What Are Different Kinds Of Mood Disorders

Life is not always full of fun and all of us have to go through sad and troubled times in life, at one point of time or the other. During this time, we often experienced a low mood, when we lose interest in everything and prefer to sit alone. Going through such a phase for a short period of time is alright. It is when you remain in such a condition for a long period of time or it occurs on an extremely frequent basis that a cause for worry develops. This is because extended or frequent phases of low mood are often characteristic of a mood disorder and can prove quite harmful for your mental as well as physical health. In the following lines, we have provided information on what are different kinds of mood disorders.

 

There are basically two kinds of mood disorders that tend to affect a person - Depression and Bipolar Disorders. Let us know about the two in detail.

 

Depression can be further classified into different types, all of which have been listed below.

 

Major depression can be described as a mental disorder in which a person suffers from low mood all the time. He starts losing interest in activities that amused him earlier and stops feeling pleased from them. Along with that, feelings like worthlessness, inappropriate or exaggerated guilt or regret, helplessness, hopelessness, lack of concentration, poor memory, withdrawal from social situations, thinking of death or suicide, oversleep, fatigue, low appetite and insomnia are its other symptoms.

 

In case of major depression with psychotic symptoms or psychotic depression, a person suffers from depression, along with hallucinations and delusions. In the former case, he sees and hears things that actually do not exist. The latter, on the other hand, is characterized by unreasonable thoughts and fears. In psychotic depression, though a person is aware that what he is feeling is actually not true, he keeps on suffering from it.

 

Dysthymia is a mood disorder that is quite similar to chronic depression, but is less severe than the latter. In this case, a person suffers from depression over a prolonged period of time. The symptoms of dysthymia are same as those in major depression, though their intensity is less. However, if not treated in time, dysthymia can take the shape of major depression.

 

Postpartum depression, as the name suggests, is a form of clinical depression that affects women after giving birth to a child. The symptoms of this type pf depression can last from a few hours to a few days. Melancholy, hopelessness, low self-esteem, sleep disorders, eating disturbances, tiredness, worthlessness, social withdrawal, low energy, irritability and feeling inadequate in taking care of the baby are the main signs of postpartum depression.

 

Bipolar disorder is the second type of mood disorder, which is also known as "manic depression". It is characterized by alternating periods of mania and depression. Let us know about its subtypes.  

 

Bipolar disorder number 1 is the disorder in which the person suffers from atleast one manic episode, apart from depression, or mixed episode. Those who suffer from this mood disorder are subjected to both high and low depression. Substance-induced mood disorder mood and disorder that is due to a general medical condition will not form a part of this.

 

Bipolar disorder number 2 is a disorder in which, along with major depression, the person experiences at least one hypomanic episode. In this case, depression episodes are more frequent as well as more severe than the manic ones. In this case, however, there will not be any manic episode or mixed episode.

 

Cyclothymia is a mood disorder in which one experiences recurrent mood disturbances between hypomania and dysthymic mood. It can be said to be a milder form of Bipolar disorder number 2. To be diagnosed as suffering from cyclothymia, a person will need to have experience the symptoms for atleast two years.