Contents

Disclaimer

Oxford University Press makes no representation, express or implied, that the drug dosages in this book are correct. Readers must therefore always check the product information and clinical procedures with the most up to date published product information and data sheets provided by the manufacturers and the most recent codes of conduct and safety regulations. The authors and the publishers do not accept responsibility or legal liability for any errors in the text or for the misuse or misapplication of material in this work. Except where otherwise stated, drug dosages and recommendations are for the non-pregnant adult who is not breastfeeding.

Show Summary Details
Page of

Introduction to mood disorders 

Introduction to mood disorders
Chapter:
Introduction to mood disorders
Author(s):

John R. Geddes

DOI:
10.1093/med/9780199696758.003.0083
Page of

PRINTED FROM OXFORD MEDICINE ONLINE (www.oxfordmedicine.com). © Oxford University Press, 2021. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a title in Oxford Medicine Online for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice).

date: 22 January 2022

The concept of mood is difficult to define. In psychiatry, it has come to mean a pervasive emotional tone varying along an axis from happiness to sadness—and perhaps anxiety. The boundaries between normal and abnormal mood are equally difficult to define. Nonetheless, there is usually no doubt about the most extreme manifestations of low mood, depression, or elevated mood, mania. This chapter begins by discussing the early history and subsequent development of modern psychiatric nosology. It then covers the distinction between unipolar and bipolar disorders, modern diagnostic systems and the birth of diagnostic criteria, subgroups of unipolar and bipolar disorder, and likely future developments in the classification of mood disorders.

Access to the complete content on Oxford Medicine Online requires a subscription or purchase. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts for each book and chapter without a subscription.

Please subscribe or login to access full text content.

If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code.

For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.