6 Strategies Used By Psychologists To Deal With Mood Disorders
Going to a psychologist for mental health problems is something that, fortunately, is becoming more and more normalized. This trend also occurs in cases in which people develop mood disorders, alterations that in certain social contexts are normalized and seen as something “normal” and “part of life”, thus implying that each person must take charge of their problems without seeking help.
However, a part of the population continues to maintain an incomplete and biased view of this type of psychological alterations, even experiencing a feeling of guilt when considering prioritizing their mental health and seeking professional support, something that from their point of view is a sign of weakness.
To offer a more complete vision about how psychotherapy works in the face of this type of psychopathology and show why it is necessary to contact professionals, here we will give a review of the strategies most used by psychologists when dealing with mood disorders.
Mood disorders are part of the most common psychological disorders in Western societies. For this reason, psychology professionals have a wide variety of therapeutic intervention modalities with which to treat these types of disorders, and knowing the nature of their treatments is essential for anyone who wants to know this area of mental health in depth. .
Mood is the emotional disposition that people have towards life, and it is closely related to the sources of motivation that the person has, as well as their way of managing positive and negative affects.
Mood is also popularly known as “mood” and it can be positive, negative or neutral depending on a wide variety of eventualities, elements of the context, and personal characteristics of each individual.
In this sense, mood disorders They are a type of very common psychological disorders that are based on an emotional imbalance or a notable alteration in the person’s mood, which generates a feeling of discomfort or, on the contrary, leads to a situation in which the health of oneself or others is put at risk.
Although they generally give rise to states of negativity and discomfort in the person, mood disorders can also manifest as alternating periods of sadness and euphoria (bipolar disorder) or as states of irritation, low self-esteem, tiredness, apathy, confusion or even affective flattening.
Unlike cases of sadness or temporary emotional suffering, mood disorders occur over longer periods of time, have a very serious impact on the quality of life of those who suffer from them and are usually reflected in an impoverishment of the individual’s life in relation to their social relationships and the activities in which they are involved.
Main strategies used by psychologists when dealing with mood disorders
As indicated above, currently psychologists can put into practice a wide variety of therapeutic strategies to address any of the existing mood disorders. The important thing is that each intervention is adapted to the mood disorder in question and to the particular needs and characteristics of each person treated, since these are complex and multi-causal pathologies.
Regarding the intervention modalities that have proven to be most effective for the treatment of mood disorders, we can highlight those of the cognitive-behavioral tradition, as well as Third Generation Therapies.
To begin psychological intervention, the professional must put into practice the application of a series of diagnostic strategies that help him to know in depth the type of disorders that should be treated and initiate a personalized action plan.
In this first phase, an initial interview is carried out to check the type of symptoms suffered by the person being treated and whether their disorder matches the criteria described in the diagnostic manuals. The main objective is to know the contextual and behavioral elements of the patient’s daily life that keep this disorder “afloat”, to extinguish them and/or replace them with others.
2. Behavioral Activation
Behavioral Activation is one of the most used therapeutic techniques in cases of depression, and is based on integrating enriching daily activities with motivating potential, progressively helping the patient to return to having a normal life and with daily occupations in the to get actively involved.
This technique is based on enhancing the person’s motivation and interest beyond the introspection loop that feeds depressive symptoms, so that he begins to progressively develop all types of behaviors and activities capable of leading him to feel interest in his environment, in social relationships, and in life in general.
3. Cognitive Restructuring
Cognitive Restructuring is the basis of Cognitive-behavioral Therapy and is a therapeutic process in which The person is taught to carefully analyze and question all of his or her dysfunctional beliefs that had been contributing to the existence of the disorder.
These negative thoughts are what contribute to maintaining a state of discomfort and depression in the person, which is why changing these thoughts with more positive, adaptive ones adapted to reality will ensure that the person progressively improves.
Cognitive Restructuring is a progressive training in which, through dialogue, the patient learns to change their way of thinking and question what they took for granted.
4. Social skills training
Learning social skills, especially for those people who find it most difficult to communicate and relate successfully to other people, is another of the most useful learning and training for people with mood disorders. Is a fundamental help when it comes to breaking the dynamics of social isolation linked to various forms of depression.
5. Mindfulness
Mindfulness or full attention technique has been shown to be effective in mood disorders, especially in cases in which it is necessary to prevent relapses into depression.
It is a technique with which we learn to live the present moment more fully, getting rid of the tendency to make constant moral evaluations and feed obsessive thoughts about the past or the future.
6. Anxiety management techniques
Many mood disorders can co-occur with anxiety symptoms or disorders that is why these must be treated separately to overcome the problem globally.
These anxiety symptoms can manifest as irrational fears, phobias, obsessions, compulsions or all types of worries that contribute to making the person suffer and that must be overcome with the help of a psychology professional.
