Mood disorders are a fairly common affliction in the world today. Around 40 million Americans alone suffer from mood disorders of some kind or the other. Research has revealed that mood disorders are caused primarily by chemical imbalances in the brain and in the body. However, there is no need to lose hope. With advanced treatment today, mood disorders can easily be treated with a variety of drugs and therapy, which can enable people to lead normal and successful lives. What is a mood disorder is a question asked by many people.
There are 2 main types of mood disorders:
1) Depression: This is a state of mind which people get into and finds it tough to get out of. It is characterized by perpetual bad mood and loss of interest in life. People suffering from depression are pessimistic and feel that life is not worth living anymore. This can often lead to suicidal tendencies. If you see anyone showing suicidal tendencies or talking about ending his/her life, you need to rush him to a doctor and get him help immediately. A patient often loses appetite and loses a lot of weight.
2) Bipolar Disorders: Bipolar Disorders are psychological disorders, which involve mood swings from depressive to hypomanic/manic. A person suffering from such a disorder suffers from a cycle of depression and elation, which can take place in one day, or over a few weeks. The symptoms of depression are varied like loss of appetite, huge gain/loss in wait, loss of interest in life, anger, guilt and violent outbursts. Symptoms of hypomania are a feeling of elation, racing thoughts, recklessness, distraction etc. Such symptoms need to be carefully looked after to prevent injury to innocent people.
Doctors usually diagnose mood disorders based on the symptoms and the history of the patient. Mood disorders are often genetic and hereditary. If your parents had mood disorders, there is a chance you might have it too. It was found in a study that if a parent had a mood disorder, there was an 80% chance that the child would inherit the same disease. That is why one hears of entire families where depression is passed on from generation to generation.
The best treatment for mood disorders is medicine and therapy. Studies have shown that a combination of the two are best for providing long term results which enable patients to lead a normal life, which would normally not be possible with only medicine as treatment. Sometimes treatments can fail, and then ECT (Electro Convulsive Therapy) is used, which involved giving small electrical shocks to the patient to clear the neural pathways. This technique is used usually only as a last resort, though it is quite successful, it is rather uncomfortable, and hence not very popular.
The prognosis is however, quite good for most patients. With diligent care and medicines, mood disorders can easily be managed and the patient can lead a normal, successful life without much discomfort. One has to however, take a few precautions like avoiding alcohol, drugs and using stress reduction techniques and practice yoga and other such things.