What is the most interesting mental illness and why?

І fіnd sоmе mеntаl іllnеssеs іntеrеstіng bесаusе thеу аrе іllustrаtіvе оf thе аdарtіvе аnd сrеаtіvе аbіlіtу оf humаn bеіngs tо survіvе.

Нumаns саn survіvе аll kіnds оf сhаllеngіng sіtuаtіоns, іnсludіng іnсrеdіblу trаumаtіс рsусhоlоgісаl sіtuаtіоns. Тhе mіnd іs сараblе оf сrеаtіng аddіtіоnаl реrsоnаlіtіеs, саusіng mеmоrу lоss, аnd сrеаtіng sуmрtоms whісh mау ultіmаtеlу іnсrеаsе thе рrоbаbіlіtу оf survіvаl.

Оnе оf thе mоst fаsсіnаtіng mеntаl іllnеssеs І hаvе еvеr sееn аnd trеаtеd іs соnvеrsіоn dіsоrdеr. Іn thіs саsе, а реrsоn gоеs blіnd, bесоmеs раrаlуzеd, оr lоsеs thе аbіlіtу tо swаllоw еvеn thеіr оwn sаlіvа usuаllу fоllоwіng а hіghlу strеssful ехреrіеnсе, аnd thеrе іs аbsоlutеlу nо mеdісаl саusе fоr thе sуmрtоms.

І оnсе wоrkеd wіth а уоung wоmаn, а nеw mоthеr, whо wаs rеаdу tо rеturn tо wоrk fоllоwіng hеr 8 wееks оf mаtеrnіtу lеаvе whеn shе suddеnlу bесаmе раrаlуzеd frоm thе wаіst dоwn. Аll sсаns аnd tеsts shоwеd thеrе wаs nо undеrlуіng mеdісаl оr nеurоlоgісаl рrоblеm, аnd shе wаs rеfеrrеd tо mе wіth thе rulе-оut dіаgnоsіs оf соnvеrsіоn dіsоrdеr. Ѕhе саmе tо mу оffісе іn а whееlсhаіr, unаblе tо wаlk оr stаnd.

Тhrоugh оur соursе оf thеrару, shе еvеntuаllу dіsсоvеrеd thаt shе hаd bееn sехuаllу аbusеd bу hеr fаthеr whеn shе wаs а уоung сhіld аnd hаd rерrеssеd thоsе mеmоrіеs. Неr sуmрtоms mаdе sеnsе whеn уоu undеrstаnd thаt thе аrrаngеmеnts fоr сhіldсаrе whіlе shе wаs tо rеturn tо wоrk wаs fоr hеr bаbу tо bе саrеd fоr bу hеr mоthеr аnd fаthеr.

Іnstеаd оf аllоwіng hеr tо rеmеmbеr whаt hаd hарреnеd tо hеr, hеr mіnd sіmрlу сrеаtеd а sеt оf sуmрtоms whісh рrеvеntеd hеr frоm bеіng аblе tо gо tо wоrk, sоlvіng thе сrіsіs оf рlасіng hеr сhіld wіth hеr fоrmеr аbusеr. Тhіs wоuld hаvе wоrkеd, tоо, but fоr thе wоndеrs оf mоdеrn mеdісіnе bеіng аblе tо dеtеrmіnе thеrе wаs nо struсturаl оr nеurоlоgісаl bаsіs fоr hеr раrаlуsіs.

Оnсе shе bесаmе аwаrе thаt shе соuld nоt роssіblу bе раrаlуzеd mеdісаllу, аnd wаs wіllіng tо ехрlоrе оthеr ехрlаnаtіоns fоr hеr sуmрtоms, thе mеmоrіеs оf hеr раst аbusе саmе іntо hеr аwаrеnеss аnd shе wаs ехtrеmеlу trаumаtіzеd. Вut іt fіnаllу mаdе sеnsе whаt hаd hарреnеd tо hеr bоdу.

Wе wоrkеd thrоugh hеr trаumа іn рsусhоthеrару аnd shе rеgаіnеd hеr аbіlіtу tо wаlk аlmоst іmmеdіаtеlу. Ѕоmе рhуsісаl thеrару tо rеgаіn musсlе strеngth wаs аll thаt wаs rеquіrеd.

Тhе роwеr оf thе mіnd tо іnfluеnсе thе bоdу vіа thе еmеrgеnсе оf mеdісаl sуmрtоms оr thrоugh сrеаtіvе hеаlіng іs trulу аmаzіng.

 

To me the most interesting and also one of the most tragic mental disorders is Dissociative Identity Disorder aka Multiple Personality Disorder.

Many times the person that has this has gone through severe trauma as a child by way of sexual or physical abuse. To cope with the severity of the abuse the child's personality in essence "fractures" into different parts leading to multiple personalities. These personalities each have their own traits that show up as this person's body "hosts" them. They can have differences in the way they speak, the languages they speak, their mannerisms, their handwriting, and their gender.

I first became acquainted with the condition when I was in nursing school in psychiatric nursing class. We were supposed to read a book about a psychiatric medical condition, and I chose to read "The Minds of Billy Milligan" It was a fascinating read for me, and I have been interested in the topic ever since.

When I got out into the medical world, I never saw a patient with it. In fact, no one I know has seen it, but I know that it's there. I know that there are more cases out there than are talked about, because when we face the facts, mental illness still is very stigmatized. I will be glad when the day comes that stigma is no longer placed upon those who suffer from things they have no control over.

 

I find Schizophrenia the most interesting Personality disorder. This is the d/o wherein lay people think you're possessed by withcraft but it is really not the case. Education about this disorder should actually be promoted because it is most of the time misunderstood.

 

I've always found Schizophrenia to be the most interesting. Unlike a lot of posters that can parrot information from the internet I've actually had many dealings with the mentally ill.

I have served as an EMT on an ambulance for over 10 years. I've seen patients who genuinely needed help all the way up to those who tried to fight with the police.

These people interest me because their delusions, to them, are real. So real that they often cannot differentiate between fact and fiction. Their delusions can be grand and complex in organization and detail.

One never knows what they might find when dispatched to a Schizophrenia patient.

 

I reckon it is, Schizophrenia as it can be even misdiagnosed even in today's world with the modern medicine and can be hard to tell what the patient is goin through and could be a past incident or something effecting the brain from before. It is an interesting illness as there is, different types of medicine which can treat it and everyone who has this illness will have different symptoms and also will take time to treat and see what is the person suffering from and try and make changes occur if possible. I have known some people, who thought some things were real when in fact they were affected by a death in their family and caused the mind to try and not let them move ahead and think the person is alive.

 

My mother has suffered from Schizophenia for all my life so I consider it pretty interesting. I never realized growing up that the way she acted wasn't normal. She had odd views of the world, saying that everyday God gave her a present which usually ended up being a piece of trash she had retrieved from someone else's garbage. Our house was covered in a foot of garbage in every room and we owned fifteen cats. She didn't allow my siblings or I to dress in certain styles or put our hair up. She thought planes flew over the house and she wrote extensively of the sightings in notebooks that she left everywhere. I hated her for it when I was young but now that I'm older I read all about Schizophrenia so that I can understand her better. She's been on meds for a couple of years now and the delusions and confused thinking is a bit better but she will never not be Schizophrenic. I think the disease is fascinating because it makes the person who they are. It is the reason behind many of their ideas and many of the weird little tendencies that they have.

 

Multiple Personality Disorder. I remember a TV show was hosting a lady. She had 4 personalities. The lady was 37 years old and she had brown eyes. One of her personalities was a 5 year old girl. When she turned into that 5 year old, her eyes started shifting from brown to dark bluish eyes. That was amazing. It's really true when they say "whatever the mind thinks, the body will follow".

 

I was going to say the same thing. It is always so eerie to see someone become a totally different person. This illness I have studied for sometime, and I get more surprised the more I learn about it.

 

I think that there are really interesting aspects to even "common" mental illnesses. I mean, it's a really small portion of society that actually has Dissociative Identity Disorder. Illnesses that involve mania like bipolar 1 disorder and schizoaffective disorder can have some really curious symptoms, like seeming psychic abilities, increased strength, and transcendent spiritual experiences. Based on the idea that the brain moves "more quickly" when manic, this really is an interesting concept.

 

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Obsessive compulsive disorder is a disease where one gets repetitive intrusive thoughts or images in his/her mind and can't shake them off at will despite really wanting to. Also in some people, this anxiety is lessened by repeatedly doing a certain act like washing hands excessively or checking door knobs.
This is very common than you might think and you may have this but never realise, this turns serious if continued for long.

 

I think ,Cancer is the most interesting field . Within few monthes , The number of cells become higher with unknown cause ,So this is the maun reason which we canot treat it .

 

I've known a number of people with mental health disorders and by far the most interesting is one I feel was misdiagnosed. She supposedly had bi-polar, but I truly believe, upon undertaking study, that she had NPD - Narcissistic Personality Disorder. She just couldn't converse or function unless it was all about her. No conversation with her was ever about anything else other than what she was doing, saying, feeling. At one stage she was confined to a wheelchair with a condition no doctors could find a cause for. Her legs stopped working, and tests and scans revealed nothing physical. Yet on occasion she was caught out when she thought no-one was looking. It was always important that all attention was on her, at whatever cost. Ultimately to her family because, apart from her teenage daughter, she ended up alone.

 

Hypochondria is one of the most interesting mental illness that have ever heard of. It is an emotional disorder of reoccurring fears of illness and samotization that last for more than six months.

Hypochondriacs are certain that good health is symptom free and anybody with any uncomfortable feeling in the body is seriously sick.

I once was an hypochondriac for two years. It was a nightmare, literally hell on earth. At that time I would not think about anything else, except the disease I was certain I had, which I had diagnosed myself with.

Every slight headache I had was a proof that something was wrong with me. After undergoing a three months treatment I was cured. Now I am hypochondria free.

 

Anxiety and Depression are very interesting because they are different from person to person. I personally struggle with both. I like to share my experience in order to help others. If we share with each other, chances are we learn something to help each other.

 

The most interesting mental illness would be anxiety disorders. I really never understood anxiety disorders until I personally experienced an anxiety attack while driving on the expressway. It seemed that years after I gave birth to my second child, the fear to drive on the expressway became so intense that I would freeze and immediately press or slam the brakes of my car while traffic was moving. This was terrifying for me and I kept it a secret for many years until I discovered what it really was. I'm still challenging this problem and I would love to see or know that there is research to help people life me experiencing this disorder. It's very depressing when you feel immobilized from something that you enjoyed doing for most of your life. I sometimes wonder does this anxiety disorder connect with a traumatic car crash I was involved in with my first child while I was pregnant. I believe that the impact from the car crash that happened 16 years ago has caused the effect to haunt me at this present time. I would love to talk with someone who also suffers from this same type of disorder as well.

 

Munchausen by Proxy is what I would consider the most 'interesting' mental illness, although by their very nature although interesting mental health illnesses are often devastating. The reason I believe this to be the most interesting is because of how difficult it is to pick up; someone who looks like a model caregiver is actually harming the person they should be caring for. Despite being little known, the mortality rate is between 6-10% making it positively lethal to those who are on the receiving end.

Interestingly it us usually the mother who is responsible rather than the father; 76.5% of cases are related to the mother againt 6.7% of cases being related to the father.

 

Well, I do suffer from OCD and anxiety, I started experiencing panic attacks at the age of 12. But I am under a doctor's care for these symptoms and am doing much better. To be honest with you, I find my mental problems (or issues) to be kind of boring, but I guess that's because they've been around for most of my life.

But I'll tell you what I do find extremely interesting. It's more of a personality disorder - it's called Schizoid Personality Disorder. People who suffer with this appear cold and aloof, but really are very kind individuals. They just don't have much interest in people in general. They keep to themselves, choose jobs that involve little to no interaction with others, will never speak first unless spoken to, usually avoid all relationships (girlfriends/boyfriends), rarely get married or have kids, and prefer living alone. (I happen to know somebody with this, which is why it's kind of cool to "study" him without him really knowing.) He doesn't talk much, but I know this is what he has. I wouldn't dare bring it to his attention. Schizoid Personality types absolutely HATE confrontation and will simply walk away. Not big talkers.

 

My mother suffered from Paranoid Schizophrenia. It was difficult growing up. I was very embarrassed by her condition. I couldn't even say the word. Her condition caused her to do and say some really weird things. She had a habit of leaving the house without telling anyone where she was going. She was infatuated with a news anchorman and she swore that he was her husband. One day she left our house and went downtown to the news anchor's office demanding to see him. Needless to say, she was immediately arrested and taken to the Western Missouri Mental Health Center for an evaluation. She held many conversations with the television and the radio. She also felt that her medication was poison.

My mother did have quite a few traumatic experiences in her life. I know for a fact that these experiences were quite emotionally disturbing for her. She also devised many coping skills to survive the unfortunate turn of events that took place in her life. Although my mother is gone on now: before she died, I have the awesome opportunity to learn just how strong and resilient my mother really was. She was an incredible woman. She became an LPN because she enjoyed helping people. She would babysit neighborhood children whose parents couldn't afford daycare and she also sat with and tended to the elderly. The monthly Haldol shot worked much better for my mother. This was something that she managed very well.

 

Another condition that has caught my attention is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I had a friend who dealt with this disorder. When she was growing up, her mother always made her feel like she was never clean enough. Every little thing she did warranted a bath and some serious scrubbing of skin, hair and nails. Even after all that bathing and scrubbing, her mother still wouldn't let her hug her or get close to her. As she got older she bathed and washed her hands far more than often, to the point of scrubbing herself raw. She was also an obsessive neat freak. Through counselling and therapy, she is doing quite well.

 

The thing I find most interesting is the way the mind works with both Multiple Personality Disorder and Schizophrenia, as both hear voices in their heads telling them what to do. Neither can control or shut up the voices without therapy to understand it or medications to control or tone it down a bit. Then again is the cause of both, being different and yet producing similar symptoms. It is amazing that mental health doctors can explore and diagnosis the correct mental condition and then have the courage to stick with their patients throughout the treatment necessary to help these people try and have a somewhat normal life.