Hello,

Your question is an important one, because I’m sure many people live with experiences like this, which they find hard to explain to themselves. It can be troubling when our reactions don’t make sense to us.

So I’ll begin with just clarifying what I understand is meant by mood and feelings, and then hopefully we are on the same page.

I understand mood as a kind of general vague feeling that is more a readiness to feel in a particular direction than a feeling in itself. So feeling irritable is a mood that might lead you to feel, in a split second, angry, or frustrated. Feeling in a blue mood might, with little provocation, move you to feeling sad, pessimistic, or hopeless. Feeling good might lead you to feel, even in response to small positive events, happy or joyous or full of humour.

When I think of moods it can point to things like your overall physical health (are you rested, getting nutritious food, does your body have a chance to move and feel strong), it might point to a need for some reflection on your life (am I making choices I feel good about, do I have a sense of purpose, is what I’m learning meaningful to me), or it might point to a health issue (am I moving into a depressed state, is my thyroid functioning well, how are my vitamin D levels, etc.).

Each of these examples leads to different possible solutions, but a medical check is always a good first start to rule out physiological issues. Reflection might lead you to make some changes in your life so that you are living more in line with what is important, or it might lead you to take our Career Passion Workshop to learn how to develop a sense of purpose and direction. For your overall physical health you might start, or return to, doing some of the things you love that help you to feel physically competent and strong. SCS will start offering workshops again in the Fall of 2019 and the Happiness and Resilience and Stress Management options might be ones you would like to take in.

I hope that gives you some ideas to begin to address what can be a very frustrating experience that doesn’t seem to have a lot of logic.

 

All the best,

Mirjam Knapik, Ph.D., R. Psych.