Affective disorders - Diagnostics

Affective disorders - Diagnostics

Affective disorders are mental illnesses that affect a person's mood. They can be characterized by excessive sadness or a depressed mood over a longer period of time (depression) or a strongly elevated mood (mania). Affective disorders are often accompanied by a severe impairment of general performance and social life.

Typical symptoms can include

• Extreme moods (severely depressed or elevated mood)
• Social withdrawal
• Loss of interests
• Decreased or increased need for sleep
• Changes in appetite
• Slight irritability or overexcitement

The treatment of affective disorders is usually carried out in combination with psychopharmacological therapy and must be tailored to the specific characteristics of the person(s) affected. A clinical-psychological diagnosis is therefore essential in order to record the individual symptoms and conditions in detail so that further treatment steps can be planned effectively.

Diagnostics

Prior to clinical-psychological diagnostics, an examination by a specialist in psychiatry should take place in any case. However, a referral can also be made by your treating psychologist or psychotherapist. A detailed assessment of the symptoms and a recommendation for the next steps will then be made as part of the clinical-psychological diagnosis.

The clinical-psychological diagnostics (50 min/unit) includes the following elements:

1 unit: medical history, exploratory interview
1-3 units: Specification of standardized diagnostic instruments (questionnaires, interviews, test procedures)
1 unit: Discussion of findings