Mood Disorders

Ms. Saima Saif

Ms. Ayesha Zia
Case 1
• Joey is a 14 years old boy and has been brought to the psycho-
diagnostic clinic for being aggressive at home. He has constant angry
outbursts at home and his mother and sister cannot handle him
anymore. Since the divorce of his parents a year ago, he has become
overly difficult to manage. Joey does not want to speak to the
psychologist, he is constantly kicking the desk. After the psychologist
calms him down, he reports that he feels frustrated and does not
want to talk to people. He tells that he has no friends and feels sad all
the time. He gets bored easily and often gets into physical and verbal
fights. He feels tired all the time. During tantrums he often wishes
that he were dead.
Continued
• His mother reported that:
She explained that at times she feels he is going to be okay and seems to be
enjoying a task; however, irritability surfaces quickly when what he wants is
refused or things do not go his way. Some days she says he can sleep all
day, and others he states he cannot sleep at all. Over the last 2 years, his
mother reported multiple episodes of his being unable to complete tasks
because he was easily distracted. When asked to do something and he was
completing a task he had selected, he would refuse to stop what he was
doing and get angry at the interruption. His mother further reported that
his hitting behaviors and angry outbursts started to appear at age 9.
 IDENTIFY THE MAJOR
DOMAIN IN WHICH THE
SYMPTOMS CAN FALL
IDENTIFY THE SYMPTOMS IN
FOLLOWING DOMAINS

EMOTIONAL SOMATIC

COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL
 Important points!
• NOT diagnosed before the age of 6 years or after 18 years

• Onset should be before 10 years– this criteria is added to separate it

from bipolar disorder which generally has an onset during
adolescence or beyond.