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Bipolar disorder is a group of disorders that cause extreme fluctuation in a person’s mood, energy, and ability to function. At one extreme, there may be manic episodes characterised by an intensely joyful or irritable mood, decreased need for sleep, fast speech, racing thoughts, distractibility, restlessness, risky and impulsive behaviour like reckless driving or spending. At the other extreme, there may be depressive episodes characterised by low mood, loss of interest or pleasure in activities, fatigue, feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, disturbed sleep and appetite, and frequent thoughts of death or suicide.

Anxiety is characterized by excessive worry and apprehensive expectations about a number of events or activities, such as work or school performance.

The anxiety and worry are associated with symptoms of restlessness or feeling keyed up or on edge, becoming easily fatigued, difficulty concentrating or mind going blank, irritability, muscle tension, sleep disturbance such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, or restless and unsatisfying sleep.

OCD is characterized by the presence of obsessions and/or compulsions. Obsessions are recurrent and persistent thoughts, urges, or images that are experienced as intrusive and unwanted, whereas compulsions are repetitive behaviours or mental acts that an individual feels driven to perform in response to an obsession or according to rules that must be applied rigidly. Certain symptom dimensions are common in OCD, including those of cleaning (contamination obsessions and cleaning compulsions); symmetry (symmetry obsessions and repeating. ordering and counting compulsions); forbidden or taboo thoughts (e.g., aggressive, sexual and religious obsessions and related compulsions); and harm (e.g., fears of harm to oneself or others and related checking compulsions).

Sleep Disorders are a group of conditions that affect the ability to sleep well, on a regular basis – sleeping late, difficulty to fall asleep once woken up in the night. They are caused by a health problem or by too much stress or mental health issues. Most people occasionally experience it and self-limiting. In many cases, sleep disorders develop as a result of an underlying mental health problem.

Personality disorders are long-term patterns of behaviour and inner experiences that differ significantly from what is expected. They affect ways of thinking about oneself and others, responding emotionally, relating to other people, and controlling one’s behaviour.

Drug Addiction can be a chronic illness highlighted by drug seeking behaviour and use that is difficult to control, repetitive and leading harmful physical, social and monetary consequences. The initial decision to take drugs is voluntary for most people, but repeated drug use lead to brain changes that makes a person lose their self-control and seek drugs, to feel positive or in control of their life. Substances such as alcohol, marijuana and nicotine are also, considered drugs.

Psychosis is when a person has abnormalities in thoughts and perceptions in any of these ways:

• Delusions, which are false beliefs that the person can’t tell are false.
• Hallucinations, which are sensory experiences that other people don’t or can’t share.
• Disorganized thinking or speech, which are patterns of thought that aren’t logical, linear, or goal-directed.
• Disorganized behaviour, which are patterns of behaviour that are unpredictable or inappropriate.
• Negative symptoms, which are a decrease or loss of normal functioning. For instance, the person may stop expressing any emotions. Or they may speak only certain phrases or stop speaking altogether

This may include Schizophrenia, which is a chronic mental illness characterized by delusions, hallucinations, such as hearing voices or seeing things that do not exist, paranoia and exaggerated or distorted perceptions, beliefs and behaviours, disorganized speech and behaviour. Negative symptoms may include impaired emotional expression, decreased speech output, reduced desire to have social contact, reduced drive to initiate and persist in purposeful activities, and decreased experience of pleasure. It can be characterized by episodes in which the person is unable to distinguish between real and unreal experiences.

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a complex mix of physical, emotional, and behavioural changes that happen in some women after giving birth. PPD is a form of major depression that begins within 4 weeks after delivery. The diagnosis of postpartum depression is based not only on the length of time between delivery and onset but on the severity of the depression.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that’s caused by an extremely stressful or terrifying event — either being part of it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety and uncontrollable thoughts about the event. PTSD involves difficulty recovering after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event and can include both emotional and physical reactions. Traumatic or stressful events that may lead to PTSD include accidents, combat, forms of violence such as assault, and natural disasters

Dementia can be of different types– Alzheimer’s, Vascular and such usually affecting older adults. In dementia, there is short term memory loss, difficulty communicating or finding words, problem solving, coordination or motor functions and judgement. It can include confusion, disorientation and symptoms can include forgetfulness, aggression and sexually inappropriate behaviour.

Autism is condition in which a child has difficulty with social interactions and communication. The disorder may include limited and repetitive patterns of behaviour. Children can have wide range of symptoms and severity in this

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder defined by impairing levels of inattention, disorganization, and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity. Inattention and disorganization entail inability to stay on task, seeming not to listen, and losing materials necessary for tasks, at levels that are inconsistent with age or developmental level. Hyperactivity-impulsivity entails overactivity, fidgeting, inability to stay seated, intruding into other people’s activities, and inability to wait.