Mood disorders
Mood disorders, also known as affective disorders, can be one or a range of conditions that affect a person’s thoughts and feelings, including their sociability and sensitivity towards other people and environments. This type of disorder can cause the sufferer’s behavior to fluctuate, going from low and depressive, to irritable and manic moods.
According to the DSM, mood disorders can be separated into depressive disorders and bipolar disorders.
Depressive disorders are divided by the DSM into 3 disorders:
Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder – (For children up to 18 years) A disorder for children who show episodes of behavioral dyscontrol (violent, abnormal, episodic, uncontrollable behaviors with the absence of provocation) and continuous irritability.
Persistent depressive disorder – Covers both chronic major depressive disorder and dysthymic disorder (a milder, chronic state of depression).
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder – The presence of multiple specific symptoms in the week before and during the onset of menses such as anxiety, depression, anger or irritability.
Bipolar disorders are divided into 4 disorders:
Bipolar I – (known as “manic-depressive”) A person with mania presenting symptoms of irritable mood and increased energy.
Bipolar II – To be diagnosed with Bipolar II a person must have no history of an episode of mania. The person will show currently of will have had in the past at least one or more episodes of hypomania and one or more episodes of major depression.
Cyclothymic disorders – A two-year history of ‘not-quite’ hypomania and major depression.
Bipolar disorder that has aroused from the use of medication, drugs or medical condition.
Anxiety disorders include a range of disorders that share features of excessive fear and behavioral disturbances which can trigger fight or flight reactions and panic attacks. Anxiety disorders can be divided into 3 categories by the DSM:
Anxiety disorders – Includes phobias (specific and social), panic disorder, agoraphobia (a fear of being in a situation which may cause panic, e.g. crowded places) separation anxiety and selective mutism.
Obsessive-compulsive disorders – OCD, body dysmorphia, hoarding disorder (difficulty parting with possessions), trichotillomania (pulling out hair from the head or other areas of the body) and excoriation disorder (aka dermatillomania; obsessive picking at the skin).
Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorders – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), adjustment disorder, reactive attachment disorder (RAD – Found in children who do not form healthy emotional attachments due to abuse or neglect), acute stress disorder.
Schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders include:
Schizophrenia – A long-term condition which affects social behavior and a person’s perception of reality. The individual must suffer/have suffered from at least 2 of the following symptoms: confusion, false beliefs, delusions and disorganized speech or hallucinations.
Schizophreniform Disorder – Similar to schizophrenia, but where the symptoms last for at least 1 month to a maximum of 6 months.
Schizoaffective Disorder – An uninterrupted period of a combination of schizophrenia symptoms and mood disorder symptoms.
Schizotypal (Personality) Disorder – Severe social anxiety, thought disorder and paranoid which leads to an individual being unable to establish or maintain healthy close relationships with other people.
Delusional Disorder – (aka paranoid disorder) A serious mental illness know as a “psychosis” where the suffer experiences long-standing delusions; being unable to differentiate from what is fake and what is real, causing untrue yet unshakable beliefs on something.
Brief Psychotic Disorder – Sudden and temporary periods of psychotic behaviors such as confusion, hallucinations, and delusions.
Substance/Medication-Induced Psychotic Disorder – Delusions or hallucinations caused by the use of medication, drugs or substances such as alcohol.
Psychotic Disorder Due to Another Medical Condition – Delusions or hallucinations caused by migraines, strokes, tumors, infections, and various endocrine disorders
Substance-related disorders
