Are You at Risk? Emotional Disorders Affect a Quarter of the World’s Population
Are You at Risk? Emotional Disorders Affect a Quarter of the World’s Population
Feeling down, depressed, or overly active can all be symptoms of emotional disorders. Statistics show that emotional disorders of varying severity affect 25% of the population, yet only a quarter of those affected receive professional help. Recently, we discussed the different types of emotional disorders. Today, Nina Lukashkevich, a psychiatrist-narcologist and the head of the department at the Minsk City Clinical Center for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, explains why these disorders occur.
Understanding Emotional Disorders
Humans are not emotionless observers or automatons; we experience and react to the events around us. Our relationships with events, people, and ourselves are expressed through emotions. However, sometimes these emotional responses become disordered.
Mood disorders are a group of mental health conditions characterized by significant changes in emotional state, ranging from depression to mania. These are not just simple mood swings but include various forms of depression, mania, bipolar disorder, affective lability, increased anxiety, and dysphoria.
Causes of Mood Disorders
Mood disorders are accompanied by changes in overall activity levels and vegetative symptoms. They are quite common and can occur independently or as complications of neurological and other somatic diseases. This makes them difficult to diagnose, as people often attribute symptoms like low mood, anxiety, and irritability to temporary, situational causes.
According to statistics, emotional disorders of varying severity affect 25% of the population, but only a quarter receive qualified help. Some types of these disorders are seasonal, often worsening in the winter.
Triggers of Emotional Disorders
Emotional disorders can be provoked by external and internal factors. However, why do some people develop these disorders while others do not? There is always a certain predisposition to affective disorders, such as an unbalanced central nervous system, anxious-suspicious, and schizoid personality traits. The causes determining the onset and development of the disease are divided into several groups:
- Traumatic Life Events: Emotional disorders can be triggered by psychotraumatic situations or prolonged stress. Common causes include the death of a loved one, family conflicts, divorce, and financial instability.
- Consequences of Other Diseases: Affective disorders can be complications of other diseases, caused by dysfunctions in the nervous system, endocrine glands, and neurotransmitter imbalances. Mood deterioration can also result from severe symptoms like pain and weakness, or an unfavorable prognosis of the disease.
- Genetic Predisposition: Emotional response pathologies can be due to inherited physiological causes, such as brain structure, speed, and direction of neurotransmission. An example is bipolar affective disorder.
- Natural Hormonal Changes: Emotional instability can be linked to endocrine changes during pregnancy, postpartum, puberty, or menopause. Hormonal imbalances affect the functioning of brain regions responsible for emotional reactions.
The Role of Hormones in Mood Regulation
The pathological basis of most emotional disorders is the dysfunction of the pineal gland, limbic system, and hypothalamic-pituitary system, as well as changes in the synthesis of neurotransmitters like serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine.
- Serotonin: Helps the body cope with stress and reduces anxiety. Insufficient production or reduced receptor sensitivity can lead to depression.
- Norepinephrine: Maintains alertness, cognitive activity, and helps cope with shock and stress. Deficiency can cause concentration problems, anxiety, increased psychomotor excitability, and sleep disorders.
- Dopamine: Ensures attention switching, emotional regulation, and muscle movement control. Deficiency can lead to anhedonia, lethargy, and apathy, while excess can cause mental tension and excitability.
An imbalance of neurotransmitters affects the brain structures responsible for emotional states. Affective disorders can be triggered by external causes like stress or internal factors such as diseases and hereditary biochemical processes.
If your mood and state have been different from usual for some time, do not ignore it. You might need professional help to restore your quality of life. Residents of Minsk can seek psychiatric or psychotherapeutic help at psychotherapeutic offices in city polyclinics, the City Center for Borderline States (Minsk, Mendeleev St. 4), and the Minsk City Clinical Center for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (Minsk, Bekhtereva St. 5).
