Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder is characterized by intense mood swings between mania and depression. Unlike the portrayal in popular press or movies – of mania as a heightened happy mood – it’s not. It is often very uncomfortable and associated with intense irritability, Levitt said.
Bipolar disorder can be one of the most complicated mental illnesses to treat because the symptoms can mimic other physical illnesses, making it important to rule out all possible causes before a diagnosis of bipolar disorder is made.
The most common treatments for bipolar disorder are medications, such as mood stabilizers and/or psychotherapy.
PMS and PMDD
Anger attacks are the most common mood change resulting from PMS and PMDD, and are associated with a feeling of being out of control. PMS is experienced by about 40 percent of women in their childbearing years while 3 to 5 percent of menstruating women have PMDD. Unlike PMS, PMDD symptoms are very severe and can completely disrupt the lives of women affected by it.
PMDD can be treated with psychological, lifestyle/nutrition and medication therapies.
Getting off the swing
It’s important to determine the pattern of mood swings by identifying the frequency, the duration and the severity of the epsidodes.
Levitt said it is also important to determine the fragility and changeability of mood swings. Then report all of this information to your family doctor or psychiatrist. Irritability and anger attacks are both serious and under-recognized mood disorder symptoms, but both are treatable.
