What is an alcohol use disorder?

What is alcohol use disorder (AUD)?

If you are like many Americans, you drink alcohol at least occasionally. For many people, moderate drinking is probably safe. But drinking too much can be harmful, so it's important to know how alcoho ...

Alzheimer disease is a degenerative disease of the brain that causes dementia, which is a gradual loss of memory, judgment, and ability to function. This disorder usually appears in people older than ...

A caregiver gives care to someone who needs help taking care of themselves. It can be rewarding. It may help to strengthen connections to a loved one. You may feel fulfillment from helping someone els ...

Alzheimer’s disease is currently ranked as the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, but recent estimates indicate that the disorder may rank third, just behind heart disease and cancer, ...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia among older people. Dementia is a brain disorder that seriously affects a person's ability to carry out daily activities.

Antidepressants are medicines that treat depression. Your doctor can prescribe them for you. They work to balance some of the natural chemicals in our brains. It may take several weeks for them to hel ...

What is Anxiety disorders?

Is it hard for your child to sit still? Does your child act without thinking first? Does your child start but not finish things? If so, your child may have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (AD ...

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a behavioral disorder that typically begins in childhood and is characterized by a short attention span (inattention), an inability to be calm and st ...

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurological and developmental disorder that begins early in childhood and lasts throughout a person's life. It affects how a person acts and interacts with others, ...

Many children wet the bed until they are 5 or even older. A child's bladder might be too small. Or the amount of urine produced overnight can be more than the bladder can hold. Some children sleep too ...

We have all heard it many times before - regular exercise is good for you, and it can help you lose weight. But if you are like many Americans, you are busy, you have a sedentary job, and you haven't ...

Bereavement is the period of grief and mourning after a death. When you grieve, it's part of the normal process of reacting to a loss. You may experience grief as a mental, physical, social or emotion ...

Bipolar disorder is a serious mental illness. People who have it go through unusual mood changes. They go from very happy, "up," and active to very sad and hopeless, "down," and inactive, and then bac ...

Learn about the causes, symptoms, and diagnosis of bladder control problems and bedwetting in children. Treatments may include home care, alarms, and medicine.

What is bullying?

What is caffeine?

All kids misbehave some times. And some may have temporary behavior problems due to stress. For example, the birth of a sibling, a divorce, or a death in the family may cause a child to act out. Beha ...

As children grow older, they develop in several different ways. Child development includes physical, intellectual, social, and emotional changes.

It's important to recognize and treat mental illnesses in children early on. Once mental illness develops, it becomes a regular part of your child's behavior. This makes it more difficult to treat.

What is chronic fatigue syndrome?

What are club drugs?

Cocaine is a white powder. It can be snorted up the nose or mixed with water and injected with a needle. Cocaine can also be made into small white rocks, called crack. Crack is smoked in a small glass ...

Many people enjoy gambling, whether it's betting on a horse or playing poker on the Internet. Most people who gamble don't have a problem, but some lose control of their gambling. Signs of problem gam ...

Having a long-term, or chronic, illness can disrupt your life in many ways. You may often be tired and in pain. Your illness might affect your appearance or your physical abilities and independence. Y ...

No matter how well you have prepared, you might feel dazed or numb after going through a disaster. You may also feel sad, helpless, or anxious. In spite of the tragedy, you might just feel happy to be ...

Degenerative nerve diseases affect many of your body's activities, such as balance, movement, talking, breathing, and heart function. Many of these diseases are genetic. Sometimes the cause is a med ...

What is delirium?

What is dementia?

Depression is a serious medical illness. It's more than just a feeling of being sad or "blue" for a few days. If you are one of the more than 19 million teens and adults in the United States who have ...

What are drugs?

What is drug use?

E-cigarettes, or electronic cigarettes, are battery-operated smoking devices. They often look like cigarettes, but work differently. Using an e-cigarette is called vaping. The user puffs on the mout ...

What are eating disorders?

Alcohol can harm your baby at any stage during a pregnancy. That includes the earliest stages, before you even know you are pregnant. Drinking during pregnancy can cause a group of conditions called f ...

People in the U.S. are living longer, and the number of older adults in the population is growing. As we age, our minds and bodies change. Having a healthy lifestyle can help you deal with those chang ...

Many factors affect your health. Some you cannot control, such as your genetic makeup or your age. But you can make changes to your lifestyle. By taking steps toward healthy living, you can help reduc ...

What is sleep?

Heroin is a white or brown powder or a black, sticky goo. It's an opioid drug made from morphine, a natural substance in the seedpod of the Asian poppy plant. It can be mixed with water and injected ...

What is mental health?

What are inhalants?

What is a learning disability?

What is Lewy body dementia (LBD)?

What is marijuana?

Every day, you have different experiences and you learn new things. Your brain cannot store all of that information, so it has to decide what is worth remembering. Memory is the process of storing and ...

Most men need to pay more attention to their health. Compared to women, men are more likely to

What are mental disorders?

What is mental health?

Methamphetamine - meth for short - is a very addictive stimulant drug. It is a powder that can be made into a pill or a shiny rock (called a crystal). The powder can be eaten or snorted up the nose. ...

Some forgetfulness can be a normal part of aging. However, some people have more memory problems than other people their age. This condition is called mild cognitive impairment, or MCI. People with ...

Most people feel sad or irritable from time to time. They may say they're in a bad mood. A mood disorder is different. It affects a person's everyday emotional state. Nearly one in ten people aged 18 ...

Movement disorders are neurologic conditions that cause problems with movement, such as

Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder that disrupts the normal sleep-wake cycle. Although this condition can appear at any age, it most often begins in adolescence.Narcolepsy is characterized by exce ...

What is obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)?

People in the U.S. are living longer than ever before. Many older adults live active and healthy lives. But there's no getting around one thing: as we age, our bodies and minds change. You need to kno ...

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act as we cope with life. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, ...

What are opioids?

Opioids, sometimes called narcotics, are a type of drug. They include strong prescription pain relievers, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, fentanyl, and tramadol. The illegal drug heroin is also an opi ...

What are opioids?

Panic disorder is a type of Anxiety disorders disorder. It causes panic attacks, which are sudden feelings of terror when there is no real danger. You may feel as if you are losing control. You may ...

Personality disorders are a group of mental illnesses. They involve long-term patterns of thoughts and behaviors that are unhealthy and inflexible. The behaviors cause serious problems with relationsh ...

A phobia is a type of Anxiety disorders disorder. It is a strong, irrational fear of something that poses little or no real danger.

What is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)?

Many women have the baby blues after childbirth. If you have the baby blues, you may have mood swings, feel sad, anxious or overwhelmed, have crying spells, lose your appetite, or have trouble sleepin ...

When you are pregnant, you are not just "eating for two." You also breathe and drink for two. If you smoke, use alcohol or take illegal drugs, so does your unborn baby.

Premenstrual syndrome, or PMS, is a group of symptoms that start one to two weeks before your period. Most women have at least some symptoms of PMS, and the symptoms go away after their periods start. ...

If you take a medicine in a way that is different from what the doctor prescribed, it is called prescription drug misuse. It could be

Psychotic disorders are severe mental disorders that cause abnormal thinking and perceptions. People with psychoses lose touch with reality. Two of the main symptoms are delusions and hallucinations. ...

Tobacco use is the most common preventable cause of death. About half of the people who don't quit smoking will die of smoking-related problems. Quitting smoking is important for your health.

Schizoaffective disorder is a mental health condition that includes features of both schizophrenia and a mood disorder such as bipolar disorder or depression. The prefix "schizo-" refers to the psycho ...

Schizophrenia is a serious brain illness. People who have it may hear voices that aren't there. They may think other people are trying to hurt them. Sometimes they don't make sense when they talk. The ...

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that comes and goes with the seasons. It usually starts in the late fall and early winter and goes away during the spring and summer. Some peo ...

What is self-harm?

What is sleep?

Many people who chew tobacco or dip snuff think it's safer than smoking. But you don't have to smoke tobacco for it to be dangerous. Chewing or dipping carries risks like

Smoking cigarettes has many health risks for everyone. However, the younger you are when you start smoking, the more problems it can cause. People who start smoking before the age of 21 have the harde ...

Everyone feels stressed from time to time. Not all stress is bad. All animals have a stress response, and it can be life-saving. But chronic stress can cause both physical and mental harm.

What is suicide?

What is depression in teens?

As a teenager, you go through many physical, mental, emotional, and social changes. The biggest change is puberty, the process of becoming sexually mature. It usually happens between ages 10 and 14 f ...

As a teenager, you go through many changes. Your body is on its way to becoming its adult size. You may notice that you can't fit into your old shoes or that your jeans are now 3 inches too short. Alo ...

Being a teenager is hard. You're under stress to be liked, do well in school, get along with your family, and make big decisions. You can't avoid most of these pressures, and worrying about them is no ...

Most teenage girls don't plan to get pregnant, but many do. Teen pregnancies carry extra health risks to both the mother and the baby. Often, teens don't get prenatal care soon enough, which can lead ...

What is telehealth?

If you have Tourette syndrome, you make unusual movements or sounds, called tics. You have little or no control over them. Common tics are throat-clearing and blinking. You may repeat words, spin, or, ...

Alcohol is the most widely misused substance among America's youth. Drinking by young people has big health and safety risks. It is dangerous because it