The word
Affect
is in psychology and psychiatry used to described observable behaviour that represents the expression of a subjectively experienced feeling state (emotion). Common examples of affect are
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sadness,
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fear,
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joy,
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anger.
The normal range of expressed affect varies considerably between different cultures and even within the same culture.
Types of affect include:
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euthymic,
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irritable,
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constricted,
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blunted,
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flat,
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inappropriate,
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labile.
Euthymic mood would be considered as the "normal" stable mood without complaints.
Affective Disorders
are mental health disorders with observable alteration of affect (mood). This would include Major Depression, Dysthymia / Cyclothymia, Bipolar disorder and Adjustment disorders and a broader category of depressive symptoms, which do not fit in the classical categories of mood disorders (Depressive disorders not otherwise specified).