The authors focus on the seven most common minor mental disorders, including depression, which they have suffered from and which they successfully managed to resolve all by themselves.
They had Moscow in mind when writing the book, but their overview can also be attributed to any other big city, according to Varlamova.
1. Bipolar affective disorder
This disorder is among the most common problems; its symptoms include mood swings between mania and depression. While in a 'manic' phase, a bipolar person acts like a "superman" who is full of energy, physical strength and optimism, and who feels little need for food and sleep.
However, this mania gives way to depression, during which the former superman remains in a depressed state. He suffers from sleep disorders, nutrition-related problems, as well as physical and emotional weakness and sexual deviations.
2. Asperger's syndrome
According to the current classification, this syndrome is a minor form of autism. People suffering from this syndrome express a fantastic grasp of a narrow field of specialized knowledge but are socially inept.
Thus, children with Asperger's syndrome give the impression of young professors, because they thoroughly know, for example, the history of the Anglo-French wars. However normal communication becomes a serious challenge for them; they are unable to successfully interpret nonverbal communication or social subtleties. They understand the proverbial text but don't know how to read between the lines, and they have difficulty grasping irony, aggression and humor.
3. Antisocial personality disorder
Unlike people with Asperger's syndrome, who are able to feel emotions, those with antisocial personality disorder are devoid of empathy. They are generally incapable of genuinely feeling remorse, compassion, loyalty or guilt.
At the same time, they are able to reflect the moods of others, something that helps them wear a mask of emotionality and not betray their own self-interest. They may cry when it is believed to be considered appropriate or lift their eyebrows to show surprise. They often promote themselves the expense of others.
4. Depression (especially recurrent depressive disorder)
Rather than writing about clinical depression, the book focuses on workaholics. Such people refuse just to relax, even in the face of insomnia, constant stress, and exhaustion. They assume work isn't a 'real problem' like starvation or warfare, but a way of overcoming problems. These people continue to work till they are totally exhausted.
5. Generalized anxiety disorder
There is a whole array of anxiety disorders which can manifest in fear without reason; for example, anxiety sufferers can unaccountably wakes up in a cold sweat. Such people cannot explain their behavior and just brace themselves for abstract disasters.
6. Borderline personality disorder
In their intimate relationships, BPD sufferers are torn between idealization and alienation. At the same time, they are afraid of being lonely.
After a BPD sufferer stops seeing a relationship through rose-colored glasses, he or she starts to perceive only a negative picture of his partner and destroys relationships with ever-increasing criticism. On the one hand, they want sex with their partners, but on the other hand, they are afraid of it.
7. Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
These people have serious problems with attention. During meetings or conferences, they cannot sit still. In the US, such people are often believed to have a special sense for the development of start-ups, because they are, albeit superficially, able to handle a large number of ideas within a short period of time.
