Evidence-Based Supplement & Herb Guides

Apotemnophilia Symptoms, Signs, Risk Factors, and Effects

Learn what apotemnophilia means today, including body integrity dysphoria symptoms, warning signs, possible causes, risk patterns, effects, complications, and diagnostic context.

Apotemnophilia is an older term for a rare and serious disturbance in body experience in which a person has a persistent desire or perceived...

Aphasia Symptoms, Types, Causes, Risk Factors, and Complications

A clear guide to aphasia symptoms, signs, causes, risk factors, complications, and diagnostic evaluation, with emphasis on sudden language changes and progressive patterns.

Aphasia is a language disorder caused by damage to parts of the brain involved in speaking, understanding, reading, or writing. It can appear suddenly...

Apathy Symptoms and Causes: When Low Motivation May Signal a Health Concern

Clear explanation of apathy, including common symptoms, signs, causes, risk factors, daily effects, complications, and how clinicians distinguish it from depression, fatigue, and cognitive decline.

Apathy is more than “not caring.” In clinical and mental health contexts, it usually means a noticeable reduction in motivation, initiative, emotional responsiveness, or...

Apathic-Akinetic Syndrome Signs, Risk Factors, and Diagnostic Context

Learn what apathic-akinetic syndrome means, how symptoms appear, what causes it, which risks matter, and how clinicians distinguish it from depression, delirium, catatonia, dementia, and other conditions.

Apathic-akinetic syndrome describes a marked loss of self-initiated activity, speech, emotional expression, and goal-directed behavior. A person may appear awake and physically capable of...

Anxious distress in depression: Symptoms, severity, and risks

Learn what anxious distress means, how it appears during mood episodes, which symptoms and signs matter most, and when safety or diagnostic concerns need prompt evaluation.

Anxious distress is a pattern of anxiety symptoms that can appear during a depressive or bipolar mood episode. It is not usually used as...

Anxiety neurosis Signs, Diagnosis, Risk Factors, and Similar Conditions

Anxiety neurosis is an older term for persistent anxiety symptoms. Learn what it means today, common signs, physical effects, causes, risk factors, diagnostic context, and possible complications.

Anxiety neurosis is an older term once used for patterns of persistent anxiety, excessive worry, nervous tension, panic-like episodes, and anxiety-related physical symptoms. It...

Anxiety Disorder Symptoms, Causes, Risk Factors, and Effects

Clear, condition-focused overview of anxiety disorder symptoms, signs, causes, risk factors, daily effects, complications, and diagnostic context.

Anxiety becomes a disorder when fear, worry, physical tension, or avoidance are persistent, excessive for the situation, and disruptive to daily life. Occasional anxiety...

Anxiety Disorder Not Otherwise Specified Overview, Symptoms, and Causes

Clear explanation of Anxiety Disorder NOS, including what the older label means, how symptoms appear, why diagnosis can be unclear, and what complications or warning signs may require urgent evaluation.

Anxiety can be a normal response to pressure, uncertainty, danger, or major change. It becomes clinically significant when fear, worry, physical tension, or avoidance...

Anxiety Attack Overview, Symptoms, Causes, and Warning Signs

Anxiety attacks can feel sudden and physical. Learn what the term means, how symptoms and panic signs appear, what can trigger episodes, and when urgent evaluation is needed.

An anxiety attack can feel sudden, intense, and physically alarming. People often use the phrase to describe a wave of fear, dread, or nervous-system...

Antisocial Personality Disorder Overview: Signs, Risks, and Complications

A clear guide to antisocial personality disorder, including symptoms, signs, developmental causes, risk factors, diagnostic context, real-world effects, and serious complications.

Antisocial personality disorder is a serious mental health condition involving a long-term pattern of violating other people’s rights, disregarding social rules, acting impulsively or...

Anosognosia Symptoms, Causes, Risk Factors, and Diagnostic Context

Learn what anosognosia means, how it appears in stroke, dementia, psychosis, and brain injury, and why impaired awareness can affect safety, diagnosis, and daily functioning.

Anosognosia is a lack of awareness of an illness, disability, or change in functioning that is clear to other people. It is most often...

Anorexia Nervosa Signs and Symptoms: What the Condition Can Look Like

A clear guide to anorexia nervosa symptoms, behavioral signs, causes, risk factors, diagnostic context, body effects, complications, and urgent warning signs.

Anorexia nervosa is a serious eating disorder in which food restriction, fear of weight gain, and disturbance in body image or self-evaluation can become...

Anorexia athletica Overview: Warning Signs, Risk Factors, and Effects

Clear guide to anorexia athletica, including how compulsive exercise, food restriction, body image pressure, and low energy availability can affect mental health, physical health, and athletic performance.

Anorexia athletica describes a harmful pattern in which exercise, training, weight control, and food restriction become rigid, compulsive, or medically unsafe. It is most...

Anhedonia Causes, Risk Factors, Diagnosis Context, and Complications

Anhedonia can involve loss of pleasure, reduced motivation, social withdrawal, emotional flatness, and diminished reward from daily life. Learn the signs, causes, risk factors, complications, and diagnostic context.

Anhedonia is a loss or marked reduction in the ability to feel interest, pleasure, enjoyment, or satisfaction from experiences that would usually feel rewarding....

Anankastic Personality Disorder Symptoms, Signs, and Diagnostic Context

A clear guide to anankastic personality disorder, including its meaning, symptoms, signs, causes, risk factors, diagnostic context, daily effects, and possible complications.

Anankastic personality disorder describes a long-standing pattern of rigid perfectionism, excessive control, strict rule-following, and difficulty adapting when things do not meet exact standards....

Anancastic neurosis Symptoms, Signs, Risk Factors, and Effects

Anancastic neurosis is an older term closely related to obsessive-compulsive disorder. Learn how symptoms, signs, causes, risk factors, daily effects, complications, and diagnostic context are understood today.

Anancastic neurosis is an older term most closely aligned with what modern psychiatry usually calls obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD. The spelling “anancastic” is also...

Amnestic Disorder Explained: Memory Loss, Causes, Effects, and Risks

A clear guide to amnestic disorder, including how it affects new learning and recent memory, what symptoms may look like, common causes, risk factors, complications, and how clinicians distinguish it from delirium, dementia, dissociation, depression, and transient global amnesia.

Amnestic disorder is a neurocognitive condition in which memory impairment is the main problem, rather than one symptom among many. A person may be...

Amnestic Confabulatory Syndrome Causes, Brain Changes, and Warning Signs

Amnestic confabulatory syndrome causes severe memory impairment with unintentional false memories. Learn the symptoms, signs, causes, risks, daily effects, complications, and diagnostic context.

Amnestic confabulatory syndrome is a serious disturbance of memory in which a person has major difficulty forming or retrieving memories and may fill memory...

Amnesia Symptoms, Causes, Risk Factors, and Diagnostic Clues

Clear, practical guidance on amnesia symptoms, types, causes, risk factors, complications, and how clinicians distinguish memory loss from similar problems.

Amnesia is a meaningful loss of memory, not ordinary forgetfulness. It can involve difficulty forming new memories, trouble retrieving past experiences, or both. Some...

Alzheimer’s Disease Overview: Early Signs, Causes, and Risks

A clear guide to Alzheimer’s disease, including early symptoms, warning signs, causes, risk factors, cognitive and behavioral effects, complications, and how diagnosis is approached.

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive brain disease that gradually damages memory, thinking, behavior, and the ability to manage daily life. It is the most...