Mood Disorders Quiz

Understanding Mood Disorders

• Mood disorders, also known as affective disorders, cause pervasive alterations in emotions, such as depression or mania, which significantly interfere with a person's life.
• Throughout history, people have suffered from mood disturbances, with evidence of treatments for "evil humors" found in ancient skulls.
• Notable figures like King Saul, King Nebuchadnezzar, Moses, Abraham Lincoln, Queen Victoria, Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, and others have experienced mood disorders.
• Until the mid-1950s, no effective treatments were available for serious depression or mania, leaving sufferers to endure the symptoms.
• Currently, effective treatments for both depression and mania are available, although there are still no cures for mood disorders.
• Mood disorders are the most common psychiatric diagnoses associated with suicide, with depression being a significant risk factor for suicide.
• Schizophrenia, substance use disorders, antisocial and borderline personality disorders, and panic disorders also pose an increased risk for suicide.
• The primary mood disorders are major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder, with distinct symptoms and durations for each.
• Major depressive disorder involves symptoms like changes in eating habits, sleep disturbances, impaired concentration, and feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness.
• Bipolar disorder is diagnosed when a person's mood fluctuates between extremes of mania and depression, with specific symptoms for each state.
• Bipolar disorders are categorized as Bipolar I disorder (manic or mixed episodes with major depressive episodes) and Bipolar II disorder (major depressive episodes with at least one hypomanic episode).
• People with bipolar disorder may experience periods of normal mood and affect between extreme episodes, or they may have a depressed mood swing after a manic episode before returning to a normal mood.