Depressive Disorders

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Depression

Depressive disorders are also known as mood disorders. These disorders are a common mental health condition. Doctors believe that depressive disorders and anxiety disorders are closely related. Depressive disorders happen when someone’s mood is changed by their mental health. Everyone gets sad or excited, but when these feelings last longer than they should, these disorders could be to blame. Mood disorders have symptoms such as sadness, irritability, and anger. More symptoms include suicidal thoughts or suicides, tiredness, and excitability. Common depressive disorders include depression or bipolar disorder.

Specific Depressive Disorders:

Read Tanika's story about depression

These disorders are also just called depression. People with depression are often sad, tired, and in a down mood. They may have a hard time getting out of bed. They also may find that they are upset during most of the day. Some people with depression can act angry and lash out at those around them. Depression can include Major Depressive Disorder, Disruptive Mood Disorder, and Persistent Depressive Disorder

Bipolar Disorders

Read Juanita's story about bipolar disorder

These are disorders where a person’s mood fluctuates over time. They have long periods when they are sad, upset, tired, and/or depressed. They also have long periods where they are excited, energetic, and irritable. These periods are called manic episodes. During manic episodes, people often spend money without thinking. They also might start a lot of new projects, sleep less than usual, and do other risky behaviors.

There are three types of bipolar disorder: Bipolar 1, Bipolar 2, or Cyclothymia. For bipolar 2, the manic episodes isn’t as severe, but the depression is the same. For cyclothymia, people have ups and downs, but they aren’t as severe as they are in bipolar 1 and 2. All three types can be treated.

Treatment:

Most depressive disorders can be treated with a combination of therapy and medicine. Some people do better by taking medications for the rest of their lives. Other people just need to take them until their symptoms go away. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is commonly used to treat these disorders. It works by teaching people to replace upsetting thoughts with happier thoughts. Many people also get better from lifestyle changes. For example, some people notice their symptoms get better when they exercise more.