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Self-harm

This is any type of behaviour that causes, or could cause, physical or even further mental harm to the same individual who has this condition. Self-harm is a symptom that can stem from a feeling of inadequacy, isolation, bullying, and low self-esteem, among countless other negative feelings. Taking drugs and abusing alcohol are also forms of self-harm, as is unprotected sex and driving too fast, as these COULD cause harm to the individual, as well as others (the latter two may be exhibits of other mental conditions such as narcissism, sociopathy - risk-taking, and psychopathy - impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, egotistical traits). While causing fights could cause harm to the individual, and so is considered to be self-harm, it is also a form of releasing tension through violence or is exhibiting another mental ill health condition.

Self-harm is most commonly thought, by the general public, to be isolated to harming the skin or causing immediate pain or injury. These are of course, actions performed by individuals exhibiting a self-harm condition.

Self-harm is usually to diffuse negative thoughts and feelings on a temporary basis by claiming power over oneself in a harmful way and may become a long-term coping mechanism, such as resulting in alcohol, drug, and gambling addiction, which many sufferers say arose from self-medication through not receiving appropriate mental health support from their local GP, in the role of acting as a prescriber of medicine or by inadequate triage ability or action. 
 

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar Disorder is commonly known in the wider community to refer to a mental disease that presents itself in an individual as wide mood swings, mostly noticeably by when the individual is showing signs of depression or low mood, and lethargy. Most people would not give much more than a second thought to that 'peppy', cheerful individual when their mood has swung the opposite way into intense happiness or euphoria, known as mania. We all have mood swings; they can change quite dramatically by the hour, or we can be content and have only slight troughs and peaks for years. Discovering the causes of bipolar disorder has so far eluded clinicians, because it follows the same argument as 'the nature / nurture' debate. Causes could be genetic, as in the individual can not do anything in their life before it is diagnosed in them; or it could be as a result of extreme stress, trauma, big changes in the individual's life, or when the individual perceives that a problem is insurmountable.

Fortunately, not all individuals with bipolar disorder suffer from dramatic mood swings on a daily basis. In fact, the huge changes in moods may be separated by years, which makes bipolar disorder difficult to treat. Just as the mood swing troughs and peaks can be separated by years, so can the mood swing cycles be separated by years, with periods of apparent stability. It seems that there could well be many more sufferers of this disorder than medical practitioners realise, despite them already having to guess according to their experience of people ‘in the wild’.

If bipolar disorder is extreme, it can interfere with the individual's normal life. Symptoms can include psychosis, where they may believe that things are true when to everyone around them it is evidently not.
 

Schizophrenia

This is a long term psychotic illness which is characterised by the individual experiencing episodes of believing that what they perceive is the true reality, despite other people around them not be able to realise the same or even see the individual's hallucinations. It is similar to bipolar disorder in that it is episodic, or in extreme cases presents on a permanent basis. It can be treated and the individual may be able to lead a normal life.

It is characterised by the individual experiencing unusual sensations, thoughts, hallucinations much like a recovering drug or alcohol individual who abruptly discontinues their addiction. Fortunately for the addict the symptoms will pass and should never return. The same is for some individuals with schizophrenia wherein they may recover after some time and never deviate from believing that the reality that people around them perceive is the same reality as the individual experiences.

Schizophrenia means 'split reality'.

Depression

Many people in the Global North believe that feeling low or sad for a few days is depression, it isn't. Clinical depression is a disorder in which the individual is feeling low or sad for more than two weeks and affects behaviour and negatively impacts on the individual's daily life. This disorder has a external cause as in, the seed for onset of depression is how the individual experiences events and environments around them on a personal basis. For most people who are not susceptible to depression, this being based on sex, genetics, and personality, an environment such as living in a low socio-economic housing environment wherein the Council has insufficient resources to improve the area, will continue their lives as though their environment is entirely normal, and consequently will not slide into a downhill spiral of continuous low mood. Alcohol and drug misuse can bring about depression and the depressed substance abuser is likely to continue abusing substances which makes depression worse.

Depressed people feel as though they cannot face life and may be tearful and withdrawn. Isolation in itself can be a trigger for depression. Without adequate and positive social interaction or escapes from mundane daily lives there is a greater risk of developing depression. Depressives will often have sleep problems, low energy and eating problems. All of these will affect the individual to bring about the companion conditions. Poor sleep can result in low energy so cooking becomes a chore which brings about low mood which affects sleep patterns which in many people pushes them towards self-medication such as alcohol, which affects sleep patterns; and so the cycle continues.