Mood Difficulties

This section of the site provides information about the nature and treatment of depression and related mood disorders.

Depression is much more than a passing sense of sadness. On these pages you can learn about the various types of mood problems, their causes, and their treatment.

The Types of Mood Disorder

• Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
• Dysthymia
• Bipolar Disorder

In addition to these difficulties, everyone is likely to have some degree of low mood at some point during their lifetime. These may pass on their own, but you can often help them to the exit more quickly if you educate yourself about mood difficulties and put sustaining factors into your lifestyle. Psychotherapy may help this along.

Self Care for Depression

Ultimately, much of the hard work involved in overcoming depression is done by the individual him- or herself. Here we provide some self-care options.

• The Antidepressant Skills Workbook. A FREE self-help guide to mood difficulties co-authored by the director of Changeways Clinic. Available in English, French, Punjabi, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Farsi). Simply download and print the version of your choice.

As well, at Changeways Clinic we have developed a series of low-cost online courses for the public. These are not a substitute for care by a registered healthcare professional, but can provide useful information about the nature of these difficulties. In all cases there is a free preview video describing the course contents.

• What is Depression? A course describing the various types of mood difficulty, how they are diagnosed, and how common they are.
• What Causes Depression? A course looking at the various risk factors for depression - and how these might relate to appropriate treatment strategies.
• UnDoing Depression. A self-guided course on behavioural self-management of depression, with over 6 hours of video and a 100-page workbook. This resource can be a helpful adjunct to psychotherapy.