Mood disorders nowadays affect most people. They may arise, inter alia, from from environmental factors, professional pressure, dissatisfaction with life, or inborn genetic predisposition. Mood disorders vary in severity, from serious illnesses such as depression to depressed mood states such as cyclothymia. Mood disorders can also be excessively high-agitation and euphoria.
What are the types of mood disorders? How can I help myself?
Mood disorders - types
Among the mood disorders, the so-called affective, there are two extreme values – depression, i.e. a very low mood, and mania – a very elevated mood.
In between these extremes, there is also room for slightly milder mood disorders. There is also the so-called bipolar disorder, associated with sudden jumping from, for example, depression to mania, and vice versa.
Cyclothymia
Cyclothymia resembles a slightly milder version of bipolar disorder. In its course, there are mood drops (but of a lesser intensity) and bouts of euphoria, increased energy and over-excitation. Cyclothymia is a rare disorder that is commonly referred to as lack of stability in maintaining mood.
Dysthymia
Dysthymia is a disorder involving a significant drop in mood. What distinguishes it from depression is primarily a slightly milder course and symptoms, more spread over time. Dysthymia is associated with low self-esteem, sadness, depression and a lack of strength.
It is accompanied by a sense of self-hopelessness, cognitive decline, worry and anxiety. In an exacerbated phase, you may completely neglect your own hygiene and personal life.
Depression
Depression is one of the most serious mood disorders. The sick person is accompanied not only by a constant feeling of guilt, hopelessness, low self-esteem or complete withdrawal from life. In depression, all the feelings of hopelessness are so intense that sick people often have thoughts of suicide. They feel bad about being alive and would like to end “their nightmare” as soon as possible.
Symptoms of depression also include apathy and indifference – the sick person loses interest not only in what has made them happy so far, but also ceases to feel interest in their own life, relationships or hygiene.
Everything becomes indifferent. In depression, there is a complete loss of the ability to feel joy, happiness and other positive emotions.
Read more: Depression
Mania
It is a mood disorder where the entire body is over-stimulated. It is then that states of euphoria, increased physical activity, willingness to act, planning and high motivation appear. There may be a crowd of thoughts, a quick pace of speech in which it is easy to lose the thread. In states of mania there is excessive self-esteem, belief in enormous abilities and possibilities.
People in manic states are impulsive, lose the ability to realistically assess the situation and often take risky actions and hasty decisions.
Bipolar affective disorder
It is a mood disorder associated with the occurrence of both depressive and manic states. These states can quickly follow each other, which means that, for example, a person out of great sadness turns into a state of euphoria and conviction about the strength of their own abilities.
Mood disorders - what are their causes?
The causes of mood disorders are not fully established. It is believed that their occurrence is influenced by both environmental and genetic factors. What matters is the environment in which a person grew up, whether they experienced trauma and how they learned to deal with what happened to them. Mood disorders can also be genetic, especially if you have a family history of these types of conditions.
Biological disorders are cited among other causes, e.g. one of the potential causes of depression may be insufficient production of serotonin in the body.
Mood disorders, especially those related to its lowering, can also be fostered by stressful living conditions, professional pressure or a lack of life satisfaction.
Mood disorders - treatment
In mood disorders, it is primarily the combination of pharmacotherapy with psychotherapy. Only this approach is able to provide effective treatment.
Psychotherapy cannot be ruled out in favor of pharmacotherapy itself, since childhood experiences and unworked traumas are often behind mood disorders. It is worth making an appointment with our psychologist for an initial consultation, who will direct you to further treatment.