Mental Health Conditions
Common Questions & Answers
Common mental health conditions include anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, substance use disorders, and borderline personality disorder. Many are connected and have different subtypes, and you might have more than one at the same time.
Healthcare professionals diagnose mental health conditions through clinical evaluations that rule out underlying physical health problems and psychological tests that can help them assess your symptoms and determine which type of mental illness you may have.
Therapy, medication, lifestyle changes, and support groups can help you treat symptoms and improve quality of life. However, many mental health conditions are chronic and require lifelong management.
Regular exercise, proper nutrition, a robust sleep schedule, and effective stress management techniques can help you live with a mental health condition. Investing in healthy relationships and engaging in mindful behaviors like meditation also support good mental health.
Law and ethics guidelines protect the confidentiality of any information you share during a therapy session or other mental health treatment. However, providers may share information if you pose a risk of serious harm to yourself or others.

Angela D. Harper, MD
Medical Reviewer
Angela D. Harper, MD, is in private practice at Columbia Psychiatric Associates in South Carolina, where she provides evaluations, medication management, and psychotherapy for adults.
A distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, Dr. Harper has worked as a psychiatrist throughout her career, serving a large number of patients in various settings, including a psychiatric hospital on the inpatient psychiatric and addiction units, a community mental health center, and a 350-bed nursing home and rehab facility. She has provided legal case consultation for a number of attorneys.
Harper graduated magna cum laude from Furman University with a bachelor's degree and cum laude from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, where she also completed her residency in adult psychiatry. During residency, she won numerous awards, including the Laughlin Fellowship from the American College of Psychiatrists, the Ginsberg Fellowship from the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training, and resident of the year and resident medical student teacher of the year. She was also the member-in-training trustee to the American Psychiatric Association board of trustees during her last two years of residency training.
Harper volunteered for a five-year term on her medical school's admission committee, has given numerous presentations, and has taught medical students and residents. She currently supervises a nurse practitioner. She is passionate about volunteering for the state medical board's medical disciplinary commission, on which she has served since 2015.
She and her husband are avid travelers and have been to over 55 countries and territories.

Chelsea Vinas, MS, LMFT
Medical Reviewer
Chelsea Vinas is a licensed psychotherapist who has a decade of experience working with individuals, families, and couples living with anxiety, depression, trauma, and those experiencing life transitions.
She is a first-gen Latina currently working for Lyra Health, where she can help employees and their families stay emotionally healthy at work and at home.
Chelsea has varied experience in mental health, including working in national and international prisons, with children who have autism, and running her own private practice.

Chester Wu, MD
Medical Reviewer
Chester Wu, MD, is double board-certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine. He cares for patients through his private practice in Houston, where he provides evaluations, medication management, and therapy for psychiatric and sleep medicine conditions.
After training at the Baylor College of Medicine and Stanford University School of Medicine, Dr. Wu established the first sleep medicine program within a psychiatric system in the United States while at the Menninger Clinic in Houston.

Seth Gillihan, PhD
Medical Reviewer
- Mental Illness: Symptoms and Causes. Mayo Clinic. December 13, 2022.
- Mental Illness: Diagnosis and Treatment. Mayo Clinic. December 13, 2022.
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