Mood Changes Easily, Is It Normal? Know The Cause And How To Overcome It

Illustration of why moods change easily (Unsplash/Shot By Cerqueira)

JAKARTA – The mood slides from happy to sad, angry, and irritable called mood swing. Are mood swings uncontrollable?

Mood easily changes many factors behind it. Starting from being influenced by internal factors such as changes in life, feeling tired, lack of sleep, consuming unhealthy foods, to taking drugs that affect mood to sleep patterns.

Mood swings in clinical psychology are also associated with mental disorders such as bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, clythomia, persistent depressive disorder, and borderline personality disorder. While in medical conditions, certain diseases also affect a person's mood such as Alzheimer's, heart disease, diabetes, epilepsy, stress, and thyroid disorders.

Mood swings have also been linked to premenstrual syndrome in women and menopause. If you experience an uncontrollable, intense mood that lasts for more than 2 days, affects your work relationships and domestic life or endangers yourself, it is advisable to see a professional such as a psychologist or psychiatrist.

The simple way to deal with mood swings is to improve your lifestyle, such as the following steps:

Recognize mood swings

According to psychotherapist Angela Ficken, reported by Bustle, Wednesday, November 24, emotions with different levels of intensity are normally experienced as a result of self-response to events experienced. All you need to do is control it, recognize any mood swings.

Every weekend, suggests Ficken, try to identify what you're feeling and question what events triggered that feeling. If you are being controlled by feelings or emotions, find out the cause first to help you take steps to neutralize those feelings.

Sleep

Ficken warns that the more tired your day is, the harder it is to manage your emotions. Fatigue makes the mind often run to negative things. So, sleep to relieve fatigue. It can also take a minute to relax, for example sitting on the veranda of the house, reading a book, meditation, or breathing exercises.

Avoid things that trigger a bad mood

Kristina Orlova, CMT., LMFT., a psychotherapist, suggests balancing life and staying calm. Also avoid things that trigger a lower mood, such as at night avoid drinking drinks that contain caffeine.

Drink a lot of water

A study published in the Journal of Nutrition found that drinking less can put you in a bad mood. That is, make sure your body gets enough hydration during your activities.

Sport

Exercise triggers the production of chemicals from the brain to make you more relaxed, feel better, and release endorphins or good mood hormones. Orlova advice, take time to exercise every day so that feelings don't go up and down.

In addition to the 5 ways to deal with volatile moods as above, Erika Martinez, Psy.D. suggest practicing mindfulness. According to Marnitez, a healthy emotional response is commensurate with the situation at hand.

For example, when you react at a level 9 intensity to a situation that requires only 2, it could indicate being emotionally triggered by the environment or someone. This means that a level of awareness is needed to control the overreaction.