Mood and depression are terms that are used very often. They are very well known words, but maybe you need to be clear about them.
What is depression and what are its psychological mechanisms of functioning?
First of all, you need to know that it is one of the mood disorders. But what are the symptoms of mood disorders? How do they affect people's lives?
To try to achieve this I think it is necessary to clarify the term mood with the main intention of understanding the difference between normal and problematic situations. On the other hand, depression is now a widespread topic of general interest, which can not be treated with due caution and caution. We have to consider that it affects about 120 million people worldwide, negatively affecting their quality of working and relational life. In industrialised countries, it is estimated that 15% of people have suffered from mood disorders over their lifetime. These simple data should be enough to highlight the need to reflect on the growth of depressive disorders and the need to investigate the impact of this issue in people's daily lives. A challenge that must be faced starting from a correct information, allowing people to understand what mood disorders are, how they work and what are the mechanisms that lead to develop and maintain problematic or pathological situations.
What is mood?
As I said before, a first step to clarify is to understand the term mood. Mood disorders are one of the biggest challenges for mental health and psychosocial well-being professionals. As I said before, disorders such as depression affect millions of people around the world, with a strong negative impact on their lives. To get to the bottom of this, the best thing to do is to start with a basic definition: mood.
Mood is a mood that can emotionally colour people's lives. It is an element of people's lives that is not stable, ranging from states of sadness to moments of euphoria. These variations are normal as long as you remain in a contextualized framework with respect to the environment and people. While problems arise when there is an inconsistency with the situation experienced.
Considering this aspect, disorders such as depression present continuous and persistent changes in mood. These states generate suffering, discomfort and profound changes in people's lives. In these cases, all the main areas are affected and there are problems in the family, friendships and other interpersonal relationships, as well as in their work and professional environment.
But is it enough to talk about a mood disorder with a change of mood?
Let's be clear, one important thing to understand is that a mood-shift alone is not a prerequisite for a mood disorder. If the above concepts are clear, we can certainly understand that episodes of mood swings are continuously present in the lives of all people. Think for example of the possibility of a family bereavement or a serious illness: in these cases or in other significant events, the depressive reactions are perfectly normal and understandable.
So how do we know if there is a mood disorder?
I repeat, what distinguishes normality from problematic situations is therefore the quality and persistence of symptoms in relation to the personal context in which they occur. Sometimes, however, the boundary between normal and pathological situations is very thin and distinguishing between reactions, episodes and depressive disorders is one of the most complex aspects that cannot be delegated to the web by reading an article, but requires more specialized intervention by a professional to be recognized.