Mental Health
"You could be eligible to receive counselling by a psychologist with a Medicare rebate."
Depression
- Persistent depressed feelings
- No interest in usual enjoyable activities
- Loss of appetite or comfort eating
- Sleep disturbance
- Low self-esteem
- Teariness
- Poor concentration
- Feelings of guilt
- Suicidal thoughts
Depression not only affects you, but it can also have a lasting impact on your loved ones. Depression can happen to anyone, even to those whose lives seem to be ‘perfect’.
Most people would think that only a psychologist or psychiatrist can help them with depression. But if you see your Family Doctor first, we can eliminate other contributing factors, as well as provide options for you.
We as your Family Doctor understand the potential devastating effect of Depression on you and your family. So we want to encourage you to take the important step of making an appointment with us to receive help to combat the disease successfully.
Anxiety Disorders (including OCD, Social Anxiety, & PTSD)
Everyone experiences ‘stress’ or anxiety from time to time, e.g. with a new job interview or planning an important event.
But if you feel anxious often for no apparent reason or anxiety starts to impact your daily activities, you may be suffering from Anxiety Disorder.
There are different types of Anxiety Disorder, such as:
Generalised Anxiety Disorder – feeling anxious most days without being provoked.
Panic Disorder – episodes of panic attacks which produce physical symptoms of shortness of breath, chest pain or discomfort, feelings of impending doom, clamminess in the hands etc.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) – developed after a traumatic event and can be associated with intrusive ‘flashbacks’ of the event
Social Anxiety (Social Phobia) – intense anxiety provoked by social interactions, leading to social withdrawal.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) – uncontrollable and intrusive thoughts (obsession) and behaviours (compulsion), repeated over and over.
Specific Phobia – such as Agoraphobia (fear of being in a space where they can’t escape easily), Claustrophobia (fear of confined space), Arachnophobia (fear of spiders)
"Anxiety Disorder can be very debilitating and cause you to become increasingly withdrawn."
"Even though you may feel euphoric, productive and creative during a manic or hypomanic episode, what follows is an undesirable episode of depression."
You may cycle between mania and depression multiple times quickly, but most people with Bipolar Disorder stay in chronic depression and may even become suicidal.
We as your Family Doctor recognise how devastating Bipolar Disorder can have on you and your family and we can help you.
Bipolar Disorder (Manic Depressive Disorder)
Bipolar Disorder, formerly known as Manic Depressive Disorder, causes extreme mood swings between emotional ‘highs’ (mania/ hypomania) and ‘lows’ (depression).
During a manic or hypomanic episode, you may experience symptoms including:
- Not sleeping much
- Racing thoughts and speech
- Increased energy, irritability or agitation
- Unusually upbeat, ‘wired’ or ‘hyper’
- Inappropriate behaviour/ impaired judgement, e.g. spending sprees, increased libido
Schizophrenia
- Delusions (strong belief not based on facts, e.g. paranoid delusion)
- Hallucinations (e.g. hearing voices or seeing things that are not there)
- Disorganised thoughts and speech
- Negative symptoms (reduced ability to function- lack of self-care, personal hygiene, emotional engagement with others)
"People suffering from Schizophrenia seem to have lost touch with reality."
So if you are concerned that your loved one may have Schizophrenia or psychotic symptoms, book a mental health assessment now by clicking on the BOOK NOW button or calling us on 07 3341 7244 for a ‘long consult’.
"Substance Abuse, or commonly known as Addiction, is habit of dependence on the substance which is developed following repeated use. "
Substance Abuse
- Taking more substance than intended and unable to control your behaviour
- Persisting in use of substance despite of knowing or experiencing its harmful effects
- Strong cravings for substance
- Increased tolerance
- Withdrawal symptoms
You might have wanted to experiment with smoking, alcohol or illicit drugs out of curiosity, but now they are taking over your life.
You may have sought them out in order to dull the pain from a traumatic life experience, but now they are causing more mental anguish.
It may be a mental illness you are trying to cope with by using substance, but now you feel more out of control.
