Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a mood disorder associated with episodes of depression in the fall and winter months. It appears to be related to a lack of sunshine, causing increased melatonin production by the pineal gland. Seasonal affective disorder can be helped by phototherapy with bright white fluorescent lights. 

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) occurs when a person who has gone through a significant trauma shows stress symptoms that impair the person's ability to function. The trauma can be combat, torture or abuse, a life-threatening accident, a natural disater, or loss of a loved one.

Generalized anxiety disorder consists of persistent, excessive worrying that is not focused on one particular situation. Panic disorder is characterized by sudden, brief attacks of intense fear that rise abruptly, often for no reason. Situational phobias involve a fear of specific situations; crowded spaces, heights, flying, and confined spaces. Somatoform disorder occurs when there is no identifiable physical cause to explain physical symptoms. 

The double-bind hypothesis suggests that in childhood, individuals with schizophrenia received disorganized and contradictory messages from his or her mother. For instance, a child may have been told to eat as much as he wanted, but punished after he finished eating. According to the theory, these individuals internalize the disorganized messages and lead to a warped perception of reality.

Sensation seeking is an important factor in understanding the cause and development of addictions—including substance abuse. When sensation seeking is elevated in a given individual, it can sometimes be channeled into healthy avenues that include competitive sports and leadership; however, it often results in seeking pleasurable experiences that end up becoming harmful habits. Individuals with elevated sensation seeking tendencies require more stimulation than the average individual to feel the same amount of pleasure or satisfaction.

Aaron Beck—a cognitive psychologist—hypothesized that depression was the result of cognitive errors. In other words, depressed people were more likely to interpret the world in a maladaptive way. They have negative thoughts about themselves, the world around them, and the future. He hypothesized that all three of these cognitive beliefs feed into one another and fuel depressive thoughts that produces a vicious cycle.

Lithium is a salt that is 60% effective in the treatment of the manic episode of bipolar disorder. It acts as a mood stabilizer. Tegretol, Lamictal, Luvrox, and Paxil are all used to treat depression. 

Schizophrenia is a form of psychosis, and as such is treated with antipsychotic medications such as olanzapine, quetiapine, and risperidone either singularly or in combination if necessary.

Cognitive behavioral therapy and a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) such as Zoloft, Paxil or Luvox are used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder. Posttraumatic stress disorder is also treated with SSRIs. Both the manic and depressive stages of bipolar disorder can be treated with the mood stabilizer lithium, while SSRIs can be used to treat the depressive state. Treatment for personality disorders is not successful.

Blood levels of lithium have to be monitored, and signs of overdose include diarrhea, drowsiness, loss of appetite, muscle weakness and trembling, and slurred speech. Lithium is a mood stabilizer used in the treatment of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Paxil, Luvox, and Zoloft are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) used to treat depression. Inderal is a antiadrenergic agent used to treat posttraumatic stress disorder. 

Cognitive therapy, pioneered by psychologists like Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck, emphasizes the power of our thoughts in determining how we feel and behave. According to Beck's negative triad theory, depression is the result of negative thoughts about oneself, one's experiences, and one's future. A depressed person's thinking is often shaped by distortions like overgeneralization (e.g. “I always mess up in interviews”) and selective abstraction, in which one detail of an incident is emphasized and interpreted in the wrong context (e.g. a person focuses on the single negative aspect of a date).

While some of these terms may sound medical, they belong to the techniques and concepts of psychoanalytic therapy.  The founder of psychoanalytic therapy, Sigmund Freud, was a physician. These terms express an unawareness of mental processes. Since cognitive approaches focus on what is immediately conscious and behavioral approaches avoid focusing on thoughts, they can be eliminated as possible answers.