Mental Health Info

Expert resources and compassionate care at our psychiatric center, supporting mental health and guiding individuals toward wellness.
Depression
Depression is a common mental disorder. It is a disorder that characterised by persistent sadness and a loss of interest in activities that you normally enjoy, accompanied by an inability to carry out daily activities, for at least two weeks.
Here are some of the symptoms for people with depression:
Feeling depressed most of the days/ nearly everyday
Lack of interest or pleasure
Sleeping more/ less
change of appetite
reduced concentration
restlessness
reduced concentration
feelings of worthlessness, guilt, or hopelessness
thoughts of harming yourself/ suicide
Reference: World Health Organisation, 2018; American Psychiatric Association, 2013
Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety disorders are highly prevalent in the population.
Anxiety Disorders is a group of mental disorders that characterised by excessive or persisting anxiety, including Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, Agoraphobia, Generalised Anxiety Disorder, Specific Phobia, Separation Anxiety Disorder, Selective Mutism, etc.
The disorders affect someone’s social life, work, study, and/or daily functioning.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorders (OCD)
OCD is a mental disorder in which people have uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts, urges, or images (obsessions) and behaviors or mental acts (compulsions) that he or she feels the urge to repeat over and over to prevent or reduce distress.
Some common obsessions (not limited to the list):
Fear of germs or contamination
Unwanted forbidden or taboo thoughts involving sex, religion, and harm
Aggressive thoughts towards others or self
Having things symmetrical or in a perfect order
Repeated unwanted thoughts/ urges/ images
Some common compulsions (not limited to the list):
handwashing or excessing cleaning
ordering/ arranging
checking
counting
repeating words silently
Reference: National Institute of Mental Health, 2016; American Psychiatric Association, 2013
Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar Disorder is a manic-depressive mental disorders that people experience episodic unusual, intense emotion, changes in sleep patterns and activity levels, and unusual behaviours. They may experience periodic manic/ hypomanic and depressive episode over time.
Manic/Hypomanic Episode:
High energy: Feeling “up,” “high,” or elated, with increased activity levels.
Jumpy: Feeling “wired,” with trouble sleeping.
Fast-paced: Talking quickly, feeling thoughts racing, trying to do many things at once.
Irritable: Feeling touchy or agitated.
Risky behaviors: Spending recklessly or engaging in unsafe activities.
Depressive Episode:
Low energy: Feeling very sad, down, or empty with decreased activity levels.
Trouble sleeping: Sleeping too little or too much.
Loss of interest: Feeling unable to enjoy anything, with worry or emptiness.
Cognitive issues: Trouble concentrating, forgetfulness.
Physical symptoms: Eating too much or too little, feeling tired or slowed down.
Suicidal thoughts: Thinking about death or self-harm.
Reference: National Institute of Mental Health, 2016; American Psychiatric Association, 2013
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
PTSD is a mental disorder that people may develop after experiencing traumatic events.
Here are some of the symptoms of PTSD:
Intrusive memories associated with traumatic events (e.g., flashbacks, distressing dreams, intense distress when expose to cues associated with trauma)
Avoidance (e.g., avoid distressing memories, thoughts, or feelings about or closely associated with the traumatic event; avoid people, situations, objects, activities, conversation, places that are associated with traumatic event)
Cognitive and mood changes (e.g., inability to remember traumatic event, distorted beliefs, persistently feeling negative emotions, feelings of detachment, loss of interest, inability to feel positive emotions,
Alterations in arousal and reactivity (hypervigilance, reckless, exaggerated startle response, reduced concentration, sleep disturbance, irritable, etc.
Reference: National Institute of Mental Health, 2016; American Psychiatric Association, 2013
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
ASD is a neurodevelopmental disorder. Some common red flags for people with ASD:
lack of eye contact
lack of facial expressions
difficulties in making friends and socialising with people
lack of interest in peers
difficulties in understanding and using gestures and/ or non-verbal behaviours
repetitive movements, speech, use of objects (e.g., hand flapping, lining up toys, echolalia)
inflexible to routine changes; may throw tantrum or become extremely upset when there’s small changes in the routine
limited and fixated interests that are abnormal; preoccupied with unusual object
hyper/hyposensitive to sensory input
Resource: American Psychiatric Association, 2013
Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder. Some symptoms for people with ADHD:
make careless mistakes
difficulty to remain focused; easily distracted
does not seem to listen when spoken to directly
fails to finish homework, tasks given
have difficulty to organise tasks and activities
often loses things in daily life
very forgetful in daily activities
fidgeting, squirms in seats
often leaves seats; always “on the go”
runs or climbs in situations where it is inappropriate
talks excessively
difficulty to wait for turns
Resource: American Psychiatric Association, 2013
Specific Learning Disorder (SLD)
SLD is a neurodevelopmental disorder. People with SLD may have some of the following difficulties:
slow and effortful word reading
difficulty in understanding the meaning of what is read
difficulty in spelling, written expression, and/ or Maths
Resource: American Psychiatric Association, 2013
Intellectual Disability (ID)
ID is a neurodevelopmental disorder. People with ID may show difficulties in intellectual functioning such as learning, problem solving, reasoning, etc. They also face challenges in adaptive behaviour, which includes a range of everyday social and practical skills.
Resource: American Psychiatric Association, 2013