Support for anyone witha mental disorder
Support for anyone withAffect refers to the signs of feelings that people show to others. Affective disorders are patterns of behavior in which an individual expresses emotional states excessively, inappropriately, or inadequately.
Bipolar disorder is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. The official definition for Bipolar seems to be more stringent than Unipolar and I feel it should be refined more. If you have been diagnosed with Unipolar disorder and some kind of compulsive disorder and you are extremely aggravated at times or excessively happy or just feel some what high at times you should try to find out all you can about Bipolar disorder. The main official criteria for Bipolar is either euphoria or aggravation, aggravation is also a symptom of Unipolar, they also site a tendency to spend but spending money foolishly is actually a compulsive disorder and any compulsive disorder should be considered a sign of Bipolar. The definition for Mixed Mood Bipolar in the DSM III is impossible and should be renamed extreme rapid cycling. It states that you have to meet the criteria for depression and manic at the same time, but if you look it up you will see that the main criteria for each are the exact opposite. A better definition for mixed mood would be depression and hypo mania as their criteria are more compatible. The definition in DSM IV is much better. Moods are regulated by a delicate balance of hormones and neurotransmitters. When hormones, such as nor-adrenaline, are over or under produced, your emotional state can be disrupted. Physical activity stimulates the release of endorphins, natural opiates produced by the brain that are more powerful than morphine. Pain, fear, laughter, and meditations also trigger the release of these chemicals. Endorphins lift your mood, combat stress, speed up healing, and boost the immune system.
The chemicals found in cigarettes fight off depression, so by smoking you are self treating your depression. If you quit smoking you loose that anti-depressant that you were getting in cigarettes and your depression gets worse. If you have Bipolar disorder it can put you in a mixed mood. Nobody that has to give up cigarettes that has depression of any kind should quit cold turkey, see your doctor and try to get Bupropion or a nicotine replacement. You should be well monitored during your quit by both your general physician and your therapist.
High-carbohydrates such as found in potatoes and pasta, boosts the level of the chemical tryptophan in the blood. When tryptophan gets to the brain it is converted into the neurotransmitter serotonin which in turn helps you feel calm, relaxed, and cheerful, helping relieve depression. The high-carbohydrate foods also help people who suffer from SAD when combined with light therapy. Simple forms of carbohydrate such as sugar and alcohol destroy Vitamin B and do not give the benefits of high-carbohydrate foods.
While exercise, humor, and positive thinking can help with mood disorders if your condition affects your day to day living or if you have ever had even slight suicidal tendencies you should see a physician about it and try not to leave any thing out when you tell him your symptoms. You should then try to get a referral to a psychiatrist as they are best equipped to handle mood disorders, especially don't rely on my information as I have no medical training and I am only trying to help. Get professional help!!
Depression is a vicious circle. It slows you down, mentally, socially, and physically. One of the first things you might notice is that everything seems to be such an effort. You get tired very easily, do less than you use to, socialize less. You criticize yourself for not doing enough and you lose friends because you tend to be less sociable. This in turn makes your depression worst, starting the cycle all over again getting worse and worse.
Breaking out of the cycle.
If you have been withdrawing from society or just seem to have a lousy social life check with a near by hospital or mental health center to see if there is a group dealing with your particular disorder in your area or better still talk with someone at mental health as you might be better off with a day program at first, but any type of group is better than staying home feeling sorry for yourself.
The next step is becoming more active. If you find a group near by consider walking there, walking is a good form of exercise. Activity will make you feel better by taking your mind off your negative thoughts and you will begin to feel you are in control of your life again, it will help you to think more clearly. If walking is out of the question then try the exercise on this site, taking it easy at first, the breathing is the most important part as it relieves stress. The next step is trying to find out what your inner voice is telling you that is hurting you psychologically (I'm not talking about hallucinations when I refer to your inner voice, just your subconscious mind). This is best done by keeping a journal, every time you get angry, sad, or emotional, put it in the journal along with what triggered the feeling, your negative thoughts (inner voice), and try to figure out a more logical response than the one you used.
The next step goes along with the journal. Keep track of your moods either daily or weekly, along with what medications you were on and the amount. This step is not only helpful to you but if you share it with your physician it will help him/her regulate your medications.
For help with depression checkout the article How to Cope with Depression
A mixed mood is usually a combination of a depressive episode and a hypomanic episode. If there is manic symptoms it usually means you're cycling at a extremely rapid pace as it is not possible to meet the manic criteria and the depressive criteria at the same time within the DSM III guidelines. DSM IV has changed it so that it is possible. Hopefully DSM V will be still better.
Depression is a biological illness that can be controlled and in most instances cured using medicine and therapy.
Non-endogenous depression is triggered by some outside event such as a death in the family or a close friend including pets, loss of employment, physical illness, or something that happened long ago that your mind has blocked out. Major depression is officially called endogenous, but that is questionable.
With typical depression the person usually has reduced appetite and insomnia, and who is often unable to find pleasure in anything. Atypical depression is not an official diagnostic category, but it is often discussed informally. A person suffering from atypical depression generally has increased appetite and sleeps more than usual. A person with atypical depression may also be able to enjoy pleasurable events despite being unable to seek out such events. Dispite the name, atypical depression may in fact be more common than typical depression.
Major depression, or clinical depression, is marked by one or more major depressive episodes without a history of mania (American Psychiatric Association, 1987). The chances of suffering major depression in a lifetime is nearly 6%. In addition to feelings of sadness, depression often involves a change in appetite, sleeping, and a decrease in activities, interest, and energy. Severely depressed people think of themselves negatively and self-reproachingly. They avoid social contact and may consider or try to commit suicide. Major depression is not a response to an external situation, although it originally might of been brought by depression caused by something, after 6 months to a year or more it becomes major depression. It is characterized by long-lasting and overwhelming sadness of mood. Those who are psychotically depressed have delusions or hallucinations, or may be mute and unresponsive.
Dysthymia also called depressive neurosis, is characterized by a chronic depressed mood with symptoms that are milder than those of major depression (American Psychiatric Association, 1987). Dysthymia people overreact to ordinary stressors and exhibit low self-esteem, self-blame, feelings of inadequacy, gloominess, skepticism, and passivity. Since the depressive symptoms appear to be part of the person's usual functioning, dysthymia has been by many to be a personality disorder (Phillips, Gunderson, Hirschfeld, & L. E. Smith, 1990)
Bipolar disorders are both biological and genetic in origin. They can be controlled when the right medicine is found and therapy can help. Right now it is not recommended that the patient ever go completely off the medicine as the disorder usually comes back. As the patient gets older the attacks usually return at a more rapid pace.
Bipolar disorder I, formerly called manic depression, is
characterized by at least one full manic and one full depressive
episode. Bipolar disorder II is characterized by at least one full
hypomanic and one full depressive episode and no manic episodes.
Bipolar VI means you've had depressive episodes but haven't had any
manic or hypomanic episodes, and a close family member is bipolar.
The manic episode typically occurs first, with the depressive
episode following either immediately or after a period of normal
mood lasting months or years. Some patients are "rapid cyclers"
they have four or more episodes a year, often without any normal
mood. Manic behavior may at first appear to be simply a very
positive and enthusiastic approach to life. Later they have
feelings of great joy or elation, show great agitation, become
involved in many different undertakings, and show a heightened pace
of activity and thinking, extreme impatience, poor concentration,
and poor judgement. In some cases they will make expensive and
extravagant plans that are totally unrealistic. Sometimes people in
a manic pattern are quite irritated and unpleasant. They may be
quite aggressive or may become confused, incoherent, disoriented,
or even violent.
Bipolar disorder III, is undiagnosed Bipolar disorder, the patient
has most of the symptoms of Bipolar II but not enough to be
diagnosed.
Cyclothymia is a chronic mood disorder consisting of recurrent hypomanic and depressive periods that are less severe than those seen in bipolar disorder. Once considered a personality disorder, cyclothymia is now viewed as a milder but more chronic form of bipolar disorder. Cyclothymia individuals usually live a high-risk lifestyle involving daredevil activities, substance abuse, and sexual excesses.
Schizoaffective disorder is the combination of a major mood disorder with psychotic features. The term "schizoaffective disorder" was first proposed by Jacob Kasanin in 1933 to describe those patients whom he considered to present both schizophrenic and affective symptoms. The diagnostic criteria has undergone constant revisions through successive editions of the DSM, in response to modifications in the prevailing view of the nature of the disorder. In the DSM-II the disorder was classified as a subtype of schizophrenia. By the time DSM-II-R came out the criteria for this disorder was quite narrow and specific, requiring the concurrence of a major affective disorder and criteria "A" symptoms of schizophrenia plus during at least one episode of the illness, hallucinations or delusions must be present for two weeks in the absence of prominent mood symptoms, while total duration of affective symptoms must not have been brief relative to the overall period of psychotic disturbance.
Schizoaffective mania is treated with the same medication as is used for bipolar disorder, Lithium is especially useful in treatment. For patients with schizoaffective depression a treatment of antipsychotic and antidepressant works the best.
Characteristic symptoms: Two (or more) of the following, each present for a significant portion of time during a 1-month period (or less if successfully treated):
Note: Only one Criterion A symptom is required if delusions are bizarre or hallucinations consist of a voice keeping up a running commentary on the person's behavior or thoughts, or two or more voices conversing with each other.
SAD consists of a general feeling of listlessness and depression that is experienced by some individuals during the winter months. Like most depressives, people suffering from this condition have a reduced interest in sex and show feelings ranging from irritability to lethargy. However, unlike most depressives, such people gain rather than lose weight and report an intense desire for sleep. Initial suggestions about causes of this condition are that the sufferers are showing an exaggerated tendency that is found in all of us, which at one time was useful in an evolutionary sense - that is, the tendency for bodily processes to slow down during the winter months to conserve energy and possibly scarce food supplies. Bright lighting usually helps this condition.
Social affective disorder consists of a general feeling of anxiety and depression that is experienced by some individuals when they have to interact in a social situation or sometimes even over the phone. This disorder is similar to non-situational social phobia or Avoidant Personality Disorder. The condition is always accompanied by an affective disorder but the depression is worsened in public situations. While medication helps it is therapy that does the most good, slowly helping the individual cope with the idea of being in groups of any kind.
