is each mental illness a disease? like is anxiety disorder a disease? bipolar? panic disorder? psychosis? depersonalization? would it be safe to then say 5 types of brain disease? or is it just one since its mental health? Yes, im diagnosed by many psychiatrists as the above.
I would agree, but I’d call them illnesses, or conditions, rather than diseases, as that implies that they are caused by infections to me.
I never thought of them as "diseases".
But in thinking about it, I would say Bipolar is a brain disease.( have it too, although mild).
I also have GAD and some panic, but I would say they are more disorders, than diseases.
I have no personal experience with psychosis, or depersonalization, but I would bet they are more symptoms of or the direct result of another disorder, such as anxiety, or bi polar depression, than something on their own.
I think that mental illness incompasses each of these things in one whole process. But just like side effects to a drug, you might get one and not the other.
I have depression, and anxiety, while my daughter is bipolar and has anxiety and depression with it.
chemical imbalance that’s all
Diseases? No. In my opinion, a disease is something that can be transfered from one human being to another, or animal to animal, etc. One cannot "catch" bipolar disorder from another person; it is, however, a largely genetic illness.
As far as your diagnoses are concerned, it seems that each psychiatrist you have been to has been given different information, resulting in the different diagnoses. It seems that some of the things that you listed are actually symptoms and not specific disorders in themselves. For instance, psychosis and depersonalization are possible symptoms of Bipolar disorder, but there is no such thing as a separate diagnosis of "psychosis" or "depersonalization". These are merely symptoms. In addition, panic disorder is a specific type of anxiety disorder.
Since I can’t make a formal diagnosis because I don’t have enough information, I can’t tell you what is right and what is wrong. However I can say that you do not have 5 brain diseases. A mental illness is possible.