What is Mood Disorder?
If the mood disorder begins to negatively affect daily life, it should be considered a disorder. Sudden emotional changes are considered normal in people’s lives. ( Mood disorders are also defined as ‘Affective Disorders’ by the American Psychiatric Association.)
In order to be diagnosed with an emotional disorder, emotional changes must continue for a long time. Because every person has ups and downs of emotions in their lives. In addition, this disorder negatively affects the person’s work, family and social life.
Human emotions are very diverse, such as joy, sadness and anger . In people with mood disorders , these emotions appear in situations that are not appropriate for the circumstances. People experiencing the disorder experience extreme sadness, extreme joy, or both. Their emotions in the face of events are exaggerated.
What are the Causes of Mood Disorder?
Mood disorders can occur under the influence of genetic, environmental and other factors. In general, we can list the factors that cause this disorder as follows:
Genetic predisposition:
Having family members with mood disorders increases the person’s risk of contracting this disease.
Environmental factors:
The traumas that the person is exposed to in the environment in which he or she grows up and the indifference of the parents towards the child cause personality disorders.
Drug addiction:
Drugs used as a result of a physical illness can cause addiction in the person, and as a result of this addiction, uncontrollable changes in emotions occur.
Apart from these reasons, physical stress and insomnia also disrupt the balance of emotions and can cause mood disorders when they cannot be controlled. Alcohol and substance use are other factors that trigger this disorder.
What are the symptoms of mood disorder?
Mood disorders may present different symptoms depending on the type of disorder. However, situations that are considered symptoms of mood disorders can generally be listed as follows:
- Feeling sad almost every day
- Intensely felt happiness
- Feeling of helplessness
- Not enjoying life
- Overeating or loss of appetite
- Weakness
- Excessive sleepiness or inability to sleep at all
- Lack of concentration
- Inability to get rid of thoughts of death or suicide
- Fast talking
- Being angry and restless
- Desire to do too many activities and spend excessive amounts of money
- Lack of self-confidence and trouble making decisions
- Difficulty understanding the other person
Types of Mood States
A mood illness is a mental health disorder that affects a person emotionally. It develops as a result of extreme emotional changes experienced by the person (extreme sadness or extreme happiness). The most common mood types are depression and bipolar disorder .
Depression:
It is a common mental disorder. Sadness is the most natural reaction of a person to negative situations (such as catching a disease or losing a loved one, etc.). However, if this reaction continues for no reason, symptoms of depression may be observed. In order to be diagnosed with depression, the person’s emotional disorder must last at least two weeks. Types of depression;
To get more detailed information about depression, visit https://www.erdempsikiyatri.com/desosyal-nedir-desosyal-belirtileri-ve-desosyalla-basa-cikmak .
Postpartum Depression :
It is the functional disorder experienced by women in their families and surroundings after birth. In such a case, the person may experience difficulties in relations with the family or difficulties in bonding with the baby.
Melancholic Depression :
It manifests itself as lack of enjoyment of life, intense grief and sadness. Excessive weight loss and intense feelings of guilt are prominent features.
Psychotic Major Depression :
It is a disease in which symptoms such as delusions or hallucinations are encountered.
Dysthymic Depression (Chronic Depressive Disorder ):
It is a disorder in which depressive state and symptoms persist for a long time.
Catonic Depression :
It is a severe depression that causes motor behavior disorders.
Seasonal Depression:
It is a type that appears in people in autumn or winter and heals spontaneously in spring.
Bipolar Disorder (Manic-Depressive Disorder)
Bipolar disorder is also called manic depression . It is a depressive mood disorder in which extreme mood swings and sudden collapses occur. Bipolar emotions are in a constant cycle within the person. Bipolar patients do not always experience this cycle in their moods. There are also periods when emotions run their normal course. During the manic period, the person may feel very happy or very sad. This process is the phase where the person cannot control his behavior. Types of bipolar disorder;
Bipolar I:
It is considered the most severe bipolar disorder. It is depression that lasts for 1 week.
Bipolar II :
It is not a severe depression. The person can meet his daily needs and does not need treatment.
Cyclothymic Disorder:
It is bipolar disorder that begins at an early age. These people have a normal mood for very short periods of time.
Unspecified Bipolar Disorder:
They do not show similar symptoms as other bipolar disorders. It affects people’s daily lives and causes serious changes in their mood.
For detailed information about bipolar disorder, you can visit our page at https://www.erdempsikiyatri.com/bipolar-bozukluk-ve-tedavisi .
Diagnosis of Mood Disorder
Not every change or up-and-down in emotions should be seen as a problem. There are also diseases that have the same symptoms as mood disorders . To diagnose this disorder, a physical examination is first performed. The aim here is to diagnose the disease correctly , as some symptoms of thyroid, vitamin deficiency or other diseases are similar to mood disorders .
During examinations, psychologists or psychiatrists may test people for mood disorders . In this test, sleeping and eating habits etc. By detecting behavioral patterns, helpful information is obtained for the diagnosis of the disease.
The Mood Disorder Questionnaire consists of three questions with yes and no answers. This scale generally examines the history of manic or hypomanic symptoms and the subjective changes experienced in the person.
Treatment of Mood Disorder
Mood disorder treatment is usually done with psychotherapy and medication. Treatment methods to be applied are determined by taking into account the symptoms and type of the disorder.
Is mood disorder dangerous ? If a person tends to harm himself or others or commit suicide, he poses a danger to both himself and those around him. A person showing these tendencies must be hospitalized and treated.
Mood disorder is a disorder that can last for many years and may even reoccur after recovery. In this respect, psychotherapy sessions can last a long time. The important thing is that the person gets to know himself, be aware of the disorder, and learn to control the symptoms with the help of these sessions. Thus, it can develop a defense mechanism against the distress caused by the disorder. Cognitive behavioral therapy method achieves successful results in this field.
Play therapy is used to treat mood disorders in children. Thus, the aim is to make the child aware of the problems he is experiencing. Here, the support of the family to the child is effective in terms of the course of treatment.
Antidepressant medications can be used to treat depression and bipolar mood disorders . These medications should be determined by experts. In addition to antidepressants, emotional stabilizing medications can also be given to balance mood disorders . These medications help stabilize mood swings by reducing abnormal brain activity. Antidepressant and mood stabilizer medications are an effective method for improving patients’ complaints.
Treatment for depression and bipolar disorders can continue in the post-illness period. The most important reason for this is the problems that occur as a result of the person’s social life, education or work life being disrupted during the illness period. The sessions continue in the next period and preventive treatment is targeted. In addition, discontinuing the medications prescribed as soon as improvement is seen will negatively affect the course of the treatment. It is important for the success of the treatment that all stages proceed under the supervision of a doctor.
Another method used to treat mood disorders is brain stimulation or light therapy. This method can be used to improve movement disorders caused by mood disorders.
