Symptoms of Neurological and Mental problems

The human mind is that one center that controls all emotions, thoughts, and behaviors and may become seriously disordered through life’s pressures and chemical changes. Neurological and psychiatric disorders can result-even dangerous mental illnesses-can pop out without warning and have crippling consequences on personal and social life. Such disorders can appear gradually or suddenly and vary from deep, debilitating depression to complicated schizophrenia and antisocial behaviors. Each of these disorders, in its own way, sends an individual on a detour away from a normal pattern of life. More often than not, the concept and realization of such problems are difficult to realize by a layman. This article defines a variety of symptoms associated with neurological and mental disorders in order to bring awareness into the light of knowledge. Understanding will better prepare one for early diagnosis and management of these disorders.

Symptoms of Neurological and Mental Disorders

  1. Major Depression Disorder (MDD)

Severe depression, now also termed clinical depression, is a grave mental disorder and quite common; it can affect any person at any age in life. It can have a pretty severe impact on daily functioning and needs expert treatment. Symptoms include:

  • Sadness: Feelings of sadness, despair, or hopelessness persist and can continue unabated for weeks or months without any constructive change even after good events occur.
  • Loss of Interest in Routine Activities: No interest in things one used to do earlier, like hobbies, sports, or even spending time with friends.
  • Appetite and Weight Change: Suddenly gaining or losing appetite dramatically, leading to sudden weight increases or decreases.
  • Sleep Disturbances: Continued insomnia or sleeping too much.
  • Fatigue and Lack of Energy: Severe tiredness that may not go away even after rest.
  • Feelings of Worthlessness or Excessive Guilt: Feelings of self-worth and excessively belittling the self for simple things.
  • Difficulty Concentrating and Making Decisions: Inability to concentrate, think, or decide on something that may interfere with work, study, and day-to-day activities.
  • Thoughts of Death and Suicide: Preoccupation with thoughts of death or suicide and definite plans on how it is to be done.
  • Restlessness or Psychomotor Slowness: Obvious agitation, slowed movements, and speech.
  1. Schizophrenia

The symptoms of schizophrenia broadly fall into three basic categories: positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and cognitive symptoms. Each category is defined by a specific set of signs or symptoms, described below.

  1. Positive Symptoms: Abnormal experiences or additions to reality, such as:
  • Delusions: Strong false beliefs even when the evidence has been presented-a belief of having special powers or targeted by conspiracies.
  • Hallucinations: Sensory experiences in the absence of any stimulus- examples include hearing voices that no one else hears or seeing things that aren’t there.
  • Disorganized Speech: Illogical, jumbled speech with disconnected topics.
  • Bizarre or Catatonic Behavior: Acting unpredictably, making aimless movements, or showing no response to the environment.
  1. Negative symptoms: Include a decline or loss of normal functions such as:
  • Reduced Emotional Expression: One’s face is immobile; one shows lack of interest and any form of coldness.
  • Lack of Motivation: Leading to low levels of interest in normal activities, hence poor personal grooming or socializing.
  • Decreased Speech: Reduction or brevity in speech for cognitive and expressive difficulties.
  • Loss of Interest: No longer pleasure in activities that used to give pleasure
  1. Cognitive Symptoms: Impaired processing of information manifested by disturbance in daily life:
  • Attention and Concentration Problems: Feeling of not being able to focus and maintain attention.
  • Working Memory Problems: Inability to memorize new or past events.
  • Planning and Decision-Making Issues: Unable to plan or make logical decisions.
  1. Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD)

A stubborn disorder with no respect for others’ rights, regret cannot be perceived; antisocial conduct sometimes amplified with: • Repeated violations of social rules and norms

  • Repulsive Continuous Violations of Social Norms: Continuously breaking the law, theft, lying, and destruction of property.
  • Chronic Lying and Manipulation: A tendency to lie one’s way to a desired end without remorse.
  • Lack of Guilt or Remorse: One feels no regrets about hurting others.
  • Disregard for Safety: Engagement in risky activities, including reckless driving, without consideration for consequences.
  • Irresponsibility: Fails to follow through on work commitments or personal financial obligations; fails to assume responsibility for own behavior and actions.
  • Failure to Sustain Consistent Relationships: Cannot maintain a continuing relationship with another person.
  • Irritability, Assaultive Behavior: Repeated fights or assaults in which the physical or verbal aggression of others is provoked without clear, immediate provocation.
  • Lack of Long-Term Planning: Makes impulsive decisions on the spur of the moment without consideration of consequences; lacks long-term goals or career plans.

  1. Bipolar Disorders (BP)

Thus, a group of mental disorders characterized by extreme changes in mood, energy, and activity run on a continuum from one pole to another-from manic or hypomanic episodes to a major depressive episode. Symptoms:

  • Increased Energy and Activity: Feeling extremely energetic with a need to tackle many tasks simultaneously.
  • Grandiosity: Unrealistic sense of power or exceptional abilities.
  • Decreased Sleep Needs: Sleeping only a few hours but still remaining alert.
  • Racing Speech: Talking in a rapid manner, often continuously, and with such pressure that others barely have any chance of interrupting them.
  • Impulsive and Risky Behaviors: Excessive spending, sexual promiscuity, or other impulsive vocational choices.
  • Distractibility: Inability to stay focused on one topic.
  1. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Individuals with OCD may realize that their thoughts are inappropriate and intrusive, creating anxiety that is relieved for short periods only by their compulsive, repetitive actions; eventually this pattern creates interruption in daily functioning. Symptoms include:

  • Intrusive Thoughts: These are recurring thoughts. Often those thoughts are disturbing or illogical-for example, the feeling of contamination, or the fear of harming someone.
  • Unwanted Mental Images: These sometimes take disturbing visual forms, such as graphic violent scenes.
  • Order and Symmetry: Powerful need to arrange objects abreast, or to repeat movements in a symmetrical manner.
  • Fear of harming others or oneself: Unreasonable fears of harming oneself or others.
  • Repetitive Actions: Continuation of actions such as excessive hand-washing or rechecking of locks.
  • Rituals and Routines: Following rigid rules for carrying out specific routines.
  • Repeated Checking: To check things or situations again and again, whether the stove is off or the doors are locked.
  1. Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)

Disordered relation with unstable relationships, self-image, and mood; symptoms include:

  • Extreme Variations in Relationships: Goes from idealizing to devaluing a relationship.
  • Intense Abandonment Anxiety: The fear of rejection or abandonment, which in turn generates behaviors like dependency, all the way to self-harm.
  • Unstable Self-Image: The person’s values, goals, and even his self-image may change from time to time.
  • Impulsivity-wild: Actions such as excessive spending, reckless driving, or substance abuse.
  • Self-Destructive Behaviours: Such as self-mutilation or suicidal thoughts, particularly when there is increased stress.
  • Chronic Emptiness: A general feeling of meaninglessness with the life of the individual.
  • Uncontrolled Anger: Intense anger; often in close relations.
  • Paranoia or Dissociation: Paranoid thoughts, or detachment from reality during stress.

  1. Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)

Characterized with inflated self-esteem, intense need for admiration, and inability for empathy. Symptoms include:

  • Grandiosity: Regarding self as much more important or valuable.
  • Requires Constant Admiration: Needs praise and acknowledgement of other people.
  • Sense of Entitlement: Expects special treatment and compliance with one’s desires.
  • Exploitative: There is exploitation of people for personal gain, without consideration of others’ needs or feelings.
  • Lack of Empathy: Does not understand or is unconcerned about the feelings or needs of others.
  • Feeling Envy: Being jealous of others or assuming others are jealous of them.
  • Arrogance: Acting superior and condescendingly.
  • Fantasies of Success and Power: Having fantasies of unlimited success, power, or talent at all times.
  • Sensitivity to Criticism: Being overly sensitive to criticism; criticism may make the patient angry or even depressed.
  1. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

PTSD occurs after someone experiences or witnesses traumatic events. The symptoms should be established for over one month before a patient is diagnosed as suffering from PTSD. Symptoms include the following, which are diagnostic criteria:

  • Re-experiencing of the Trauma: The event is replayed endlessly in one’s mind, sometimes in very distressing dreams.
  • Physical Reactions: Oftentimes, physical kinds of reactions occur, such as palpitations of the heart, sweating, or even trembling should a person be reminded of the event.
  • Avoidance of Reminders: The individual will try to avoid places, people, or activities that remind them of the trauma.
  • Intense Irritability and Anger: There may be repeated outrage or annoyance .
  • Difficulty in concentration: A person cannot pay attention to personal life and activities.
  • Sensitivity to environmental triggers: They can be sensitive to loud noise levels or anything that reminds them of the trauma.
  • Depersonalization: The individual may feel detached from the body or surroundings or think that they or the world is not real.

Final Thoughts

Neurological and psychological disorders can’t be diagnosed simply as unilateral or stereotypical symptoms; these are disorders whose manifestations differ from person to person and their timely diagnosis depends on awareness and watchfulness; symptoms at times are barely noticeable, sometimes behavioral, emotional, or cognitive in nature. This is an invitation to everyone to be more concerned about the mental health issues in our community. It is possible by creating awareness among the masses and providing additional supportive mechanisms to prevent such disorders from deteriorating further and bringing the affected person for timely proper treatment to continue his remaining life with better quality.

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