What are the most common emotional disorders?

Psychology has been in charge for more than a century of dealing with all kinds of psychological alterations that can generate discomfort or suffering in people, as well as treating each imbalance with the tools that best suit each case. Part of these psychopathologies especially influence our way of experiencing emotions.

In today's article we will focus on emotional disorders, one of the most common in current society and that more pain, discomfort or anguish generates in the people who suffer them daily.

Emotional disorders are those psychological disorders that directly affect the emotional state of people, which frequently interferes with their normal functioning in daily life and in the normal relationship with their environment.

• Related article: "Mental health: definition and characteristics according to psychology"

The most common emotional disorders

If you have an emotional disorder or want to know in depth what the disorders are most common emotional disorders and the pathologies that are suffered the most throughout the world, consult our today's selection.

1. Mood disorders

The state of mind that people have at a certain moment shapes the way we perceive the world around us and it also greatly conditions the way in which we decide to live our lives on a daily basis.

There is a type of psychological alteration that specifically affects people's state of mind, which interferes very noticeable way in people's lives, as well as in their ability to carry out tasks and activities from day to day. day. We are talking, obviously, of the so-called affective or mood disorders.

Mood disorders are mental health disorders that are characterized by the presence of emotional disturbances. severe in the person who suffers from them, as well as distorted moods that do not correspond to their circumstances present.

This type of disorder causes that we experience prolonged periods of excessive sadness, emptiness, anguish or discomfort (depression) or of extreme euphoria, activation or happiness (mania). Therefore, depression and mania can be considered the two extremes of mood disorders.

1.1. major depression

Major depression is one of the most common emotional disorders that exist, and consists of the existence of long periods of extreme sadness in the person who suffers from it.

The main symptoms of major depression are unhappiness, anguish, melancholy, frustration or low mood and this disorder can be caused by a wide variety of different causes.

Among the main causes of major depressive disorder we can find genetic or family causes, hormonal causes, stressful events from the past, alcoholism or drug addiction, and problems with sleep.

• You may be interested in: "The 6 differences between sadness and depression"

1.2. Bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder is also known as manic depression, as it is a disorder characterized by alternating periods of depression and mania.

These clearly marked periods are characterized by symptoms of euphoria, hyperactivity, irritability, and rapid speech. (in the manic period) and by symptoms of psychomotor retardation, hypersomnia and extreme sadness in depressive episodes.

1.3. Substance-Induced Mood Disorder

Substance-Induced Mood Disorder is caused, as its name suggests, by continued exposure to consumption of a drug or medication with psychoactive effects.

Depending on the type of substance that is consumed, the symptoms of this type of disorder can be manic or depressive.

• Related article: "Types of drugs: know their characteristics and effects"

2. Anxiety disorders associated with trauma

Anxiety disorders and those associated with traumas constitute the second of the large groups that make up the most common emotional disorders worldwide.

Anxiety disorders have anxiety as the main differentiating element that can manifest itself in symptoms as diverse as arousal, stress, excessive sweating, restlessness, sleep problems, irritability, fatigue, fear of the future and constant suffering.

Anxiety disorders can be defined as those in which anxiety is predominant and defining, that is, a feeling of constant discomfort and worry about possible coming catastrophes or the permanent fear of a future full of dangers.

2. 1. Generalized anxiety disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder is one of the most common in people who suffer from anxiety and is characterized by a pervasive feeling of anxiety and excessive worry with no apparent trigger, for at least 6 consecutive months.

This generalized anxiety affects all aspects of the person's life and usually generates tiredness, fatigue, irritability, nervousness, trouble sleeping, muscle tension or problems with concentration.

2. 2. phobias

Phobias are irrational fears motivated by an object, living being or situation in particular, such as blood, spiders, fear of flying or fear of being in social situations.

These irrational fears also have a great impact on the life of the person who suffers from them and make it difficult to carry out each of the daily activities or responsibilities normally.

3. post traumatic stress disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder develops when experiencing or witnessing an emotionally destabilizing event that can affect the person intensely. From that moment on, people with PTSD progressively remember the traumatic event and they cannot go back to having the life they had before due to the terror generated by the lived experience.

These traumatic events can be of a different nature, among the most common are accidents traffic, the experience of natural catastrophes, situations of violence, sexual abuse or an experience close to death.