Mood Disorder Treatment

To treat your mood illness, your doctor will most likely use a blended approach. Such methods may include antidepressant medicines, personal therapy, family counseling, and holistic lifestyle regimens, based on the details of your case.

Your therapist will work with you to address your core mental health concerns, reestablish healthy chemical balance, and identify strategies to reduce stress in your daily life. Based on the intensity of your ailment and your physical circumstances, both outpatient and inpatient treatment options are available.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Treatment

Your therapist will most likely use cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This therapy combines well-known cognitive and behavioral theories into a single approach that is based on your behavior and actions. You will learn to spot self-defeating or distorted thought patterns and learn to change them with more positive ones.

The patient can reveal toxic, negative ideas and patterns with the help of a therapist, such as:

• Patterns of black-and-white thought
• Using a negative bias to generalize all situations
• Exaggeration of the situation
• Taking rash emotional decisions
• ignoring the positive aspects of a situation
• Assuming the worst-case scenario is about to occur

Individuals with mood disorders usually believe they must live up to a certain kind of created ideal to fit in or gain others’ acceptance. CBT can assist you in overcoming that erroneous fear. Have you ever worried that unless you’re successful, respected, and appreciated, you won’t be able to live a happy life? If that’s the case, cognitive behavioral therapy can help.

This method is extremely useful in the treatment of depression. If your mood illness manifests as low-level depressive behavior, CBT may be the sole treatment option available to alleviate your symptoms. CBT is also beneficial in cases of anxiety when this therapy can help the individual learn to cope better with life’s challenges. Although medication is typically used to treat bipolar disorder, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can be used in conjunction with medication. The bipolar disease can be effectively regulated with cognitive-behavioral treatment, according to studies involving children and teenagers.

Finally, CBT is beneficial in teaching patients that their existing belief patterns are not only incorrect but also detrimental.

Treatment with Medical Assistance

Severe mood disorders, such as bipolar disorder, should be managed with prescribed medication. Patients may be admitted to the hospital in some situations, especially if they exhibit harmful or psychotic behaviors. To swiftly lessen symptoms, mood-stabilizing and antipsychotic medications are frequently used. If the symptoms of a mood disorder are severe or threatening, brainwave stimulation (electrical or magnetic) may be employed.

Other Treatment Options

Medication and therapy aren’t the only ways to aid someone who is suffering from a mood disorder. Medical interventions, as well as similar products and therapies, are examples of other treatment modalities.

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Brain stimulation therapies are hypothesized to function by generating changes in the chemicals in the brain that are linked to depression and bipolar disorder symptoms. Brain stimulation therapy comes in a variety of forms, including:

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) – ECT has long been utilized to manage bipolar disorder or severe depression when medicine and therapy have failed. A patient is put under general anesthesia and a muscle relaxant is administered before getting ECT. Electrodes are implanted in specific areas of the scalp and forehead. To cause a seizure, an electrical charge is sent through the brain. Within 5 to 10 minutes, the patient awakens. The ECT treatments can be done as an outpatient procedure. For 2 weeks or longer, 2 or 3 sessions each week are typically needed. Six to 12 treatments are usually required.

ECT has come a long way since its inception, and it has been found to treat depression that is otherwise resistant to treatment. ECT has the following side effects:

• After the treatment, you may experience headaches, nausea, or general body aches.
• You may experience confusion or brain fog after the procedure.
• Loss of memory, usually limited to events occurring soon pre or post-therapy, or, in certain cases, forgetting things that occurred in the weeks preceding treatment.

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) – A magnetic coil is used to deliver brief magnetic waves to particular nerve cells in the brain in this noninvasive therapy. The magnet is placed on the forehead, and impulses are transmitted through the skull. Patients with serious depression who have not responded to a minimum of one antidepressant treatment undergo this treatment.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is treated with antidepressant drugs like bupropion and SSRIs, as well as psychotherapy. In contrast, vitamin D supplementation and light therapy may be beneficial to patients.

Light therapy has been utilized to manage SAD for a long time. It is based on the concept of augmenting direct daylight with intense artificial light during autumn and winter. A lighting box with cool-white fluorescent light can be used by patients. The individual is exposed for 20 to 60 minutes to artificial light each morning. The light is roughly 20 times brighter than normal indoor lighting.

Yoga, breathing exercises, acupressure, qi-gong, and meditation are common alternative medicine techniques intended to assist patients to become more focused, peaceful, and emotionally healthy. These practices are lifestyle-based, which could explain why individuals who participate are less likely to experience mood disorder flare-ups.