Mood disorder has become a bit of a generic term when discussing mental health. A person with any sort of emotional or psychological difficulty — generalized anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, phobias, etc. — may be described as having a “mood disorder”. But in reality, the term mood disorder refers to one of two specific conditions: depression or Bipolar Disorder (Manic Depression).

Depression is certainly well known, if not actually understood. Many people refer to feeling sad or disappointed as “being depressed”. This is a factually incorrect description. Depression is, in part, a chronic change in one’s mood, outlook, or behavior. Normal sadness and disappointment don’t linger on for weeks at a time.

Bipolar Disorder is a swing between feeling euphoric mania, and major depression. Bipolar Disorder can have a severe impact on the lives of people inflicted with it, as the euphoric mania stage sometimes results in excessive, irresponsible behavior — spending a great deal of money unwisely, for instance, or inappropriately interjecting oneself into certain situations — while the major depressive stage can leave a person almost completely incapacitated, and sometimes leads to a suicide attempt. In almost all cases of Bipolar Disorder, a mood stabilizing medication must be used for successful treatment to take place. Fortunately, most people with Bipolar Disorder do respond to appropriate treatment, and as long as they remain in treatment, those with Bipolar Disorder can often lead normal lives.

Having anxiety is quite a different scenario than having Bipolar Disorder. Anxiety is, generally speaking, feeling emotionally overwhelmed and/or extremely fearful, be it most of the time, or only in certain situations. The person with anxiety may feel as though they aren’t in control, but an anxious person typically isn’t going to engage in public displays of irrational or unreasonable behavior like someone with Bipolar Disorder may. While the person with anxiety often fears that they don’t have control over themselves, the person with Bipolar Disorder usually has no such concerns; in fact, the person with Bipolar Disorder typically considers their behavior to be completely normal. One of the telltale signs of anxiety is a fear of losing control over one’s behavior, or of “going crazy”: many anxious people, in fact, have a deep fear of becoming mentally ill. Interestingly enough, this fear of becoming mentally ill is typically an indication that one is not mentally ill at all, as most people who are truly mentally ill consider themselves to be normal and healthy, and may even react hostilely to anyone suggesting otherwise.

While using the term mood disorder when one really means anxiety may just be a case of semantics, it is important to differentiate between various emotional and psychological conditions, if for no other reason than to ensure proper treatment.

You’re in the midst of work then …

Aw… man.

Or you’re finishing a 97% complete report then ….

Okay. Familiar? I can imagine your blood pressure rising when that happens. What is an interruption? An interruption is anything that seizes your attention from an activity you have chosen to do to for an activity that someone else has purposely or inadvertently chosen for you. Interruptions are normally random and without any consideration for the importance of, or impact on, your time and your personal priorities. Interruptions chew up time and energy. They cost you loads of money if you consder wasted man hours.

There are two primary causes of interruptions you face daily at home or at the office: telephones and people dropping by. The telephone rings, and you automatically pause what you are doing to answer it. The doorbell rings, and the same thing happens regardless of the importance of the task at hand. Someone is forcing you to switch gears instantly even though it is not your choice. “I’m not interrupting, am I?” is the typical remark. “Of course not,” you answer politely without an ounce of integrity. Whether people interrupt you in person or on the telephone, they always seem to have something on their minds that just can’t wait.

The time wasted because of an interruption extends beyond than the time span of the actual interruption. For instance, you are focusing on writing a report, business plan, or important letter when your concentration is shattered by the ringing of your phone. Not only do you lose the time you actually talk on the phone, but it will normally take you several additional minutes to regain your focus and get back up to speed with what you were working on. Switching gears takes time.

The good ole phone has become the primarysource of interruptions. Fact us, it is an electronic tool designed to interrupt. For some reason you and I were ledt to believe that when the telephone beckons, all else must be dropped in a race to answer it before it stops bleating. That habit is like having someone follow you around yelling “Freeze” twenty times a day and expecting you to stop in your tracks for three to ten minutes each time. The danger is that old phone habits unnecessarily eat up hours of your valuable time – time that cannot be replaced. Your level of effectiveness in life is determined both by the number of hours you have available to work on specific objectives and by how effectively you use those hours. The more time that wasted, the less efficient you become.

Heeding the phone just because it rings means bequeating your time and attention to someone else at but a moment’s notice. Obviously, winning your goals and dreams becomes far more difficult when you are constantly working someone else’s agenda and at someone else’s pace. The fact that a ringing telephone is given highest priority shows how illogical people have become about the use of Graham Bell’s little toy.

There are many people who experience brief bouts of depression in their daily lives. There are also people who can’t seem to shake off their depression moods at all. For those people the feelings of depression can become any one of the depression disorders that are medically known about. For depression to manifest itself as a disorder, the signs and symptoms must be present for a period that lasts longer than two to three weeks. There are depression support groups that can help these individuals recover control over their lives.

Did you know that there are a large number of depression support groups in the world? Should you feel that you need some information regarding any groups that are located near your area your doctor or caregiver may have some information that you will find useful. Besides the many organized support groups, your family and friends can also become one of your depression support groups.

The most important thing that depression support groups provide is help. They will encourage you to take one day at a time. They will let you understand that it is quite alright to break your daily large tasks into smaller manageable tasks. To make sure that you do not crack under the strains of the day they will advise you to set reasonable goals for you to accomplish.

With your life taken in small steps the depression support groups can prevent your falling back into depression, because you may feel that you are a failure due to your inability to cope with all of these things.

Many of the depression support groups have help lines that are open right throughout the year. At these places there will be someone who can provide more information about depression in the form of pamphlets and other documentation. The services that they provide are non- judgmental. You can also be assured that any information that you tell them will be kept confidential.

While you may not be sure about talking to total strangers about your problems, the people in these depression support groups are there only to provide you with whatever form of help that you may want. As they have heard the sufferings of other people, these individuals will not force you to snap out of your depression immediately. Instead the members of depression support groups will be there to help you throughout your ordeal.

For a person who suffers from depression having the help and support of depression support groups can prove to be a lifeline their depressed state. The caring and non-judgmental attitudes of depression support groups will reinforce the idea that depression can be cured and that the individual will have their lives back without the depression.