What are Mood Disorders?
A lot of people are familiar with the term mood disorder, however very few people actually know specifically what one is and how to spot one, and more importantly how to distinguish the different and varying types of mood disorders. This post is going to talk about what mood disorders actually are.
A mood disorder is also known as an affective disorder, and is a type of mental health problem. Mood disorders are not concentrated to one gender, age or type of person and they can occur in almost anyone including children. It is often noted that in children the worst kind of mood disorders are seen, but this isn’t always true. Adults can have mood disorder problems, with much more damaging consequences than the ones found in children.The root cause of mood disorders isn’t fully understood, however many scientists have attributed mood disorders to an imbalance of certain brain chemicals that are technically known as neurotransmitters. However sometime it is not due to this imbalance, and in these cases the cause of mood disorders falls on substance and drug abuse and traumatic life events.
The most common and frequently discussed type of mood disorders include major depression, bipolar disorder and dysthymic disorder. Each one of these main types of mood disorder has their own distinctly different characteristics, so need to be dealt in different ways. Therefore there is no one way or quick fix for mood disorders.
The major and most notable symptoms of a mood disorder include immense and ongoing feelings of sadness and despair. Feelings of hopelessness and helplessness are also common. Another feeling that is common in mood disorder sufferers is inadequacy. Along with this comes feelings of guilt, followed swiftly by suicidal thoughts and behaviour patterns, and this is where mood disorders can take a very nasty and frightening turn.
Along with these various strong feelings comes things like easily being irritated, having rapid changes in appetite as well as experiencing some chronic fatigue.
Mood disorders also make it incredibly difficult to carry out daily tasks, which would usually be effortless for people without mood disorders. Managing relationships becomes incredibly difficult for people that have mood disorders and it is common for people with these problems to have huge disputes and arguments with loved ones as well as complete strangers.
As briefly mentioned above, treatments for mood disorders are very individual to the person, mostly due the fact that everyone’s moods are different and unique to them. The first step would usually be having a full medical diagnosis by a mood and behaviour specialist to evaluate your symptoms and assess the best course of action. Medication may be used along with things like cognitive therapy and behavioural therapy and there may also be some lifestyle modification training. To change the core attributes and feelings that are leading to these mood disorders. Please post your comments regarding this issue.
