People use the term mood to describe the emotional tones that color their daily lives. Moods are everywhere and everyone has them. Moods may be happy or sad; energized or slow; making up various combinations of emotional states. Moods consist of feelings as well as the thoughts and judgments that give feelings their meaning. An anxious mood may shift into an excited mood with a simple change of perspective. A depressed mood may shift into a happier one upon hearing good news. Moods are typically short-term or passing things that shift from moment to moment or day to day, but they can be ongoing states as well which color a person's whole life for long periods of time.
While people's moods rise and fall as various life events are experienced, most moods never become that extreme or feel uncontrollable. As depressed as an average person might get, it won't take too much for them to recover and start feeling better. Similarly, happy and excited moods are not easily continued l...More
Electrical stimulation of a certain part of the brain may offer a new option for "treatment-resistant" depression, a small new study suggests. More...
Chemicals used to cure meats like salami and hot dogs may be linked to a mood disorder called mania, researchers report. More...
Using the psychiatric drug lithium early in pregnancy may raise the risk of birth defects -- but not as much as previously thought, a large new study suggests. More...
Studies show that depression is underreported. More...
For individuals with major depression and bipolar disorder, grip strength is positively associated with cognition, according to a study published online April 18 in JAMA Psychiatry. More...
A trio of genome-wide studies – collectively the largest to date – has pinpointed a vast array of genetic variation that cumulatively may account for at least one third of the genetic risk for schizophrenia. One of the studies traced schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, in part, to the same chromosomal neighborhoods. More...