Meaning & use
mood disorder
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountablemedical
A mental health condition in which a person's emotional state is persistently disturbed, such as long periods of deep sadness or extreme highs and lows.
Grammar: Countable: depression is one type of mood disorder.
Patterns
- suffer from a mood disorder
- be diagnosed with a mood disorder
Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder that causes swings between high energy and deep lows.
He was diagnosed with a mood disorder and began regular therapy.
A mood disorder can make everyday tasks, like work or study, feel overwhelming.
Word forms
| plural | mood disorders |
|---|
Common combinations
- be diagnosed with a mood disorder
- She was diagnosed with a mood disorder in her twenties.
- treat a mood disorder
- Therapy and medication can help treat a mood disorder.
- suffer from a mood disorder
- Many adults suffer from a mood disorder without realizing it.
- a chronic mood disorder
- He lives with a chronic mood disorder and manages it carefully.
- symptoms of a mood disorder
- Doctors look for symptoms of a mood disorder such as lasting sadness.
Synonyms and how they differ
- affective disorder
- Affective disorder is an older clinical term for the same group of conditions, while mood disorder is now more common.
- depression
- Depression is just one kind of mood disorder, so it is narrower in meaning.
Word family
Commonly confused: mood disorder or mood swing?
mood disorder vs mood swing
A mood swing is a quick change in feeling that many people have. A mood disorder is a diagnosed, lasting condition.
Practice
Bipolar disorder is one example of a ___.
Choose one answer.
A mood disorder is a clinical category that includes bipolar disorder. A mood swing is a single change in feeling, not a diagnosis.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “mood disorder”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.