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Mood Changes
Mood changes refer to shifts or fluctuations in a person's emotional state. Moods can shift between feelings like happiness, sadness, anger, calmness, and anxiety. Mood changes can occur suddenly or gradually over time and can often feel unexpected or difficult to control.
Some of the most common causes behind mood swings include:
- Hormonal changes: Hormone shifts related to menstruation, pregnancy, perimenopause, or menopause can trigger mood swings in many women. The fluctuations impact neurotransmitters like serotonin that influence mood regulation.
- Sleep issues: Lack of quality sleep, insomnia, or sleep disorders can substantially impact mood the next day. Fatigue leads to irritability, while sleep helps process emotions.
- Stress: High stress levels activate the body's fight-or-flight response, flooding the system with hormones that heighten anxiety, volatility of moods, and emotional reactivity.
- Medication: Certain medications may list mood changes or instability as side effects.
- Substance abuse: Withdrawal from substances is linked to mood instability as the brain's chemistry tries to rebalance itself.
- Medical conditions: Mental health issues like depression, PTSD, or bipolar disorder can trigger mood swings. Physical causes may include thyroid disorders, PMS or PMDD, diabetes blood sugar shifts, dementia, or brain injuries.
Strategies to stabilize mood swings include getting enough sleep, eating a balanced diet, avoiding mood-altering substances, using calming practices like meditation, journaling emotions, exercising to reduce stress, and speaking to a doctor or therapist. Tracking daily moods and identifying triggers for shifts can also help maintain balance.
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