Can you have more than One mental Illness?
yes, unfortunately i suffer from more than one... depression anxiety agoraphobia ocd self-injury social phobia and may have left something out because it is 5 a.m. and i can't sleep and am tired cuz i have been up and on stupid computer for a few hours and would rather be sleeping
Is Mental illness a myth?
Ok, I just read through Mr. Szazs's information and, to some extent I agree with him. I have worked in both ends of the medical field. I worked as a case manager many years ago at an out-patient mental health facility and then moved on to a career in Pharmacy. I believe that Psychiatrists and Psychologists could be considered as pseudo-doctors. However, seeing things from the true medical perspective, so-called mental illnesses are real. I don't believe that a person with schizophrenia needs a psychiatrist to tell her to go out and join a socail club at the mental health center (which is the kind of non-sense that they do at those centers), however, without the proper medications, these people, as well as people with anxiety and depression and other so-called mental illnesses would be complete basket cases and not able to function. I think that psychiatrists and/or psychologists are good for someone who has a short-term issue, like a death in the family that's very hard to get over. Everyone needs someone to talk to in times of need, some people would just rather have that person be someone they don't know. However, my hope is that one day all of these conditions that have been labeled as "mental illness" will be treated the same way as heart disease and cancer are treated: with medication!
Do you have a mental illness?
I suspicion I might. I had what my husband diagnosed as a panic attack yesterday. I didn't know what was going on but I couldn't catch my breath, my heart was beating very fast, I felt weak and dizzy, a pain came in what felt like my lung, I trembled and couldn't focus. I was going to do a load of laundry and that took extreme effort although I managed to get it done. I lay down and hoped it would pass but it didn't, not for 4 hours or so. My doctor gives me valium for a muscle spasm problem (I have asthma) and I took a valium when I lay down. I did drop off to sleep (I use the valium for bedtime as a rule) but when I awoke the feelings were still there, as bad as ever. I read online that asthmatics are prone to panic attack and I hadn't known that before. It was quite awful. I feel none too steady today, I feel like crying and also like being angry and irritable. I need to visit my doctor this month anyway so I am speaking to him about this. I am afraid I will be unable to function if this happens often. I also was fired from my job two months ago and all those feelings I have from that are probably aggravating the anxiety.
Does a person have a mental illness if they talk to themselves out loud all the time?
It depends and a professional answer would require much more information to even possibly make a determination.However, if the person is merely thinking aloud, it can be seen as an eccentric character trait. If they are doing it all the time, it may deserve a visit to a mental health practitioner.If the person is making sense and isn't saying random things or offending others, again, I would see it as a character trait if it only occurs occasionally. If the person is doing this constantly and/or making no sense and/or is seemingly delusion, then a mental assessment would be deemed necessary. An alternative to all of the above would be in the case of Tourette's Syndrome, but it is quite rare for this condition to go unnoticed for any great length of time as the behaviour is seen as 'unusual'.As always, if in doubt, go chat to a mental health professional. I hope that answers your question somewhat. If you provide more information I am sure you will get more tailored responses.I wish you all the very best with finding your answer.
Is there a test that can detect mental illness?
There is, to my knowledge, no "objective" diagnostic test that can be done to do this. Mental illness is a "clinical" - that is, a conclusion based on evaluating symptoms, etc - diagnosis. MRI and CT scanning are of no help. Functional MRI (fMRI) has been used with some interesting findings in schizophrenics but I don't think this has been shown to be a reliable predictor.
Why do people fake mental illnesses?
What you are referring to is called “malingering” by doctors. It can be used at times to obtain drugs, get disability, or excuse bad behavior.And it is also a shitty tactic and fairly easy to catch. One of the biggest indicators that a person is not lying is if others around them have also noticed this behavior. Malingering is more common with stuff like, a cold, or a migraine then depression or anxiety.Depression and anxiety are incredibly hard to fake over the long term, and at times in ones life are natural responses. Losing a spouse or limb can cause depression. Risking your career or caring for a sick child can cause anxiety.I’d be very, very careful to assume malingering in cases of depression or anxiety if you are not a doctor handling a patient who is acting oddly. People often accuse people with mental health disorders of “faking”, which can cause deep shame and embarrassment and actually cause them to avoid treatment. Often times it's difficult for people to work up the courage, especially men, to admit to these issues in the first place. When you tell someone sincerely suffering that they are faking it, you can do some serious damage.There are reasons to fake mental health issues, but in most scenarios, there are few benefits to being diagnosed with these. In most cases, it's best to give people the benefit of the doubt until the prove otherwise.
Is there a mental illness where you can't stop saying what you think?
I think I saw on a TV program once there was this character who had a problem in his brain so that when he thought something, he immediately said it, without being to think it through in his head whether it was appropriate to say or not. For example, if someone asked him what he thought of them, he'd say that they were an idiot etc etc - to their face. Is this kind of mental illness real? Is it even a mental illness or just someone that can't think before they speak?