What does the mood depend on, where does it run and how to catch it?

“I’m in the same mood as Carlson – I want sweets and fool around”

Good day to everyone reading our blog! I would like to know in what mood do you wake up in the morning? How does it change throughout the day? Can you change it? And is it necessary to do this? Let's look at what mood depends on?

My mood is like the Ural weather, in the morning I went outside, and there was grace, warmth, the sun was shining, and in the evening, bang-bang, there was already snow. It happens with us too. Thank God, not often.

Mood is emotions. They can be both positive and negative. Negative ones include fear, resentment, despondency, boredom, irritation, and anger. They are present in one way or another in the life of every person. It is very changeable, and our task is to prevent bad thoughts from settling in our heads. So, let's look at how to cheer up when it's at zero.

What is a mood

Mood is a certain emotional process, long-lasting and of low intensity, occurring inside a person. It determines the general rhythm of human life. This is how Wikipedia interprets this concept.

Moreover, it must be separated from feelings, emotions and experiences, as well as states of effect. These are slightly different concepts.

Mood is based on a person's life situation. And if everything in life is stable, it will not bounce around like ping-pong balls.

Talk to a stranger

Researchers Nicholas Epley and Juliana Schroeder from the University of Chicago conducted the Let's make some Metra noise experiment. They gave a group of passengers on a Chicago train a $5 Starbucks gift card. In exchange, they agreed to start a conversation with their fellow traveler during the trip. The other group of subjects had to travel in silence.

As a result, those who overcame shyness and chatted with others showed improved mood and mental well-being. Those who had no contact with anyone did not become happier.

A similar study, Is Efficiency Overrated?: Minimal Social Interactions Lead to Belonging and Positive Affect, was conducted by specialists from the University of British Columbia. They also gave cafeteria patrons five-dollar Starbucks cards in exchange for a promise to strike up a small conversation with the barista. And such fleeting communication, despite its apparent insignificance, also led to an increase in the mood of the subjects.

So contacts with others, even short-term ones, improve our condition.

Factors influencing mood

Let's consider the main factors influencing our mood:

• Weather and season

You will agree that in sunny summer weather it is much more pleasant and easier to feel a surge of mental strength and joy. The sun more often paints smiles and sparkling eyes on our lips. In the summer I can put on a beautiful dress, style my hair, paint my face and go conquer the world. The admiring glances of the men lift him up even more. And when you wake up on a cloudy autumn day in an apartment with cold radiators, you won’t even want to get out of your warm bed, much less drag yourself to work in the pouring rain. Brrr...I don’t like this weather, and it definitely doesn’t add positivity to life.

• Dream

Very often dreams influence our morning awakening. Lately I have been having difficult dreams that are caused by events in life, or rather by my attitude towards them. After a couple of hours, I can forget the details, but the unpleasant and heavy feelings remain for a long time.

Conversely, a light and pleasant dream puts us in a playful mood.

• Life events (money surrounding)

Mood is influenced by life events and the people around you. If there are a series of troubles in your life, there are people who poison your life, there is a constant lack of money - these events are unlikely to increase it for you. They will depress, frustrate, and direct your thoughts to even greater negativity.

• Hormones

We are greatly influenced by the so-called hormones of happiness - endorphins, serotonin and dopamines.

• Endorphins

Endorphins are involved in the regulation of many processes in the human body: they act on the immune system and metabolism. Our memory depends on them. This hormone is associated with a feeling of happiness and joy. People who live in joy live longer, and their lives are of higher quality and more fulfilling. This hormone is also responsible for the state of love. If you begin to see the world in black colors, you need to increase endorphins.

How can I do that? Exercising helps increase your levels of this hormone. So run to the gym and work out, work out and work out. The benefit will be double - you will increase the level of endrphins, and as a result, your mood and yourself will be in order.

• Serotonin

You know that people are divided into optimists and pessimists. Why is this happening. Yes, it’s as simple as that – some people have an excess of the hormone serotonin in their bodies, while others have an acute lack of it.

Serotonin is present everywhere in the human body. It is found in large quantities in brain cells and helps its functioning. This hormone is responsible for mood, sleep, sexual activity, and performance. Helps to concentrate mindfulness.

To raise the level of this hormone, adjust your diet - add bananas, dates, chocolate. Sports also promote the production of seratonin. And you also need to spend as much time as possible in the light, in the sun. You can make the lighting at home brighter. And another recommendation is to maintain correct posture. This may sound strange, but the level of seratonin in the human body depends on correct posture.

The higher the hormone level, the better your mood. And the more positive you are, the sooner it will affect the growth of this hormone. This is what addiction is like.

• Dopamine

Dopamine helps the body fight stress - it alleviates pain and feelings. Probably everyone remembers how they felt when doing a job they hated and pursuing, for example, their hobby? If we do what we love, anticipating the joy of the process, at this moment the hormone dopamine is released into the blood, improving our mood.

If you love chocolate and sex, if you have a favorite job, then you have an abundance of dopamine.

• Well-being

Everything is clear here. If a person has “oh” here and “ouch” here, as in advertising, then what the hell is the mood here? If you have to constantly deal with pain, it is difficult to radiate positivity. Although such people also exist, they are, unfortunately, the exception rather than the rule.

• Human character and temperament

You've probably noticed that you communicate with some people easily and naturally, while others are a bit scary to approach? I won’t say anything new now - all people are divided into sanguine, choleric, melancholic and phlegmatic.

And a change in mood is directly related to the rate of change in processes in the human nervous system. If phlegmatic people are calm and reasonable, then you will need a lot of time and effort to unsettle them. But it is very difficult to work with choleric people. When your boss is choleric and explodes for any reason, you want to run away from such work quickly.

It is very important to understand what caused the bad mood so that you can influence the original source and negative it. Sometimes a person does not understand why everything suddenly became bad. It doesn't happen that way. There is always a reason. Sometimes we push it deep inside, because otherwise we will have to act to eradicate it, and this can be painful. So such a person lives in a state of mental discomfort, which can ultimately lead him to depression.

The most important thing is not to push problems inside, but to try to pull yourself out of the hole of pessimism as quickly as possible.

Choice of life

Problem: Sometimes we mistake mood swings for uncertainty in life. This morning you decided to make the necessary acquaintances, and by evening you are dreaming of a cell on a lonely island. An hour ago you were determined to exceed the plan, but one small hitch, and you don’t want anything at all. Today you complain about your boring job, about the fact that you lack drive in life - tomorrow you change your life radically, start communicating with people more often and realize that there is more activity in your life than you need. It tires you, and you dream of quiet, calm work. This eternal rushing from one extreme to another confuses one’s thoughts and makes one at 40 years old ask the question: “What do I want to become when I grow up?”

Solution: Still, people do not want to realize that work is not the whole of life. This is a way to make money. And life begins when the time spent gives you a feeling of deep satisfaction. If your work gives you such bright feelings, then you can consider yourself lucky. But the problem is that only a few manage to find a place that fills the soul with joy and the wallet with piastres. According to statistics, most often this is achieved by people whose craft is related to creativity. The solution to this dilemma is very simple: find yourself a quiet job that will consistently bring you money. Not necessarily the most fun and full of adventures - even if it is boring sitting in front of the computer, but active recreation will compensate for the shortcoming. This is the ideal proportion for people who always complain about life being either too boring or too dynamic. Here it is, the golden mean. After all, too much emotion isn't particularly conducive to productivity.

Types of moods

It can be roughly divided into:

• Positive is when a person is in an even psychological state most of the time. This is achieved subject to a number of conditions: good sleep, proper nutrition, regular exercise, lack of stress, and the ability to maintain a good mood.
• Negative is a violation of the psychological state when a person is dissatisfied with everything and is constantly irritated. At such moments, you need to refrain from making global decisions. It is unlikely that this decision will be adequate and correct.

You constantly replay the worst possible scenarios in your head.

When your brain imagines the worst thing that could happen, it tries to prepare you for it. However, this approach only increases anxiety, so changing your thinking is important and necessary.

Of course, you shouldn’t look at the world through rose-colored glasses and ignore problems. It is enough to objectively perceive what is happening and see the immediate future.

How to cheer yourself up

When bad thoughts take over, ask yourself two simple questions:

1. Is there evidence that this can actually happen?
2. How to look at the situation in a neutral or even advantageous light?

This approach is called cognitive restructuring / Understanding Cognitive Restructuring / Verywell Mind, and it can have a positive effect on mood.

Then try to look for a solution to the problem and look at it more broadly - this will help you return to an active position again.

Is it possible to influence your mood?

I recently met an acquaintance whom I had not met for several years. I didn’t even recognize her right away, she had changed so much. I remember a stern woman of indeterminate age with pursed lips and prickly gimlet eyes. Now a completely different woman was looking at me - cheerful, open, friendly. It turns out she has a wonderful sense of humor.

I asked in surprise what had changed her so much. And she admitted that she used to consider everyone around her to be to blame for her failed life, justifying her sour face with an unloved job, problems in her personal life, and lack of friends.

But at some point I realized that a bad mood means erased days from your life, and once you lose these days, you won’t be able to make up for them with anything. This means you need to learn to change it in your favor. Of course, it was not immediately possible to get rid of negative thoughts, and now they visit her from time to time, but they no longer linger in her head for days and months, but disappear after a minute.

Usually in the morning, when I prepare breakfast, many thoughts come into my head. For example, I need to resolve issues that are unpleasant to me, but necessary. And the faster I solve them, the easier it will be for me. But the thought of this poisons everything around. At this point, you need to present the result of executing this problem. After all, you always feel emotional satisfaction after completing difficult tasks.

I have already noticed that as soon as a negative thought clings to my head, then that’s it, I will inflate it to incredible proportions, and it will take time and nerves (and not just mine) to blow it away. Therefore, I took the advice of a psychologist:

Any negative thought must be nipped in the bud.

Arose - by an effort of will, switch immediately to thinking or remembering something good. If you can’t immediately remember something pleasant, make a list in advance and let it always be at your fingertips. But the most important thing is that the thought must be expelled immediately. If she has grabbed at least one convolution of your brain, then it will be more difficult to drive her out.

Or another option on how to get rid of garbage in your head - if you watched the movie "Charmed", there Prue Halliwell's older sister could move objects with her eyes or with a wave of her hand. So, by analogy, I send a fresh negative thought out the window with a wave of my hand, while saying: go to Australia, it’s warm there and there are a lot of kangaroos. I feel funny and everything goes away. But if the thought is very disturbing and very intrusive, then you have to work hard to drive it out of your head for a long time.

We have no control over the events happening around us, but we can learn to control our mood. This is also a habit that you need and can develop in yourself. And you will be happy!

Use of alcohol or drugs

If you drink alcohol or take drugs, this may cause sudden mood swings.

Psychoactive substances are addictiveAddiction: what is it?, and you may not notice it. Addiction leads to a loss of control over behavior and emotions, which causes your mood to constantly change.

What to do

Addiction is difficult to overcome on your own. Therefore, the best option is to consult a doctor.

If you use drugs or alcohol but don't feel addicted, try stopping for at least a week. It worked, which means there is no dependence. Well, if you fail, then it’s definitely time to see a doctor. You can start with a psychologist or immediately contact a narcologist.

When you get rid of addiction, your mood will return to normal.

How to cheer up quickly if you've already worked yourself up?

Just a couple of days ago I saw something I shouldn't have seen. I didn't poke my nose in - it happened by accident. The roof was blown off with lightning speed, the mood was terrible, I didn’t want to do anything, but there was a great desire to send everyone far and away, take the bundle and go into the fog, like a hedgehog from the cartoon of our childhood.

It was on the street, there were people around. I don’t like throwing tantrums and showdowns in public, so I had to resort to the fastest way - take a deep breath. Moreover, in a tense state, I stop breathing. The first time a psychologist told me about this was when I was at her appointment. I waved it off - how could I not breathe, I would have died. But then I began to notice that there really are such moments, and now I track them and eliminate them.

Therefore, we inhale the air deeply, almost to the point of dizziness. The brain is filled with oxygen and it becomes easier. This is true. I calmed down a little, but I wasn’t in the mood. And it is not expected. My husband honestly tried to calm me down (a brain explosion is his fault), but, as they say, use your brain when you do something.

What to do when the first stage of removing the negative is successfully completed?

Pregnancy

Mood swings are common among pregnant women, especially during the first 6 to 10 weeks. This period is also called the first trimester.

Physical stress, fatigue, and changes in the level of hormones - estrogen and progesterone - are to blame for the changes. These two hormones regulate Progesterone and progestin: How do they work? the functioning of the female reproductive system. If the body produces too little of them, problems with mood and well-being begin.

What to do

First, consult your gynecologist. Hormones are a serious thing. Lack of progesterone can lead to miscarriage or premature birth. Therefore, it is necessary to undergo an examination and donate blood to check the condition of the body. If the fears are confirmed, the doctor will prescribe treatment.

Secondly, sleep more, walk in the fresh air, eat well, try yoga and massage. In general, do everything to feel cheerful and not give yourself reasons to be sad.

Determine the importance of the problem

I very often become so immersed in the experience of a problem that it obscures all the colors around me. Why make everything so difficult for yourself?

Therefore, I took the advice of a psychologist and now I do this:

1. Analyzing how much my future life depends on today's problem? It may be important now, but in a week, a year, I won’t even remember what excited me so much. So is it worth worrying so much now? In the end, everything passes, and this too will pass.
2. Now we abstract ourselves from the situation and look at it from the outside - here is the problem, but here are other aspects of life. Is it really impossible to find more important matters in it?
3. The most effective way for me to switch moods is work. Moreover, the work is interesting, into which I completely immerse myself with all my negative thoughts. At this moment, I forget that my soul is sour - I simply have no time to waste time on some kind of garbage (pardon the expression). Of course, when you emerge from it, it may cover you again, but the wave will be smaller and easier to cope with.
4. Another distraction is work, but rather physical work. Previously, before the era of automatic washing machines, this was washing. When you do this, all the anger, all the negativity goes into energy, which you spend on useful things. Or wash the windows, vacuum, wash the floors, finally. By the way, this has great benefits, it will calm your nerves and put things in order in your apartment. Now I prefer ironing. This really calms me down.
5. Walk. Moreover, it is long-term and if possible, it is better in the forest. When we live in the country, there are no problems with this - the forest is a few meters away. I noticed that at first I walk very quickly, almost running, but as I calm down, my step slows down, my breathing calms down, my thoughts come into order.
6. Various techniques for switching thoughts also help. I use this one most often—I simply throw a negative thought out the window. But the most important thing about this technique is that you need to throw it away immediately, before it has time to take hold in your head.

We talked about methods that help me switch from negativity and reduce its concentration. Now let's look at

Personal communication

Problem: Mood swings affect not so much the person as the person around him. It’s enough for you to wake up out of sorts to tell a person off, or to tell a friend to his face everything you think about him. He yelled, and it was as if a stone had been lifted from his soul. I’m immediately in a good mood, I immediately want to talk to people. But for some reason they are not very happy: you have just humiliated a person, and it is much more logical not to communicate with you, but to tell you to go to hell. Sometimes, looking at the list of reasons, it becomes very embarrassing

They complained about your life, didn’t pay attention to you, told you that your clothes didn’t fit. Of course, this is not a reason to humiliate a person

Solution: Give yourself the mindset not to communicate with people when you are in a bad mood. Just distance yourself, avoid conversations, answer in monosyllables, or better yet, avoid communication altogether until you feel that the irritation has disappeared somewhere. Just lock yourself in a room, take deep breaths and don't go out in public. But only if you are, in principle, insane. Do you know why moody people are often confused with ordinary boors? Because neither one nor the other knows how to restrain themselves. All this emotionality is nothing more than a lack of self-control. Well, you can pull yourself together and answer politely. You yourself understand that there is no reason to humiliate a person. Even when you are screaming and freaking out, you are aware of the consequences. Yes, it will become easier emotionally, but new problems will appear. Even if you have surrounded yourself with people who react to your bad mood like bad weather in St. Petersburg, discipline yourself. It's more than possible. It’s better to answer briefly, monosyllabically, but politely, than whatever you think. And don’t blame the advice of psychologists, as if holding back leads to nervous breakdowns. Sometimes it is simply necessary. If people didn’t know how to restrain themselves, they would walk around dirty and filthy.

Serotonin

The hormone is found in small quantities in all organs, but a large proportion of it in the body is located in the gastrointestinal tract. That is, it is the health and stable functioning of the digestive system that are largely responsible for a good mood. Of course, the mood depends not only on this. Most of the substance is still located in the brain, from where the functioning of cells throughout the body is regulated. A sufficient amount of serotonin is responsible for concentration, sexual desire, memory, performance and social behavior. What does your mood depend on on bad days? Perhaps it is the lack of the hormone in the body that provokes loss of strength, anxiety, absent-mindedness, stress and other negative emotions.

With a sufficient amount of serotonin in a person, a calm, stable reaction occurs to almost any external stimulus. Such people radiate happiness and joy, and are much less likely to get cancer, since the hormone is able to cope with the formation of “bad” cells in the body.

This substance affects appetite, sleep and feelings of pleasure.

Sadness

This type of mood is characterized by increased emotional sensitivity. In a state of sadness, a person feels depressed, unwanted, and sometimes even rejected. If a person is “stuck” in a given mood, sometimes you need to try to cheer him up and console him. In some cases, sadness can be in the nature of deep thoughts, and then the individual really needs to be alone. The sensitivity and delicacy of those around you will help you understand what kind of mood their loved ones and relatives are in.

You cannot try to force a person out of this state. Sadness cannot last too long. It is necessary to rethink significant contradictions and internal conflicts. In the case when sadness is protracted, we can talk about the onset of depression. What is the mood of a gloomy person? Of course, depressed, he is most often unfriendly and silent.

Endorphins

Only a person whose endorphin levels are normal feels absolutely happy, full of strength and energy and an optimist. These biological compounds not only lift your mood, but also ensure the conduction of all nerve impulses, which accelerates the enjoyment of all the “hormones of happiness.” What does your mood depend on if today is the worst day, and you yourself are the most unhappy of all people? Most likely, the matter is a lack of endorphin in the body. This substance is very similar in formula to most narcotic substances, and has a similar effect on humans. The feeling of euphoria and happiness gives a person lightness and carelessness. In addition, hormones have anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic effects, which speeds up recovery and alleviates the course of any illness.

I wonder what determines your mood during pregnancy? Just from the level of this substance in the blood. During pregnancy, the amount of endorphins in the body increases sharply, so many find it difficult to cope with sudden mood swings. During childbirth, the hormone is abruptly removed from the body, which often provokes postpartum depression and neuroses. Scientists believe that disruption of the synthesis of this substance is the cause of chronic pain syndromes.

Additional influence

In fact, the production of hormones is a complex process that can be disrupted by many minor factors. One of these is dehydration of the body, since with insufficient fluid intake, the distribution of substances in organs and the nervous system is disrupted. Thus, if you drink little water, you can provoke a lack of endorphins in the body, and as a result, you can get depression, sleep disturbances, decreased performance, and even the occurrence of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

In other words, the mood of a man or woman largely depends on compliance with the diet. For a good mood and proper metabolism, all you need to do is drink at least 2 liters of clean water every day.

The reason for the disruption of the production of melatonin and serotonin is the presence of free radicals in the body. Nerve tissues are especially sensitive to such substances, so a lack of oxygen in the brain also quickly provokes a deterioration in mood. Prolonged stay in this state causes depression.

Adrenalin

Energy, concentration and good mood provide a person with the right amount of adrenaline in the body. In high concentrations, the hormone causes fear and anger, so you should be careful with stimulating its production. A sufficient amount of the substance makes a person energetic, cheerful and allows you to always remain in good shape.

If you feel melancholy and despondency, you can try extreme entertainment, which will definitely help raise the level of adrenaline in your blood.

Inspiration

This state is characterized by a sense of integrity with oneself and the world around us. This mood can be called rosy, in which various ideas easily come to mind and there is a strong desire to bring them to life. Inspiration seems to lift a person above the world; he feels bold, courageous and strong. In such a state, a person is able to perform real feats, to be as useful as possible to himself and others.

How to understand that a person is in the mood of a conqueror of peaks? He smiles endlessly, feels confident and at ease, has positive conversations that involuntarily fill you with optimism! What mood does such a person most often have? Light, bright, sublime! It’s not difficult for him to reach the sky with his hand and put a star in his palm!