Minding your Mood:- Reasons and Ways to cope up with emotional stress for better health
Mood fluctuation and the reasons and ways to cope with it
Kritika Walia
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Our mind is like water; it flushes out all situational and hormonal mood outbursts and restores a peaceful state of mind and being while we sleep or meditate. The problem arises when we stagnate our mind's water and become restricted in a situation, unable to come out of it. Mood distortion for a longer period of time arises when there is misalignment or constant confusion in our life between what we have and what we desire, which keeps our mind and thoughts active even when we are asleep.
This creates a “mood stuck at the wrong temperament " for long and can cause chronic depression and other major mental and physical health issues.
The reasons for a stuck mood or temperament are:
1. Taking life too seriously :
Research show that taking life and its happenings too seriously can make us feel like massive failures even in little drawbacks . It can cause our self-esteem to get lower and cause anxiety and disappointments. By such events, we drift away from the present moment to a blank state of being and that is disappointed about our past or fearful and stressed about our future. This can cause "loss of perspective and focus," and we may lose interest in doing our daily jobs, which can hamper our quality of work and hence growth. This causes us to get trapped in the feeling of being stuck.
2. Ego :
Recent observations and research evidence suggest that many people exhibit fluctuating moods and ego-driven behaviors like unpredictable emotional response to superiors or subordinates in their workplace. At home, we tend to give and receive inconsistent feedback on our behaviours and those of our family members. These kinds of situations make a person feel detached from the world and feel overwhelmed. This also creates a feeling of being stuck in the wrong situation. But what if there isn't a negative situation with people at work or at home, but rather we have some unresolved emotions that are producing uncertainty and confusion and casting a shadow of false ego over us.
3. Emotional exhaustion due to expectation :
One of the most common causes of feeling stuck in the rut of emotional fluctuation is "expectation". It's well said by someone that " We have clear ideas of what others should do,but we rarely have an idea as to what we should be doing". So we are so engrossed in the emotion and thinking of what others should do for us or have not been done for us ,that we keep spiraling in these thoughts of expectations being unfulfilled. This causes unnecessary stress in our minds and hence triggers stress hormones to go haywire.
4.Constant Need for Approval:
Another important parameter for “stuck temperament” is the constant need for approval. This has increased multifold in the "social media era",where anyone to everyone has an opinion about us. We can ignore some voices and criticism, but ultimately we are a social animal, and we mirror each other's emotions. Hence,there is a point where the opinions of others start to matter. This causes unnecessary load on our thought process, and we feel stuck on "how well we can please everyone". This is a very subtle feeling of being perfect at all times and in whatever we do and this can cause frustration and overwhelm of emotions, causing us to feel drained and stuck.
5. Lack of true self identity:
The major reason for all the above mood fluctuations and frustrations of being stuck in a cycle of unresolved feelings and thoughts is " lack of true self-identity". We rarely take time in our lives to introspect our own-self. Once we spend time with ourselves, we start to know what we truly are. Lack of true self-identity creates chaos of thoughts that arises on every opinion of others.This keeps pushing us into self-doubt and self-loathing periods and keeps us stuck in our emotions, robbing us of our ture happiness that arise in every moment of living.
5 Proven ways to take care of our emotions and mood and have a balanced state of mind
1. Practicing Microhabits
Micro habits are tiny, almost effortless actions that we can incorporate into our daily routine. They are designed to be so simple that they don’t require significant willpower or motivation. All we have to do is find simple, under-five-minute microhabits that can help calm our minds, boost our moods, and create a little more ease in our day. At the time of a mood overwhelm, adopting a stricter morning routine, a total social media detox, a new workout plan, or a better sleep schedule, and ideally all at once, may not be achievable. If we fail to do so, we can become even more depressed, plagued by thoughts of failure.
When habits are framed this way, it can start to feel like meaningful progress that requires an all-or-nothing overhaul.
The foundational psychological theories behind microhabits are based on specifically examining B.J. Fogg's Tiny Habits framework and James Clear's Atomic Habits methodology.
2.Physical emotion release:
Whenever we feel stuck in our mood and get depressed or irritated,it is because our hormones are causing stress on our nervous system. To control it, exercising is a great way as it remove excess water and hormones in the joints of our bodies and provides an instant relief. A run or walk in nature or a good stretch or some yoga poses are proven to show significant mood upliftment.
3. Practicing gratitude:
When in despair, we should look at the world around us to find someone who has less comfort or opportunities than us. When we live in a constant state of gratitude or gratefulness,we get into the habit of focusing our energy only on positive outcomes. The most important kind of love and gratitude is for "Self" as our mind and body are a gift of nature to us. Nurturing and not torturing it with unnecessary fear and hopelessness is not fair. Sometimes a little stress and overthinking here and there is all right, but constant anxiety overload is bad for our health, and daily gratefulness practice, like helping someone,making self-care rituals,doing a meditation or prayer of thankfulness, or even a smile to a stranger, can uplift our mood for the day.
4. Regular Self talk
It seems a little confusing, but research has shown that "Self-talk" in the mirror or even by sitting in a quiet place can clear confusion in our mind. Just like we talk to our friend or a doctor ,we can talk to ourselves. We can remind ourselves of our good deeds and also encourage ourselves with positive words. It can also be done by journaling our thoughts regularly in a diary. It can clear our mind's clutter and give us a better temperament.
5. Joining a community:
Joining a community is an effective way to calm our minds and it might help us to decompress our fluctuating mood, because it offers a sense of connection, emotional support, and a common goal. Strong social ties are essential for mental health because they lessen stress, worry, and feelings of loneliness.
Walking the path of Self-discovery and Self-love
Life is to be lived in the present moment and not to keep dragging it in unnecessary feelings and emotions. Emotions and tough times come and go like waves. It all heals,only if we allow ourselves to relax and rewind. Practicing gratitude,healthy eating,regular exercise,self-talk and belonging to a community can help us in the path of Self-discovery and Self-love and hence towards healing and live a life full of beautiful moments with good health.
