Depressed individuals, while still being able to function in normal life, are engrossed in their feelings and negative thoughts toward themselves, others and their world as a whole. Schizophrenics are what people think of when they think of someone who is mentally unstable with such symptoms as hearing voices and other abnormal behavior. Causes of mental illnesses are unknown but are believed to be dependent on the actual physical makeup of the body, including the brain, chemical imbalances, and the psychological development of a person in daily life. Patients can go to hospitals or private facilities to receive treatment from public and private doctors qualified to diagnose and recommend treatments for mentally ill patients. These treatments can be anything from psychotherapy to drugs and somatic treatments.
Drugs are also a common alternative to psychotherapy.
Little was known about the biochemistry of mental disorders until the 1950s when drugs were introduced. They suppress the symptoms of the mental illness or chemically balance the brain's neural transmitters and re-uptake processes allowing the patient to maintain a normal life. Tranquilizers and sleeping pills are used for the short-term treatment of anxiety, fear, and tension. Antidepressants, such as Prozac, are used in the treatment of depression, anxiety and eating disorders. Antipsychotics reduce agitation, paranoia, hallucinations, bizarre behavior and thought disorder commonly associated with schizophrenia.