Cyclothymia
Overview
Cyclothymia, or cyclothymic disorder, causes mood changes – from feeling low to emotional highs.
Symptoms
If you have cyclothymia, you'll have periods of feeling low followed by periods of feeling very happy and excited (called hypomania) when you do not need much sleep, are more sociable and impulsive and feel that you have a lot of energy. The periods of low mood do not last long enough and are not severe enough to be diagnosed asdepression. You might feel sluggish and lose interest in things during these periods, but this should not stop you going about your day-to-day life. Mood swings will be fairly frequent – you will not go for longer than 2 months without experiencing low mood or an emotional high. Doctors may diagnose cyclothymia if you've had symptoms for at least 2 years, or 1 year for children and teenagers. Symptoms of cyclothymia are not severe enough for you to be diagnosed with full bipolar disorder, and your mood swings will be broken up by periods of normal mood.
Causes
The causes of cyclothymia are not known, but there's probably a genetic link because cyclothymia,depressionandbipolar disorderall tend to run in families. In some people, traumatic events or experiences may act as a trigger for the condition, such as severe illness or long periods ofstress.
Treatment
Treatment usually involves some kind oftalking therapy(psychotherapy). You may also need medicines. The aim is to: stop the cyclothymia developing into full bipolar disorderreduce your symptomsstop your symptoms coming back Psychotherapy, such ascognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), may help with cyclothymia. CBT involves talking to a trained therapist to find ways to help you manage your symptoms by changing the way you think and behave. You'll be given practical ways to improve your state of mind on a daily basis. You may be prescribed medicines to level out your mood (mood stabilisers). Mood stabilisers include: lithium– commonly used to treat bipolar disorderepilepsy medicines – such ascarbamazepine, oxcarbazepine orsodium valproate Some antipsychotics such asquetiapineare also sometimes used as mood stabilisers. But not all people with cyclothymia need or respond to medicine. The charityMind has more information on lithium and other mood stabilisers.