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Mood Disorder

A girl feeling sad
Sad Look

Mood & Anxiety
Disorder

Anxiety is a normal and often adaptive response to stress or perceived threats. However, when anxiety becomes excessive, persistent, and interferes with daily life, it may indicate an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are a group of mental health conditions characterized by intense, excessive, and persistent worry or fear about everyday situations.

A mood disorder is a mental health condition characterized by significant changes in mood that interfere with a person's ability to function effectively in daily life. These mood changes can manifest as periods of intense sadness, euphoria, irritability, or other extreme emotions that are disproportionate to the circumstances.

There are several types of mood disorders, including:

  1. Major Depressive Disorder (MDD): Also known as clinical depression, MDD involves persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed. Symptoms may include changes in appetite or sleep, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and thoughts of death or suicide.

  2. Bipolar Disorder: Bipolar disorder is characterized by alternating periods of depression and mania or hypomania. During manic episodes, individuals may experience elevated mood, increased energy, racing thoughts, and reckless behavior. Hypomanic episodes are similar but less severe. Between episodes, individuals may have periods of stable mood.

  3. Persistent Depressive Disorder (Dysthymia): Dysthymia involves chronic, low-grade depression lasting for at least two years. Symptoms are similar to those of major depression but may be less severe. People with dysthymia may have periods of feeling relatively normal, but they rarely feel truly well.

  4. Cyclothymic Disorder: Cyclothymic disorder is characterized by frequent mood swings that are less severe than those seen in bipolar disorder. Individuals may experience periods of hypomania and mild depression, but the symptoms do not meet the criteria for a full-blown manic or depressive episode.

  5. Other Specified and Unspecified Mood Disorders: These categories encompass mood disorders that do not fit neatly into the above classifications but still cause significant distress or impairment.

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