Mood Disorders

Although the exact etiology of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) remains unknown, it appears to be a chronic mood disorder that continues for many years in reproductive-age women. Approximately 2% to 10% of cycling women report severe symptoms resulting in a disruption of work or relationships.

Psychogenic excoriation (also called neurotic excoriation, pathologic or compulsive skin picking, and dermatotillomania) is not yet recognized as a symptom of a distinct DSM-IV disorder.

Mood disorders and their impact on women and their families was the topic of a half-day conference held at New York City's Algonquin Hotel;, former haunt of the famous-and depressed- writer Dorothy Parker, who made at least one suicide attempt there in the early 1900s.

The past decade witnessed major strides in our understanding and treatment of affective disorders in adults, children and adolescents. One of the baffling problems in child and adolescent psychiatry was the question of psychiatric illness spanning a lifetime. The existence of depressive disorders in prepubertal children has been generally recognized and acknowledged since the 1960s; however, only in the last decade did evidence become available that supports the notion that depression in different ages represents the same entity, albeit manifesting different clinical symptoms in each developmental period (Cytryn and others 1986).

Paraphilias as defined by DSM-IV, are sexual impulse disorders characterized by intensely arousing, recurrent sexual fantasies, urges and behaviors (of at least six months' duration) that are considered deviant with respect to cultural norms and that produce clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of psychosocial functioning.

At this time, both patients and professionals seem to have an unprecedented interest in circadian rhythms. We now know that the body's clock is located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus, and that the SCN regulates the pineal gland's secretion of the hormone melatonin.