{"id":141,"date":"2014-06-02T02:23:38","date_gmt":"2014-06-02T02:23:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/?p=141"},"modified":"2014-06-10T22:47:23","modified_gmt":"2014-06-10T22:47:23","slug":"what-are-the-symptoms-of-a-mood-disorder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/what-are-the-symptoms-of-a-mood-disorder\/","title":{"rendered":"What are the Symptoms of a Mood Disorder?"},"content":{"rendered":"

“I recently attended my first DBSA support group.\u00a0 I noticed that some of the people there trembled.\u00a0 Their hands and feet shook and it was very hard for them to hold a cup of coffee or sit still without shaking their legs.\u00a0\u00a0 I am very worried that I will develop this uncontrollable shaking.\u00a0 Are these tremors symptoms of depression or bipolar disorder?\u00a0 Am I destined to have these tremors, too?”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I can only imagine how frightening this experience must have been for you.\u00a0 You were able to get up the courage to attend your first support group meeting and then you see people there with the \u201cshakes.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 How depressing and anxiety provoking!<\/p>\n

There are a number of physical symptoms of mood disorders, which might include unintended weight gain or weight loss, developing a sleep disorder and\/or experiencing discomfort or pain, such as migraine headaches or unaccounted for muscle aches.\u00a0 I can, however, report to you that the shaking you describe is not thought of as directly caused by a mood disorder. People with certain physical diseases, particularly Parkinson\u2019s do develop what is known as tardive dyskinesia (involuntary shaking, usually of hands or feet or legs).<\/p>\n

Among persons with mood disorders, the tremors are most often caused by prescribed medication and\/or use of stimulants or depressants.\u00a0 For instance, too much caffeine, too much nicotine or alcohol use or abuse can all influence the development of tremors.\u00a0 Of major importance, a number of medications that are routinely prescribed for mood disorders, can and do induce these tremors.\u00a0 Extended, high dose and\/or long term use of anticonvulsants (like depakote) and mood stabilizers (like lithium) are well known agents that contribute to the development of tremors.\u00a0 Unfortunately, these medications are often the first line of defense in the treatment of bipolar disorders.<\/p>\n

Sometimes MAO inhibitors, a relatively last line of antidepressant treatment is prescribed.\u00a0 Tremors are included among a number of side effects of MAO inhibitors. Beta blockers are also sometimes prescribed. They lower the heart rate and often limit tremors. So, what can we do to better control the development of tardive dyskenisia? Maintaining a healthy lifestyle will help.\u00a0 Regular sleep habits are most important, as being tired, especially exhausted, can and will exacerbate the tremors.\u00a0 A good sleep pattern is to go to bed and get up at the same time (within an hour) each day.\u00a0 While this might seem difficult, it will definitely help.<\/p>\n

The best case scenario is to eliminate alcohol, caffeine and tobacco.\u00a0 If you can\u2019t, at least don\u2019t drink or smoke too much, limit your caffeine intake, exercise regularly and be careful what and how much you eat.\u00a0 Routine medication management with a qualified psychiatrist is most important in monitoring any medications that may contribute to, or alleviate the tremors.\u00a0 Individual or group cognitive \u2013behavioral psychotherapy will also be helpful to address symptoms and develop ways to minimize their negative effects.<\/p>\n

Finally, I would strongly encourage you to continue attending the DBSA support group.\u00a0 I am sure that seeing others with obvious life-limiting symptoms can be depressing to you.\u00a0 However, the recognition that you are not alone and that there are others for you to support in their struggles as well as their lending support to you in your own struggles cannot be overemphasized.\u00a0 Continued group attendance will be an important facet in your own recovery process.<\/p>\n

~ Dr. Manuel S. Silverman, PhD<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“I recently attended my first DBSA support group.\u00a0 I noticed that some of the people there trembled.\u00a0 Their hands and feet shook and it was very hard for them to\u2026 read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,10,32],"tags":[25,97,46,45,20],"class_list":["post-141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-depression","category-mood-disorders","category-talk-therapy","category-treatment-2","tag-dbsa","tag-mood-disorders","tag-parkinsons","tag-physical-symptoms","tag-treatment"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":208,"href":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions\/208"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}