The 15 most common psychiatric disorders

Many of these mental disorders can generate extremely serious symptoms.

The human psyche is really complex, being its normative functioning an essential element in order to be able to develop and adapt to the environment successfully. However, sometimes it is possible to find that for some reason there is some kind of alteration that hinders such adaptation, causing a deep discomfort to the sufferer and greatly altering his life and / or those around him. This is what happens in psychiatric disorders..

There is a wide variety of these disorders, which greatly alter and hinder the lives of those who suffer from them. However, some are more frequent than others. In this article we present fifteen of the most common ones.

What are the most frequent psychiatric disorders?

The following are the 15 psychiatric disorders that are most frequently encountered in clinical practice.

1. Major depression and other depressive disorders

Major depression is one of the most prevalent disorders in the world, being characterized by the presence of a sad mood and the presence of apathy and anhedonia together with other symptoms such as sleep disturbances, eating disorders, feelings of hopelessness, loss of concentration, mental and physical slowing, frustration and passivity. Suicidal ideation may occur.

In addition to major depression, dysthymia is also very frequent, in which depressive symptoms of lesser severity than in major depression appear but are continuous over time (almost daily for at least two years).

2. Panic disorder with agoraphobia

The set of anxiety disorders are the most frequent type of disorder in the clinical population, although each of them separately may not be so frequent. One of the most common is panic disorder, in which anxiety attacks occur frequently with tachycardia, sweating, accelerated breathing, a feeling of loss of control over one's own behavior and fears such as the fear of dying or going mad. The idea of recurrence generates anticipatory anxiety, favoring behavioral avoidance.favoring the behavioral avoidance of situations in which it could appear.

In cases of agoraphobia, anxiety occurs in situations in which the subject cannot escape or may not receive help if he/she suffers a crisis, such as in places with a large number of people or very open places, so that he/she tends to avoid them (which is very limiting).

3. Alcohol dependence

Alcoholism is a very common problem, due, among other things, to the relatively good social perception of alcohol consumption. Dependence on this substance can lead to serious health problems, such as liver problemssuch as liver problems, alcoholic comas and can even lead to the death of the sufferer.

4. Anorexia nervosa

It is one of the most prevalent disorders in today's society, derived from the cult of the body and the high valuation of aesthetics and current beauty standards. Anorexia nervosa is characterized by a refusal of food intake, refusal or refusal to maintain a minimum body weight, distortion of body image and other symptoms such as amenorrhea or absence of menstruation. other symptoms such as amenorrhea or absence of menstruation..

It is common to induce vomiting after eating, to hide food or to exercise excessively in order not to gain weight. It is one of the few psychiatric disorders that is capable of killing by itself, due to the consequences of the lack of nutrients.

5. Bulimia nervosa

Along with the previous one, it is part of the most frequent eating disorders. Bulimia nervosa is similar to anorexia in the fact that it there is an obsessive fear of gaining weight and there is a certain distortion of the body image, but it is characterized by the presence of massive binge eating in which control is lost.

After them, guilt and shame appear, and the sufferer starts to use compensatory methods to avoid gaining weight, such as making him/herself vomit.

6. Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is undoubtedly the best known psychotic disorder. It is characterized by the presence of hallucinationsIt is characterized by the presence of hallucinations, delusions, disorganized behavior and/or language, catatonia and/or negative symptoms such as alogia or poverty of thought for at least six months and producing a significant alteration in one or several vital domains.

7. Disorder by Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

ADHD is one of the most widely known and diagnosed neurodevelopmental disorders worldwide, to the point that it is highly overdiagnosed. It is characterized by the presence of inattention symptoms such as distractibility, loss of objects, forgetfulness of activities or inability to complete tasks, among others, together with hyperactivity symptoms such as motor restlessness, inability to keep turns or interruption in other people's activities.

Despite the above, it is possible that there is only attention deficit, in which case we would only be facing an ADD.

8. Autism Spectrum Disorder

Another of the most well-known neurodevelopmental disorders, autism is characterized by the presence of difficulties in communication and socialization, with difficulties in managing, expressing, and capturing emotions.The child has difficulties in the pragmatic use of language, lack of understanding and use of non-verbal language, isolation and lack of social reciprocity.

Restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests also appear, coping poorly with changes or requiring stable routines. Sometimes there is also hyper or hyposensitivity to sensory stimulation.

It should be taken into account that the concept of autism encompasses a series of phenomena that may or may not be present in each person diagnosed with ASD. Furthermore, there are many degrees of autism, there are many degrees of autismwhich are expressed both through people with intellectual disabilities and incapable of speaking, to cases of individuals capable of speaking and with high intelligence.

9. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

OCD is a disorder characterized by the continuous presence of persistent intrusive thoughts recognized as their own, which the subject considers irrational and which awaken in the subject a high anxiety because they are considered inadmissible and that he/she will try to block actively, which causes a centering and overvaluation of these thoughts. This will eventually lead to their reappearance, generating obsession.

The patient usually uses a series of ritual acts that momentarily alleviate the anxiety, but in the long term but that in the long term facilitate the reappearance of this one, denominated compulsions. A vicious circle is established between obsession and compulsion that will provoke a deep suffering in the subject and an increasing level of anxiety, dedicating great time of his life to the realization of the compulsions and to the active avoidance of the obsession.

10. Bipolar disorder

Along with depression, it is part of the mood disorders. This disorder is characterized by the presence of episodes of mania or hypomania that may or may not alternate with depressive episodes. The former are characterized by the presence of expansiveness, grandiosity, euphoria and disinhibition. They often become irritable and take more risks than usual, often performing actions they would not normally do.

There are two types of bipolarity, type 1 which corresponds to the suffering of at least one manic or mixed episode which may or may not alternate with one or more depressive episodes and type 2 in which there has been at least one hypomanic episode followed or preceded in time by at least one depressive episode. In this type of disorder the mood can fluctuate rapidly, and can become very disabling. In fact, it is the type of disorder it is the type of disorder with the highest risk of suicide, above major depression.above the major depression.

11. Dependence to other substances

The dependence to substances is a very frequent and relevant disorder in the current population. In this list we have previously separated alcohol dependence because it is one of the most prevalent, but cocaine and heroin dependence are also frequent.

The fact that these disorders are widespread cannot be understood without taking into account the influence of culture and political and economic dynamics.

12. Post-traumatic stress disorder

It is a disorder derived from the experience of a deep trauma in which the subject has seen his life or integrity threatened or has witnessed a situation that has caused him a high sense of vulnerability, helplessness or fear..

After this experience, the subject manifests continuous re-experiencing, avoidance of stimuli associated with this situation and a high level of physiological hyperarousal for more than a month. It is typical in situations of gender violence, rape or in situations of war conflict.

13. Personality dependency disorder

This is one of the most frequent personality disorders, characterized by the excessive need to take care of the subject. Relationships of submission and obedience are established with respect to the environment in order to be loved and not to be abandoned. It usually occurs in people with low self-esteem and mood disorders are common.

14. Borderline personality disorder

Borderline personality disorder is one of the most severe personality disorders, characterized by the presence of high emotional instability, the presence of impulsivity and a fluctuating mood state with the presence of fear of abandonment, feelings of emptiness and disturbances in self-consumption and personal relationships.. In many cases they self-injure and may even engage in self-injurious behavior.

15. Antisocial personality disorder

Antisocial personality disorder is characterized by the existence of a pattern of behavior in which there is disobedience to social norms, lack of respect for the rights and opinions of others, cruelty, irritability and low tolerance to frustration.