Mood Disorders

Mood Disorders

Introduction

Mood disorders refer to a pathologically depressed mood state, which affects all the aspects of a person's perceptions as well as life. According to the DSM-IV, a mood disorder related to substance abuse can be categorized as manic, depressive and mixed. The person displays the features of the mood disorder while being intoxicated or having a withdrawal. Mood disorders are mental disorders characterized by periods of depression, sometimes alternating with periods of elevated mood.

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 (Baldwin, 2010).

Body: Discussion and Analysis

Mood disorders come in many different forms. However depressive mood disorders are popularly considered as the more serious and more threatening types of mood disorders. The other type of mood disorder is called the bipolar disorder. The bipolar disorder can be more easily handled and stabilized however the depressive mood disorder is a lot harder to assess, control and regulate. The rest of the post will discuss exactly what this more serious mood disorder is and what can be done about it (Baldwin, 2010).

If a person is suffering from a depressed mood disorder then he/she is in a down and depressed mood for most of the day and remains that way for many days or even weeks. This prolonged episode of extreme depression lasts a period of about 2 weeks. During this period the person shows no excitement and pleasure in anything, even the activities and hobbies they once found interesting and amusing. They are almost completely and entirely consumed by this acute ongoing depression. They have feelings of low self worth and a “what's the point in any of this?” attitude, and this is what can be particularly dangerous and damaging to the person.

Spotting that a person has this serious kind of mood disorder. All you have to do is watch them for a few days and it will be very easy to see and identify. However some of the most common symptoms of this disorder are loss of appetite (which leads to dramatic weight loss and frailty). Other common symptoms include rapid slowing down of speech and movement, not being able to sleep even though you have decreased feelings of energy. The more worrying symptoms are low feelings of self worth, which can get so bad that you contemplate ideas such as suicide (Cassano, 2004).

However, normal life circumstances can also be to blame and should not be overlooked. Cassano (2004) contends that periods of high stress or a death of a loved can increase the risk for this disorder. Drug abuse can also be a risk factor due to the fact ...