What are mood disorders?
To put it simply, mood disorders are conditions that negatively affect an individual’s emotional state. For people with epilepsy, the most common mood disorders are major depression and dysthymia. Sadness, albeit a common occurrence in our daily lives, is a primary symptom of depression. Yet, persistent and excessive sadness is considered abnormal and open to treatment. There are a host of symptoms that point to treatable depression: sadness associated with a lack of pleasure in performing activities; problems with weight and sleep; tiredness; difficulty concentrating and making decisions; feelings of worthlessness or guilt; and frequent thoughts of suicide and death. If five or more of these symptoms persist for at least two weeks, that qualifies as major depressive disorder. A dysthymic disorder is similar to major depressive disorder, but it is less intense and includes depression for most days for at least two years. During this interval, two or more of the following symptoms need
Mood disorders, which include depressive and bipolar disorders, are prolonged or extreme disruptions in someone’s emotional state. Depressive disorders are those associated with negative feelings, the most obvious being depression. Bipolar disorders involve severe mood swings, where someone may go from a depressive state to a manic state (associated with outrageous behaviours), usually over a few weeks. It is important not to confuse these with normal reactions to life events.
Mood disorders, also called affective disorders, are a group of illnesses that have as their distinguishing characteristic an experience of mood that is unusual for the circumstances. Common mood disorders include bipolar disorder, depression, postpartum depression, cyclothymia, schizoaffective disorder, and seasonal affective disorder. Most mood disorders are at least somewhat treatable with drugs and psychotherapy.
