Widely fluctuating emotions are the symptoms of mood disorders.
These are among the most common mood disorders:
- Major depressive disorder is a prolonged period of extreme sadness.
- Bipolar disorder (also known as manic depression or bipolar affective disorder) , is marked by alternating periods of depression and mania, with the later including symptoms such as excitability, irritability and being hyper-energetic.
- Cyclothymic disorder is marked by depression and mania, but those ups and downs aren’t as severe as bipolar disorder.
- Seasonal affective disorder is a form of depression usually resulting from not getting enough sunlight in some of the northernmost and southernmost spots on the globe.
- Premenstrual dysphoric disorder — mood changes and irritability that occur during the premenstrual phase of a woman’s cycle and go away with the onset of menses.
- Persistent depressive disorder is a long-term (chronic) form of depression.
- Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder occurs in children, whose symptoms include severe irritability and outbursts of anger (temper tantrums) that do not match a child’s developmental age.
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder is marked by recurrent and unrelenting thoughts, impulses or imaginings that trigger severe anxiety or distress. Compulsions are repetitive behaviors and rituals such as hand washing, hoarding or such mental exercises as repeating certain words.