Mood Disorders

During chapter 14, we learned about different psychological disorders, what causes them, their symptoms, and how they are treated. As we were learning about mood disorders, I kept thinking of my aunt and cousin. On my dad’s side of the family, I have a cousin names Shannon who suffers from bipolar disorder, while on my mom’s side of the family, I have an aunt named Susan who suffers from major depressive disorder. Major depressive disorder is a mood disorder where people have constant feelings of sadness and a loss of interest in things that used to make them happy.
My aunt was diagnosed with depression many years ago. Her depression has made her stay awake all night and then she gets tired and sleeps during the day. If she comes over to our house for a lunch or dinner, she will be here for a total of three hours and will fall asleep at least two times during those three hours. Another thing that she does it plays with her hair a lot. She will twist her hair and pull it out, which causes her to have bald spots. There has also been two occasions where her depression got so severe that she underwent electro-convulsive therapy. But she is also very highly medicated to keep her sane.