About
Mental Health Disorders We Treat:
Anxiety
Anxiety is a normal stress reaction. It can alert us to dangers and help us prepare and pay attention—to excessive feelings of nervous anxiety and fear that are out of proportion to the situation or age-inappropriate. The anxious feelings hinder your ability to function normally. Several categories of anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, specific phobias, agoraphobia, social anxiety disorder, and separation anxiety disorder.
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurological disorder that impacts the parts of the brain that help us plan, focus on, and execute tasks. ADHD symptoms vary by sub-type — inattentive, hyperactive, or combined — and are often more challenging to diagnose in girls and adults. 8.4% of children and 2.5 % of adults have ADHD. Symptoms include the inability to maintain focus, excess movements, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Two online diagnostic tools from inside the ADHD mind: ADHD Symptom Assessment for kids and ADHD Symptom Self Assessment for Adults. Self-assessment tools are not meant to replace a diagnosis from a mental health professional and are for educational purposes. We also recommend ADDitude Magazine as an educational resource for patients and parents. We are proud members of CHADD – Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
A complex developmental disorder, usually first diagnosed in childhood with signs presented around age 2 – 3 years old. Symptoms can include problems with thinking, feeling, language, and the ability to relate to others. It involves challenges in social interaction, speech, and nonverbal communication, including restricted or repetitive behaviors. The symptoms and severity are different in each person. We recommend this ADDitude Magazine article on What is Autism Spectrum Disorder for additional reading. The Mental Health Management Group offers testing within our Brandon office facility. Please call 813-672-1021 or email daniella.maglione@gmail.com to schedule an appointment.
Bipolar Disorder
A brain disorder changes a person’s mood, energy, and ability to function. The mood episodes are intense emotional states that typically occur during distinct periods of days to weeks. The episodes are categorized as abnormally happy or irritable (manic/hypomanic) or sad (depressed). There are three types: Bipolar I, II, and cyclothymic disorder. People without bipolar disorder experience mood fluctuations that typically last hours rather than days and do not disrupt or create difficulties in daily routines or social interactions with other people.
Depression
One of the most common mental illnesses causes feelings of sadness and loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities. Depression can lead to various emotional and physical problems, and the symptoms can vary from mild to severe. To learn more about clinical and situational depression and the relationship between dopamine and depression or Take This Short Quiz.
Disruptive, impulse control, and conduct disorders
This can result in a person behaving angrily or aggressively toward people or property. Most children or teenagers will act up or become disruptive or defiant sometimes. They have difficulty controlling their emotions, and their behaviors may lead to breaking the rules or laws. This group of disorders is classified as a defiant disorder, conduct disorder, intermittent explosive disorder, kleptomania, or pyromania. It becomes a disorder when the behavior is much more severe over extended periods.
Dissociative Disorders
They are typically associated with a previous traumatic experience, resulting in problems with memory, perception, behavior, and sense of self. Symptoms include loss of memory or amnesia or the experience of a detachment or feeling from being outside oneself. They are also known as Dissociative identity disorder, dissociative amnesia, and depersonalization/derealization disorder.
Gender Dysphoria
The psychological distress results from feeling incongruence between one’s biological gender (born anatomy and chromosomes XX or XY) and personal identity. Some people choose to transition to the gender they identify with and use the term or label “transgender.” People who identify as transgender may pursue multiple domains of gender affirmation, including social, legal, medical, and surgical affirmation.
Hoarding Disorder
According to the American Psychiatric Association (AMA), an estimated 2 – 6% of the population has hoarding disorder, which is more common in males than females. It is also more common among adults 55 – 94 years of age. People with hoarding disorder have persistent difficulty parting with possessions, leading to clutter that disrupts their ability to use their living and workspaces—also described as excessively saving items that others may view as worthless.
Intellectual Disability
Includes general mental abilities in both intellectual and adaptive functioning. This includes intellectual functioning, learning, reasoning, communication, and independent living.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
The disorder is where people have recurring, unwanted thoughts, ideas, or sensations that make them feel driven to do something repetitively. Even though they know their obsessions are unrealistic, they have difficulty stopping thoughts and compulsive actions. For the person with OCD, not performing the repetitive behavior causes distress, disrupting their daily life.
Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
A persistent pattern of defiance, anger, and aggressive behavior against authority figures. In adolescents and children, authority figures are typically parents and teachers. The importance here is to acknowledge the persistence over time and the severity of the behavior. Many adolescents and teens experience a period of time where they challenge, question, and act defiantly.
Personality Disorders
A way of thinking, feeling, and behaving about oneself and others, responding emotionally, relating to others, and controlling one’s behavior. Long-time patterns of behavior and inner experiences differ from “society social norms” and cause distress, problems functioning, and interacting with others. Types of personality disorders: Antisocial personality disorder, avoidant personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, dependent personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, paranoid personality disorder, schizoid personality disorder, and schizotypal personality disorder.
Postpartum Depression
Peripartum and postpartum depression are medical illnesses occurring during pregnancy or after childbirth. It is a treatable medical illness involving feelings of extreme sadness, indifference, anxiety, and changes in energy, sleep, and appetite. According to the American Psychiatry Association (AMA), 1 – 7 women experience peripartum depression. Pregnancy and after delivery can be very vulnerable times for women. Mothers often experience immense biological, emotional, financial, and social changes during this time.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
A psychiatric disorder can occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event. PTSD can occur at any age, affecting approximately 3.5% of US adults yearly, with 1 – 11 diagnosed in their lifetime. People with PTSD have intense, disturbing thoughts and feelings about their experience long after the traumatic event. They may avoid situations or people that remind them of the traumatic event and may have strong adverse reactions to external noises or an accidental touch. There are four types of PTSD symptoms: Intrusion, avoidance, alterations in cognition and mood, and alterations in arousal and reactivity. Symptoms last more than a month and cause significant distress or problems in daily functioning. To learn more, please read our PTSD blog article.
Schizophrenia
A chronic brain disorder characterized by episodes where a person cannot distinguish between real and unreal experiences. The severity, duration, and frequency of the symptoms can vary. When active, schizophrenia can include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, trouble with thinking, and lack of motivation. Symptoms usually appear in early adulthood and persist for at least six months.
Specific Learning Disorder
A neurodevelopmental disorder or learning disability begins during school age but may not be recognized until adulthood. Learning disabilities refer to ongoing problems in three areas: reading, writing, and math, foundational to one’s learning ability. 5 – 15% of school-age children struggle with a learning disability. An estimated 80% of those school-age children have the reading disorder dyslexia. One-third of learning disabilities also have ADHD. Other specific skills that may be impacted include putting thoughts into written words, spelling, reading comprehension, math problem-solving, or calculations.
Psychiatry Class of Medications: Description and Uses in Behavior Health
Antidepressants – Used to treat depression, panic disorder, PTSD, anxiety, borderline personality, and eating disorders.
Antipsychotic medications – Used to treat psychotic symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder.
Sedative and anxiolytics – Used to treat anxiety and insomnia
Hypnotics – Used to induce and maintain sleep
Mood stabilizers – Used to treat bipolar disorder
Stimulants – Used to treat ADHD
