The 5 most common mental illnesses

For a long time, and practically until a few years ago, the stigma attached to mental illness and minor disorders has caused people who suffered from them to hide and deny problems that, to a greater or lesser extent, could be treated. And although there is still a long way to go , our eyes are beginning to be opened and the situation of people suffering from this type of disorder is beginning to normalize, moving it away from the taboo and allowing it to be treated as something natural that can and should be known, taking into account the number of people affected worldwide. These are some of the most common mental illnesses among the population :

Depression

This mood disorder affects more than 350 million people in the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is sometimes related to physical health problems, such as heart disease. But there are also circumstances such as economic pressures, unemployment or personal conflicts that increase the risk of suffering it. In addition, one in five pregnant women suffers from depression after childbirth.

Phobias

According to the APA ( American Psychological Association ), around 19 million adults suffer from some type of phobia . It is an anxiety disorder consisting of an irrational and exaggerated fear of objects, certain living beings, situations or activities. The phobia that has more people who suffer from it is social phobia , followed by other very common ones such as amaxophobia (fear of driving), aerophobia (fear of airplanes), claustrophobia or agoraphobia (fear of closed and open spaces respectively ) or necrophobia (fear of death) are also very common and affect a considerable part of the world’s population.

Eating disorder

The most common are anorexia, which is characterized by a very low body weight, the refusal to increase it and the distortion of body weight and height; bulimia , in which the consumption of food causes regrets and uses vomiting and laxatives to eliminate it or binge eating disorder . In recent years, new eating disorders have emerged such as vigorexia (obsession to achieve a muscular body), orthorexia (obsession to consume foods that are considered healthy) and drunkenness (restriction of food consumption to compensate for the intake of large amounts alcohol).

Alzheimer’s

Considered a pandemic, it is a neurodegenerative disease that causes a type of irreversible dementia due to the progressive destruction of neuronal connections in the brain. The consequences of this degeneration are memory loss, cognitive impairment, and unpredictable and irrational behaviors, among other symptoms. According to estimates, every four seconds a new case of Alzheimer’s appears in the world.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

ADHD affects approximately 5% of children and adolescents between 4 and 17 years old due, according to research, to genetic and environmental factors. This neurobiological disorder originates in childhood and is characterized by poor ability to concentrate, impulsive behaviors, difficulty in following instructions and completing tasks . The problems that ADHD brings about usually cause people who suffer from it to have difficulties in the academic or work environment and in social relationships .