The world in (no) color
Your team loses, your best friend moves away, your preteen claims to hate you — if you’re human, you feel sad. But if your team wins, your best friend announces a surprise visit, your preteen apologizes and you still feel sad, you may be clinically depressed. “A person is blue if they have deep, colorful emotions in response to loss in life,” says Lara Honos-Webb, a clinical psychologist in San Francisco and author of “Listening to Depression: How Understanding Your Pain Can Heal Your Life.” “Depression is more like the color black — there [are] no subtle colors to the emotion but stark pain.” How else do experts explain the difference between normal and disordered?
The mental health spectrum
Just as we’ve all sneezed but don’t all have allergies, we’ve all experienced symptoms of some mental illnesses without having a mental illness. That’s part of the reason why identifying these conditions — which affect 25 percent of Americans at some point in their lives — can be so difficult. Still, most mental illness diagnoses come down to a few key considerations: how long the symptoms have persisted, how intense they are, how appropriate they are to the situation and how much they’re affecting a person’s daily life. A mental health professional can drill down to the specifics — and provide treatment if necessary. Here’s what they might look for in seven conditions:
Am I just absent-minded — or struggling with ADHD?
Forget to add a contact to your cellphone? Honos-Webb will give you “absent-minded.” But if “half of your contacts are organized alphabetically by last name and the other half is organized alphabetically by first name,” you might have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, says Honos-Webb, who also wrote “The Gift of ADHD: How to Transform Your Child’s Problems Into Strengths.” While the condition is ideally diagnosed before age 12, adults often live with it undiagnosed. Check out the World Health Organization’s screener to see if you should seek a formal diagnosis — something that’s often a relief to adults who’ve attributed their symptoms to character flaws, the Attention Deficit Disorder Association assures.
Am I just shy — or do I have social anxiety disorder?
Your boss asks you to deliver a work presentation next month. Do you worry about it days before — or all month? Does preparation calm you down — or feel useless? Does a smile from an audience member pacify you — or are you gripped with uncontrollable physical reactions like sweating? If you can relate more to the latter experiences, you may have social anxiety disorder, says Linda Sapadin, a psychologist and author in Valley Stream, New York, who specializes in helping people overcome self-defeating patterns of behavior. The condition, which affects about 7 percent of American adults, is often treated with a mix of medications and talk therapy.
Am I just a neat freak — or obsessive-compulsive?
Meet Allen, a 22-year-old with obsessive-compulsive disorder who’s described in “Understanding Mental Disorders,” the American Psychiatric Association’s guidebook to its diagnostic manual. Allen is so fearful of contracting HIV that he spends hours washing his hands — with bleach, no less — up to 30 times a day. Dedicating extensive time and energy to a rigid routine that brings little joy and is often triggered by a knowingly irrational but persistent thought is a sign of obsessive compulsive disorder. While perfectionists prefer to do things well, Sapadin says, someone with OCD “is driven to do it, regardless of the toll it takes on him or those he works or lives with.”
Am I just a party animal — or an addict?
What do you think about first when you score an invite to what’s sure to be the party of the year? If it’s who will be there, what you’ll wear and how you’ll dance all night, party on! If it’s how much alcohol will be served and how you’ll get your hands on it, you may have a substance abuse problem. “The ‘party animal’ loves every aspect of the party scene,” explains DeAnna Jordan, clinical director of New Method Wellness substance abuse treatment center in Orange County, California. “The addict is obsessed with attaining the booze.” Treatment — often a combination of medication and individual or group therapy — can help.
Am I rightfully worried — or a hypochondriac?
Good news: Your doctor assures you that your mole, cough and stomach discomfort are nothing to worry about. How do you feel? Relieved? Or “do you still believe the doctor made a mistake and something is dreadfully wrong?” asks Sapadin, who wrote “Master Your Fears: How to Triumph Over Your Worry and Get on with Your Life.” Feeling the latter could be a sign of hypochondriasis, a specific phobia in which the fear of sickness far outweighs the risk. “Hypochondriacs live in constant dread of having the next awful disease,” Sapadin says. Seeking professional help for any phobia is especially important, APA’s guide points out, since having one raises the risk for suicide.
Am I just a bad sleeper — or an insomniac?
Michael Grandner, director of the Sleep and Health Research Program at the University of Arizona, calls it the 30-30-3 rule: If it takes you more than 30 minutes to fall asleep or back to sleep at least three nights a week, you might have insomnia — but only if you’ve also given yourself sufficient time to sleep and are suffering the consequences of sleeplessness during the day. The condition (or its symptoms) can strike in response to a situation (say, a job loss), coincide with a different condition (like an anxiety disorder) or be chronic, and is typically treated with medication and behavior therapy.
Do I just overdo it on food — or do I have binge eating disorder?
Whoops. There goes the whole pint of ice cream — again. If you shrug it off and remember how delicious it was, blame your sweet tooth. But if you’re riddled with guilt and remember feeling out of control, you might have binge eating disorder — the most common eating disorder, which can be treated with psychotherapy and medications, according to the National Eating Disorders Association. “All of us have eaten a meal or a snack when we were full or not hungry because of boredom, peer pressure and the like,” Jordan says. The binge-eating disorder sufferer, on the other hand, does it often — and often in secret.
More from U.S. News
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The Eating Disorder Spectrum — From Pregorexia to Drunkorexia
Am I Just Sad — or Actually Depressed? originally appeared on usnews.com
