Mood Disorders

What are mood disorders?

A mood disorder, a mental health condition that typically impacts your emotional state, can lead to continuous anger, sadness, and elation. The important thing to remember is that mood disorders are treatable conditions through the use of psychotherapy. While it’s normal for your mood to be inconsistent at times, a mood disorder is characterised by a persistent mixture of emotions such as anger and sadness.

What are the types of mood disorders?

Depression

Depression is a prevalent type of mood disorder that results in prolonged feelings of sadness and hopelessness. The disorder may result in issues with memory, sleep, eating, and thinking. The symptoms usually last over a week or more and appear persistent. There are various types of depression, such as postpartum depression, major depressive disorder, seasonal affective disorder and depression with psychosis.

Depression, which is usually a result of a genetic predisposition to the disorder, does not always lead to a depressive episode. Any individual may develop depression if their unique circumstances lead them to it. Usually, it’s a result of overwhelming stress, which stimulates the release of stress hormones that lead to depression. High levels of stress hormones have a detrimental impact on the body, thereby inhibiting the production of serotonin, a brain chemical that promotes a feeling of elation. Normally, doctors prescribe antidepressants, but most don’t work or take a long time to work. There are also side effects, and the medication simply masks the symptoms, without addressing the root cause of depression. Fortunately, there is hope: taking nutritional supplements can increase serotonin levels, as can psychotherapy.

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a lifelong mental health condition that results in an imbalance of moods, changes in behaviour, thinking patterns and energy levels. It causes intense mood shifts and alterations in behaviour that impact one’s thinking and actions. This is a lifelong journey, but with the right support and management strategies, such as prescription medication, nutritional supplementation, and counselling, individuals can navigate it successfully.

© 2026 Dr Adelbert Scholtz, Christian Counselling Psychologist.

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