Can mental health concerns become psychiatric disorder? Know signs and symptoms

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Over the last few years, mental health has become a topic of discussions and debates. The privy subject that was brushed under the carpet, has finally got a voice with people talking about it and sharing information about it. However, there are still myths and confusions are it. For instance, many confuse mental health concerns with psychiatric disorders.

Mental health concerns are suggested to be time-limited. For instance, one may feel depressed and lack interest after losing a job. But, under better conditions, you feel better. Whereas, in the case of psychiatric disorders, the symptoms are frequent and long term like in case of Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder among others.

It is believed that when one fails to cope with mental health concerns and needs medications and psychotherapy for treatment, it can be termed psychiatric disorder. The patient can find it difficult to perform day-to-day tasks in this condition.

Signs and symptoms of psychiatric disorders:

Confused thinking
Finding it difficult to concentrate
Feeling depressed and sad
Lack of interest in things you once enjoyed doing
Extreme mood shifts; feeling very happy and very sad in a short span of time
It gets difficult to manage day-to-day stress
Low on energy
Feeling fearful and guilty frequently
Change in sex drive
Sleep issues and restlessness
Difficulty in coming to terms with reality
Hallucinating
Excessive anger, and resorting to violence
Suicidal thoughts

Meanwhile, a study, published in the journal Nature Communications, indicates that genetic risk factors are known to disrupt brain development in a number of these disorders, but little is known about which aspects of this process are affected.

"Genetic factors play a significant role in determining a person's risk of developing psychiatric disorders," said researcher Andrew Pocklington from Cardiff University.

"Uncovering biological processes impacted by these genetic risk factors is a major step towards understanding the causes of disease," Pocklington added.