This list of the types of psychological disorders is in alphabetical order, and includes brief descriptions. Each of these categories is found on the DSM-IV-TR (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Text Revision).
Included in each category of mental illness are a few examples of psychological disorders (not every mental illness is included).
Types of Psychological Disorders
These disorders may co-exist, which means that a person can struggle with more than one at the same time.
Adjustment Disorder. This type of mental illness involves an extreme emotional reaction to an event that has occurred in the past month.
Anxiety Disorders. Fear or anxiety is a major symptom of anxiety disorders, which include post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, phobias, and panic disorder.
Cognitive Disorders. Dementia, delirium, and amnestic are cognitive disorders that involve memory and cognition. Brain damage may be a result of stroke, drug overuse, or Alzheimer’s disease.
Developmental Disorders. Psychological disorders first diagnosed in infancy, childhood, or adolescence. Developmental disorders occur before adulthood, and include learning disorders and language development disorders.
Dissociative Disorders. Psychogenic amnesia and dissociative identity disorder are types of dissociative disorders, which involve a separation from memory or identity.
Eating Disorders. Excessive concern or obsession with weight gain and a need for control are earmarks of eating disorders, which include anorexia nervosa, bulimia, undereating, and binging.
Factitious Disorders. Munchausen Syndrome is a psychological disorder classified as factitious. It involves physical or psychological symptoms that are faked, such as self-inflicting wounds, exaggerating genuine medical symptoms, and making up physical complaints.
Impulse Control Disorders. When impulsive behaviors harm others or one’s own self, they’re called impulse control disorders. They include intermittent explosive disorder, kleptomania, and pathological gambling.
Mental Disorders Due to a General Mental Condition. A specific medical cause underlies this category of psychological disorder, such as psychotic disorder due to epilepsy, personality changes due to frontal lobe injury, or secondary depression due to diabetes.
Mood Disorders. Depression, bipolar disorder (manic-depression), major depression, dysthymia, and cyclothymia are psychological disorders classified as mood disorders.
Personality Disorders. Rigid, maladaptive personality traits are part of personality disorders, and include antisocial personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder, and narcissistic personality disorder.
Psychotic Disorders. Psychological symptoms include a loss of contact with reality through hallucinations, delusions, or inappropriate emotions. Schizophrenia and delusional disorder are types of psychotic disorders.
Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders. Fetishism, exhibitionism, and psychosexual dysfunction are psychological disorders that involve sexual functioning. Gender identity disorders involve a desire to be (or appear to be) a member of the opposite sex.
Sleep Disorders. Sleepwalking, eating while sleeping, fear of sleep, or fear of nightmares are classified as sleep disorders. Insomnia and sleep-wake disorder are part of these type of psychological disorder.
Somataform Disorders. Somatization disorder and conversion disorder are somataform disorders, which involve physical symptoms arising from psychological problems.
Substance-Related Disorders. These psychological disorders are caused by alcohol, cocaine, amphetamines, or opiates.
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