The Biology of Anxiety and Mood Disorders Essay

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Biological Factors in Anxiety and Mood Disorders

Anxiety and mood disorders are serious mental health and medical conditions that require professional treatment from healthcare providers to achieve a complete and lasting recovery. Given the significance of treatment in promoting full and long-term recovery, numerous advances have been made in the past three decades toward understanding and treating these conditions (Mennin, Heimberg, Fresco & Ritter, 2008). A critical component in the treatment of these conditions is understanding their underlying biological factors. Anxiety and mood disorders have a strong biological basis, which is critical in treatment approaches. An understanding of the biological basis of these conditions help in development of effective treatment approaches. This paper examines biological factors in anxiety and mood disorders and their role in preventing and treating these disorders.

Anxiety Disorders and Mood Disorders

Villaggi et al. (2015) state that anxiety disorders and mood disorders are among the most prevalent psychological or mental health disorders. In this regard, the lifelong prevalence of anxiety disorders is estimated at 16.6% and mood disorders, particularly major depressive disorder at 12.2%. Anxiety and mood disorders are not only frequent and debilitating, but usually tend to be concurrent. Despite being among the most prevalent mental health disorders, anxiety disorders and mood disorders have significant differences.

Anxiety disorders are defined as a group of clinically diagnosed mental health or psychological conditions characterized by overwhelming fear, worry or concern. These conditions in turn interfere with an individual’s quality of life and capability to function effectively in school, work, home or normal life. Even though occasional anxiety is part of normal life, one could be diagnosed with anxiety disorder if he/she frequently experience excessive, intense, and persistent fear, concern or worry regarding everyday situations. Anxiety disorders are usually characterized by recurring episodes of sudden feelings of intense fear, anxiety or terror. These feelings are usually difficult to control and can sometimes last for a long period of time. On the contrary, mood disorders are psychiatric or mental health conditions characterized by a never-ending disturbance in mood. Some of these ongoing mood disturbances include elevated mood, mood swings or depression. These conditions are characterized by severe changes in mood that in turn causes disruption to the individual’s life activities. The disruption of the individual’s life activities is attributable to the significant impact of mood disorders on everyday emotional state.

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Distinguishing Moodiness/Anxiety from a Mood or Anxiety Disorder

As evident in the brief definition of anxiety and mood disorders, anxiety and changes in mood are part of an individual’s daily life experience. Therefore, it is important to distinguish between moodiness/anxiety and an actual mood or anxiety disorder for appropriate diagnosis and treatment of the condition. The key factor in distinguishing anxiety/moodiness from an actual disorder is the frequency of occurrence and impact on one’s daily living. An actual mood or anxiety is characterized by repeated…

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…the fact that anxiety disorders are also caused by imbalances in dopamine whereas mood disorders are also brought by imbalances in norepinephrine. Secondly, anxiety disorders are largely attributable to the functioning of the limbic system in the brain while mood disorders are mostly linked to overall brain structure and functioning. Third, anxiety disorders are linked to the brain’s ability to control emotions whereas mood disorders are brought by the brain’s ability to control essential bodily functions like sleep and mood.

Significance of Biological Explanation in Prevention and Treatment

It is quite clear that both anxiety disorders and mood disorders have a biological basis and are influenced by some biological factors. Consequently, some medications used to treat these disorders focus on boosting the activity and functioning of important neurotransmitters. However, the biological explanation is not sufficient in preventing and treating these disorders since there are factors that contribute to their development. The biological explanation is quite complex and may not solely result in development of effective treatment approaches.

In conclusion, anxiety and mood disorders are among the most prevalent mental health or psychiatric conditions. These conditions are caused by various factors, particularly biological factors associated with the structure and functioning of the brain. As evident in this assessment, the biological factors contributing to the development of these disorders are imbalances in neurotransmitters. While the biological explanation provides a premise for understanding the development of anxiety and mood disorders, it is not….....

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