Encyclopedia of Health and Medicine

370 Psychiatric Disorders and Psychologic Conditions
• culture and generation
• financial or economic status
• personal experiences with crisis or disaster
• seriousness of the situation
Coping mechanisms, when they are positive,
move a person toward regaining control over the
situation and the ability to manage its circumstances.
When they are negative, coping mechanisms
often instead result in responses that
perpetuate dysfunction or even the crisis itself.
Because coping mechanisms are learned behaviors,
it is possible for people to identify those that
do not work well for them and replace them with
others that are more successful.
See also ANGER AND ANGER MANAGEMENT; BEHAVIOR
MODIFICATION THERAPY; COGNITIVE THERAPY; PSY-
CHOTHERAPY; STRESS AND STRESS MANAGEMENT.
cyclothymic disorder Alternating, short-term
periods (usually days) of elation and melancholy,
milder than the cyclic periods of MANIA and DEPRES-
SION that define BIPOLAR DISORDER. Other people
commonly view the person as extremely moody
or emotionally fragile though able to function reasonably
well in work and social settings when at
either mood extreme and quite well during periods
of mood moderation. Some psychiatrists consider
cyclothymic disorder, also called
cyclothymia, to be a precursor (precondition) to
bipolar disorder though other psychiatrists consider
it a separate condition.
COGNITIVE THERAPY and BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION
THERAPY are the most effective treatments, providing
understanding of the disorder and teaching
ways to accommodate the extremes of the mood
swings so as to maintain appropriate interactions
with others. Medications used to treat bipolar disorder
may improve symptoms that disrupt the
person’s ability to function (such as job performance
or fulfilling family responsibilities). Alternative
and complementary approaches such as
BIOFEEDBACK and HYPNOSIS may also improve the
person’s ability to cope with mood extremes.
See also COPING MECHANISMS.