6^th International Congress on Mental Health July 15-16, 2024 Amsterdam, Netherlands

Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition marked by extreme mood swings encompassing emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression), significantly disrupting daily functioning, relationships, and work. Manic episodes entail heightened mood, increased energy, and impulsive behaviour, contrasting with depressive episodes characterized by profound sadness, hopelessness, and decreased energy. Additionally, bipolar disorder may manifest mixed episodes, featuring symptoms of both mania and depression concurrently. Treatment typically involves a combination of medication, therapy, and lifestyle adjustments aimed at symptom management and mood stabilization. Given its chronic nature, bipolar disorder necessitates on-going, comprehensive management and support.

Women's mental health encompasses the unique psychological, emotional, and social factors that affect women throughout their lives. Biological events such as menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause, along with societal pressures and gender-specific roles, contribute to women's mental health challenges. Common issues include mood disorders like depression and anxiety, eating disorders, and postpartum depression. Gender-based violence, discrimination, and unequal access to healthcare further compound these challenges. Addressing women's mental health requires a holistic approach that considers biological, psychological, and social factors, along with promoting gender equality and providing tailored support and resources.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is a mental health condition characterized by obsessive preoccupation with perceived flaws or defects in physical appearance, which are often minor or imagined. Individuals with BDD frequently engage in repetitive behaviors such as excessive grooming, seeking reassurance, or comparing themselves to others. These obsessions and compulsions can significantly impair daily functioning and lead to social withdrawal, depression, and anxiety. BDD affects both men and women and often co-occurs with other mental health disorders like depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Treatment typically involves therapy, medication, and support groups aimed at challenging distorted thoughts and improving self-esteem.

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a mental health condition recognized for its instability in mood, behavior, and relationships. Individuals with BPD often face intense emotional swings, challenges in regulating emotions, and an unsettled self-perception. Commonly observed are impulsive behaviors like self-harm, substance abuse, or reckless spending. Relationships tend to follow a pattern of idealization and devaluation. Effective treatment, such as dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), plays a vital role in cultivating healthier coping mechanisms and stabilizing emotions and interpersonal ties.

Depression is a mood disorder characterized by persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and loss of interest or pleasure in daily activities. It can significantly impair functioning and quality of life.

Stress is a natural response to challenges or threats, but chronic stress can lead to physical and emotional health problems, including anxiety.

Anxiety disorders involve excessive worry, fear, or apprehension about future events, often accompanied by physical symptoms like rapid heartbeat or sweating. While they share some symptoms, each condition has its distinct features and treatment approaches, ranging from therapy and medication to lifestyle changes and stress management techniques.

Psychosis refers to a severe mental state where an individual experiences a disconnection from reality, marked by hallucinations, delusions, and impaired thinking. Hallucinations involve perceiving things that aren't present, such as hearing voices or seeing images, while delusions are fixed false beliefs despite evidence to the contrary. Psychosis can be a symptom of various mental health disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and severe depression. It can significantly disrupt daily functioning and require immediate treatment, typically involving medication, therapy, and support to help manage symptoms and improve overall well-being.

Dissociation is a psychological phenomenon involving a detachment from thoughts, emotions, or one's sense of identity, often as a defense mechanism against trauma or extreme stress. Dissociative Disorders are mental health conditions characterized by severe and disruptive dissociative processes, resulting in significant impairments in daily functioning. These disorders may present in various forms, including dissociative amnesia, dissociative identity disorder (DID), and depersonalization/derealization disorder. Symptoms can include memory lapses, confusion about identity, and feeling disconnected from oneself or reality. Treatment typically involves therapy aimed at addressing underlying trauma and assisting individuals in integrating their experiences.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a mental health condition characterized by persistent and excessive worry or anxiety about various aspects of life, such as work, health, relationships, or everyday situations. Individuals with GAD often find it challenging to control their worry, even when there is little or no reason for concern. Physical symptoms such as restlessness, fatigue, muscle tension, and difficulty concentrating are common. GAD can significantly interfere with daily functioning and quality of life. Treatment typically involves therapy, medication, and stress management techniques to help individuals manage their symptoms and improve their overall well-being.

Mood Disorders encompass a group of mental health conditions characterized by disturbances in mood regulation, leading to persistent emotional disturbances that significantly impact daily life. Major Depressive Disorder involves persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and loss of interest or pleasure in activities. Bipolar Disorder features episodes of both depression and mania or hypomania, marked by extreme mood swings. Cyclothymic Disorder involves milder but chronic fluctuations between depressive and hypomanic symptoms. Treatment typically involves a combination of therapy, medication, and lifestyle adjustments to stabilize mood and improve overall functioning.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health condition characterized by intrusive, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors or rituals (compulsions) performed in response to these thoughts. Individuals with OCD often feel compelled to perform these rituals to alleviate anxiety or prevent perceived harm, even though they may recognize these behaviors as irrational. OCD can significantly impair daily functioning and quality of life. Treatment typically involves a combination of therapy, medication, and cognitive-behavioral techniques aimed at reducing obsessions and compulsions and improving overall well-being.

Panic Disorder is a mental health condition characterized by recurrent and unexpected panic attacks, which are sudden surges of intense fear or discomfort that peak within minutes. These attacks can be accompanied by physical symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, sweating, trembling, and shortness of breath. Individuals with Panic Disorder often live in fear of experiencing future panic attacks, leading to avoidance behaviors and impairment in daily functioning. Treatment usually involves therapy, medication, and relaxation techniques to help manage symptoms and prevent future attacks, enabling individuals to regain control over their lives.

Multi-Infarct Dementia (MID), also known as vascular dementia, is a type of dementia caused by multiple small strokes or infarcts in the brain, which damage and impair cognitive function. These strokes occur due to blockages in small blood vessels supplying the brain, leading to areas of brain tissue death. Symptoms of MID can include memory loss, difficulty with language and communication, impaired judgment, and changes in mood or behavior. Risk factors for MID include hypertension, diabetes, smoking, and high cholesterol. Treatment involves managing underlying vascular risk factors and may include medications to improve blood flow to the brain and support cognitive function.

Paranoia involves intense and irrational mistrust or suspicion of others, often accompanied by feelings of persecution or threat, even in the absence of evidence. Delusional Disorders are characterized by fixed, false beliefs that are held with conviction despite evidence to the contrary, and which are not in line with cultural or religious norms. Individuals with these disorders may experience significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other areas of functioning. Treatment typically involves therapy, medication, and support to challenge irrational beliefs and alleviate symptoms, promoting improved quality of life.

Phobias are characterized by intense and irrational fears of specific objects, situations, or activities, leading to avoidance behavior. Common types include specific phobias, such as fear of heights or spiders, and social phobia, which involves fear of social situations or scrutiny. Phobias can cause significant distress and impairment in daily functioning. They often develop in response to a traumatic event or negative experience and can be exacerbated by genetic predispositions or learned behaviors. Treatment typically involves therapy, particularly cognitive-behavioral techniques, to gradually expose individuals to feared stimuli and help them learn coping strategies to manage their fears.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition triggered by experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event, such as combat, natural disasters, or assault. Symptoms include intrusive memories, flashbacks, nightmares, and intense emotional distress. Individuals with PTSD often experience hypervigilance, avoidance of reminders of the trauma, and negative changes in mood and cognition. PTSD can significantly impair daily functioning and quality of life. Treatment typically involves therapy, medication, and coping strategies aimed at processing the trauma and reducing symptoms, allowing individuals to regain stability and improve their well-being.

Schizophrenia is a serious disorder which affects how a person thinks, feels and acts. Someone with schizophrenia may have difficulty distinguishing between what is real and what is imaginary; may be unresponsive or withdrawn; and may have difficulty expressing normal emotions in social situations.

Contrary to public perception, schizophrenia is not split personality or multiple personality. The vast majority of people with schizophrenia are not violent and do not pose a danger to others. Schizophrenia is not caused by childhood experiences, poor parenting or lack of willpower, nor are the symptoms identical for each person.

Social Anxiety Disorder, sometimes called social phobia, is an anxiety disorder characterized by extreme fear or anxiety in one or more social settings. Going to a party or even having a one-on-one conversation with a new person can result in increased heart rate, sweating, and racing thoughts for someone with social anxiety. When social anxiety gets significant, it’s common for individuals to isolate and feel very alone, making recovery harder.

Ultimately, it can make it difficult for a person to live the life they want: the excessive fear of humiliation and rejection can limit them in work, school, and relationships. While most people have concerns about acceptance and embarrassment, the extreme anxiety and dread that accompany social anxiety disorder are so overwhelming that a person may find it hard to function in daily life and may avoid the anxiety-inducing situations altogether.

No Suicide Attempt Should Be Dismissed Or Treated Lightly!

Why Do People Attempt Suicide?

A suicide attempt is a clear indication that something is gravely wrong in a person’s life. No matter the race or age of the person; how rich or poor they are, it is true that most people who die by suicide have a mental or emotional disorder. The most common underlying disorder is depression, 30% to 70% of suicide victims suffer from major depression or bipolar (manic-depressive) disorder.

Child psychology is the study of subconscious and conscious childhood development. Child psychologists observe how a child interacts with their parents, themselves, and the world, to understand their mental development.