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According to the DSM 4, the manuel used by Mental Health professionals to diagnose individuals, a Mood Disorder refers to any period of time when an individual feels abnormally happy or sad. Included under Mood Disorder is Major Depression, and Bipolar Disorder.
Major Depression is characterized by feeling “unhappy,” or “down in the dumps.” When someone is depressed, they may feel loss of pleasure, lost appetite and weight, trouble sleeping, or eats and sleeps more than usual. The person may feel fatigue, or loss of energy, agitated, trouble concentrating, thoughts of death and suicide. Depressed people may suffer from crying spells, phobias, obsessions and compulsions, feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, or worthlessness. Some people start to have Panic Attacks, lose contact with reality, and develop delusions or hallucinations.
While some people with depression seek help, others turn to alcohol and drugs to feel better. CBT has been shown to work just as good as anti depressants in lifting the depression of many people. CBT focuses on the self downing thoughts (inner dialogue) that cause people to depress themselves. For example: if you tell yourself that you are worthless, helpless, and hopeless, then those thoughts will directly effect your mood, and make you feel sad. There are 2 types of Bipolar Disorder; Bipolar I and Bipolar II; the difference is basically in the degree the symptoms manifest themselves. In both, an individual cycles from being depressed to being manic. Above is a good description of depression, so I will discuss a manic episode. Manic is characterized by a heightened self-esteem, increase activity, and pressured speech. When an individual is in a manic episode, he/she may think they can solve the problem of hunger in the world, conduct psychotherapy, and run a the medical facility they are clients of. These individuals get very little sleep, and therefore, lose judgment for what is reasonable and attainable.
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