Mental illnesses are among the most devastating diseases a person can suffer from. These diseases can cause an array of hugely problematic and disruptive symptoms, including mood swings, physical challenges, intellectual disabilities, negative lifestyle impacts, and more.
However, among the most dangerous of all mental health issues are those that can alter your perceptions. In this sense, perceptions are defined as the way you interact with and deal with the world. It can mean your sight, sound, thoughts, or more. Sadly, these disorders are real, and they can be much more difficult to treat than other diseases, such as depression and anxiety.
Being aware of these challenges - including their various symptoms and precursors - can be absolutely critical towards making sure you recognize these diseases and are well-equipped to manage them. As such, here are some of the most prominent diseases that can alter your perceptions and potentially disconnect you from the real world.
1 - Schizophrenia
Perhaps the most well-known of mental illnesses, schizophrenia causes serious personality changes and perception alterations. Individuals who suffer from schizophrenia can suffer from auditory or visual hallucinations. In severe cases, they can have entire conversations with things that aren't really there. These voices and people can make a schizophrenic person commit certain actions, withdraw from social situations, and in extreme cases, commit crimes. Schizophrenia is also known to cause extreme paranoia, and this paranoia can make treating the disorder with medication and therapy very difficult, as schizophrenia individuals may think that the methods designed to help them are actually designed to hurt them.
2 - Paranoid Personality Disorder
Paranoid personality disorder is a disease that can alter someone's perceptions of other people. In other words, it can make people view others with extreme suspicion or even hostility. Paranoid personality disorder is one of many personality disorders as opposed to mental illnesses. A personality disorder is a disorder that can alter the way someone behaves or acts in a manner that is dysfunctional when compared to others in their culture or geographic area. In this case, a paranoid personality disorder can alter someone's perceptions of people and make them think that others are out to "get them." This translates into doubting the commitment of others, doubting their motivations, being extremely sensitive to criticism, and being constantly suspicious of others.
3 - Histrionic Personality Disorder
A histrionic personality disorder is another type of personality disorder, but it's almost the exact opposite of paranoid personality disorders. A histrionic personality disorder causes someone to believe that they are actually more loved by people, believing that relationships are stronger. While a person with this personality disorder may appear warm and affectionate, it is driven by an overwhelming desire to be loved and noticed, and this can make a major impact on how someone perceives their relationships with others to be. It can also alter the perception of societal expectations, causing an individual to be more affectionate, constantly seek praise and reassurance, and dress or act in a manner that is more attention-seeking than most. This can result in a difficult time maintaining healthy relationships, as an individual with a histrionic personality disorder may perceive the need to act in a way that is not necessary.
4 - Schizotypal Personality Disorder
A Schizotypal Personality Disorder will result in someone having altered emotions and expression of those emotions. They may also act and behave in ways that are very strange when compared to those around them. Furthermore, they may exhibit behaviors that are similar to hallucinations, talking to things that aren't there, or saying that they "sense" another person's presence. A Schizotypal Personality Disorder has many of the same symptoms of schizophrenia, and the two are often confused for each other. However, there are differences. Someone with a Schizotypal Personality Disorder is more likely to have a difficult time forming relationships and expressing emotion, whereas a person with schizophrenia will find it nearly impossible to function in society, particularly given the power of their hallucinations.