Is ‘Mood Disorder’ a Good Name for What They Are? (In Progress)

A couple weeks ago, I posted an apology because I couldn’t get my Monday mental health piece written. I was talking to my therapist lately and she said that I should have posted what I did have written even though it wasn’t finished. It could provide insight both into the writing process and the depressed brain. Well, it’s happened again. I started this piece, but I just don’t have the energy to finish it. Here is what I have so far.

I have a mood disorder, depression. “Mood disorder” has always seemed to me like an odd way to describe it, though. The mood part of it has always seemed more like a symptom of the condition than the heart of the condition. I don’t have as much experience with other mood disorders like anxiety, bipolar, or seasonal affective disorder, but, from the outside,

According to the Mayo Clinic, a mood disorder is, “If you have a mood disorder, your general emotional state or mood is distorted or inconsistent with your circumstances and interferes with your ability to function.”

If the mood changes are a symptom, then it’s definitely weird to call them mood disorders. That would be like calling the flu a mucus disorder. I don’t know why, but calling them mood disorders feels wrong. It implies that there’s nothing deeper than the mood changes. If that’s right, it would mess with me.