The mood changes suddenly. How to live with bipolar?

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• How does your emotional background affect your mood?
• Causes of bad mood
• How to get rid of a bad mood
• What to do if you are in a bad mood in the morning?
• Get rid of bad mood once and for all

All people are equally susceptible to mood swings. For some, such changes occur less frequently, for others more often. There are days when nothing makes you happy, when you are not in the mood for no particular reason. Everyone has encountered this condition at least once.

How to cheer yourself up if you are not there for no apparent reason? In fact, even if you are sure that nothing caused your bad mood, this is not so. Such changes do not happen without reason; there is always a reason, but either you are not aware of it or you do not want to be aware of it.

In addition to a temporary phenomenon, it happens that a bad mood is permanent. And although a person is periodically distracted from negative thoughts, a feeling of despondency still accompanies him for a long time.

Anatomy of bad feelings

The bad feelings we experience at any moment are the result of a combination of different emotions (see “Human Emotions”).
We rarely feel depressed because of stress alone, guilt alone, or anxiety alone, and if only one of these emotions were present at a time, you would have no problem putting up with it. It is the combination of different bad emotions that makes us feel terrible. At any given time when we feel bad, we experience a combination of fears, worries about upcoming events, feelings of regret about our past, and feelings of irritation over small problems that are currently bothering us.

For example, at some point you may feel bad about your past because you failed to achieve what you wanted to achieve (see "Success"), worry about the future because you are afraid of failing in achieving your goals and feel irritated by the weather, whether it's hot or cold.

To get rid of these negative feelings, you don't need to solve all your problems right now, you just need to get rid of the small problems that are annoying you at the moment, reduce your anxiety and forget about the past.

Diagnosis of frequent mood swings

Sudden changes in mood can occur in completely healthy people. Therefore, the main thing in the treatment of mental disorders is to diagnose them correctly. A psychologist or psychiatrist can handle this task. A visual examination provides information about a person’s behavior, his gestures, and reactions. Speech rate and voice timbre are important.

Specific diagnostic methods:

• Psychophysiological tests, determination of the patient’s emotional and physiological stress;
• Projective tests (Rorschach test, Etkin test, etc.);
• Questionnaires that determine a person’s level of self-esteem and self-criticism.
• The following signs are characteristic of cyclical mood changes:
• Increased emotionality;
• Inappropriate reaction to events;
• Unreasonable irritation, anger;
• sudden laughter or tears;
• Sleep disorders;
• Frequent stress, emotional exhaustion;
• Low self-esteem;
• Apathy;
• Euphoria during highs;
• Excessive excitability;
• Lack of motivation, etc.

Dealing with small problems

Small problems serve as multipliers of bad emotions if you feel depressed. If you feel this bad at the moment, then very quickly you can feel much better: go to the bathroom if you need to, take a hot shower, eat if you are hungry, drink if you are thirsty or clean your room if there is a desire to restore order.

Small problems, such as the desire to eat or bathe, may not directly affect our lives, but they increase the bad feelings we experience. Dealing with small problems will ensure that your bad mood doesn't get worse or turn into long-term depression.

You may feel bad about the problem you are facing, but sitting in an untidy room can make those bad feelings worse and you may end up feeling depressed.

In my trainings, I explain how small problems that are not significant can multiply our bad feelings, and even lead to mood swings. To overcome bad moods and prevent depression, make sure you get rid of all the problems you encounter, even if they are too small.

Top 6 possible causes of sudden mood swings

It's not just stress and depression that lead to extreme mood swings, but there are other causes as well.

A person can be absolutely happy one minute and extremely unhappy the next - this is how mood swings affect us, which are very dangerous for the psyche. Usually, when we are happy, we tend to ignore some negative circumstances, and when we are sad, we cannot find anything positive around us. This is a normal reaction, but sudden mood swings reduce the quality of life. Exclusively for TheHealthSite.com, experts named 6 possible causes of extreme mood swings.

1. Hormonal changes. Many of us remember how, in adolescence, aggression gave way to depression and most of the time we felt angry and irritable, for example due to parental prohibitions. These mood swings are explained by a sharp jump in hormone levels. Something similar occurs in women going through PMS, which causes changes in estrogen and progesterone levels. Hormone-induced mood swings are common during the first and third trimesters of pregnancy and menopause. In all of these cases, mood changes are completely normal. However, if they reduce your quality of life too significantly, contact your doctor, who may prescribe medications or recommend a meeting with a psychologist.

2. Drug abuse and side effects of drugs. Mood swings or violent outbursts are often the result of drug abuse. If a person resorts to medication in order to avoid some problems in life, then he only strengthens them and creates new difficulties. All psychoactive drugs affect the brain, causing an influx of dopamine, which enhances the feeling of pleasure. Gradually, the brain gets used to this doping, and it produces less dopamine on its own. Thus, patients may not feel normal without these medications. Over time, these changes in dopamine levels will negatively impact learning and memory, as well as behavioral control and decision-making. Note that mood swings are a side effect of some medications, even like blood pressure medications or antidepressants.

3. Depression and bipolar disorder. For victims of depression and bipolar disorder, mood swings are quite common. Depression is characterized by persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness and rejection and is caused by chemical imbalances in the brain and life circumstances. Depression or bipolar disorder are unlikely to be preventable, and if your family has experienced these problems, there is a good chance that you will too. But it is important not to neglect them, but to start treatment on time.

5. Stress. In a state of severe stress, the body receives a large amount of special hormones that reach the heart, lungs, stomach and other organs. All senses are heightened, breathing quickens, heartbeat becomes more intense, we experience a surge of energy - all this is necessary in order to fight with the enemy or flee from him. An imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain can cause severe mood swings.

5. Diets. Eating sweet foods causes an increase in serotonin levels, and this hormone has a positive effect on mood. Limiting the intake of familiar foods reduces serotonin levels, which contributes to a sharp decline in mood. There is a very strong connection between nutrition and mood, which is why it is so important to eat a balanced diet rather than raid the fridge every now and then.

6. Diseases. The last item on this list is not at all the last in importance. Health conditions such as brain tumors, strokes, dementia, meningitis, lung and cardiovascular diseases can also cause mood swings. Diagnosis and treatment of these problems are carried out exclusively by doctors, and very often changes in a person’s psyche are one of the first warning symptoms that cannot be ignored.

Worry about the future

You may be worried about what will happen tomorrow, or you may be afraid of facing a certain problem that you cannot solve. Anxiety can be easily dealt with, you don't have to solve all your problems today, you just need to let yourself know that you are going to solve these problems!

For example, if one of the problems that bothers you is your imperfect stomach, then you should start exercising. Within 10 minutes of finishing, you should create an exercise schedule for the next few months. Just like most of your hunger disappears (see The Psychology of Weight Loss), once you start eating, most of your bad feelings will disappear as soon as you take action!

Life at different poles

We are talking not just about alternating sadness or joy, as is often the case with emotional people, but about extreme degrees of either despair or euphoria. A change in these moods can occur either gradually or suddenly, and for no apparent reason.

Many celebrities in the past are believed to have suffered from bipolar disorder. This illness, however, like other mental disorders, is attributed to Byron and Hemingway , Virginia Woolf and Edgar Allan Poe , Van Gogh , Schumann , Vivien Leigh and many others. There is an assumption that even “our everything” suffered from a mild degree of bipolar disorder - in any case, contemporaries often mentioned Alexander Sergeevich’s .

Many modern stars openly admit to having this mental disorder. Britney Spears , Miley Cyrus , Selena Gomez , Mariah Carey , Mel Gibson admitted this .

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With good intentions

The worst thing that relatives and friends of a person with bipolar disorder can do is ignore the problem, devalue the suffering, while blaming the patient himself and appealing to his conscience. For example, they urge a depressed person to “pull himself together, don’t lose heart,” they say that he is “out of his mind,” and so on. A patient at the stage of mania is most often accused of immorality, frivolity, irresponsibility, promiscuity, etc. However, doing this is like blaming a person with diabetes for not being able to eat sweet cake, or blaming a patient with heart failure for not running a marathon.

BAR is a disease like many others. And she needs to be treated. The sooner proper therapy is started, the faster the patient’s condition can be stabilized and the better the future prognosis.

Question answer

Where does deja vu come from?

It's bad when it's too good

The manic stage of bipolar disorder is subjectively more pleasant. Patients are in a great mood: they love the whole world and themselves in it. The reflection in the mirror pleases, there is not the slightest doubt in one’s own talents and intelligence, there is more than enough strength and energy, the bonus is accelerated mental activity. Many patients in this stage sleep for an hour a day, but do not experience fatigue. Sometimes they are on their feet for days and at least they are as energetic as an Energizer. It seems great. But no. During the manic phase, desires and ideas arise too quickly, so a person grabs onto every new task, but, as a rule, does not complete anything. So productivity at this stage is low. But it would be okay if that was all it was.

The main danger of mania is that a person has no criticism at this moment and he can commit actions that he will later greatly regret. For example, he can give away all his property to others (sometimes unfamiliar people or scammers). Or, say, he will take out loans to go on a trip to the other side of the world. Maybe even steal something - for example, to give an expensive gift. Many patients at these moments enter into hasty intimate relationships, mistaking a chance meeting for the love of their life (while completely “forgetting” that a wife and four children are waiting at home). Finally, often with mania, people, experiencing euphoria, ignore their severe somatic symptoms, as a result, do not consult a doctor for a long time and thus trigger a serious illness (pneumonia, for example, or COVID-19).

In addition, not all patients in the manic stage are “darlings”. They often show unreasonable aggression if, for example, others do not agree with their “brilliant” ideas. As a result of “angry mania,” conflicts and even situations arise that require the intervention of law enforcement agencies and involuntary hospitalization of the patient.

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It's hard when you feel bad

Those who have experienced depression say that it is the worst thing that can happen. The whole world appears in black, not only mood, but also self-esteem is greatly reduced, the meaning of existence itself is lost. Life is perceived as a chain of tragic mistakes, the patient constantly blames himself for all troubles and sins, even those that are not even traced. In addition to mental suffering, physical suffering often occurs: a person moves as if in a dream, with difficulty, as if there were weights on the legs and arms, or as if he were swimming against the current. In addition, pain and tension are felt throughout the body. With moderate depression, the stomach often hurts. People go to doctors about this, but a diagnosis cannot be made. And the daily pain continues. Psychiatrists call this somatoform symptoms. With severe depression, many people experience so-called “pre-cardiac melancholy”: pain and heaviness in the chest, “a stone on the heart.” But even an in-depth examination does not reveal cardiac problems.

Often, with depression, patients (especially older ones) complain of difficulty thinking and memory impairment. Doctors suspect they have dementia, but in fact, mood disorders do not affect the intellect, and with treatment, when the mood stabilizes, thinking abilities are restored.

But the worst consequence of depression is suicide. Most suicide attempts are made in this state. Sometimes people in very severe depression, believing that they have done something irreparable, and believing that the consequences of their actions can harm loved ones, decide on extended suicides, in which they settle scores not only with their own lives, but also take their loved ones with them ( more often children).

Question answer

What is the unluckiest age?

You won't get bored

According to various estimates, bipolar disorder affects from a fraction of a percent to several percent of the population. Recently, the proportion of affective disorders has increased significantly, which may be explained by improved diagnosis (as well as an increase in the number of stresses).

At first glance, BAR does not look like something scary or dangerous. To many, this disorder even seems attractive - sometimes it’s sad, sometimes it’s fun, in general, you won’t get bored. Besides, being different from everyone else is fashionable these days. And then, it is believed that people with bipolar disorder have higher intelligence and creative abilities than the “gray masses”. But even if this is so, then none of those who suffer from it will definitely call bipolar disorder a pleasant thing. It is especially difficult for those patients who do not seek medical help on time. Without treatment, both phases of bipolar disorder can last for months (although sometimes the disorder occurs with frequently changing phases). Moreover, it is impossible to say which period of the disease is more severe - manic or depressive.

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Genetics or lifestyle?

Men also suffer from bipolar disorder, but the weaker sex is more likely to suffer from it. This disorder can appear at any age: in both a teenager and an elderly person.

The main risk factor is genetics. However, a specific gene that would be responsible for the development of bipolar disorder has not been identified. This is a polygenic disorder, so taking tests to find out how great the risk of getting sick does not make sense yet. Moreover, genetic predisposition is not a death sentence. This was proven by studies on identical twins, one of whom developed bipolar disorder over the years, and the other did not. Probably, some predisposing factors have an influence. Some of them are known. It is believed that living at the limit of one's capabilities, with constant deadlines, stress and chronic lack of sleep, as well as night shift work, frequent flights with significant changes in hour-long flights and, of course, the use of psychoactive substances contribute to the development of the disease. Therefore, you should try to avoid all this. But scientists have yet to learn how the lockdown and pandemic, as well as other stresses of the ill-fated 2020, affect the psyche. Although probably not in the best way.