Sometimes there are moments when, for no reason at all, a good mood disappears, being replaced by anxiety or despondency, and after a while it returns again. Such mood swings can bring trouble not only to you, but also to those around you.
It is worth clarifying that we are talking about instant mood swings. In practice, people incorrectly use this term in relation to situations where the mood changes naturally under the influence of some external factor. This is an absolutely normal reaction, and all people are subject to it to varying degrees, depending on their character or temperament. It's another matter when out of the blue a good mood is replaced by anxiety, and depression - hysterical laughter.
Mood swings that occur regularly can be signs of serious mental illness. First of all, this is bipolar affective disorder (in Soviet psychiatry, usually called manic-depressive psychosis) - a condition in which a person often and for no reason changes depressive and aggressive (manic) phases of behavior. There is also a milder form, cyclothymia - in it, the transitions from one phase to another are softer and do not reach such extremes. If in the depressive phase a person begins to have suicidal thoughts, and in the aggressive phase he can sometimes rush at people for no reason - this is a sure sign in order to seek help from a psychotherapist.
In some cases, mood swings can indicate diseases of the thyroid gland, liver, heart, or even some types of cancer, so it would be useful to play it safe and once again visit the appropriate doctors.
The causes of mood swings can be internal (endogenous) and external (exogenous). Internal changes include changes in the level of hormones and neurotransmitters in the body. The reasons for this can be very different: side effects of diets and taking hormonal drugs, ecology, lack of sleep, vitamin deficiency, and even heredity. In women, pregnancy and menopause are added to them, and in men - a decrease in testosterone levels. External factors include moral exhaustion at work, problems in personal life, at work or in communication with parents, addiction to alcohol, drugs or gambling.
The role of endogenous factors is established with the help of analyzes, and exogenous - in the course of communication with a psychotherapist.
The internal causes of mood swings are usually mitigated by medications prescribed by your doctor. In addition, it is worth taking vitamins and herbs.
In the case of external causes, a person's self-control plays an important role. If the drops are infrequent and do not have serious consequences, you can try to cope with them yourself: analyze the situation, try to drive away bad thoughts from yourself. If it comes to the alternation of obvious depression and breakdowns in other people, it makes sense to take a short vacation, which can be devoted to outdoor recreation, sports, yoga, meditation, breathing exercises, and just sleep well will not hurt. Sometimes, in practice, situations occur when both internal and external reasons are present. In such cases, the doctor usually prescribes complex therapy.
