Studyspark Study Document

The Biology of Anxiety and Mood Disorders Essay

Pages:5 (1573 words)

Sources:5

Subject:Health

Topic:Anxiety

Document Type:Essay

Document:#91249886


Biological Factors in Anxiety and Mood Disorders

Anxiety and mood disorders are serious mental health and medical conditions that require professional treatment from healthcare providers to achieve a complete and lasting recovery. Given the significance of treatment in promoting full and long-term recovery, numerous advances have been made in the past three decades toward understanding and treating these conditions (Mennin, Heimberg, Fresco & Ritter, 2008). A critical component in the treatment of these conditions is understanding their underlying biological factors. Anxiety and mood disorders have a strong biological basis, which is critical in treatment approaches. An understanding of the biological basis of these conditions help in development of effective treatment approaches. This paper examines biological factors in anxiety and mood disorders and their role in preventing and treating these disorders.

Anxiety Disorders and Mood Disorders

Villaggi et al. (2015) state that anxiety disorders and mood disorders are among the most prevalent psychological or mental health disorders. In this regard, the lifelong prevalence of anxiety disorders is estimated at 16.6% and mood disorders, particularly major depressive disorder at 12.2%. Anxiety and mood disorders are not only frequent and debilitating, but usually tend to be concurrent. Despite being among the most prevalent mental health disorders, anxiety disorders and mood disorders have significant differences.

Anxiety disorders are defined as a group of clinically diagnosed mental health or psychological conditions characterized by overwhelming fear, worry or concern. These conditions in turn interfere with an individual’s quality of life and capability to function effectively in school, work, home or normal life. Even though occasional anxiety is part of normal life, one could be diagnosed with anxiety disorder if he/she frequently experience excessive, intense, and persistent fear, concern or worry regarding everyday situations. Anxiety disorders are usually characterized by recurring episodes of sudden feelings of intense fear, anxiety or terror. These feelings are usually difficult to control and can sometimes last for a long period of time. On the contrary, mood disorders are psychiatric or mental health conditions characterized by a never-ending disturbance in mood. Some of these ongoing mood disturbances include elevated mood, mood swings or depression. These conditions are characterized by severe changes in mood that in turn causes disruption to the individual’s life activities. The disruption of the individual’s life activities is attributable to the significant impact of mood disorders on everyday emotional state.

Distinguishing Moodiness/Anxiety from a Mood or Anxiety Disorder

As evident in the brief definition of anxiety and mood disorders, anxiety and changes in mood are part of an individual’s daily life experience. Therefore, it is important to distinguish between moodiness/anxiety and an actual mood or anxiety disorder for appropriate diagnosis and treatment of the condition. The key factor in distinguishing anxiety/moodiness from an actual disorder is the frequency of occurrence and impact on one’s daily living. An actual mood or anxiety is characterized by repeated…

Some parts of this document are missing

Click here to view full document

…the fact that anxiety disorders are also caused by imbalances in dopamine whereas mood disorders are also brought by imbalances in norepinephrine. Secondly, anxiety disorders are largely attributable to the functioning of the limbic system in the brain while mood disorders are mostly linked to overall brain structure and functioning. Third, anxiety disorders are linked to the brain’s ability to control emotions whereas mood disorders are brought by the brain’s ability to control essential bodily functions like sleep and mood.

Significance of Biological Explanation in Prevention and Treatment

It is quite clear that both anxiety disorders and mood disorders have a biological basis and are influenced by some biological factors. Consequently, some medications used to treat these disorders focus on boosting the activity and functioning of important neurotransmitters. However, the biological explanation is not sufficient in preventing and treating these disorders since there are factors that contribute to their development. The biological explanation is quite complex and may not solely result in development of effective treatment approaches.

In conclusion, anxiety and mood disorders are among the most prevalent mental health or psychiatric conditions. These conditions are caused by various factors, particularly biological factors associated with the structure and functioning of the brain. As evident in this assessment, the biological factors contributing to the development of these disorders are imbalances in neurotransmitters. While the biological explanation provides a premise for understanding the development of anxiety and mood disorders, it is not…


Sample Source(s) Used

References

Jacofsky, M.D., Santos, M.T., Khemlani-Patel, S. & Neziroglu, F. (n.d.). Biological Explanations of Anxiety: Part II. Retrieved October 24, 2019, from https://www.gracepointwellness.org/1-anxiety-disorders/article/38471-biological-explanations-of-anxiety-part-ii

Javelot et al. (2014). Telemonitoring with Respect to Mood Disorders and Information and Communication Technologies: Overview and Presentation of the PSYCHE Project. BioMed Research International, 2014, 1-12.

Lebowitz, M., Pyun, J.J. & Ahn, W. (2014). Biological Explanations of Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Effects on Beliefs About Prognosis and Responsibility. Psychiatric Services, 65(4), 498-503.

Mennin, D.S., Heimberg, R.G., Fresco, D.M. & Ritter, M.R. (2008). Is Generalized Anxiety Disorder an Anxiety or Mood Disorder? Considering Multiple Factors as We Ponder the Fate of GAD. Depression and Anxiety, 25(4), 289-299.

Villaggi et al. (2015). Self-Management Strategies in Recovery from Mood and Anxiety Disorders. Global Qualitative Nursing Research, 2, 1-13.

Cite this Document

Join thousands of other students and "spark your studies."

Sign Up for FREE
Related Documents

Studyspark Study Document

Mood Disorders All People Experience Mood Changes.

Pages: 3 (898 words) Subject: Psychology Document: #40399134

Mood Disorders All people experience mood changes. We are happy or sad. We may be overjoyed or in despair, but our reactions are in proportion to the situations we face. In mood disorders, this balance is not present. Moods are extreme. Depression is a sad state where things seem hopeless. Mania is elation or extremely heightened energy. In both states the person's perception of the world is somewhat distorted. Many famous

Studyspark Study Document

Biology When Studying Psychology IT's

Pages: 2 (682 words) Sources: 1+ Subject: Psychology Document: #54609156

Drug treatment and behavior therapy may be useful, rather than analysis. Also, psychological symptoms may produce biological phenomenon, like sleep disturbances. "Sleep disturbances and unipolar depression are such intransigent bedfellows that troubled sleep is considered a hallmark of the mood disorder," for example. (Marano, 2003) However, insomnia can also fundamentally unbalance the brain's natural state of homeostasis, causing the symptom of depression, as well as manifesting itself as a symptom

Studyspark Study Document

Food Helps Boost Mood in Our Extremely

Pages: 4 (1363 words) Sources: 4 Subject: Psychiatry Document: #22173205

Food Helps Boost Mood In our extremely fast paced and on the run lives, many of us tend to neglect our diet and our food intake. It is usually the last of our worries to think about what kind of food to eat and how our diet affects our heath overall as well as our mood. It is rarely ever realized that the food an individual intakes can have a

Studyspark Study Document

Borderline Personality Disorder Definitions and

Pages: 45 (12483 words) Sources: 1+ Subject: Psychology Document: #99227756

32) The overall diagnostic and symptomatic patterns described by these points indicate that BPD is a serious disorder and is "...classified as a major personality disorder involving dramatic, emotional, or erratic behavior; intense, unstable moods and relationships; chronic anger; and substance abuse." (Boucher, 1999, p. 33) There are a number of criteria which, in line with DSM-IV, are used to identify and characterize this disorder. The first of these criteria refers

Studyspark Study Document

Bipolar I Disorder

Pages: 15 (4472 words) Sources: 15 Subject: Psychology Document: #47788968

Bipolar I disorder is an axis 1 clinical disorder in the DSM-IV and is a serious mental illness that can lead to suicidal ideation or action. The history of bipolar disorder research is a long one, and understanding of the disease has deepened considerably over the last several generations. Diagnosis of bipolar disorder 1 is complicated by its resemblance to other mood disorders, mainly major depression but also psychotic disorders

Studyspark Study Document

Bipolar Disorder: A Biological Overview

Pages: 3 (1154 words) Sources: 3 Subject: Psychology Document: #97515427

Scientists thus call this tendency a "genetic vulnerability" to inherit depression (Read 2007:1) Biologically, bipolarity is not caused by brain damage although there is mounting evidence that the brains of bipolar patients look different from those without mood disorders. A 2000 study in the American Journal of Psychiatry that the brains of patients with bipolar disorder contain 30% more cells that send signals to other brain cells, suggesting that the

Join thousands of other students and

"spark your studies".