	We Can Help. 914-345-5900 • help@mhawestchester.org

Adult Mental Health Problems/Diagnoses

A mental illness is a condition that affects a person’s brain. It causes difficulties in thinking, feeling, behaving and relating to others. For additional information about mental illness in general, please click here. The Surgeon General reminds us that there are effective treatments for mental illness. Read more about “Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General”. Read also about his supplemental report "Mental Health: Culture, Race and Ethnicity" and how these factors affect mental health.

Learn more about Evidence-Based Practices, clinical interventions found to be effective, at http://www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cmhs/communitysupport/toolkits/about.asp. This web site contains information about evidence-based practices for adults with severe mental illness and is the initiative of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

To help you understand specific adult mental health problems (or diagnoses) we have prepared summaries that include links to other sources of information for:

Anxiety Disorders
Bipolar Disorder (Manic-Depression)
Clinical Depression
Eating Disorders
Personality Disorders
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Schizophrenia

Each summary includes easy-to-read answers to these important questions:

What is this mental health problem (diagnosis)?
What causes it?
How can it be treated?
Where can I get additional information about it?
What are the Westchester County resources for treatment of this problem?

If there are other adult mental health problems (diagnoses) about which you would like information, please call our Information and Referral Service at 914-345-5900, extension 240 or e-mail us at help@mhawestchester.org.

Read our page on Suicide in Adults to learn the warning signs, who is at risk, how you can help and for other information.

For information about mental health problems (diagnoses) for younger persons, please see our section on diagnoses for children and adolescents.

For help in finding a professional skilled in treating mental health problems, consult our guide to finding the right therapist for you or your loved one.

More information about using the Internet as a resource for mental health information may be found in the guide "Mental Health Resources on the Web for Families." If your computer has Adobe Acrobat Reader 4 or higher, you may link to the guide directly at http://www.rfmh.org/nki/mhguide.pdf.

If you do not already have Adobe Acrobat on your computer, please click on http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html for a free download.