Mood disorders are characterized by a disturbance in the way a person feels inside. Mood disorders are serious mental illnesses that are both highly intrusive in one's life and highly treatable. Mood disorders are thought to be both environmental and genetic in nature; if your family has a mood disorder or other mental illness then you are more susceptible to a mental health diagnosis. It is also thought that your environment can either trigger or cushion your experience of a mood disorder or other mental illness.

While not everyone with a family history and troubled childhood ends up with a mood disorder these are certainly two of the biggest factors in the incidence of these illnesses. Depression and bipolar disorder are just two categories of mood disorders. Mood disorders are defined as any mental illness that affects one's mood. Manic depression is the old term for what we now call bipolar disorder.
 

Mood disorders and mental illnesses are highly treatable conditions. There is no doubt a mental health diagnosis affects one's life in many ways and there is hope and recovery for those who seek them. There are many mental illness self testing sites. Please remember no self diagnostic test is a substitute for professional medical advise and assessment. Use self tests as a guideline when discussing your symptoms with your doctor.
 
Click on each illness to see an overview of the disorder you are interested in. For more information on certain topics, please click on the corresponding fact sheet, call our office, 604.873.0103 or email us at info@mdabc.net. For information from other sites dedicated to mood disorders and other mental illnesses, click here or on Links at the bottom of each page. The Mood Disorders Association of BC is here to help.