The state of mind can be balanced and at the same time imbalanced. When it is balanced, we say we are mentally healthy and when it is imbalanced, we can say we are mentally unhealthy.
When an individual is mentally unhealthy, then we can conclude that such individual is experiencing what we call mental disorder.
Mental disorder is a wide range of conditions that affects our mood, thoughts, and behavior ranging from an individual’s approach to a real-life situation. It is usually associated with distress or impairment, and there are different kinds of mental disorders, they include anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorder, personality disorder, etc.
Anyone can be at risk of developing any form of mental disorder especially those exposed to adverse circumstances such as; poverty, violence, disability, and inequality. These sets of people are prone to a greater risk of developing a mental disorder. Individual psychological and biological factors can make such individuals more vulnerable to mental health conditions. At every point in an individual’s life, risks can manifest themselves but the risks that manifest at the developmentally sensitive stage of an individual’s life are particularly detrimental to mental well-being.
Anxiety Disorder is characterized by excessive fear and persistent worry about everyday situations related to behavioral disturbances. The fear that something may go wrong even without having to challenge what the situation may be is a form of anxiety disorder. It also involves repeated episodes of intense fear, worry, and terror that attain a peak within minutes is also known as panic attack.
Anxiety disorder can be seen from different angles; generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by excessive worry, a panic disorder characterized by panic attacks, a social anxiety disorder characterized by fear and worry in social gatherings, and separation disorder which is characterized by the fear of being separated from loved ones among many others.
Many individuals that move around today suffer from anxiety disorder and some conclude of having phobias, which unknown to them can be characterized as a form of anxiety disorder. Being phobic hinders an individual from trying something new, the idea that something will go wrong once a decision is made instills fear in the mind of such an individual.
Note: Ms Omolara Oyewole is our new writer who will now anchor our Living/Health pages here. She will also feature on the pages of our sister publication, Parrot Xtra Magazine. – Editor
