Mood is a powerful word. It actually comes from older words that mean spirit, mind, to strive, be energetic, and courage. It is also being referred to as customary behavior or custom. Thus, mood means way more than being happy or being sad. Moods encompass much from what you need in order to live. Spirit, mind, to strive, be energetic, and courage – are all related to moods and your sense of well-being.
The Basics
Different facts about moods.
- Moods are your state of mind – whether you’re happy or lonely, afraid or angry, depressed or overjoyed.
- Emotions and moods are strongly linked specifically to the structure of the center of your brain, where your unconscious activities are being controlled.
- Moods actually have 3 elements – how one feels, what happens in the body, and what mood makes one do.
- Certain experiences and memories are powerfully linked to your mind, the reason why they often triggers your mood automatically.
Moods are considered as emotional state. They differs from emotions in a way that they’re less intense, less specific, and they’re less likely being triggered by particular events or stimulus. Moods also differ from personality traits or temperament which is longer lasting. Nevertheless, such personality traits like neuroticism and optimism predispose certain kinds of moods.
Long- term mood disturbances such as bipolar disorder and clinical depression are also considered as mood disorders. Moods are subjective, internal state but they are often being inferred from behaviors and posture. Your thought determined your moods. Your moods are being controlled by your thought.
This is the reality, you must think, or something should reach your intellectual mind in order to be understood and processed before you can feel anything. If someone has insulted you in a certain language you don’t understand, in a gentle voice and sweet face, you wouldn’t get upset. But if the words were translated, your mood will swing.
This only proves that your thought precedes your emotions, hence your mood. With an objective self-observation, you will know that you don’t actually have full control on your thoughts, and neither on your moods. Spiritual practices are aimed towards controlling your emotions and thoughts, which are being controlled by certain elements.
Elements such as jealousy, greed, selfishness, and other elements of human conditions actually control all your thoughts.
The worst element is loneliness. Being along, not just momentarily – the feeling of being along in life is indeed one of the most powerful and worst elements of all. The power of this element is hidden from its very nature, and most people deny its existence.
Think of all the things you want or do, see if it ultimately does or doesn’t come down in securing a friend, a companion, or in respect of strangers. As you have lost a connection or touch with your spiritual side, you have come fully relying on human realm. Your mood becomes independent from you experiences.
This disconnecting experience and mood presents various challenges in your daily life. Sense of self confidence and self-identity can also be affected. Symptoms like extreme irritability also affect relationships. Hopelessness and sadness may become too overwhelming. The sense of oneself can actually be lost if you don’t know what you need to expect from your mood.
Identify where the mood is coming from
What really is the difference between moods and feelings? Both of them describe your emotions; the difference is only about how long they’ll last. Feelings are actually transient, meaning that they are the result of the current situation that you are and they can change instantly. Moreover, a mood lasts for hours or even for days. Uncomfortable feelings usually vanished by itself, but your ‘bad mood’ needs some efforts to change.
What causes your moods?
Moods are being caused by your psychological and physical states. If you say you’re feeling good, you are probably describing contentment or good health. Likewise, if you say you’re feeling bad, you are probably describing sadness or cold. Teasing out both the state of your body and mind is somewhat complicated because they influence one another.
On the other hand, there are also different physical causes and means to your moods. For instance, low sugar levels of blood, hunger, or sleep deprivation – all these cause change in your moods. The energy level of your body also causes change in your mood. Many people usually feel energetic and most upbeat in late mornings and in early afternoons but less energetic and less upbeat during late afternoons and evenings.
On the neurological level, the type and amount of chemical from your brain called neurotransmitters also underlie most moods. In addition to that, activities in the different part of your brain also cause distinct mood states. Lastly, hormonal changes of the body are basically linked to your moods. These changes generally are evident in specific stages of life like adolescence, and menopause and menarche for women.
It gets more complicated – seasonal changes can also affect your moods. The quantity of the present ultraviolet light has been believed to affect moods. During winter season, when the number of daylight hours is fewer, some people experiences Seasonal Affective Depressions or SAD. Also, various illnesses cause certain physiological changes which in turn affect your mood states.
Physiological disorders are also believed to affect the moods.
Depression may cause you to feel hopeless or worthless and you may lose pleasure and interest in your everyday activities. Bipolar disorders include above mentioned symptoms mixed or alternating with your feelings of distractibility, inflated self-esteem, and restlessness. Anxiety disorders cause generalized feeling of worry and irritability. There are some of the most common physiological issues that usually affect moods.
Excerpted from the book Managing Moods.
This excerpt has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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https://boostlane.com/p/boostlane/348/managing-moods/
