Mood disorder

A mood disorder is a condition whereby the prevailing emotional mood is distorted or inappropriate to the circumstances.

The two major types of mood disorders are depression (or unipolar depression) and bipolar disorder.


 * Depression (or unipolar depression), including subtypes:
 * Major Depression
 * Major Depression (Recurrent)
 * Major Depression with psychotic symptoms (psychotic depression)
 * Dysthymia
 * Postpartum depression


 * Bipolar disorder, a mood disorder described by alternating periods of mania and depression (and in some cases rapid cycling, mixed states, and psychotic symptoms). Subtypes include:
 * Bipolar I
 * Bipolar II
 * Cyclothymia

Schizoaffective disorder is a somewhat vaguely-defined term that describes patients that show symptoms of both schizophrenia and one of the mood disorders.

There are also forms of mood disorder that are specific to women, related to physiological events such as pregnancy, giving birth or the menopause - these include Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder and Postpartum Depression.

The generally-accepted definitions of these terms can be found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

Most psychiatrists believe that all mood disorders are in some ways related, both symptomatically and biochemically, as a part of a single spectrum of disorders. However, some psychiatrists claim that bipolar disorder may actually be biochemically closer to schizophrenia than (unipolar) depression.