An examination of the experience of living with mood disorders
Date
2018-07-09
Authors
McCallum, Barbara Ruth
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Abstract
There is little research which examines the real life experience of those who have Mood Disorders, and yet studies suggest that in North America as many as one in four people in the general population will develop a major episode of Mood Disorder at some point during his or her lifetime (O'Connor, 1997). The researcher has adopted the classification of Mood Disorders as described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (APA, 1994), a manual developed by the American Psychiatric Association to guide medical practitioners, psychiatrists and psychologists in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness.
This research study, “an examination of the experience of living with Mood Disorders”, focuses on the unique experiences of five participants who live with the condition. The researcher conducted a narrative study of individuals who met the research criteria: men and women between the ages of 25 and 55 who had been diagnosed with a Mood Disorder by a medical practitioner. In one-to-one interviews, the participants told their “stories” of living with the condition. The researcher explores the impact of Mood Disorders on the lives of each of the five participants. The study examines the literature with respect to the causes, diagnosis and treatment of Mood Disorders, and surveys from an historical perspective, the field of human science research in general and narrative studies in particular.
The distorted and distorting lens of an individual with Mood Disorders interferes, in a profound way, with the recognition and identification of the symptoms, and with the diagnosis and the treatment of the condition. With the passage of time, all areas of functioning become affected; the affective, cognitive, occupational, philosophical, physical, psychological, social and spiritual lives of those with the condition become influenced by the distorting quality of their lens. The research identifies five predominant states encountered by individuals with Mood Disorders. These five states are episodic, sporadic, overlapping and ambiguous: state (1) dismissing the symptoms, state (2) externalizing the cause, state (3) internalizing the cause, state (4) accepting the diagnosis, and, state (5) developing the management strategies. The researcher presents implications for educators, for professional practitioners, for those who live or work with individuals with Mood Disorders, and for those who experience Mood Disorders themselves.
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Keywords
Affective disorders, Psychology, Pathological