My Mood Ring Reads "Black"
Monday, August 24, 2009 at 12:37PM
Alright, kids. I may liberally dose you with my opinion on a regular basis, but now I’m looking for YOUR help.
What do you know about naturally stabilizing a person’s mood?
(While I’d be happy to down a few horse tranquilizers, I’d also a) love to be coherent and b) prefer to keep chemicals out of my body.)
Lately, I’ve been having swooping mood swings for a few hours during the day, usually morning. While I suspect these occurrences are partly to do with my hours of sleep vs. caffeine intake ratio, I would also like to figure out a way to say, oh, NOT experience horrid despair and self-loathing. I’ve heard soy is a great mood stabilizer, and I’m sure I could do with a more rigid sleep schedule, but any other ideas would be great.
I’ll pretty much try anything, including accepting gifts or money from others, since I hear that is a great way to improve one’s outlook on life.
Aaaaaand...go!
Reader Comments (15)
Yoga. This is a link to 20-minute morning sequence: http://www.yogajournal.com/video/99 After the sequence, try allotting a few minutes for a cup of tea (TEA) and relaxation.
Good luck.
Ok. Here is a little dose of advice from someone who is there. I have Type 2 Bipolar, which is mood swings without running screaming naked in the streets. It was treated as depression for years, but this summer my doctor decided to treat it as Bipolar. The highs and lows aren't as severe as someone with type one, and I'll never be a type one (when you're one type, you generally stay there) but none the less, I use a really mild antidepressant. However, my doctor says that daily physical activity has been proven to be as effective as low dose antidepressants. I swim every day, but I still need the meds because I don't like riding the roller coaster. It's too much - and I like the person I am when I'm level. But that's a personal choice. I like swimming because it doubles as "think time." You really can't hear anything but your own thoughts and breathing when you swim. It gives me time to sort it all out.
ps: I finally stopped procrastinating and made my 30 Under 30 list... now I've got 3 years to work at it... that means 10 per year, or a little under 1 per month.
B-Complex vitamins and SAM-e are both natural over the counter medications for mood stabilization.
Regular exercise and lots of water. Not necessarily strenuous exercise, or even every day: just something to get the blood flowing once or a few times a week. Your sleep schedule will follow (a bit) from that. Yoga is an excellent suggestion. Multivitamins too. B-complex is a good call, DD.
Chemically, avoid the things that will tend to "bring you out" of your mood - they tend to make the swings more extreme. Alcohol is a depressant and coffee is a stimulant. I spent a lot of time with large doses of the latter in the morning to wake up and large doses of the former in the evening to pass out, and have never experienced such ugly mood swings in my life.
And don't beat yourself up about how you feel. I do that pretty regularly: "why am I not in a good mood??"
Yeah, I guess I just wonder when I'm in the darkness if I am not really a happy person? And what that might mean? It's kind of awful all around.
I actually do work out quite a bit, and had a great therapist a while back espouse the virtues of endorphins. But yes, definitely, I need to cut out the stimulants that "bring me out" of my moods. Nasty stuff...it also doesn't do much for a girl in the weight department either!
Good stuff, everyone...anyone else?
Not to harp on the yoga suggestion, but (hokey as it sounds) I remember my yoga teacher telling me about a woman, who while pregnant, did a ton of yoga-specifically balancing poses. When her daughter was born, and throughout the years, she has noticed that both she and her daughter are extremely well-balanced (both physically and emotionally). So, there's something for you. Also-on yogajournal.com under the podcasts section, there's a sequence of balancing poses you can try. Again-it's only a 20-minute session, and the instructor is pretty awesome. I just tried that sequence today, and though it was challenging, I loved it and feel very centered at the mo'.
Explore all venues available to you sans any chemical help.
You'll find what works best for you.
When/if it stops working for you, move on to the next venue. It will take some time, no rush. It's not going to fix anything overnight, you didnt land in this position overnight.
Excerise and seeing a shrink were/have always been my favorite to help. I would normally choose something reasonably aggressive for my body to push through, then mellow out with my Ipod and stretching.
You'll find what works best for you.
Once a person has been on medication, whether is be for a short/long term, life etc, you quickly develop an opinion of how important cheimcal assistance is, or, not, to you and your life etc.
We all get in that fun place. Thanks for posting this one. It can be hard to express such personal feelings from that place.
P.S.
Melissa, Thank you for sharing that personal information about yourself.
*fun = funk place
I agree with the above- lots of exercise, sleep, and cut out caffeine/alcohol/cigarettes if you smoke. Make sure to get lots of outdoor time especially as the seasons transition- the extra sun will do you well. Also- I've been rereading a book called "feeling good" by david burns- kind of a mind over depression type thing if you will. Take care of yourself, and if you find yourself having a bad day, don't fret, just allow it. Sometimes I'll tell myself to really soak in the depression, but that I'm not allowed for that to last more than a couple of days. I find the timeframe boundaries really work in helping me cope. Good luck to you- you're not alone!
Yoga is indeed excellent. And I highly endorse it as the only exercise which does not feel like exercise, and focuses mainly on breathing. Plus, you can only do the poses you enjoy. Yogajournal.com has a directory of poses, with instructions on doing them properly (since doing a pose wrong could lead to serious pain/injury).
Exercise in general is helpful for shifting a skewed perspective back on track.
I suggest, every time you catch yourself being unnecessarily moody: pause. Stop talking. Focus on breathing. Remind yourself to be rational, that your bad mood is uncalled for. Life is generally good. Tough times do not last.
(sorry if I have repeated anything-I didn't read the other comments first!)
-Heidi (first time on your blog)
exercise
eat well
meditate
take B-vitamins
write about what you're feeling and try to work out why you're feeling that way
think about what you could do to make yourself feel better and then do it, if possible
also I recently bought a book called 'Change Your Thinking' by Sarah Edelman. She's an Australian psychologist and the book has been helpful to me as I'm going through similar stuff to you at the moment.
I know you said natural, so i don't know if this will count but birth control pills have stabilized my mood significantly (all month not just when i used to get pms-y). I used to get really moody but I've been stable since I was on them. I'm on Yaz, I'm not sure if brand matters.
There is nothing wrong with pills. Pharmacist and back up pharmie totally agree!
Regulating your diet is HUGE. My sister is so easily affected by what she eats, especially ANY sugars, ANY flours or gluten etc.
Have you had a comprehensive blood test done for food allergies. A lot of allergies do not have life threatening side effects (we're NOT talking obvi like peanuts, etc) but can instead affect your mood, energy and so forth.