Mood Disorders

What are mood disorders?

Mood disorders are a group of mental health conditions that affect your emotions, temperament, attitude, energy, and behaviors. When your mood is low, your energy levels drop, and life looks sad and dark. An elevated mood raises your energy along with your outlook on life.

You may have mild or severe mood changes. And your different mood episodes could be short-lived or last for months or longer.

What are the different types of mood disorders?

Mood disorders fall into two large categories, depressive disorders and bipolar disorders.

Depressive disorders cause a persistently low mood. These conditions include:

• Major depressive disorder
• Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder
• Persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia)
• Premenstrual dysphoric disorder

Bipolar disorders cause episodes of high energy (mania or hypomania) and low energy (depression). These conditions include:

• Bipolar I disorder
• Bipolar II disorder
• Cyclothymic disorder

You can also develop a mood disorder from certain medications, alcohol or drug abuse, and health conditions. For example, cancer, incurable diseases, and chronic illnesses often cause mood disorders.

Do other mental health conditions affect moods?

Yes, many mental health disorders and medical conditions cause mood swings, including:

• Anxiety
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Schizophrenia
• Autism spectrum disorders
• Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Thyroid disease
• Insomnia
• Dementia
• Hormone imbalances

These conditions may cause mood swings that don’t qualify as a mood disorder. However, they also increase your risk of developing a mood disorder.

What symptoms occur due to a mood disorder?

Your energy, motivation, and emotions all follow your mood, whether it goes up, down, or stays neutral.

In addition to low versus high energy, a few of the most common extremes include:

• Feeling sad and hopeless vs. happy, elated, and brilliant
• Having low self-esteem vs. feeling self-important
• Being withdrawn and uncommunicative vs. hyperactive and extremely talkative
• Feeling confused and sluggish vs. having racing thoughts and euphoria

Mood disorders also affect your appetite and ability to sleep. You may also find it hard to concentrate whether you’re up or down, but for different reasons.

If you’re depressed, your brain is affected by fatigue and fogginess. But if you’re manic, you can’t concentrate because you’re too distracted and hyper, so you keep jumping from one thought to the next.

How are mood disorders treated?

Dr. Wright completes a psychiatric assessment to diagnose the cause of your mood. Then he creates a customized treatment plan that may include therapy, medication, or both, depending on your diagnosis and the severity of your symptoms.

If you have symptoms of a mood disorder, call Ryan Wright, MD, or book an appointment online today.