Mood swings

                                     mood swings

Today morning when I got up  I did not feel my normal self. I was irritable, contentious and cantankerous. The maid brought my usual cup of tea and wished me good morning with a smile. Instead of being thankful, I  felt petulant and started finding faults. “The tea is cold. Take it back. I don’t want it.” The poor lady  just took the tea back and said, ‘I will bring fresh tea.’ My husband intervened,’There is nothing wrong with the tea. I am enjoying it.”I  reacted somewhat irritably,’Yours may be good, mine is not”.  He left the room murmuring something.  After he left I tried to analyse  why did I react irritably.  Normally I am quite sober.  I thought that I had not slept well at night and this might be the reason for my sudden  outburst.  My husband came back after his morning walk, cast a sly glance at me and without saying any thing  switched on the TV. A very old Hindi movie song  from the film Anarkali,’yeh zindagi usi ki ai jo klsl ka hoh gaya’ was playing. I too started singing along with it loudly. I smiled and said,’What a beautiful song.” He just  said sarcastically, "Are you all right  now?”  I told him  that even I myself  was  bewildered . The poor maid did not deserve such a behaviour.

 I ruminated and thoughtfully  tried  to determine why do people  have such sudden    syndromes  or mood swings.  I spoke to friends, neighbours and colleagues. I inferred that  changes in mood affect every body. Sometimes we do not even notice  the changes because they  happen so fast and  unconsciously that we  do not become aware of  any change. If we try to monitor our thoughts  and try to find out the reason for such  irrational action on our part  we may realise that   many emotions  that we experience leave  their impact  in various forms. The impact may not be the same in every individual.  A similar incident may affect different people differently. Mood swings  happen unconsciously and many times may leave a person  embarrassed. In the words of   Dr. Charles Raison, a Physciatrist,” most  depressed people feel unhappy all the time. Sometimes they feel better in the mornings and sometimes better in the evenings……sometimes they feel predominantly  depressed or predominantly hyper, euphoric, or irritable (and often  all three in rapid succession.)" Sometimes  mood swings  make a person feel  out of control. Such people must be handled with great care and refer them for medication in expert hands. 
 Another aspect of mood  swings is  feeling elated. Mood swings can be compared to a pendulum, which moves from right to left and vica-versa. Similarly mood of a human being  keeps moving from left to right and right  to left. At times we can be  hilarious and delirious and at times  in the dumps. In a hilaruios mood the world which looked gloomy suddenly becomes bright and rosy  and we feel  on top of the world, with high spirits
The question arises why do people have mood swings. And how to tackle the issue and  get rid of it. If we get irritable  for no reason  or  suddenly feel depressed   or get the impression  of feeling sad,  we must  brush away such feelings  and  divert ourselves to some other activity.  Then be assured that that half the battle is won.  Depression can also bring feelings of moodiness, impatience, anger, or even just not caring. When depression gets in the way of enjoying life or dealing with others, that's a sign you need to do something about it.

If sometimes you feel that you are going to have mood swing, make a conscious effort to to be your normal self.  You can then  succeed in  reacting and  throwing the mood swing. You can ‘pretend’ to   have an inner feeling  of joy. Moods are, believe experts, contagious.

The modern life style is full of anxieties, frustration, social responsibilities and obligations.  Humiliations  surrounding  the  'aam  aadmi' are bound to  affect his mood. How can he not suffer mood swings ,when he is gheraoed  from all sides by such monstrous evils pervading  every where? Living under such  stressful  conditions  the hormones in the body tend to boil down, and he/she becomes a victim of  adversities and is inflicted with mood swings. 

 It is believed that women are more prone to mood swings due to oestrogen level  falling during  their periods.

 A study has also proved that weather also affects the mood swings in human beings. Sunshine and  a  pleasant  day  keeps men optimistic and radiant. Gloomy winters and  high level of humidity affect the nerves and induces sleepiness.

We can reduce the mood swings  considerably by having a  regime of  physical exercises and Yoga.

Submitted to BAR MONDAY archives ''mood swings'' ,week 9 th to 14th