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What to Know About the 5 Most Common Behavioral Disorders

Behavioral disorders are serious health concerns that call for immediate medical attention. They can significantly influence and affect a person’s life, so it is crucial to acquire diagnosis and treatment right away. With this lifelong battle, the biggest defense a person can have is being fully informed.

If you or your loved one is suspected of battling a behavioral issue, it is important to consult a mental health physician right away. With this information, you can identify, treat, and manage the symptoms of the disease.

However, there are many kinds of behavioral disorders. Here are some of the most common ones to start thinking about.

1. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder 

People who have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) feel like they are always drowning from a constant state of worry. Those with OCD express thoughts, actions, and impulses that are chronic and uncontrollable, and at times, intrusive. 

Some people think OCD is limited to constant washing and cleaning. But it is also exhibited in other behaviors like repetitive counting, strictly sticking to routines, and saying phrases over and over.

For some patients, OCD can include obsessions like unwanted aggressive and sexual thoughts, ideations about losing control, imaginations about harming other people, severe doubts and uncertainty, and the need to keep things symmetrical.

2. Oppositional Defiant Disorder

For many kids, acting out in defiance and throwing tantrums is a regular thing. However, when this behavior translates to adulthood, it is called Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). It involves refusing to comply with rules, excessive arguing, frequent questioning of authority, and intentionally doing things that upset others.

3. Conduct Disorder

Conduct disorders involve struggling with antisocial behavior, showing empathy toward other people, and following rules. Usually, conduct disorder shows up when a person reaches sixteen years old. Some signs of the problem involve stealing, bullying, threatening peers, starting physical altercations, destroying things, and breaking into private property.

4. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

One common behavior problem children, teenagers, and adults exhibit is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Its signs include mood swings, low frustration threshold, impulsivity, inability to pay attention, lack of time management skills, and trouble coping with stress. 

ADHD may lead to problems like unemployment, trouble with the law, unstable relationships, financial instability, and substance abuse when you don’t seek treatment right away.

5. Behavioral Addiction

Some people think that addiction is limited to prohibited drugs. However, that’s not true. Behavioral addiction can also happen, linked to the brain associating things with pleasures and rewards whenever they are doing an activity. Behavioral addictions can be binge eating, shopping, video games, the internet, sex, gambling, plastic surgery, and risky behavior.

Being addicted to one thing means neglecting other items in your life, like your family and your job. Some people may also use their addictive behavior to cope with life without carefully processing emotions and escaping their other problems.

Final Thoughts

No matter what behavioral disorder you are suffering from, managing and treating your symptoms is crucial. At the first sign of problems for you or your loved one, seek out professional help right away.

If you are seeking psychiatric services in Londonderry, book an appointment with us at Amodeus Healthcare. We offer medication management, psychiatric in-home and university services, stress management, benzodiazepine tapering, and services for ADHD, bipolar disorder, mood disorder, depression, and anxiety treatment.