Mentally disturbed, “unique”, psychotic- all of these negative connotations have been associated with those with psychological disorders and wrongly so. In ignorance, many people are conditioned to fear what they are unaware of. Contrary to popular belief, psychological disorders are far more common than people believe. Based on statistics, psychological disorders affect 26.2% of US adults, 57.7 million Americans.
While psychological disorders are not uncommon, they come in different forms. Mood disorders, alone can result from learned helplessness, minimization, magnification, and, overgeneralization. Disorders occur at the same rate, without much deviation, in all cultures. Many disorders such as schizophrenia have biological relations and are the result of genetic origins, inflammation, chemical imbalances, and brain structural defects. If you or a loved one are concerned call a psychiatrist today and take DSM IV-TR, a diagnostic test that identifies whether an individual has a psychological disorder, and although as cliché as it is: don't judge a book by its cover.