense manic or "high" periods in which the individual becomes overly enthusiastic or optimistic and may begin tasks or plans that are not feasible. These high periods are followed by crashes and intense "lows", which can involve sleeping all day, feeling hopeless, suicide attempts, and other symptoms shared with depression.

ADHD is more of a disorder than a disease as it does not often seriously impair a young adult's ability to function normally in society, however it is possible for a young adult to have ADHD that does affect their ability to hold a job or otherwise function individually. This disorder often involves an inability to focus, being easily distracted, and similar kinds of symptoms. It may be made apparent in forgetfulness that is almost chronic or in an inability to hold still, and also with a hyper-focus on certain activities.

The diagnosis of a mental illness should be left to medical professionals; however it is often up to the family and loved ones of the affected young adult to recognize the symptoms before the individual can get treatment. Many mentally ill individuals do not know that they are suffering, or do not wish for various reasons related to their illness to seek treatment on their own.

People who love anyone affected by the above mentioned mental illnesses and by other mental illnesses should make a list of the specific symptoms that they see so that they can present these symptoms to a mental health specialist. Symptoms that you should look out for include changes in sleeping and eating patters, weight gain or loss, changes in personality, an inability to function normally, paranoia, aggression, and other unusual behavior. Even a feeling that something is "off" with a loved one might warrant extra attention or even investigation to help them get help with their mental illness.

No matter what symptoms are displayed, no diagnosis can be made until the individual who is suffering is taken to a doctor. A person taken to the hospital by police is likely to be treated and released quickly without enough attention paid to their actual needs. It is up to the family and loved ones of young adults affected by mental illness to get them help.

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About Author:

Craig Elliott is a freelance writer who writes about mental health topics including Depression Treatment | Depression Anxiety

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Zanaprin Stress And Anxiety Relief For Everyday Life

By: Katy Did

Types of Personal Strain Affecting Our Population

Everyone has fears and anxieties they reach throughout the day. However, individuals who suffer from anxiety disorders feel helpless to their frantic fears and anxieties. Even if they believe that their anxiety and suffering is unwarranted they still feel trapped and insubstantial over their anxiety. Anxiety signs and symptoms are individual from person to person and can both be physical and emotional. Physical characteristics of anxiety and stress present with severe headaches, stomach pain and uneasiness, and can even be felt as persistent and horrible pains in the lower back and other areas of the body.
There are various types of anxiety, generalized, social, and panic to name a few, that people suffer from on a daily basis. Anxiety disorder numbers show that Social Anxiety Disorder is the most typical example of anxiety disorder and the least understood. Anxiety disorder statistics show that Social Anxiety disorder affects eight percent of society. Social anxiety disorder, however, can be distinguished from other common anxiety disorders, such as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and panic disorder, by the situations and thoughts that trigger anxiety symptoms. People with generalized anxiety are mad with worry exceedingly throughout the day about multiple occurances and situations, but the worry is not specific to social approval. Social anxiety is a problem characterized by the emotions of disgrace, disfavour and embarrassment.
Social anxiety is an discernment of fear, apprehension or concern regarding social situations and being evaluated by others. People vary in how repeatedly they experience anxiety in this way or in which kinds of situations. Social anxiety is far more intense than shyness, and can keep you from functioning in average life. People obscured with social anxiety want to interact with others, but are controlled with fear. Social anxiety disorders and social phobias take assorted shapes and forms. And the variety of social triggers for a honest social anxiety problem can be quite diverse.
Social anxiety is very common in people who also have severe mood swings. They can go through periods of time where they are very socially brave; and other periods where they feel extreme anxiety symptoms even thinking about meeting someone new. Social anxiety physical symptoms may interfere with success or completion of school, meeting new friends or relationships, and employment. Nonetheless, many individuals suffer with social phobia for many years without a diagnosis or plan. Social Anxiety involves intense, irrational fears of specific anxiety-provoking situations, and regular compulsive evasion of those situations.
Generalized anxiety usually does not control people to evade situations, and there isn't an causation of a "panic attack" involved in the prognosis, either. It's the postulation, thinking, thinking, dwelling, dwelling, ruminating, ruminating, and inability to shut the mind off that so incapacitates the existence. Generalized anxiety disorder is often accompanied by other problems, such as depression, substance abuse, and other anxiety disorders.
Generalized anxiety disorder affects persons of all ages, even children and teenagers. Anxiety disorder statistics show that girls are twice as likely as boys to experience generalized anxiety. Generalized anxiety disorder is a condition characterized by chronic anxiety, worry, and tension, even when there is little or nothing to provoke it. Generalized anxiety physical symptoms include trembling, headaches, and irritability. Generalized anxiety is constant and can create anxiety / panic attacks during the day and night. Night time anxiety and panic attacks are especially disturbing and can often wake the innocent from deep sleep feeling particularly frightened.
people find it hard to keep fears and worried thoughts from interfering with their regular lives. Individuals often contemplate and preoccupy themselves over routine circumstances around their jobs, finances, their health as well as the health of their families. Individuals with Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) also perceive other physical symptoms during worry, such as muscle tension, trouble sleeping (falling asleep or staying asleep), difficulty concentrating, irritability, and feeling easily fatigued. Anxiety disorder numbers indicate that approximately 6% of Americans will develop criteria for GAD over the lifetime.
GAD is associated with uncommon levels of neurotransmitters in the brain. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that carry signals across nerve endings. GAD is about chronic, allconsuming worry over events that are unlikely to occur. They may worry about finances just because a bill arrives in the mail, or health because they saw a news report on heart attacks. GAD usually affects the body as well as the mind. Its symptoms are characteristic of sharp, exaggerated worry, restlessness, and fatigue as well as irritability, trouble concentrating, and sleeplessness.
Panic Anxiety Disorder is typically characterized by sudden and severe episodes and it is a familiar medical disorder. Panic anxiety disorder is a senseless disease that can affect anybody and at any time. When you identify yourself in undesired situations, your body's natural response will be to panic. Panic anxiety disorder is characterized by repeatitive, unprovoked attacks of fright, accompanied by physical symptoms, including chest pain, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness, weakness, and sweating. A panic attack can resemble a heart attack, and often the intense event of the duress is when you are rushed to the emergency room with chest trouble.
Panic attacks occur on in wave like formations. An event often leads into another, creating a vicious cycle of hindrance that may seem unlikely to letupout of. Panic is a sudden event of extreme anxiety. The most common anxiety physical symptoms are heart palpitations, sweating, shaking, shortness of breath and a feeling of suffocating. Panic, for example, does not respond to techniques and strategies aimed at reducing and dealing with everyday worry. Panic and phobias are ways in which anxiety can also affect people.
These types of anxiety are invalidating to many areas of life. Strikingly many of these disorders can't be treated with positive thinking or calm thoughts because they involve imbalance in the neurotransmitters in the mind. Finding aid can only begin when you decide it's time to stop letting problems and stress influence your life and regain charge and control of your mental health and wellbeing.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

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Thank you for taking time to review this information on anxiety and stress. Please include a link to our site if using any portion of this work on your site including RSS feeds. This Original Article and any variations are owned by Executive Image International c.2009 No Prescription Needed to Stop Your Stress and Anxiety

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3 Forms Of Childhood Anxiety

By: Karen Larsen

Many adults have a hard time believing that a child can experience anxiety. After all, what does a child have to worry about? He's fed, clothed, given toys to play with and generally shouldn't have a care in the world. Nevertheless, every day, millions of children across the U.S. are silently suffering from anxiety.

Anxiety disorder is a condition characterized by feelings of apprehension or extreme anxiety. It can manifest itself physically by sweating, accelerate heart rate or palpitations, hyper-ventilation, and a host of other symptoms.

Many parents think that this is just a phase and that their child will eventually grow out of it. If, however, this is a true case of anxiety disorder, ignoring it will probably only make the problem worse.

It's estimated that some sort of childhood anxiety disorder affects up to 10% of school age kids.

Probably the most common type of childhood anxiety is separation anxiety. Separation anxiety occurs when the child experiences severe anxiety when their primary caregiver, usually their mom or dad, leaves them with another person. Separation anxiety usually occurs between the ages of 12 to 28 months - but it can occur or re-occur later. If you've just moved to a new neighborhood or town or if you have recently been through a divorce, separation anxiety can be triggered in the child even if he's never experienced it before. Even though not all children experience separation anxiety, it is a normal part of growing up. If your kid is over five years old and still having episodes of separation anxiety, you may need to take him to see a counselor or psychologist.

Social anxiety is another type of anxiety that many children face, especially kids that are shy, awkward, or have some sort of speech impediment. Children can be very cruel to other kids - often unintentionally. And no kid likes to be embarrassed or made fun of. If a kid is the constant target of bullying or teasing, he may become anxious at the mere thought of interacting with other kids. Social anxiety usually begins in the teen years, but it can start in early childhood as well. About 10% of adults in the U.S. have some form of social anxiety - which includes stage fright and public speaking. There is no one size fits all cure for social phobia. Most adults that have it never get over it.

Many children suffer from generalized panic attacks. In other words, there is no explicit event or action that triggers the attack, it just happens. This kind of anxiety disorder can be the most paralyzing of all for a kid because they don't know what's causing it and have no idea how to stop it. Childhood panic attacks can have lifetime consequences if not treated. They can interfere with a child's ability to make friendships and try new experiences. If your child is experiencing panic attacks, you should take him to see a child psychiatrist. Panic attacks may be so severe that the only course of action may be prescription medicine.

When someone mentions anxiety disorder, it's rare that a picture of a child enters their mind. But many kids experience some form of anxiety every day and desperately need for some adult somewhere to acknowledge it and help them deal with it.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
Karen Larsen writes articles on anxiety disorders, symptoms, treatments, including how to treat anxiety disorders in children. You can find more of her articles at www.anxietyinamerica.com .

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Treating Recurring Melancholy With Hypnosis

By: Alan B. Densky, CH

Do you worry that your case of seasonal sadness is lasting longer, or is more severe than normal? How do you know whether this is just a short-lived issue, or whether you might have an actual condition called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)? Ought you to look for medical help? Learn about the signs of SAD, how this problem affects sufferers, and those treatments that are available.

Seasonal Affective Disorder is not just experiencing sadness after summer has gone. This condition begins in autumn, when the season moves toward winter and daylight hours are shortened. For most people, symptoms typically appear sometime during late summer or early fall. Moreover, because of the severity and consequences of SAD and other types of depression, doctors need extensive evidence of the condition before they are willing to make a definite diagnosis. Despite the fact that signs may be very serious, doctors almost never diagnose a person with SAD until after he or she demonstrates symptoms for a minimum of three winters in a row.

People who experience SAD begin to experience emotions of sadness, decreased enthusiasm, and tend to sleep for excessive periods. They also develop a craving for sugar or candy. Additionally, most people who experience SAD also have immune systems that do not function adequately. Frequently, they become ill much more easily than persons who do not have SAD.

This condition can seriously affect a person's capability of functioning at work or at school. This decreased motivation can make it difficult for a person even to get out of bed and tend to normal activities. Sufferers find it difficult to participate in social situations, or even at home. They often experience times of extreme anxiety and negativity. Sometimes, symptoms become serious and disabling enough that some sufferers even think about suicide and require hospitalization for therapy.

Not surprisingly, females appear to have a higher rate of SAD than men do. Additionally, this condition seems to get better each year when spring arrives. In fact, in March or April, symptoms usually subside or disappear completely - until autumn returns again. This remains true even in states that are frequently dismal all year long. In fact, as many as twenty percent of those who are treated for seasonal depression will eventually exhibit signs of bipolar disorder.

These sufferers primarily tend to be depressed in the winter months, but have normal moods throughout the rest of the year. In some cases, however, individuals report experiencing instances of unexpected mood elevation, which is also called mania. As with other types of depression, SAD can become very serious or even result in disability if left untreated. Additionally, many people suffer from very mild levels of depression; they may experience exhaustion, lack of motivation, and eating difficulties. Such people, however, rarely suffer instances of depressed moods or anxiety.

This type of depression is fairly uncommon in sunny regions such as Florida, Arizona, and Texas. Others, who live in states with many cloudy days, like Indiana, Michigan, or Oregon are at higher risk for developing this condition. Residents of countries such as Denmark, Germany, and Ireland also struggle with SAD.

Medical researchers have tried many different strategies to aid clients recover from this exhausting condition. They have experimented with exposing people to artificial light in an attempt to assist them to produce more serotonin and lessen depression symptoms. Researchers have also used medicines such as antidepressants, as well as supplements, like melatonin, in an attempt to relieve these symptoms of depression. Often, persons who have Seasonal Affective Disorder also seek out psychotherapists when their condition is at its worst.

Each of these therapies result in with different degrees of success. Despite this, all are much more costly and time-consuming than two more recent, innovative techniques. Hypnotherapy practitioners have perfected the art of teaching both NLP and hypnotherapy strategies for depression. Through self-hypnosis, individuals learn to talk themselves out of a depressive period and resolve their symptoms. These innovative therapies, hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming, have resulting in an astonishing amount of benefit in assisting people to recover from, and avoid future occurrences of SAD.

Summary: Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of winter blues that reappears each year at almost the same time. Only persons who face this condition can decide whether they will continue battling the symptoms alone, year after year, or to seek help in resolving this condition once and for all. Hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming for depression are both beneficial, innovative treatments that promise a quick escape from these feelings without spending excessive amounts of money or energy.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
Alan B. Densky, CH specializes in stress and depression related symptoms as an NGH certified hypnotist. He's helped thousands of clients since 1978. He offers hypnosis depression therapy CDs. Visit his Neuro-VISION hypnotherapy website for the hypnosis article library, or watch his free videos on hypnosis.

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By 2020 Depression Can Be Second Top Cause Of Death In Us

By: John Scott

Medications for depression treatment were proven not significantly harmful during pregnancy.

However you ask the question, you always get the same answer. More antidepressants than any other medication have been prescribed to Americans over the last twenty years. This is a remarkable statistic when you think of all the possible illnesses and diseases that physicians could be treating. According to the preliminary data for mortality in 2005 complied by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the top three causes of death were:

heart disease 21.9%
cancer 18.9%
stroke 4.8%

Yet, even when you go to the top fifteen listed causes, no-one dies of being depressed (although suicide is the 11th most common way of dying). So what are these prescriptions for? The most prescribed antidepressant medication in the US is Zoloft with more than 28m prescriptions written in 2006. Zoloft is one of the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs). It is designed to change the level of serotonin, one of the neurotransmitters in the brain. Serotonin helps to regulate your mood. That means that a vast proportion of the pharmaceutical industry's profit comes from convincing people who are not likely to die soon that they need to buy antidepressants like Zoloft, so they can feel better. Teach them to feel dysfunctional and depend on medications for the rest of their lives.

But, of course, this is just to provoke you into thought. In his article in The New England Journal of Medicine (2006), Friedman invoked the National Comorbidity Survey as evidence that fifty percent of all serious adult psychiatric illnesses, including substance abuse, anxiety disorders and major depression, have started by the age of fourteen years, and three quarter are in place by twenty-five years. He confirms suicide as the third-leading cause of death among persons fifteen to nineteen years of age.

Thus, if we were to classify suicide as a psychiatric illness, we would get a different perspective on national mortality rates. Now, let us step back from mortality data to a better measure. Mental illnesses are increasingly relevant to the mission of disease prevention and health promotion. Chapman and Perry in their article at Prev Chronic Dis (2008) warn that, by 2020, depression will be second only to heart disease if you measure using disability-adjusted life years.

So, if you accept the reality of psychiatric illness as a disability, the need for treatment becomes obvious. Now look at the people with heart conditions or cancer. If they are also depressed, this robs them of whatever quality of life they might otherwise have enjoyed, and probably reduces their life expectancy by undermining their will to live. Morally, the state should ensure that its citizens are given the best treatment possible. Economically, the state faces an increasing burden of social security payments with a declining tax revenue. States should therefore ensure preventative and therapeutic care is available to all.

So, when you put anxiety disorders and depressive illnesses into a proper context, the need for medications such as Zoloft becomes obvious. And why is Zoloft the most prescribed of all the antidepressants? Because, the physicians who write the millions of prescriptions watch over their patients. If the medical professionals and their patients did not see a safe and effective product, the free market economy would operate and people would switch to another medication. That has not happened. Zoloft remains the trusted response to depressive illness.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

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Learn more about the information you read here on buy zoloft and by John Scott at http://www.forgetdepression.com/.

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Anxiety - Top Twelve Effects of Anxiety on Your Physical and Mental Health

By Bethany Henshaw
Everyone knows what anxiety feels like. Anxiety is a normal body reaction to stressful situations or to a threat that the mind perceives. Although the word connotes ugly images of nervousness, trembling and intense sweating, anxiety by itself is not totally bad for the body. In fact, it is a necessary reaction which allows the brain to activate our "fight or flight" response so that the body can protect itself from danger. It is what allows us to flee from an attacking stranger, or to jump from a burning house to save ourselves from fire.
Yet, anxiety can take its toll on the body and the mind, if it becomes excessive. A regular bout of anxiety where symptoms become too evident that they distract a person from doing his tasks is a serious concern. If these symptoms happen several times a day, then an anxiety disorder is already taking place in the person's mind.
An anxiety disorder should not be taken lightly. If unaddressed soon or properly, the condition may worsen and can lead to depression, especially among young adults. The most immediate effect of anxiety in a person is it causes upheavals in his personal and professional life. The symptoms can be so debilitating sometimes that a person with this kind of disorder would sometimes prefer to just stay at home, especially if the disorder is also coupled with agoraphobia which is the constant fear that an anxiety attack will happen at a public place and escape is not possible.
Here are the top 12 most common effects of anxiety on the physical, mental and emotional health of a person:
1. Hyperventilation or breathing rapidly may result during an anxiety attack which can make you feel shaky, a little dizzy or light headed
2. Tension in the muscles may result to headaches and overall discomfort.
3. An elevated blood pressure can make you uneasy and dizzy, sometimes nauseous.
4. Your digestive system will be affected and may cause diarrhea or vomiting.
5. Your sleep patterns may be affected, causing you sleepless nights which results to chronic fatigue.
6. You may have feelings of inadequacy and dependence on others. You may experience "catastrophizing" which means you may develop thoughts of impending danger or calamity which you feel is beyond your control.
7. You may feel excessive, often irrational fear which grips you sometimes in the middle of the night. You become constantly irritable and unable to concentrate.
8. You may feel frustrated easily and may have a very poor image of yourself. Your confidence level is affected. Your social skills become almost nil, as worries about your "imperfections" or " inadequacies" may stop you from building relationships.
9. You may develop other unhealthy coping mechanisms such as excessive drinking, smoking or drug abuse.
10. You may intentionally avoid experiences that otherwise would have enriched your life. You may not be able to maintain meaningful and gratifying relationships. Instead you may be drawn towards people who have the same outlook as yours or help you avoid situations that may have helped you overcome your anxiety.
11. Your self esteem maybe affected and you may develop the fear of public places (agoraphobia) which can make you unable to go beyond your comfort zones.
12. You may develop depression and if the condition remains untreated for a long time, you may start having suicidal thoughts.
If you or a person you know suffer from an anxiety disorder, do not hesitate to go to an authorized medical care giver, either a medical doctor or a psychotherapist. Do not feel that you are alone and can not go to anyone about your problem. After all, you are just one of the 40 million Americans who have been diagnosed with this condition.
You need to help yourself first, before help can come to you. Pay attention to what your body is telling you and seek help as early as possible.

Bethany Henshaw is a life coach and the author of the eBook "Anxiety Success". She has been helping many people know how to overcome a panic disorder through natural means.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bethany_Henshaw

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Facts And Speculations About Weight Gain

By: John Scott

There is one simple explanation for those extra pounds of weight. Too much food! The way the body works is very simple. If you get just enough calories for basic things like breathing, you have to burn fat to get the energy to walk around. Eat more calories than you need given your basal activity level, and your body puts on fat. Your body is actually protecting you against the next famine when you will have nothing to eat and need your fat to survive until the next sandwich comes along.

Now turn to many of the forum sites where people discuss their experience with zoloft. The general spirit of these posts is, "I weighed 120lb until I took zoloft. Now I am . . ."

A simple test rules out thyroid problems, one of the more common physical explanations for sudden weight gains and this leaves us with lack of exercise combined with overeating. . . and a side effect of zoloft. It is a natural association to make. You start taking a medication and immediately you put on five pounds with no obvious change in your diet or level of physical activity. So, let us start off by accepting that some people react to medications by putting on weight. Why? The medication may increase or decrease the basal metabolic rate. If this happens, your weight may fluctuate even though you do not change your caloric intake. In some people, the medication can cause hormonal changes and increase appetite. Increased levels of serotonin are also associated with hunger pangs which encourage you to eat more.

Now we are into the business of balancing the advantages and disadvantages of the particular medication. Let us say that zoloft has made a dramatic improvement in your emotional life. For the first time in months (or years), you do not feel (so) sad. If you have put on a few extra pounds, is that a price worth paying? Or will you get depressed again because your body has become less attractive? As a gentle warning, if your regular doctor asks you whether you want to try a different medication, zoloft causes less weight gain than the tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs).

Back to denying the link. After all, the SSRIs were first promoted as anti-obesity medications. Like all decisions on whether to start a medication, you are dealing with unknowables. There is no doubt that some people eat more when they are depressed. Unless you have been keeping a food diary which counts calories, it will difficult to know how your eating habits have changed as the depression increased in intensity. You may already be putting on weight when you start taking the zoloft. Now let us reverse the psychological reaction. When people start feeling less depressed, they eat less and this reduces their weight. In other words, when the depression is cured, you may return to your healthy eating habits. Separating out the effect of the medication from the reality of the number of calories you eat is very difficult. It is easy to confuse coincidence with side effect.

So how should you react if you start zoloft and gain weight? Whatever else you may do, do not stop taking it. First, start counting calories properly. Start exercising. These are most likely to stabilise your weight. Only if you do change your diet and exercise to no effect, should you talk with your doctor. If self-help has failed, see what the professional recommends.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
John Scott contributes regularly to http://www.forgetdepression.com and covers a wide range of topics including treats depression. For more information, go to http://www.forgetdepression.com.

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