By JOWIT SALUSEKI –
MILLIONS of people in the world suffer from mood disorders which, according to medical experts is one of the main causes of suicide rates.
The two major extremes of mood disorders which affect a lot of people are depression and mania.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines depression as a common mental disorder that presents with depressed mood , loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or loss of self worthy, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy and poor concentration.
Mania is an abnormally elevated mood state characterised by such symptoms as inappropriate elation, increased irritability, severe Insomnia, increased sexual desire, increased volume of speech, poor judgment and inappropriate social behaviour.
A mild form of mania that does not need hospitalisation is termed hypomania.
According to the WHO, at its worst depression can lead to suicide, a tragedy fatality associated with the loss of about 850,000 lives every year.
A Psychiatrist Waqas Ahmed Sheikh , from Chainama Hospital tells Times Health that mood disorders are a major problem affecting many people in Zambia and globally.
Dr Sheikh explained that moods are genetically inherited in the family with bipolar disorder being a complex and challenging mood disorder affecting millions of people.
He outlined that mood disorders can also be caused by a number of factors such as chronic diseases and certain types of drugs.
“If someone has HIV/AIDS disease and other chronic illnesses , they can present symptoms of mood disorders . Certain drugs which are used in the treatment of BP (hypertension) and physical problems can also cause symptoms of mood disorders,” says Dr Sheikh.
According to Dr Sheikh , depression will manifest itself in many ways such as low moods with women tending to stop looking after their husbands and children in a caring manner.
He notes that some people (patients) fail to concentrate as they will have less energy and they will start feeling guilty on anything that comes to their mind.
“They will start thinking that life is not worth living, which triggers thoughts of attempting to commit suicide.
“Others will develop loss of appetite which can lead to loss of weight but however, there are some forms of depression where people will start to eat more and become overweight,” says Dr Sheikh.
Dr Sheikh further explained that Mania mood disorder is the exact opposite of what depression is.
“With Mania mood disorder, patients will develop a tendency of being very happy as they start to think that they are famous and very powerful. If it’s women they will dress in fancy clothes and their sexual desires increases,” he says.
He said that with men, they tend to spend their money lavishly, for instance they will book a taxi without knowing the exact direction to which they are going.
“Some people even fail to sleep properly while others feel they are so energetic but fail to complete their tasks on time,” said Dr Sheikh.
On treatment on depression, Dr Sheikh says it depends on the condition of the patient. If it is a mild or moderate depression, health experts use Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), which is a therapy session where a medical professional talks to a patient for maybe less than an hour.
In instances where there is severe depression in a patient, administering of anti-depressant drugs, which is a long term treatment lasting between 6-9 months, is used.
He explained that Electro Convulsive Therapy (ECT), drugs and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy are sometimes used in the treatment of severe depression.
On treatment of Mania disorder, drugs called mood stabilisers are administered together with antipsychotics and sedatives.
“If it is a chronic mania disorder, it is supposed to be a life long treatment, the underlining factor is that if you are able to treat the cause of mania, then you will be able to control it,” says Dr Sheikh.
