12. Psychiatric Disorders (Part 1)

Psychiatric Disorders affect 18% of all people in the USA.  23% of everyone diagnosed with anxiety disorders are categorized as a severe case.  There are 4 types of anxiety disorders these types are OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), panic, phobias, and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).
 
OCD:
People with OCD get trapped in their own repetitive thoughts and behavior. OCD occurs in cycles.  The cycle of OCD starts with obsession. Obsessions create unwanted thoughts, urges, and mental images. An example of this is a person with OCD might check if the doors are locked repeatedly. This leads to a situation of anxiety.  It makes the person feel like there is an imposing threat.  The 3rd step in the cycle is compulsions. This causes the person to repeatedly check to see if the doors are locked. They might check the door once and immediately feel like the door needs to be checked again. The last step in the cycle of OCD is a relief. This sense of relief is short-lived. The relief often goes away quickly causing new obsessions and compulsion starting the cycle all over again. PET scans on people with OCD found that they have found abnormalities in their brain in the deep layer of the cortex.
 
Panic Disorders:
Patients with panic disorder feature severe levels of panic.  When they panic the patient experiences sweatiness, dizziness, weakness, and shortness of breath. Panic disorder can be cured by with Selective Serotonin uptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), Sertraline and Paroxetine.
 
Phobias:
Phobias are referred to as an intense or irrational fear of a particular situation do object. Some examples of phobias are being scared of blood, snakes, spiders or heights. Cognitive behavior therapy is an effective way to treat phobias as well as exposure therapy.  Symptoms of phobias are dizziness, fear of fainting, and a fear of going insane, cold or hot flushes, shortness of breath.
 
PTSD:
 
PTSD is a stress disorder.  PTSD starts with an extreme stressor. Such as war, assault or witnessing a crime. Symptoms of PTSD are depression, excess stress hormones, and disordered sleep. A trigger in the environment causes symptoms to increase.  There are 4 types to treat PTSD.  The first one is psychotherapy (also known as cognitive behavior therapy CBT). The second type is a reduction in norepinephrine (a stress hormone). The 3rd type is an increase in GABA neurotransmitters and the 4th and the last type is Antidepressants (also known as Antipsychotic medication).