Mood disorders

Diagnosis

To find out whether you have a mood disorder, such as depression or bipolar disorder, your doctor or other primary care professional may do a physical exam. This exam will look for other signs of illness. Your doctor will review your symptoms, medical and family histories, and history of alcohol or drug use.

Your doctor will want to know about your past episodes of a mood disorder. Questions may include:

• How long were past episodes?
• How long did you go in between episodes?
• How strong were these episodes?
• Were any of these episodes affected by the use of street drugs or medicines?

Your doctor also will ask about other current or past mental health issues. If needed, you may be referred to a mental health professional.

Treatment

For most people, mood disorders can be treated with talk therapy, medicines, or both. Talk therapy also is known as psychotherapy. It's a general term for treating a mood disorder by talking about your condition and related issues with a mental health professional.

Medicines can be used to treat depression and bipolar disorder. What drug works best for you will depend on how well it controls your symptoms, how well you tolerate it and your preferences. Medicines should be used along with talk therapy to improve results.

Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), family-focused therapy or other types of therapy can be an important part of treatment for managing symptoms or stopping them from coming back.

For some people with depression, other procedures, sometimes called brain stimulation therapies, may be suggested. These include transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). These are typically considered secondary treatments, and they are used when other treatments do not work.

Clinical trials

Explore Mayo Clinic studies testing new treatments, interventions and tests as a means to prevent, detect, treat or manage this condition.