Mood disorders are a category of mental health diagnoses that includes depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder, and bipolar disorder. Over 40 million Americans experience one or more of these conditions, which we treat at Cottonwood, in Tucson, Arizona. Mood disorders are far more common than most people think, and failing to recognize the signs can have lasting implications.
What are Mood Disorders?
Mood disorders are mental health conditions marked by a disconnect between what is going on around a person and how they are feeling. People with depression frequently achieve good things in their lives. People with anxiety feel more worry than others would feel in a similar situation. People who have bipolar disorders may fluctuate between depression and mania without any external cause.
Signs of Mood Disorders
There are several different types of mood disorders, each with their own unique symptoms, which can manifest differently from person to person. Even so, looking for these signs may help you to identify more quickly whether someone you know needs help with their mental health:
- Big, ongoing, negative mood changes (sadness, emptiness, anxiety, hopelessness)
- Low self-esteem
- High levels of guilt
- Loss of interest in activities they used to love
- Changes in appetite, weight, energy, or sleep
- Difficulty focusing and making decisions
- Ongoing complaints of physical pain
Causes of Mood Disorders
Sometimes people blame bad parenting for the existence of mood disorders, but the truth is far more complicated. Mood disorders have many different causes, some of which include:
- Medical conditions like cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, encephalitis, flu, or delirium
- Drugs, including prescription medications and recreational drugs
- Genetics
- Hormones
- Stressful life events, like the death of a loved one, trauma, or abuse
- Gender – women are nearly twice as likely as men to struggle with depression
The Cost of Stigma
Unfortunately, like other mental illnesses, mood disorders are often subject to stigma, with many people who experience them labeled as “lazy,” “moody,” “dangerous,” or “crazy, instead of being given the compassion and empathy they deserve. Sometimes people with mood disorders are even accused of faking their symptoms or trying to get attention by pretending to have a mental illness. This can lead to people with mood disorders having to wait longer to receive treatment, which makes it more difficult for them to recover. People with mood disorders sometimes wait for as long as a decade for an accurate diagnosis and effective treatment, which increases the risk of:
- Substance use disorders
- Employment challenges
- Poor relationships with friends and family
People with mood disorders and most other mental illnesses are rarely dangerous to anyone other than themselves. Far more frequently, they become victims of other people’s behaviors.
How Mood Disorders are Treated
At Cottonwood, we want our patients to have options that work for them. That’s why we offer a range of treatment options for our patients who have been diagnosed with mood disorders, which include:
- Proper nutrition
- Regular physical activity
- Healthy lifestyle choices
- Talk therapy
- Grief groups
- Trauma therapy
- Medications
- Treatment for co-occurring substance use disorders
How You Can Help
It is important to remember that people with mental illness can recover. Many people with mental health diagnoses are able to hold jobs, have relationships, and live relatively normal lives. Having a strong support system of people who encourage them and believe in them is key to successful recovery. Some specific steps you can take if you have a loved one with a mood disorder include:
- Reaching out to them and including them in your activities
- Helping them connect to mental health resources as soon as you notice that they are acting out of character or in ways that endanger their safety
- Teaching them techniques to manage their stress and self-care needs
- Learning about mental health and sharing that information with others to reduce stigma
- Treating your loved one with the same love and respect you would want to receive
- Using the person’s preferred language to talk about their condition
- Taking all threats of self-harm or suicide seriously and contacting 988 to get mental health support or 911 to get immediate medical care
At Cottonwood, we recognize that each patient is a unique individual whose needs, goals, and skills are unlike anyone else we serve. We provide customized care plans that are evidence-based and trauma-informed for each client in our programs.
