As many as 19 million Americans are affected by mood disorders (the two main types of mood disorders are bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder which are described as disturbances in mood, behavior and emotion). Bipolar disorder is a complex disorder in which the core feature is pathological disturbances in a persons mood ranging from extreme elation, or mania, to severe depression usually accompanied by disturbances in thinking and behavior, which may include psychotic symptoms, such as delusions and hallucinations" (Craddock, Jones 1999). Major depressive disorder, or unipolar depression, is characterized by a consistent low mood and lack of interest in things typically enjoyed. A second classification of major depressive disorder, is dysthymic disorder which is a chronic but less severe form of major depression (John W. Santrock 2007). Also, major depression has many subgroups including seasonal affect disorder and postpartum depression. While there are many treatment options for the symptoms of mood disorders and promising scientific research, much is still unknown about this disorder that affects so many lives.
According to Dinsmoor, R. S. &ump; Odle, T. G. (2009), bipolar depression refers to a condition in which people experience two extremes in mood. The bipolar spectrum includes; bipolar I, bipolar 2, bipolar NOS (not otherwise specified) and cyclothymia and all are related to disturbances in mood but differ in severity of symptoms. They are differentiated by the "impact the symptoms have on the person's social or occupational function" (Duckworth &ump; Sachs 2011). Typically bipolar I is more severe than bipolar II and bipolar II is more severe than Cyclothymia, which is a more chronic unstable mood state in which the "highs" are not as high and the "lows" are not as low.(Duckworth &ump; Sachs 2011) Mood swings associated with bipolar disorder are identified as depression, mania and hypomania (a less severe form of mania).