1. BIPOLAR DISORDER
It is a brain disorder that results in unusual shifts in mood, energy and the ability to carry out day-to-day activities. The patient suffers from extreme mood swings, ranging from mania to depression. When the mood shifts to mania or hypomania (less extreme than mania), the patient may feel excited, full of energy or unusually irritable. These mood swings affect sleep, judgement, behaviour and the ability to think.
Bipolar feels like one’s brain is a rope in a tug of war between extreme mania and crippling depression. Treatment can help a patient suffering from this condition but it cannot be cured and may last for years. There are more than 10 million cases per year in India only.
2. SCHIZOPHRENIA
This mental disorder affects a person’s ability to think, feel and behave clearly. It usually appears in either late adolescence or early adulthood. The patient suffering from this disorder hears voices and thoughts inside their head which are not particularly theirs. The voices tell them to do things that are morally wrong. Even when the person is quiet, the voices will speak repeatedly. The patient also suffers from memory loss and has difficulty concentrating. It can literally drive a person crazy as they have no way to find a single moment of peace.