Mental Health Problems - What are mental illnesses?

Many people can suffer with periods of anxiety or depression, often as a reaction to personal troubles. However, some people might find these problems difficult to cope with. They might find the problems have no obvious cause, that they don It go away or even become worse. In these situations, they may have a type of mental illness which can require professional help.   

Mental illnesses can include:   

• problems with how you feel such as severe depression;
• problems with how you think such as schizophrenia;
• problems with how you behave such as eating disorders.                  

Although many people will and do recover from these, for some these problems can last a long time. This means they will need support, assistance and services for a significant part of their lives. This help may be available from many different places:   

• the health service, including your Doctor, hospital and community health services such as clinics and community psychiatric nurses; 
• social care services including social workers, home carers and day centres; and 
• independent organisations including voluntary organisations and private companies