Mood Disorders
DEFINITION
What are Mood Disorders?
Every emotion has a beginning, middle and an end. This normal curve occurs for both positive and negative emotions. As you start feeling happy, the feeling of happiness starts to rise, reaching at its peak and then starts to subside after a while. This is a natural course of a chemical reaction in the brain.
A negative emotion has the same pattern. You will start feeling sad, angry, anxious or lonely; it will reach its peak and then it will start to subside until the feeling of sadness, anger, anxiety or loneliness come to an end. Maybe it does not feel that way at the moment, but any negative emotion you are experiencing will not last forever and will dissipate.
A mood disorder occurs when an individual experiences emotion(s) at the highest extremes, either feeling elevated and/or feeling down most of the time. If a person is feeling elated, overjoyed or exhilarated for a prolong period of time and the feeling does not seem to subside for days, that individual may be experiencing a ‘manic’ or a ‘hypomanic’ episode. Similarly, if an individual is feeling down, melancholy or dispirited for an extended period of time wherein the feeling does not seem to diminish, that person may be experiencing a ‘depressive’ episode. These significant and sometimes rapid changes in mood are called ‘mood swings’ where an individual experiences difficulty regulating emotions.
How can you prevent yourself from experiencing rapid and intensely fluctuating emotions? In other words, how can you cope with mood swings? The golden rule is to take care of your basic needs. Eat when you are hungry; drink lots of water; get enough sleep that helps you feel rested; exercise regularly; avoid mood altering drugs and manage you alcohol intake and treat your physical illness and see a doctor when necessary.
Studies show that people who are sleep deprived report increases in negative emotions such as anger, frustration, irritability and sadness. Studies also indicate that people who oversleep (hypersomnia) experience symptoms of anxiety, sadness and low energy. It is also known that starvation or malnutrition lead to psychological changes such as depression, anxiety, irritability and apathy. Emotional eating and/or overeating is proven to cause mood swings. In the short-term, alcohol seem to have positive effects on a person’s mood as the person drinking reports feeling excited, happy, affectionate, more trusting and more confident. On the other hand, the long-term effect of alcohol abuse can lead to mood swings as individuals report feeling anxious, irritable or depressed the majority of the day. In conclusion, one can ease their mood swings by taking care of their basic needs.
If your mood swings are caused by chemical imbalance in your brain, you may need psychotropic medication. You may need to take mood stabilizers that help reduce or eliminate extremes of high and low moods. Furthermore, you may need to take an antidepressant to elevate your mood or take antipsychotics to reduce manic symptoms. Aside from psychiatric medication, you also need to seek psychotherapy to learn to cope with your symptoms.
Many environmental factors such as trauma, stress or major life changes can contribute to mood disorders. If you are experiencing mood swings, you need to seek professional help from a clinical psychologist like me. In order to reduce the likelihood of relapses and enhance emotion regulation, you can also seek couples counseling and/or family therapy where your family members will be educated about the warning signs and triggers of your mood disorder.
It’s in your hands to take control of your life and improve the quality of your life. Help is out there. You are not alone. Do not hesitate to pick up the phone and call me to make an appointment.
TYPES OF MOOD DISORDERS
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
Major Depressive Disorder is characterized by at least two weeks of low mood accompanied by low self-esteem and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities.
Symptoms include:
- Feelings of sadness, tearfulness, emptiness or hopelessness
- Angry outbursts, irritability or frustration, even over small matters
- Loss of interest or pleasure in most or all normal activities, such as sex, hobbies or sports
- Feelings of worthlessness or guilt, fixating on past failures or self-blame
- Tiredness and lack of energy, so even small tasks take extra effort
- Sleep disturbances, including difficulty falling/staying asleep (insomnia) or sleeping too much (hypersomnia)
- Poor appetite or overeating
- Trouble thinking, concentrating, making decisions and remembering things
- Frequent or recurrent thoughts of death, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts or suicide
Persistent Depressive Disorder (Dysthymia)
Persistent Depressive Disorder (formerly called Dysthymia) is characterized by chronic low-level depression that lasts at least for 2 years.
Symptoms include:
- Feelings of sadness, emptiness, feeling down or hopelessness
- Loss of interest or pleasure in daily activities
- Low self-esteem, self-criticism or feeling incapable
- Tiredness and lack of energy
- Sleep disturbances, including difficulty falling/staying asleep (insomnia) or sleeping too much (hypersomnia)
- Poor appetite or overeating
- Trouble concentrating and trouble making decisions
- Decreased activity, effectiveness and productivity
Bipolar Disorders
Bipolar Disorder (formerly called Manic Depressive Illness or Manic Depression), is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression).
Bipolar I Disorder (BD-I)
Bipolar I Disorder is characterized by characterized by a history of at least one manic episode and depressive episodes.
Common signs and symptoms of mania include:
- Feeling unusually high and optimistic orextremely irritable
- Unrealistic, grandiose beliefs about one’s abilities or powers
- Sleeping very little, but feeling extremely energetic
- Talking so rapidly that others can’t keep up
- Racing thoughts; jumping quickly from one idea to the next
- Highly distractible, unable to concentrate
- Impaired judgment and impulsiveness
- Acting recklessly without thinking about the consequences
- Delusions and hallucinations (in severe cases)
Bipolar II Disorder (BD-II)
Bipolar II Disorder is characterized by hypomanic episodes alternating with depressive episodes. The person has never had a manic episode in order to meet the diagnosis.
Hypomania is a less severe form of mania. In a hypomanic state, a person will likely feel euphoric, energetic, and productive, but will still be able to carry on with their day-to-day life without losing touch with reality. To others, it may seem as if the individual is merely in an unusually good mood. However, hypomania can result in bad decisions that harm one’s relationships, career, and reputation. In addition, hypomania often escalates to full-blown mania or is followed by a major depressive episode.
Cyclothymia
Cyclothymia is characterized by multiple periods of hypomanic symptoms that do not meet criteria for a hypomanic episode and multiple periods of depressive symptoms that do not meet criteria for a major depressive episode for at least two years (one year for children and adolescents).
TREATMENT MODEL
How to treat Mood Disorders?
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is the most effective treatment for mood disorders. The starting point of DBT was to design an effective treatment module for chronically suicidal individuals and for those who met criteria for borderline personality disorder. Currently, DBT has been adapted to treat clients who have difficulty regulating their emotions and resort to impulsive behavior to deal with their negative emotions.
DBT treatment focuses on enhancing patients’ skills to cope and manage intense emotions, change negative thought patterns and decrease self-destructive behaviors.
My Treatment Goals while utilizing Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
- Teach effective coping skills to regulate emotions and manage intense and/or painful emotions
- Decrease the frequency of maladaptive and self-destructive behaviors by adopting healthy coping skills
- Teach mindfulness skills to be more present in the here-and-now rather than dwelling on the past and/or worrying about the future (Mindfulness Module)
- Teach emotion regulation skills to reduce vulnerability to negative/painful emotions, to increase positive events/experiences in their lives and to let go of emotional suffering (Emotion Regulation Module)
- Teach adaptive coping skills to tolerate and survive a crisis situation rather than making the situation worse by resorting to impulsive and/or unhealthy behaviors (Distress Tolerance Module)
- Teach effective strategies for establishing healthy boundaries with others (Interpersonal Effectiveness Module)