In your professional opinion, am I insane, or am I merely going insane?
Maybe youve been depressedcrying at the drop of a hat, not enjoying things that used to make you happy. Or you feel overwhelming anxiety, the kind that makes you think your heart might beat right out of chest. Or perhaps its a little scarier than that, and youve started seeing things that arent there.
The bad news: somethings up. The good news: youre not going insane.
Insanity is actually just a legal term to describe abnormal mental patterns and behaviors (as in not-guilty by reasons of insanity). Your symptoms could indicate any number of diagnoses. Most of them decrease with treatment, including psychiatric attention and medication.
If youre concerned by your feelings or behavior, you may be struggling with one of the following common psychiatric illnesses:
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disorder that affects about 1.1 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year.
People with this disorder hear and see things that arent there, making it difficult to identify real experiences.
The top three symptoms of schizophrenia are:
Delusions
The most common schizophrenia symptom, delusions are ideas you believe firmly that arent based in fact. For example, you may believe someone is spying on you or plotting against you. Psychiatrist and philosopher Karl Jaspers defined the three main criteria for an idea to be considered a delusion:
Certainty (held with absolute conviction)
incorrigibility (not changeable by compelling counterargument or proof to the contrary)
impossibility or falsity of content (implausible, bizarre or patently untrue)
Hallucination
A hallucination is a perception that isnt provoked by a stimulus. You may associate hallucinations with seeing imaginary thingslike people who arent actually therebut you can also experience the symptom in ways that arent visual.
You could have auditory hallucinations, such as hearing voices, or olfactory hallucinations, such as smelling rotten flesh. Another type, known as a hypnagogic hallucination, involves seeing or hearing things just as you fall asleep.
Paranoia
Paranoiabaseless or excessive suspicion or othersisnt always pathological. Everyone gets paranoid from time to time. The psychiatric symptom is far more severe; it usually involves delusions about other peoples intentions.
Approximately one-third of delusional thoughts in schizophrenia patients cause paranoia.
Bipolar Disorder (also known as manic depression)
Bipolar
Two main symptoms characterize bipolar disorder: alternating periods of intense highs (mania) and lows (depression). The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that approximately 5.7 million American adults suffer from bipolar disorder, totaling 2.6 of the US population over 18.
The top three symptoms of bipolar disorder are:
Mania
Mania entails increased energy, enhanced mood, and difficulty sleeping. Manic people often feel so high of life they believe theyre invincible, and as a result, exhibit poor judgmentspending excessively, or engaging in sexual acts with many partners, for example.
Hypomaniawhich only lasts a few days, as opposed to a week or longercan be just as dangerous. It also involves rapid talking, decreased need for sleep, and inflated self esteem.
Depression
Depression as a psychiatric symptom is more severe than sadness or anger. Signs include persistent feelings of sadness, anxiety, hopelessness, guilt, irritability, or isolation; fatigue, apathy, and loss of interest in activities that were once enjoyable; sleep and appetite disturbances; social anxiety; and self-loathing.
Suicidal thoughts
It all starts with suicidal ideationthinking about the idea of suicide, and possibly making a detailed plan. Some people ideate without intending to pull the trigger; theyre just depressed enough to consider the possibility of taking their life.
Research shows 3070% of all suicide victims suffer from major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, or bipolar disorder. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, read the Mayo Clinics advice on staying safe. You dont have to die or live in painthere is a way out.
Dementia Disorders
Dementia
Dementia is an impairment of intellect, memory and personality. Alzheimersthe most well-known form of dementiaaffects 5.3 million Americans, many over 65 years old.
Other causes of dementia include: complications of chronic high blood pressure, blood vessel disease, or previous stroke; advanced Parkinsons disease; Huntington s disease; and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
The top three symptoms of bipolar disorder are:
Memory Loss
Although memory loss is one of the most common signs of dementia, it is not isolated to this condition. Trauma, drug or alcohol abuse, or an infection may also be to blame.
Memory loss only qualifies as a diagnostic criteria if affects your daily livingyou forget how to do things youve done many time before, like tying your shoes, or you cant keep track of things that happen from one day to the next.
Personality/mood changes
In the early stages of dementia, people often exhibit dramatic changes in personality. An outgoing person may suddenly become withdrawn, or a shy person may make bold choices.
Research indicates personality changes aid in the early detection of Alzheimers, which could facilitate early treatment.
Time and place disorientation
People with dementia often get lost in familiar places, on their own street for example. They may also have difficult remembering how they got somewhere, or how they can get home.
If this is your key symptom, you could be struggling with multiple personality disorder, also known as dissociative identity disorder. Sufferers have alternate personalities that function independently of each othermeaning you could wake up in a park and not remember how you got there or what you did along the way.
As you may have ascertained, mental illness encompasses a vast range of conditions. Even if you have clear symptoms, its impossible to diagnose yourself by readingespecially since your mind is where the problems all began!
If you believe your mental state has declined in some way, visit a licensed mental health professional for diagnosis. Youre not crazybut it would be crazy to suffer in silence from an illness that can improve with treatment.