What exactly is a Psychiatric Disorder?
Psychiatric disorder refers to a group of distressing mental and/or emotional symptoms that persist together over time. These groups of symptoms can cause difficulty at work, in relationships or in the day to day enjoyment of life.

Disorders of mood cause episodes of depression, elation or both. Anxiety disorder causes feelings of panic or other anxiety symptoms. A psychotic disorder results in loss of contact with reality or bizarre habits of thought and speech.

A disorder of attention causes a restless mind and difficulty with concentration. These and other common psychiatric disorders are described further in a SupportNet section called Common Concurrent Disorder.