About Personality
It’s all the ways
you think, feel, and act -- it’s what makes you, well, you. It’s your
habits, quirks, and how you react to the world around you. Even though
your moods change and you learn and grow over the years, there’s still a
certain you-ness to it all. But some health conditions can affect your
personality and make you act in ways that are out of character for you.
1. Alzheimer’s Disease
This illness
affects your thinking, judgment, memory, and decision-making. It can
make you feel confused and change how you act. Early on, you may be
anxious or more easily annoyed. Over time, it can have more serious
effects. A sweet, thoughtful person might become bossy and demanding. Or
someone who used to worry a lot or get stressed easily might be
easygoing and content.
2. Dementia With Lewy Bodies
After Alzheimer’s,
this is the next most common type of dementia. Clumps of unusual
proteins, called Lewy bodies, form in the areas of your brain that
control memory, movement, and thinking. So it affects you both mentally
and physically. People who have it tend to become more passive, showing
little emotion and losing interest in hobbies and other activities.
3. Parkinson’s Disease
While it might
start as a little shakiness in your hand, Parkinson’s can eventually
affect how you walk, talk, sleep, and think. Even early on, it can lead
to things like obsessing over small details or a sudden carelessness.
Later, you may seem absent-minded or not as social as you used to be.
And it gets harder to keep your thoughts going in one direction
4. Huntington’s Disease
This is an illness
you’re born with, but it usually shows up in your 30s or 40s. It damages
brain cells and affects every part of your life. You might have a hard
time thinking clearly, or get angry to the point of hitting walls, or
ignore basic things like brushing your teeth. And you may not even be
aware it’s happening.
5. Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
With this
condition, your immune system attacks the nerves in your brain and
spine. It can cause problems ranging from bladder issues to not being
able to walk. In some cases, it can lead to a feeling of euphoria, where
your happines is beyond normal and out of touch with reality. It can
also bring on laughing or crying that seems out of control or not in
line with how you really feel.
6. Thyroid Disease
The thyroid makes
hormones that tell your body how fast or slow to work. If it makes too
much of those, it can feel like someone stomped on the gas pedal. You
might be irritable, anxious, and have big mood swings. If you don’t make
enough of those hormones, your personality may seem flat. You may be
forgetful and have a hard time thinking things through. It can have
long-lasting effects on your brain if it’s not treated.
7. Brain Tumor
A tumor in your
brain’s frontal lobe can affect the areas that handle personality,
emotions, problem-solving, and memory. That can make you feel confused
or forgetful. It can also cause mood swings, make you more aggressive,
or trigger paranoid thoughts, like thinking people are “out to get you”
when they’re not.
8. Some Types of Cancer
Tumors in the brain
and spinal cord aren't the only ones that can affect personality. If
you have a cancerous one in your pituitary gland, which controls your
hormone levels, that’ll do it, too. So can adenocarcinoma, which you get
in cells that make mucus and other fluids. You can get that throughout
your body, including the breasts, colon, lungs, and pancreas.
9. Stroke
When blood flow to
part of your brain gets cut off, the cells there don’t get enough oxygen
and start to die. The effects depend on how long the stroke lasts and
where in the brain it happens. You might not be able to move some parts
of your body, and it can change your personality in some ways. You might
lose your patience more easily, have serious mood swings, or act more
impulsively than you did before.
10. Traumatic Brain Injury
After a serious
blow to the head, changes in personality can be a hidden symptom that
happens over time. In more serious cases, you may seem like a different
person, saying or doing things you never would have in the past.
11. Depression
As it comes on,
this reaches into every part of your life. It not only affects your
mood, but also the kinds of things you think about, your memory, and how
you make decisions. It changes how you think about the world around
you. It can be very different in men and women. Women often feel
worthless, sad, and guilty, while men tend to feel tired, irritated, and
angry.
12. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
This condition
(OCD) makes you feel anxious and have thoughts and urges you just can’t
stop. For example, you might wash your hands over and over again. You
might doubt yourself a lot and take a long time to finish simple tasks.
It can get worse if someone criticizes you, because that feeds your
anxiety.
13. Bipolar Disorder
This causes mood
changes that go way beyond the normal ups and downs of daily life. When
you’re up, you might feel jumpy, talk really fast, and take big risks.
When you’re down, you might be worried, have low energy, and feel
worthless. And sometimes, you might feel a mix of both. These intense
changes can mess with your sleep and energy, and make it hard to think
clearly.
14. Schizophrenia
This serious mental
illness can make you hear voices and see things that aren’t there. You
might believe things that have no basis in reality. At first, you just
might not be as social as normal. As it gets worse, it can be tough to
keep your thoughts on track, making it hard to even talk to people. And
you may act in ways that are way out of character, hard to predict, and
out of control.
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