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The number of people affected by a mental disorder is growing, along with vagueness around the term “mental disorder ”A recent Psychological Medicine article explores the controversy around defining what thoughts and behavior indicate a diagnosis and suggests that the psychiatric field would “benefit from developing more sharply defined indicators of dysfunction” [More]

The picture that AI captures may reflect how a person feels at a point in time, but not their general state. And tools that use data to diagnose may be developed by individuals that do not have mental health backgrounds. But is AI is a tool mental health professionals can use in some capacity? [More]

At the 2018 National Sheriffs Association annual conference in New Orleans, a common phrase was “Jails should not be community mental health centers.” Mental Health Centers can turn away people while jails cannot. So is it the right thing to keep mentally ill people out of jail? [More]

Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, better known as ADHD, is a disorder that many people in the United States have to deal with on a regular basis. Whether you're an adult that didn't get treated as a child, an adult that developed adult onset ADHD, or you have a child that has ADHD, there are a lot of things that you need to do in order to deal with the disease in a way that is effective and helps you or your child work through life in the way that they were intended to. [More]

One of the most controversial topics out there today has to do with mental illness and its diagnosis in children. A lot of people claim that, especially in the United States, there are a lot of people that have been diagnosed with mental illnesses that really don't need the treatment that they are getting. Whether that is the truth or not (and it's likely not), the topic always comes back to children. Can children be diagnosed with mental health issues? [More]

If you've looked at the news lately, you've likely noticed that there is a lot going on in the world of mental health. It can be hard to understand, especially if it's not something that you're used to seeing, but in recent years it has become obvious that mental health issues are more prevalent in the United States than in any other country on the planet. Why is this the case? What is so different about the United States that it seems to be "that much worse" when it comes to mental health struggles? [More]

Schizophrenia is one of the more serious mental health diagnoses, and is possibly one of the more misunderstood illnesses. Individuals with this diagnosis often require very close observation and intensive mental health treatment interventions in order to maintain stability. This summary will explore some of the symptoms of the diagnosis, some of the treatment options, and some of the common misconceptions about the illness. There seem to be varying levels of stigma surrounding mental health issues, and schizophrenia suffers as one of the more stigmatized disorders. [More]

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) was formerly known as multiple personality disorder, and remains to this day as one of the most controversial and misunderstood disorders in the Diagnostic Manual. It is a difficult diagnosis to make, and often is more difficult to treat. It has been the topic of many Hollywood productions which gives laypeople an idea that they understand what it is, but as is often the case in movies and media, there is some sensationalism that occurs. It is not a common diagnosis and is only one of the classified dissociative disorders. [More]

Many people with bipolar disorder get frustrated because of the fact that they typically get only 15- to 20-minute sessions to talk with their doctor at their scheduled appointment. Does this happen to you? This can lead to feeling rushed when you get to the appointment, as well as feeling worried that you and your doctor can’t make the most of the visits. This post will cover a few of the obstacles you may face when you’re sick and need to get as much as possible from your limited appointment. The more communication and organizational skills you can learn, the more you can get from your appointments. And the more you get from your appointments, the more skills you will have to help you manage the illness between office visits. [More]

I will never forget the day I learned I likely had the illness. I went to the doctor on another issue and ended up having a loud, sloppy-wet meltdown, including talking about suicide and tossing things about the room (okay, just gloves). Funny, I don’t recall what set me off. The doctor gently asked if I ever considered that maybe I have bipolar disorder? I melted even more and called my parents, screaming into the phone about how I truly was for-real crazy! Told ya! For years I had been struggling (surviving, at times just barely), not knowing what was wrong. I was sent to a psychiatrist and got the bp II diagnosis. [More]