"See Adverse Childhood Experiences Study"

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events that can have negative, lasting effects on health and well-being. Adverse childhood experiences range from abuse to neglect to living in a household where the mother is treated violently or there is a parent with a mental illness. Kaiser Permanente and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 1998 study on adverse childhood experiences determined that traumatic experiences during childhood are a root cause of many social, emotional, and cognitive impairments that lead to increased risk of unhealthy behaviors, risk of violence or re-victimization, chronic health conditions, low life potential and premature mortality. As the number of adverse experiences increases, the risk of problems from childhood through adulthood also rises. Nearly 30 years of study following the initial study has confirmed this. Many states, health providers, and other groups now routinely screen parents and children for ACEs.

Resilience is the process of adapting well to trauma, adversity, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress. It strives on supportive, responsive relationships and capabilities that allow children to respond and adapt to adversity in healthy ways, turning toxic stress into tolerable stress. Resilience can be impacted by a variety of risk or protective factors that either enhance or mitigate the risk of negative outcomes. Establishing a secure attachment to caregivers has been identified as a significant protective factor that can buffer against the negative outcomes of childhood trauma.

Chronic illness can affect a child’s development at any stage. During infancy and childhood chronic illness can be detrimental to the development of secure attachment, interpersonal trust, self-regulation, and/or peer relation skills. During middle adolescence, chronic illness can prevent a child from being in school on a regular basis. This can affect a child’s academic and social competence. During adolescence, chronic illness can affect the development of autonomy and self-image. It can also interfere with peer & romantic relationships, and the desire for independence can lead to poor treatment compliance.

Some common childhood onset chronic illnesses are cystic fibrosis, cerebral palsy, juvenile diabetes, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer. Chronic illness is often a risk factor for developing psychopathologies, due to the psychological toll it takes on the children and their developing brains. Approximately 10 million children in the United States suffer from a childhood onset chronic illness.

All ethnic groups and income levels are susceptible to the illness. The CDC states that CFS is "at least as common" in African Americans and Hispanics as Caucasians. A 2009 meta-analysis, however, showed that compared with the White American majority, African Americans and Native Americans have a higher risk of CFS, though it acknowledged that studies and data were limited. More women than men get CFS — between 60 and 85% of cases are women; however, there is some indication that the prevalence among men is underreported. The illness is reported to occur more frequently in persons between the ages of 40 and 59. CFS is less prevalent among children and adolescents than among adults.

Blood relatives of those who have CFS appear to be more predisposed. There is no direct evidence that CFS is contagious.

Psychological stress, childhood trauma, perfectionist personalities, old age, lower middle education, low physical fitness, preexisting psychological illness, and allergies may be risk factors for developing chronic fatigue syndrome. This has led some to believe that stress-related visceral responses underlie CFS. Pre-existing depressive and anxiety disorders, as well as high expectation of parents and family history were predisposing factors identified in another review.

People with CFS and their relatives tend to attribute their illness to physical causes (such as a virus or pollution) rather than to psychological causes. Such attributions are associated with increased symptoms and impairment, and worse outcomes over time.

A systematic review described improvement and occupational outcomes of people with CFS found that "the median full recovery rate was 5% (range 0–31%) and the median proportion of patients who improved during follow-up was 39.5% (range 8–63%). Return to work at follow-up ranged from 8 to 30% in the three studies that considered this outcome." ... "In five studies, a worsening of symptoms during the period of follow-up was reported in between 5 and 20% of patients." A good outcome was associated with less fatigue severity at baseline. Other factors were occasionally, but not consistently, related to outcome, including age at onset (5 of 16 studies), and attributing illness to a psychological cause and/or having a sense of control over symptoms (4 of 16 studies). Another review found that children have a better prognosis than adults, with 54–94% having recovered by follow-up compared to less than 10% of adults returning to pre-illness levels of functioning.

Risk factors for mental illness include genetic inheritance, such as parents having depression, or a propensity for high neuroticism or "emotional instability".

In depression, parenting risk factors include parental unequal treatment, and there is association with high cannabis use.

In schizophrenia and psychosis, risk factors include migration and discrimination, childhood trauma, bereavement or separation in families, and abuse of drugs, including cannabis, and urbanicity.

In anxiety, risk factors may include family history (e.g. of anxiety), temperament and attitudes (e.g. pessimism), and parenting factors including parental rejection, lack of parental warmth, high hostility, harsh discipline, high maternal negative affect, anxious childrearing, modelling of dysfunctional and drug-abusing behaviour, and child abuse (emotional, physical and sexual).

Environmental events surrounding pregnancy and birth have also been implicated. Traumatic brain injury may increase the risk of developing certain mental disorders. There have been some tentative inconsistent links found to certain viral infections, to substance misuse, and to general physical health.

Social influences have been found to be important, including abuse, neglect, bullying, social stress, traumatic events and other negative or overwhelming life experiences. For bipolar disorder, stress (such as childhood adversity) is not a specific cause, but does place genetically and biologically vulnerable individuals at risk for a more severe course of illness. The specific risks and pathways to particular disorders are less clear, however. Aspects of the wider community have also been implicated, including employment problems, socioeconomic inequality, lack of social cohesion, problems linked to migration, and features of particular societies and cultures.

The Institute of Medicine reviewed the evidence for treatments for symptoms associated with Gulf War syndrome and related conditions. They concluded that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors and cognitive behavioural therapy were most likely to be beneficial to patients.

Multisymptom illness is more prevalent in Gulf War veterans than veterans of previous conflicts, but the pattern of comorbidities is similar for actively deployed and nondeployed military personnel.

Correlations of mental disorders with drug use include cannabis, alcohol and caffeine, use of which appears to promote anxiety. For psychosis and schizophrenia, usage of a number of drugs has been associated with development of the disorder, including cannabis, cocaine, and amphetamines. There has been debate regarding the relationship between usage of cannabis and bipolar disorder.

Whether a given medical condition is termed a "functional disorder" depends in part on the state of knowledge. Some diseases, including epilepsy, schizophrenia, and migraine headaches were once considered functional disorders, but are no longer generally classified that way.

Chronic critical illness is a disease state which affects intensive care patients who have survived an initial insult but remain dependent on intensive care for a protracted period, neither dying nor recovering. The most characteristic clinical feature is a prolonged requirement for mechanical ventilation. Other features include profound weakness associated with critical illness polyneuropathy, increased susceptibility to infection, metabolic changes and hormonal changes. There may be protracted or permanent delirium, or other marked cognitive impairment. The physical and psychological symptoms of the disease are very severe, including a propensity to develop post traumatic stress syndrome.

Strict definitions of chronic critical illness vary. One definition is the requirement for mechanical ventilation for 21 days or more. It is estimated that 5-10% of patients who require mechanical ventilation as part of their initial illness will go on to develop chronic critical illness. Overall prevalence has been estimated at 34.4 per 100 000 of the population. Most adult patients do not survive chronic critical illness, and furthermore even those who are discharged from hospital frequently die soon after discharge. One-year mortality in adults is 48-68%. However, children fare better with two-thirds surviving to 5 years or beyond.

There are no known biological causes that apply consistently to all cases of dysthymia, which suggests diverse origin of the disorder. However, there are some indications that there is a genetic predisposition to dysthymia: "The rate of depression in the families of people with dysthymia is as high as fifty percent for the early-onset form of the disorder". Other factors linked with dysthymia include stress, social isolation, and lack of social support.

In a study using identical and fraternal twins, results indicated that there is a stronger likelihood of identical twins both having depression than fraternal twins. This provides support for the idea that dysthymia is in part caused by heredity.

A functional disorder is a medical condition that impairs the normal function of a bodily process, but where every part of the body looks completely normal under examination, dissection or even under a microscope. This stands in contrast to a structural disorder (in which some part of the body can be seen to be abnormal) or a psychosomatic disorder (in which symptoms are caused by psychological or psychiatric illness). Definitions vary somewhat between fields of medicine.

Generally, the mechanism that causes a functional disorder is unknown, poorly understood, or occasionally unimportant for treatment purposes. The brain or nerves are often believed to be involved. It is common that a person with one functional disorder will have others.

Some individuals experience only a few outbreaks of the disorder. However, in most cases, factitious disorder is a chronic and long-term condition that is difficult to treat. There are relatively few positive outcomes for this disorder; in fact, treatment provided a lower percentage of positive outcomes than did treatment of individuals with obvious psychotic symptoms such as people with schizophrenia. In addition, many individuals with factitious disorder do not present for treatment, often insisting their symptoms are genuine. Some degree of recovery, however, is possible. The passage of time seems to help the disorder greatly. There are many possible explanations for this occurrence, although none are currently considered definitive. It may be that an FD individual has mastered the art of feigning sickness over so many years of practice that the disorder can no longer be discerned. Another hypothesis is that many times an FD individual is placed in a home, or experiences health issues that are not self-induced or feigned. In this way, the problem with obtaining the 'patient' status is resolved because symptoms arise without any effort on the part of the individual.

There are many possible causes for this disorder. One such possibility is an underlying personality disorder. Individuals with FD may be trying to repeat a satisfying childhood relationship with a doctor. Perhaps also an individual has a desire to deceive or test authority figures. The underlying desire to resume the role of a patient and be cared for can also be considered an underlying personality disorder. Abuse, neglect, or abandonment during childhood are also probable causes.

These individuals may be trying to reenact unresolved issues with their parents. A history of frequent illnesses may also contribute to the development of this disorder. In some cases, individuals afflicted with FD are accustomed to actually being sick, and thus return to their previous state to recapture what they once considered the 'norm.' Another cause is a history of close contact with someone (a friend or family member) who had a severe or chronic condition. The patients found themselves subconsciously envious of the attention said relation received, and felt that they themselves faded into the background. Thus medical attention makes them feel glamorous and special.

Avolition, as a symptom of various forms of psychopathology, is the decrease in the motivation to initiate and perform self-directed purposeful activities. Such activities that appear to be neglected usually include routine activities, including hobbies, going to work and/or school, and most notably, engaging in social activities. A person experiencing avolition may stay at home for long periods of time, rather than seeking out work or peer relations.

Globally dysthymia occurs in about 105 million people a year (1.5% of the population). It is slightly more common in women (1.8%) than in men (1.3%). The lifetime prevalence rate of dysthymia in community settings appears to range from 3 to 6% in the United States. However, in primary care settings the rate is higher ranging from 5 to 15 percent. United States prevalence rates tend to be somewhat higher than rates in other countries.

Trichotillomania is an impulse control disorder which causes an individual to pull out their hair from various parts of their body without a purpose. The cause for trichotillomania remains unknown. Like OCD trichotillomania isn’t a nervous condition but stress can trigger this habit. For some people pulling their hair out of boredom is normal, but that isn’t the case for someone that is dealing with trichotillomania. Emotions do not affect the behavior but these behaviors are more prevalent in those that suffer with depression.

The most common causes of myalgia by injury are: sprains and strains.

The prognosis varies on the severity of each case and utilization of treatment for each individual.

If these children are left untreated, they face risks such as poor results at school, avoidance of important social activities, and substance abuse. Children who have an anxiety disorder are likely to have other disorders such as depression, eating disorders, attention deficit disorders both hyperactive and inattentive.

Cognitive deficit or cognitive impairment is an inclusive term to describe any characteristic that acts as a barrier to the cognition process.

The term may describe

- deficits in overall intelligence (as with intellectual disabilities),

- specific and restricted deficits in cognitive abilities (such as in learning disorders like dyslexia),

- neuropsychological deficits (such as in attention, working memory or executive function),

- or it may describe drug-induced impairment in cognition and memory (such as that seen with alcohol, glucocorticoids, and the benzodiazepines.)

It usually refers to a durable characteristic, as opposed to altered level of consciousness, which may be acute and reversible. Cognitive deficits may be inborn or caused by environmental factors such as brain injuries, neurological disorders, or mental illness.

Globally as of 2010 approximately 273 million (4.5% of the population) had an anxiety disorder. It is more common in females (5.2%) than males (2.8%).

In Europe, Africa and Asia, lifetime rates of anxiety disorders are between 9 and 16%, and yearly rates are between 4 and 7%. In the United States, the lifetime prevalence of anxiety disorders is about 29% and between 11 and 18% of adults have the condition in a given year. This difference is affected by the range of ways in which different cultures interpret anxiety symptoms and what they consider to be normative behavior. In general, anxiety disorders represent the most prevalent psychiatric condition in the United States, outside of substance use disorder.

Bipolar disorder can cause suicidal ideation that leads to suicidal attempts. Individuals whose bipolar disorder begins with a depressive or mixed affective episode seem to have a poorer prognosis and an increased risk of suicide. One out of two people with bipolar disorder attempt suicide at least once during their lifetime and many attempts are successfully completed. The annual average suicide rate is 0.4 percent, which is 10–20 times that of the general population. The standardized mortality ratio from suicide in bipolar disorder is between 18 and 25. The lifetime risk of suicide has been estimated to be as high as 20 percent in those with bipolar disorder.

Older people with cognitive impairment appear to improve somewhat with light therapy.