Evidence-Based Supplement & Herb Guides

Manic Episode Signs, Risk Factors, and Diagnostic Context

Learn what a manic episode can look like, how symptoms differ from hypomania or ordinary high energy, what may cause mania, and when urgent evaluation matters.

A manic episode is a serious change in mood, energy, behavior, and judgment that goes far beyond feeling unusually happy, productive, or confident. It...

Manic Depression Symptoms: Mania, Depression, and Mixed Features

Learn what manic depression means today, including bipolar disorder types, mania and depression symptoms, early warning signs, causes, risk factors, common lookalikes, and possible complications.

Manic depression is the older name for what is now usually called bipolar disorder. The term is still familiar to many people because it...

Malingering: Signs, Causes, Risk Factors, and Conditions It Can Mimic

Learn what malingering means, how it may appear, what signs clinicians consider, what it is commonly confused with, and why careful professional evaluation matters.

Malingering means intentionally fabricating, exaggerating, or misrepresenting physical or psychological symptoms for an external benefit. The benefit might involve avoiding a legal, school, work,...

Major Neurocognitive Disorder Causes, Symptoms, and Complications Explained

Learn what major neurocognitive disorder means, how symptoms differ from normal aging, what causes it, which risk factors matter, and when cognitive changes need professional evaluation.

Major neurocognitive disorder is the clinical term for a level of cognitive decline that is significant enough to interfere with independent daily life. Many...

Major Depressive Disorder Symptoms, Signs, Causes, and Risk Factors

Understand major depressive disorder symptoms, signs, causes, risk factors, diagnostic context, common look-alike conditions, complications, and when urgent evaluation may be needed.

Major depressive disorder is more than a difficult mood or a temporary reaction to stress. It is a diagnosable mental health condition in which...

Lying Disorder Overview: Pathological Lying and Pseudologia Fantastica

Persistent lying can reflect pathological lying, pseudologia fantastica, personality patterns, factitious behavior, malingering, delusions, or memory problems. Learn the signs, causes, risks, complications, and when professional evaluation may matter.

Persistent lying can be deeply confusing for families, partners, coworkers, and the person doing it. Many people use the phrase “lying disorder” to describe...

Lupus Psychosis Overview: Signs, Diagnosis Context, and Warning Symptoms

Lupus psychosis is a rare neuropsychiatric complication of systemic lupus erythematosus that can cause hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, and severe behavior changes. Learn the signs, causes, risk factors, diagnostic context, and urgent warning symptoms.

Lupus psychosis is a serious neuropsychiatric manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus, an autoimmune disease that can affect the skin, joints, kidneys, blood vessels, brain,...

Low Self-Esteem Disorder Overview: Signs, Risk Factors, and Effects

A clear guide to persistent low self-esteem, including symptoms, signs, causes, risk factors, complications, related mental health conditions, and when evaluation may matter.

Persistent low self-esteem can shape how a person interprets almost every part of life: relationships, work, school, appearance, mistakes, success, criticism, and even ordinary...

Loneliness Disorder Symptoms and Mental Health Effects

Learn what “loneliness disorder” means, how chronic loneliness can appear, what causes it, who is at higher risk, and when symptoms may need professional evaluation.

Loneliness can feel like being cut off from other people even when life looks socially “normal” from the outside. A person may have coworkers,...

Logorrhea and Pressured Speech: Symptoms, Causes, and Differences

Learn what logorrhea means, how excessive speech may appear, what conditions can cause it, and when sudden or severe speech changes may need professional evaluation.

Logorrhea means unusually excessive, rapid, or hard-to-interrupt talking. It is not usually treated as a stand-alone diagnosis. More often, it is a clinical sign...

Lithium Toxicity Symptoms, Signs, Causes, and Complications

Lithium toxicity can cause tremor, vomiting, confusion, poor coordination, kidney problems, and serious neurological complications. Learn the signs, causes, risk factors, diagnostic context, and when urgent evaluation matters.

Lithium is a prescription mood stabilizer used most often in bipolar disorder and, in some cases, other psychiatric conditions. It can be effective, but...

Limerence and Obsessive Romantic Fixation: Key Signs and Risks

A clear guide to limerence, including what it means, how symptoms appear, how it differs from love, OCD, and erotomania, and when emotional fixation may need professional evaluation.

Limerence is an intense state of romantic or emotional fixation on a specific person. It can feel euphoric when there is hope of reciprocation...

Lewy Body Dementia Overview: Cognitive, Movement, Sleep, and Hallucination Symptoms

Learn how Lewy body dementia affects cognition, movement, sleep, perception, risk factors, diagnosis, and complications, including signs that need professional evaluation.

Lewy body dementia is a progressive brain condition that can affect thinking, attention, movement, sleep, mood, perception, and daily function. It can be confusing...

Lethargy Syndrome Signs, Risk Factors, and Related Conditions

Learn what lethargy syndrome can mean, how it may appear, what conditions it can resemble, and when persistent or sudden lethargy may need professional evaluation.

Lethargy can be unsettling because it affects more than energy. A person may seem unusually slowed down, hard to engage, less motivated, emotionally flat,...

Learning Disorder Overview: Types, Risk Factors, and Diagnostic Clues

Clear guide to learning disorder symptoms, types, causes, risk factors, diagnostic context, common look-alikes, and possible complications in children, teens, and adults.

A learning disorder is a neurodevelopmental condition that makes certain academic skills unusually difficult to acquire and use. The difficulty is not simply a...

Late-Onset Depression: Signs, Risk Factors, and Diagnostic Context

Learn what late-onset depression means, how symptoms may appear in older adults, what it can be confused with, and why new depression later in life deserves careful evaluation.

Depression that first appears later in life can be easy to miss. It may not look like the familiar picture of sadness, crying, or...

Latent Schizophrenia: Meaning, Symptoms, Signs, Causes, and Risks

Latent schizophrenia is an older term for subtle or hidden schizophrenia-like symptoms. Learn what it may mean today, how it differs from modern diagnoses, and when professional evaluation matters.

Latent schizophrenia is an older and somewhat ambiguous term. In modern mental health diagnosis, it is not usually used as a formal diagnosis in...

Latent Inhibition Disorder Symptoms, Signs, Causes, and Clinical Meaning

A clear guide to low latent inhibition, why “latent inhibition disorder” is not usually a formal diagnosis, what symptoms may feel like, and when evaluation may matter.

Latent inhibition is the brain’s tendency to tune out familiar information that has not been important before. It helps a person ignore background details,...

Latah Overview: Startle Reactions, Echolalia, Echopraxia, and Risks

Latah is a culture-related startle syndrome marked by exaggerated surprise reactions, automatic speech or imitation, possible causes, risk factors, diagnostic considerations, and complications.

Latah is an uncommon startle-related condition most often described in Southeast Asian cultural settings, especially Malaysia and Indonesia. It involves an unusually intense reaction...

Language Disorder Causes, Risk Factors, and Related Conditions

Learn what language disorder means, how symptoms can appear across ages, what conditions it may resemble, and when language difficulties need professional evaluation.

Language is more than speaking clearly. It includes understanding words, building sentences, using grammar, finding the right words, following directions, telling stories, reading, writing,...