Anxiety/Depression

What mental health conditions could I have?

There are many different types of mental health disorders. Those that are most likely to affect you include:

• Depression
• Anxiety disorders
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Phobias
• Bipolar disorder
• Eating disorders
• Impulse control disorders (e.g., problem gambling)
• Addictions

The mental health conditions that affect more people than any other are anxiety disorders and depression.

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is a normal human emotion, and there's nothing wrong with feeling concerned about things like a job interview or an exam. However, if your stress becomes so bad it overwhelms you, and you can't function normally, it's become a mental health disorder.

Anxiety can take several forms. The most common is generalized anxiety disorder, in which much of life causes stress, worry, and fear. You might also develop an anxiety disorder related to a particular environment, as is the case with a social anxiety disorder.

Phobias, which are fears of a specific object or situation, like confined spaces (claustrophobia) or spiders (arachnophobia), are also anxiety disorders.

What is depression?

Depression is a mood disorder that makes you feel persistently sad, hopeless, and worthless. When you have depression, darkness blankets your life and suffocates your spirit. There's no simple fix for depression – it's not a bad mood that you can simply shake off.

Without treatment, depression typically worsens over time until life becomes unbearable. You might be unable to get out of bed, and even simple tasks can become impossible. Depression strips away every good feeling from your life and distorts your perspectives. For many people, self-harm and thoughts of suicide take over.

How are mental health conditions diagnosed?

If you're experiencing symptoms of a mental health disorder, you can be sure Dr. Patel will provide you with warm, compassionate care. He listens to you describe your symptoms, looks at your medical history, then carries out a physical examination to check for signs of disease.

Sometimes conditions like depression and anxiety can be symptoms of physical health problems like thyroid disease, menopause, diabetes, heart disease, or COPD, so it's important to check for these conditions that require medical treatment.

How are mental health conditions treated?

If you have any underlying health problems, Dr. Patel prescribes the appropriate treatment for you. For example, if you have hypothyroidism, he can give you replacement thyroid medication.

Treating most mental health disorders involves two approaches in combination. The first is psychotherapy or counseling to help you deal with triggers for mental health problems and learn to manage them. The second is antidepressant medication, which helps address any chemical imbalance in your brain that could be contributing to your condition.

The sooner you seek help for a mental health problem, the sooner you can be back to your old self. Call Premier Healthcare Associates, PC, or book an appointment online today.