As college students, we have all come in contact with mental illness and mental disorders. In such a stressful environment, of course these issues are making themselves present. And even if you personally are not experiencing them or know someone directly dealing with them, you are still exposed to them through dramatized television and film.
With the media’s involvement in portraying mental illness, some disorders are portrayed incorrectly, as more drastically than they are experienced on average.
This gives mental illnesses a bad reputation and creates a stigma that can be ultimately harmful to affected individuals. A few of these mental disorders include bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and borderline personality disorder.
This article is going to cover the truths behind these three mental illnesses and provide the ammunition needed to abolish the stigmas surrounding mental illness.
What is bipolar disorder?
Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder that affects one’s mood, energy, and motivation. Bipolar disorder is characterized most often by “mood swings.” It is composed of two parts: manic episodes and depressive episodes.
Manic episodes are those of high energy and motivation, during which sleeping and eating less is common. Depressive episodes are ones of lower energy and an inability to carry out daily activities. During these episodes, individuals are likely to eat and sleep more, as well as isolate themselves.
There are four basic types of bipolar disorder, but the two most common are Bipolar I Disorder and Bipolar II Disorder. Both of these types depend on the magnitude of the manic and depressive episodes.
Cases with more extreme manic and depressive episodes are categorized as Bipolar I Disorder. Cases with less variance, but still a distinction between hypomanic (which are less intense manic states) and depressive episodes, are categorized as Bipolar II Disorder.
It is important to recognize that bipolarity acts as a cycle. So, bipolar disorder does not mean sudden and drastic mood changes. It means that people with the illness will experience days to weeks of mania or hypomania, and then days to weeks of depression.
Bipolar disorders are treatable with mood stabilizers. Individuals with bipolar disorders can function just as well as those unaffected with the proper medical and psychiatric care.
What is schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder that induces hallucinations and delusions. Hallucinations are experiences of stimuli that aren’t actually there, like hearing voices. Delusions are false beliefs.
People with schizophrenia may hear voices or see things—though visual hallucinations are not as common—that are not actually there. They may also believe things that may seem bizarre to us, but are logical to them.
This disease affects a small portion of the population, but is still present in everyday life.
Most people affected by this illness are reserved and keep away from most social situations, as opposed to how the media portrays those affected as violent and dangerous.
This disease is treatable with antipsychotic medications that are able to lessen or prevent the individual from experiencing hallucinations or delusions. Counseling and other psychiatric practices can help the individual learn to cope with the disease.
What is borderline personality disorder?
Borderline personality disorder, or BPD, affects a person’s mood, behavior, and relationships. Individuals with BPD can exhibit signs of erratic emotions, impulsivity, and unstable relationships.
BPD can cause affected individuals to react extremely to events in a way that may seem like overreacting. They can sometimes experience a distorted self-image or self-esteem issues, which can lead to dangerous behaviors or self-harm.
BPD is diagnosed more in women than men and usually coupled with other mental illnesses like depression and eating disorders, so it can easily be misdiagnosed as one of the paired mental illnesses.
There is no specific FDA approved medication for those suffering from BPD, but people with the disorder can attend counseling or psychotherapy sessions, or be prescribed medications that treat anxiety or depression by a psychiatrist.
So, you can see that these mental illnesses aren’t as extreme as the media makes them out to be. If someone with one of these mental illnesses has the right support and is willing to work on coping strategies and therapies, they can live their lives just as well as people who aren’t suffering from the illness can.
There are many other stigmatized disorders out there and so much more information on these three than was included in this article. More information on mental disorders can be found at the National Institute of Mental Health website.
This article is part of several in a series on mental. Look towards the future for more information on psychological issues present on college campuses.