Mental Health and Illness - Types Of Disorders

Psychiatrists have identified a wide range of mental disorders, from phobias to depression to schizophrenia. Psychiatric diagnoses are made based on criteria described in the fourth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) (2000) by the American Psychiatric Association (APA). Some disorders are relatively mild and affect an individual's life in only a minor way. Others can be overwhelming, completely debilitating, and life-threatening.

Anxiety disorders, which include phobias (intense, irrational, and persistent fears), and depression are the two most common mental disorders. The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) states that about twenty million Americans report at least one phobia serious enough to affect their daily routines, and the NIMH says that depression afflicts more than twenty million people each year. The medical community also classifies substance abuse as a mental disorder. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), alcoholism affects close to fourteen million people (one in thirteen Americans) per year. Many people suffer from more than one mental disorder at a time (comorbidity)—millions of Americans suffer from substance (drug or alcohol) abuse combined with one or more other mental disorders.

Children suffer from many of the same mental disorders that afflict adults, but they also may be affected by developmental disorders. Children with disorganized thinking and difficulty communicating verbally, and those who have trouble understanding and navigating the world around them, may be diagnosed with autism or another pervasive developmental disorder. These disorders may be among the most disabling because they are associated with serious learning difficulties and impaired intelligence. Examples of pervasive developmental disorders include autism, Asperger's disorder, and Rett's disorder.