Psychiatry

Psychiatry is a medicine discipline that focuses on the mind – the diagnosis, treatment and management of mental, emotional and behavioural disorders. The mind is a powerful complex thing that encompasses behavioural, perceptual, cognitive, and emotional systems of an individual. It is responsible for your thoughts and feelings, intellect, reasoning, memory and all other unconscious cognitive processes. The mind correlates to mental health, and only through the understanding of the mind comes treatments for mental health conditions.

A balanced mental health is important in maintaining quality of life as our mental health reflects our emotions, psychological functions, and social well-being – affecting how we think, feel, act, make decisions and choices, and communicate with others.;

Mental illnesses are disorders that affects your thought processes, mood and/or behaviour. With the complexity of the mind, even until today, doctors may still not have fully studied and understood all there is about our mind. Some common factors can contribute to the development of mental illness include biological factors (e.g., genetics, brain chemistry), life experiences (e.g., trauma or abuse), unhealthy coping mechanisms (e.g., substance abuse), and family history of mental health problems (hereditary). Now, you or a loved one may experience the following signs and symptoms related to emotions, thoughts and behaviours that may be an early warning to a presence of mental disorders.

1. Feeling sad, confused and/or reduced ability to concentrate
2. Excessive fears or worries, or extreme feelings of guilt
3. Extreme mood changes of highs and lows
4. Withdrawal from friends and activities
5. Significant tiredness, low energy or problems sleeping
6. Detachment from reality (delusions), paranoia or hallucinations
7. Inability to cope with daily problems or stress
8. Trouble understanding and relating to situations and to people
9. Problems with substance (alcohol or drug) use
10. Major changes in eating habits
11. Sex drive changes
12. Excessive anger, hostility or violence
13. Suicidal thinking

While some of these symptoms may be normal from time to time, if persists for a long period of time without management, it can develop into mental illness that eventually may affect your ability to function in your daily life.