Disorder Type

They could be organized as unipolar disorders (major depression and distimic disorder), bipolar disorder (Bipolar I, II and ciclothymia), and bipolar disorders not otherwise especified.

Major Depression

Is a very severe mental disorder, characterized by low or melancholic mood, frecuent crying, dramatic changes in apetite and weight, sleep disorder (sleep either too much or too little), irritability, anxiety, uneasiness and bad mood. Low energy,fatigue, guilt or low self esteem, concentration and attention difficulties, as well as indecisiveness. Difficulty to enjoy things, social isolation and rejection, unjustified pains, repeated ideas about death, and/or suicide. . When one finds five or more of these symptoms for more than two weeks or if any of them interferes with every day life, it is necesarry to seek professional advice.

Dysthymic disorder

It is a chronic type of depression, characterized by persistent low mood (not as extreme as in other types of depression). The main symptom of dysthymia is low mood and sadness almost every day for at least two years.Other symptoms inlcude: lost of apetite or compulsive eating, insomnia or hipersomnia, lost of energy or fatigue, low concentration, low self esteem,hopelessness.

Bipolar disorder

Historically knowns as maniac-depression psicosis, bipolar disorder consists in the appeareance along the life cycle of phases of depression, alternating with mania or hipomania episodes. In between the crisis there could be periods of complete normality that can last even years.

During these intecritic periods, in wich the patient does not have symptoms of depression nor extreme euforia or irritability, he can have a complete normal activity. However if the crisis are very frecuent, several depressive or maniac episodies in a year, (bipolar disorder with short cycles), the prognosis worses and the impact of the illness on the global functioning of the subject is higher, leading to impairment , lost of cognitive functions and psicosocial inestability.

When someone has a bipolar disorder, the mood changes differs from those that can be observed in almost every person, in that those are much more intense, thay last longer and can compromise judgement and behavior in a very severe way. During maniac episodes the person is very exited, hyperactive, speaks more, has overvalued or delusional ideas of power and, greatnes. The need to sleep and eat is diminished, the risk is undervalued, so it is more possible to behave in an unappropiate and uninhibited way (to invest and spent money, use psychoactive drugs, or be promiscuous) or irritability, insomnia.

During depressive phases, the patient experience sadness anxiety, irritability, insomnia, inappropriate guilt and inhibition. This can be triggered by a stressful situation, a personal crisis, or substance or drug abuse.

There are different types of bipolar disorder. The classic presentation, includes the alternation of periods of mania and depression, and is called bipolar disorder type I. During maniac episodes, the patient often requires hospitalization, because in severe cases it can escalate to a psycosis (psychotic mania)

Type II, is characterized by shorter and less intense episodes of hipomania, that last less than 4 days, and are followed by prolongued depressive episodes. Ussually they do not need hospitalization, actually in many cases these episodes are not even identified. During hipomaniac phases, the patient can feel very happy, mentally active, with a higher self esteem, less need to sleep, some hyperactivity, more talkative, and with more interest in sex. Bipolar disorder type II appear in adolescence and is accompanied by mood swings, impulsive behaviors, and conduct disorders (risk seeking behaviors), that can be masked in a normal adolescent crisis. The first alarm symptom can be a suicide intent or an eating disorder .

Ciclothymia is a minor expression of the depressive disorder, in wich people present mood oscilations in a cyclic way, but they do not configure neither a maniac or hipomaniac episode nor a depressive episode, because of the duration and/or intensity of the symptoms. Clinically, cyclothymic episodes , even if they are less intense can be very perturbing, because of their frecuency and their impact on behavior That is why people around them think they are unstable and not predictible.