Fact Sheets

Anxiety
Everyone feels anxious from time to time. It is a normal human response to stressful or new situations such as going to a new school, changing jobs, parents divorcing, losing a friend. In some instances being anxious can improve our performance, as we have been prepared for the stressful or new event. For one in ten people in the UK, anxiety affects them to such a degree that they can feel that it is taking over their normal life. Excessive amounts of anxiety are often associated with other conditions such as depression.
The British Psychological Society Panic Disorder Fact Sheet
The British Psychological Society Phobia Fact Sheet
Centre for Clinical Interventions Generalised Anxiety Fact Sheet

Depression
Depression is an illness that can affect the way you eat and sleep, the way you feel about yourself and the way you think about everything. Depression is more than a passing mood. It is not a sign of weakness, and it cannot be willed or wished away.
The British Psychological Society Depression Fact Sheet
Centre for Clinical Interventions Depression Fact Sheet
The Royal College of Psychiatrists Depression in Older Adults Fact Sheet
The Royal College of Psychiatrists Depression Fact Sheet

Eating disorders
Refer to a group of conditions defined by abnormal eating habits that may involve either insufficient or excessive food intake to the detriment of an individual's physical and mental health. Though primarily thought of as affecting females, eating disorders affect males as well.
The British Psychological Society Eating Disorder Fact Sheet

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Sufferers of OCD have persistent, recurring and unwanted thoughts about feared situations (obsessions), which they often attempt to fight with mental or physical rituals, e.g. excessive repetition of actions, washing, checking or counting, or agonising ruminations (compulsions).

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
A collection of reactions, feelings, thoughts, and behaviours that are experienced following a sudden distressing event, which is outside the range of normal everyday life. It is the unexpectedness of the incident, which seems to evoke the stress because it undermines a person’s trust in normality. Incidents that can sometimes lead to signs of PTSD include such things as burglary, an attack, bereavement, divorce or an accident.
The British Psychological Society Trauma Fact Sheet

Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar Disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition and mood with or without one or more depressive episodes.
Centre for Clinical Interventions Bipolar Disorder Fact Sheet

Self Harm
Cutting and burning are the most common forms of self-harm, but it also includes
scratching, head banging, poisoning, skin picking, bone breaking, hair pulling,
interfering with wound healing, asphyxiation and biting
The British Psychological Society Salf Harm Fact Sheet

Dementia
Dementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists Dementia Fact Sheet

Learning Disabilities
Learning Disability is a classification including several disorders in which a person has difficulty learning in a typical manner, usually caused by an unknown factor or factors.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists Learning Disabilities Fact Sheet
The Royal College of Psychiatrists Books Beyond Words Fact Sheet