A diagnostic assessment may be conducted by a general practitioner or by a psychiatrist or psychologist, who will record the person’s current circumstances, biographical history and current symptoms, and a family medical history to see if other family members have suffered from a mood disorder, and discuss the person’s alcohol and drug use. The assessment also includes a mental state examination, which is an assessment of the person’s current mood and thought content, in particular the presence of themes of hopelessness or pessimism, self-harm or suicide, and an absence of positive thoughts or plans. Specialist mental health services are rare in rural areas, and thus diagnosis and management is largely left to primary care clinicians. This issue is even more marked in developing countries. Rating scales are not used to diagnose depression, but they provide an indication of the severity of symptoms for a time period, so a person who scores above a given cut-off point can be more thoroughly evaluated for a depressive disorder diagnosis. Several rating scales are used for this purpose. Screening programs have been advocated to improve detection of depression, but there is evidence that they do not improve detection rates, treatment, or outcome.

The biopsychosocial model proposes that biological, psychological, and social factors all play a role to varying degrees in causing depression. The diathesis–stress model posits that depression results when a preexisting vulnerability, or diathesis, is activated by stressful life events. The preexisting vulnerability can be either genetic, implying an interaction between nature and nurture, or the result of past experience such as learned views of the world formed in childhood. These interactive models to understanding the causes of depression have gained empirical support. For example, a prospective, longitudinal study uncovered a moderating effect of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene on stressful life events in predicting depression. Specifically, depression may follow such events, but is more likely to in people with one or, even more so, two short alleles of the 5-HTT gene. A Swedish study estimated the heritability of depression (the degree to which individual differences in occurrence are associated with genetic differences) to be approximately 40% for women and 30% for men.

Anxiety is part of our natural “fight-or-flight” response. It’s our body’s way of warning us of possible danger ahead. Anxiety disorder is a blanket term covering several different forms of abnormal, pathological anxiety, fears, phobias. Anxiety disorders are the most common of all mental health problems. Anxiety disorders are a group of disorders which affect behaviour, thoughts, emotions and physical health. It is estimated that they affect approximately 1 in 10 people.

The ways in which physical symptoms of stress are managed can make a world of difference on its impacts both mentally and physically. Symptoms of stress are believed to be connected to many of today’s health problems including hypertension, cancer, ulcers, lower back pain, neck pain and headaches. Stress seems to be more prevalent on work days and during the holidays. Symptoms of stress are not always obvious in children and youth, but can have a huge effect on their lives.

The definition and classification of mental disorder is a key issue for the mental health professions and for users and providers of mental health services. Most international clinical documents use the term “mental disorder” rather than “mental illness”. There is no single definition and the inclusion criteria are said to vary depending on the social, legal and political context. In general, however, a mental disorder has been characterized as a clinically significant behavioral or psychological pattern that occurs in an individual and is usually associated with distress, disability or increased risk of suffering. The term “serious mental illness” (SMI) is sometimes used to refer to more severe and long-lasting disorder. A broad definition can cover mental disorder, mental retardation, personality disorder and substance dependence. The phrase “mental health problems” may be used to refer only to milder or more transient issues. There is often a criterion that a condition should not be expected to occur as part of a person’s usual culture or religion. Nevertheless, the term “mental” is not necessarily used to imply a distinction between mental (dys)functioning and brain (dys)functioning, or indeed between the brain and the rest of the body.