Beh Week 8 Diagnosis and Treatment

There are many people around the world who experience some sort of psychological disorder. It is not limited to one specific disorder but a wide range of disorders. One specific disorder that seems to affect roughly 20.9 million American adults (DBSA - Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, 2009) is mood disorders. Depression, mania, and bipolar disorder are classified as mood disorders. To just be upset about something and react irregularly than normal would not classify someone as having a mood disorder. However, people who have been clinically diagnosed as having a mood disorder suffer from severe mood swings hindering them from completing activities that would be done on a normal daily basis. Sufferers have thoughts of feeling hopelessness and negative thoughts, up to suffering physical symptoms such as fatigue. Mania and bipolar disorder sufferers also have some of the same symptoms as depression but alternate between really “high” and “low” moods and extreme mood swings. More specific symptoms would be loss of appetite, changes in sleep patterns, difficulty in concentrating or making decisions, and disturbed thinking. These thoughts have been known to cause suicide in some cases. Some patients who have mania or bipolar could become hostile when not handled appropriately. Many try and successfully complete suicide because they can not handle the overwhelming feelings they are experiencing. If the first attempt at suicide is not successful the person will more than likely attempt again and make sure they are successful this time. The brain transmits neurotransmitters that carry messages to other neurotransmitters; low levels of specific chemicals in the brain have been known to be the primary cause for mood disorders. This has proven to be hereditary. So knowing if someone in a family suffers from mood disorders shows that quite possibly this person will genetically pass this on to their children. In order to properly diagnose a patient

References: DBSA - Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. (2009). Statistics on Mood Disorders. Retrieved from http://www.dbsalliance.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_statistics Konarski, J., McIntyre, R., & Soczynska, J. (2006). Bipolar Disorder: Defining Remission and Selecting Treatment. Psychiatric Times, 23(11), . Retrieved from http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/display/article/10168/52016?ver ify=0 U.S. Public Health Services. (1998). Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General. Retrieved from http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/mentalhealth/chapter4/sec1.html