Emotional disorders: types, symptoms and causes
What are emotional disorders and how can we detect them? Over the last decades, this type of affectation has been included and rethought in the DSM (Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders).
In this article we are going to explain each of these emotional disorders, what symptoms and causes each one has and how they can be managed through therapy or with simple psychological advice.
- Related article: "The 16 most common mental disorders"
Most common emotional disorders
We are going to know this type of disorders according to their frequency, as well as their most notable characteristics.
1. Major depressive disorder
One of the most recognizable mood disorders, which requires psychological and psychiatric intervention in most cases.
Symptoms
To be diagnosed with major depression, the mental health professional must perceive at least five of the following symptoms, and for a minimum period of two weeks:
- Depressive state (low spirits) for most of the day
- Disinterest and inability to feel pleasure (anhedonia) in all or almost all facets of the day, and most days.
- Abrupt loss of body weight (more than 5% of weight in 30 days), or loss or exaggerated increase in appetite on most days.
- Difficulty sleeping (insomnia) or excessive sleep (hypersomnia) almost every day
- Psychomotor agitation or sluggishness on most days
- Low energy most days
- Feeling of worthlessness, guilt or existential exhaustion most days.
- Decreased ability to maintain concentration, to make decisions ...
- Suicidal ideation, intrusive thoughts about death
- It is a disorder that must be treated by doctors and mental health professionals. Its average appearance is around 25 years of age.
2. Dysthymic disorder
The dysthymia is another mood disorder directly related to depression. To be diagnosed with dysthymia, the patient has to be depressed for most of the time. working day and for a period of at least two years, without there being any period of two months in which their mood recovers normal.
Symptoms
Two or more of the following symptoms should appear during the two-year period:
- Loss or unusual increase in appetite
- Difficulty sleeping (insomnia) or hypersomnia (excessive sleep)
- Apathy and low energy
- Self esteem issues
- Trouble concentrating and making decisions
- There is an average age in which the individual usually presents the first stage of dysthymia: around 20 years.
3. Bipolar disorder
The Bipolar disorder, also known as bipolarity, is the predisposition to suffer episodes of mania alternating with stages of major depression. These mood swings lead to states of euphoria and frenzied activity over long periods of time, before falling into apathy and despair.
There are two types of bipolar disorder: I and II. They are distinguished in a characteristic of the manic episode. In bipolar I disorder, full manic episodes with stages of low mood are intermittent. However, in bipolar II disorder, hypomanic episodes (milder than manic episodes) and depressive episodes are intermittent.
Symptoms
Be that as it may, the symptoms of both subtypes are these:
- Onset of one or more episodes of major depression
- Appearance of at least one manic episode (in bipolar II disorder).
- Occurrence of at least one hypomanic episode (in bipolar I disorder).
4. Cyclothymic disorder
The cyclothymic disorder it is an alteration similar to bipolar II disorder. It is distinguished because its episodes are milder, although their duration in time is longer.
Symptoms
The symptoms that warn of the arrival of this disorder are the following:
- Various stages of hypomanic symptoms
- Various stages of depression symptoms, but not meeting the criteria for major depression proper
- Approximately 30% of patients end up referring to bipolar disorder
- Different investigations indicate that the average age in which cyclothymic disorder appears is early, between 12 and 15 years
Causes of emotional disorders
In the scientific and academic community there are different points of view and controversies regarding which are the most frequent causes of emotional disorders. However, yes there are several factors that can influence its appearance.
These mental disorders are multi-causal. That is, they do not appear because of a single factor, but it is the addition of several factors that can cause the disorder.
1. Genetics
If there is a history in the family of people who have suffered emotional disorders, this may indicate a biological and genetic predisposition. Different investigations conclude that people with family members who have suffered from mood disorders are 2 to 3 times more likely to suffer from the same psychological disorder (Gershon, 1990).
However, there are also cases in which a disorder develops without there being or being able to check a family history. For this same reason, many experts indicate that there are environmental and psychosocial factors that can be closely linked to the appearance of diseases such as depression.
2. Biochemistry
The brain and its internal biochemistry have determining effects on the appearance (or not) of emotional disorders.
- Neurotransmitters: Studies show low levels of the hormone serotonin in people suffering from depression. This neurotransmitter regulates our emotions, and when we have low levels we tend to be more unstable and vulnerable.
- Endocrine system: several investigations point to the link between the onset of depression and the hormone cortisol. This hormone increases during times of stress and is also apparently unusually high in people with mood disorders.
3. Stress and traumatic episodes
More than 60% of emotional disorders arise after a bad psychological experience. Psychological trauma and stress are behind most psychological disorders.
When a depressed patient is asked about life events just prior to falling into a depressed state, many of they report having suffered a love breakup, having had a child, being fired from work, having started a career university ...
With this it is not necessary to understand that the emotional disorder appears only by that psychological traumaRather, the person already had a predisposition to suffer from a mood disorder, and stress has accelerated the mechanisms that lead to it.
4. Personality
Certain individuals have recurring negative thoughts, low self-esteem, external locus of control, and tend to worry excessively by the circumstances that life presents to them. This personality type makes them more prone to emotional disturbance.
They are individuals who incur a very common cognitive bias: arbitrary inference. That is, they tend to highlight the negative factors of a situation or circumstance over the positive ones. In addition, they commit overgeneralization, that is, they draw general conclusions in the face of specific and negative situations that have happened to them.
Treatment
There are several ways to treat emotional disorders.
1. Antidepressants
There are three types of drugs used to relieve depression: tricyclic antidepressants, the monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors and the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).
These drugs act in the brain and regulate neurotransmitters, leading to an improvement in the patient's mood in most cases. In any case, this type of pharmacological treatment must be prescribed by a psychiatrist, who will monitor the evolution of the patient.
2. Lithium
Lithium is a common salt used as a mood-regulating medicine, mainly in the manic episodes of bipolar disorder. In any case, it has more severe side effects compared to other drugs that fight depression.
In cases of bipolarity, the administration of certain antidepressants in order to alleviate episodes of low mood is also frequent. Likewise, antipsychotics such as haloperidol may also be prescribed if your reaction to lithium has not been as expected.
3. Psychological therapy
Psychological therapy is very effective when managing episodes of depression and bipolar disorder. In some cases, especially in bipolar disorder, psychotherapy has to be carried out in parallel with drug treatment.
Bibliographic references:
- Cooper, R. (2014). Diagnosing the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: Fifth Edition.
- Harris, R. (2012). Question of confidence. From fear to freedom. Santander: Sal Terrae.
- Wykes, T. (2011). Diagnostics towards the DSM V (in English). Journal of Mental health.