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Information: Serious Mental Illnesses
The usual ones are:-
Schizophrenia
Manic depression
Psychotic depression
These are characterised by strange experiences and thinking, like seeing or hearing or smelling things. Strange thoughts can include believing that you are in danger from unusual things, like aliens, or from people who you do not know.

Other illnesses in this section, can be serious if severe, but thinking and expereinces are usually normal.

Having unusual experiences, does not mean you have one of these illnesses, they can be caused by tiredness or stress or illegal drugs.
Advice
  • Strange experiences can be hard to make sense of. Seeing a General Practitioner in the UK or a Psychiatrist is the quickest way of sorting out odd experiences and thoughts.
  • Its quite usual for a GP or Psychiatrist that the person does not have a serious mental illness but some other problem.
  • People with a serious mental illnesses can be treated, mostly at home, and not in hospital. Few people have to be forced into hospital. Most people recover and many live normal lives, though some remain ill and need support from families, friends and professonals. Almost all people lve at home.
  • Treatment includes counselling and therapy, social and family support, and often some form of medication.
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