A mood swing is an extreme or sudden change of mood. Such changes can play a positive or a disruptive part in promoting problem solving and in producing flexible forward planning.[Peter Salovey et al, Emotional Intelligence (2004) p. 1974] When mood swings are severe, they may be categorized as part of a mental illness, such as bipolar disorder, where erratic and disruptive mood swings are a defining feature.
To determine mental health problems, people usually use charting with papers, interviews, or smartphone to track their mood/affect/emotion.
Terminology
Definitions of the terms mood swings, mood instability, affective lability, or emotional lability are commonly similar, which describe fluctuating or
Oscillation of mood and emotions. But each has unique characteristics that are used to describe specific phenomena or patterns of oscillation.
Different from emotions or affect,
mood is associated with emotional responses without knowing the reason (being unaware).
[." Previous literature suggests that mood often has a greater duration and is associated with an internal state value, whereas emotions are sudden and intense and are associated with greater environmental information value (Larsen et al. 2000).]
The dynamics of mood, mood patterns for long times are commonly erratic,[Kahmann, Daan (2022) Emotion dynamics in Tibetan monks and healthy Westerners. Bachelor's Thesis, Artificial Intelligence.university of groningen."Emotions can be very turbulent and are constantly changing."] labile
Overview
Speed and extent
Mood swings can happen any time at any place, varying from the microscopic to the wild oscillations of
bipolar disorder,
[Sigmund Freud, Civilization, Society and Religion (PFL 12) p. 164] so that a continuum can be traced from normal struggles around
self-esteem, through
cyclothymia, up to a depressive disease.
[Otto Fenichel, The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis (1946) p. 406] However, most people's mood swings remain in the mild to moderate range of emotional ups and downs.
The duration of bipolar mood swings also varies. They may last a few hours –
ultrarapid – or extend over days –
ultradian: clinicians maintain that only when four continuous days of hypomania, or seven days of mania, occur, is a diagnosis of bipolar disorder justified.
[S, Nassir Ghaemi, Mood Disorder (2007) p. 243-4] In such cases, mood swings can extend over several days, even weeks; these episodes may consist of rapid alternation between feelings of depression and euphoria.
Characteristics
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Changing mood up and down without knowing the reason or external stimuli,
[."Moods are affective states that are diffuse and unfocused, that is, not directed toward a specific object. They are continually present (tonic) and shape the background of our moment-moment experience, but fluctuate over time."] in various degrees, duration and frequent, from high mood (Happiness, elevated, Irritability) to low mood (Sadness, depressed).[CAMH Bipolar Clinic Staff(2013)." Bipolar disorder:an information guide".camph:Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.www.camh.ca."Everyone has ups and downs in mood. Feeling happy, sad and angry is normal...Their moods may have nothing to do with things going on in their lives."]
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Sometimes it's mixed,
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Mood swings in normal people appear like "climate changing" at mild to moderate degree.
[Wilhelm, Peter & Schoebi, Dominik. (2007). Assessing Mood in Daily Life Structural Validity, Sensitivity to Change, and Reliability of a Short-Scale to Measure Three Basic Dimensions of Mood. European Journal of Psychological Assessment. 23. 258-. 10.1027/1015-5759.23.4.258."Moods can be consciously experienced as soon as they gain the focus of our attention, and are then characterized by the predominance of certain subjective feelings."]
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Mood swings in mental illness simply can be described by generalized complexity
[van Genugten, Claire. (2022). Measurement innovation: studies on smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment in depression. VU Research Portal.ISBN 978-94-93270-96-1."Mood dynamics are the patterns that characterize fluctuations in a person's mood 64. Mood dynamics are often operationalized by a combination of "mood variability" and "emotional inertia" 65,66.]
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Mood swings in cyclothymia: Mood swings occur episodically and aperiodic within 2 years or more at a moderate degree and frequently.
[Miklowitz, D. J., Gitlin, M. J. (2015). Clinician's Guide to Bipolar Disorder. Amerika Serikat: Guilford Publications." The mood swings of individuals with cyclothymia occur most of the time (in the DSM-5 definition, no more than 2 consecutive months have been symptom-free within a 2-year period) and never exhibit the number of symptoms or the length of ..."] Characterized by coexisting with anxiety, persistence, rapid shift, intense, impulsive,[Rhoads, J. (2021). Clinical Consult to Psychiatric Mental Health Management for Nurse Practitioners. Amerika Serikat: Springer Publishing Company." Mood changes in cyclothymic disorder can be abrupt and unpredictable, of short duration, and with infrequent euthymic episodes."] heightened by sensitivity and reactivity to external stimuli.
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Mood swings in bipolar II: Episodic,
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Mood swings in bipolar I: Episodic,
[Last, C. G. (2009). When Someone You Love Is Bipolar: Help and Support for You and Your Partner. Ukraina: Guilford Publications." Research indicates that bipolar II depressions persist for longer periods of time than bipolar I depressions, nearly twice as long (1 year versus 6 months)."][Fink, C., Kraynak, J. (2011). Bipolar Disorder For Dummies. Amerika Serikat: Wiley." Rapid cycling isn't a separate type of bipolar disorder, but your doctor may use the label to describe a particular subtype of Bipolar I or II. To qualify as a rapid-cycling sufferer, you must experience the following: You must ..."] Symptoms of manic and hypomanic episodes are similar between bipolar I and bipolar II, just different in degree of intensity.[Clinical Handbook for the Management of Mood Disorders. (2013). Amerika Serikat: Cambridge University Press. "While both mania and hypomania are phenomenologically similar in that they occur as discrete episodes ... "]
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Mood swings in Premenstrual symptoms (PMS): Episodically at mild to severe degree in the menses period, occur gradually or rapidly,
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Mood swings in borderline personality disorder (BPD): Mood changes erratically with episodic mood swings.
[Southward, Matt & Semcho, Stephen & Stumpp, Nicole & MacLean, Destiney & Sauer, Shannon. (2020). A Day in the Life of Borderline Personality Disorder: A Preliminary Analysis of Within-Day Emotion Generation and Regulation. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment. 42. 702-713. 10.1007/s10862-020-09836-1." Graph"] Mood swings fluctuate in rapid shifts for hours or days, not persistent, sensitive and heightened negative mood (e.g. irritability) by external stimuli.[Reich Brad.(2012). Affective Instability in Borderline Personality Disorder.McLean Hospital."Graph"] anxiety,
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Mood swings in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) : Mood changes erratically and mood swings occur episodically, sometimes several times a day in rapid shifts.
[FW, Reimherr & Marchant, Barrie & Olsen, John & C, Halls & Kondo, Douglas & ED, Lyon & Robison, Reid. (2010). Emotional dysregulation as a core feature of adult ADHD: Its relationship with clinical variables and treatment response in two methylphenidate trials. Journal of ADHD and Related Disorders. 1. 53-64. " Graph"]
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Mood swings in schizophrenia: Although schizophrenia has flat emotions,
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Mood swings in major depressive disorder (MDD): Various mood patterns,
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Mood swings in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): Mood changes erratically
Causes
There can be many different causes for
mood swings. Some mood swings can be classified as normal/healthy reactions, such as grief processing, adverse effects of substances/drugs, or a result of sleep deprivation. Mood swings can also be a sign of psychiatric illnesses in the absence of external triggers or stressors.
Changes in a person's energy level, , self-esteem, sexual function, concentration, drug or alcohol use can be signs of an oncoming mood disorder.[ "Bipolar Mood Swings, Stabilizers, Triggers, and Mania." WebMD. WebMD, 3 May 0000. Web. 29 February 2012.]
Other major causes of mood swings (besides bipolar disorder and major depression) include diseases/disorders which interfere with nervous system function. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), epilepsy,
The hyperactivity sometimes accompanied by inattentiveness, impulsiveness, and forgetfulness are cardinal symptoms associated with ADHD. As a result, ADHD is known to bring about usually short-lived (though sometimes dramatic) mood swings. The communication difficulties associated with autism, and the associated changes in neurochemistry, are also known to cause autistic fits (autistic mood swings).
Degenerative diseases of the human central nervous system such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, and Huntington's disease may also produce mood swings.
Not eating on time can contribute, or eating too much sugar, can cause fluctuations in blood sugar, which can cause mood swings.
Brain chemistry
If a person has an abnormal level of one or several of certain
(NTs) in their brain, it may result in having mood swings or a mood disorder.
is one such neurotransmitter that is involved with sleep, moods, and emotional states. A slight imbalance of this NT could result in depression.
Norepinephrine is a neurotransmitter that is involved with learning, memory, and physical arousal. Like serotonin, an imbalance of norepinephrine may also result in depression.
[[14] ]
List of conditions known to cause mood swings
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Bipolar disorder
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Anabolic steroid abuse:
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Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): ADHD is known as a disorder with difficulty keeping control of attention, hyperactivity, frequently changing focus and losing interest
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Autism or other pervasive developmental disorder: Autism is a neurological and development disorder with symptoms such as lack of social skills, restricted repetitive behaviors, hyper- or hyporeactivity to sensory input, etc.
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Borderline personality disorder: It has been theorized that borderline personality disorder comes from lack of ability to endure, learn
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Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease: Dementia is known as a decreasing brain function disease that affects older people.
[Sjödahl Hammarlund, C., Westergren, A., Åström, I., Edberg, A. K., & Hagell, P. (2018). The Impact of Living with Parkinson's Disease: Balancing within a Web of Needs and Demands. Parkinson's disease, 2018
]
nowiki/>.PMCID: PMC6087577.PMID: 30151098."Psychological symptoms and mood swings were intertwined with cognitive and physical problems, adding to the struggle of managing the demands of everyday life. The participants felt depressed, low-spirited, and were worried about the future. Some held dark and destructive thoughts and considered intentionally ending their lives. In a previous study, suicidal and death ideation was present among one-third of persons with PD 25. " And in Huntington's disease, common mood swings occur as a result of psychosocial, cognitive deficits, neuropsychiatric and biological factors.[Jauhar, S., & Ritchie, S. (2010). Psychiatric and behavioural manifestations of Huntington's disease. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 16(3), 168-175. ."Cognitive deficits combined with neuropsychiatric symptoms often cause the greatest difficulties in behaviour, for example anergia, lack of initiative, blunted affect, egocentricity, constant demands, irritation and threatening behaviour."]
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Dopamine dysregulation syndrome: Dopamine dysregulation syndrome is an effect of abusing Parkinson's disease drugs to decrease Motor disorder and non-motor syndromes, which result in mania, violent behavior, and depression when withdrawal.
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Epilepsy: Epilepsy is an abnormal brain activity disease marked with seizures. occur because hypersynchronous and Overexcitability of neurons, in other words, too much neural activity and excitability at the same time.
[." Epilepsy is a disorder characterized by recurrent seizures. Epilepsy can alter mood and emotions. Treatments for epilepsy can also alter mood and emotions."] Studies found that seizures contribute to decreased function of emotions and mood processing as a consequence of abnormal neurogenesis and damaged neuron connections in the hippocampus and amygdala.
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Hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism: Hypo- and hyperthyroidism is an endocrine disease caused by low or excessive production of Thyroid hormones. Abnormal thyroid hormone can affect mood,
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Intermittent explosive disorder: Intermittent explosive disorder is frequent rage that occurs spontaneous, uncontrolled, unproportioned and not persistent.
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Menopause:
[Hankinson, S. E., & Tworoger, S. S. (2011). Assessment of the hormonal milieu. IARC scientific publications, (163), 199–214." The hormonal milieu has been hypothesized to play a role in a range of human diseases, and therefore has been a topic of much epidemiologic investigation. Hormones of particular interest include: sex steroids; growth hormones; insulin-like growth factors; stress hormones, such as cortisol; and hormones produced by the adipose tissue, termed adipokines."]
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Major depression: Major depression is a disorder with symptoms such as feelings of sadness, loss of interest, emptiness
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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Obsessive compulsive disorder is marked with obsessions and compulsions about something that causes life distress and dysfunction.
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Pathological demand avoidance
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Post traumatic stress disorder: Post-traumatic stress disorder is a disorder which is associated with frequently being disturbed by flashback memories and being haunted by feelings of fear and horror in the past. This contributes to the alteration of mood that occurs after a traumatic event happens, such as depression, outbursts of anger, self-destructive behaviors, and feelings of shame.
[." The symptoms of PTSD include persistently re-experiencing the traumatic event, intrusive thoughts, nightmares, flashbacks, dissociation(detachment from oneself or reality), and intense negative emotional (sadness, guilt) and physiological reaction on being exposed to the traumatic reminder." & "Once people develop PTSD, the recurrent unbidden reliving of the trauma in visual images, emotional states, or nightmares produces a constant reexposure to the terror of the trauma" & "Negative alterations in mood and cognition that began or worsened after the traumatic event..."]
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Pregnancy: Women commonly experience mood swings during the pregnancy and the postpartum period. Hormone changes, stress and worry may be the reasons for changes of mood.
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Premenstrual syndrome:
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Schizoaffective disorder: Mood swings in schizoaffective disorder are caused by mixed symptoms between schizophrenia and mood disorder.
[."Because of criteria that encompass both psychotic and mood symptoms, schizoaffective disorder is easy to mistake for other mental disorders."]
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Schizophrenia: Schizophrenia is a disorder with symptoms of delusions, , mood dysregulation, etc.
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Seasonal affective disorder: Seasonal affective disorder is depression which occurs during some seasons (commonly in winter), then manic or hypomanic episodes in the other season and that happens every year.
[Foster, P. M. (2017). The Real Guide to Teenage Depression: Handling Teen Depression A book about what matters most for teen boys and teen girls. Amerika Serikat: PatriceMFoster.com. "Seasonal depression, or seasonal affective disorder, is a type of depression that affects a person every year around the same time. It is almost always observed during the winter months, particularly in places where it gets dark and ..."] These fluctuating moods appear in the form of anger attacks with depression[Basco, M. R. (2015). The Bipolar Workbook: Tools for Controlling Your Mood Swings. Amerika Serikat: Guilford Publications." Seasonal Mood Swings Sometimes mood swings occur at predictable times. Common examples are depressions that occur during the winter months and manias that occur in the spring. In this case the shifting seasons can serve as triggers for ..."]
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XXYY syndrome: XXYY syndrome is a rare type of sex chromosome aneuploidies (SCAs). XXYY syndrome contributes to abnormal neurodevelopment and psychiatric diseases which can cause mood disorders.
Treatment
It's part of human nature's mood going up and down caused by various factors.
Individual strength,
coping skill or adaptation ability,
social support
or another
recovery model might determine whether mood swings will create disruption in life or not.
Cognitive behavioral therapy recommends using emotional dampeners to break the self-reinforcing tendencies of either manic or depressive mood swings.[Goleman, pp. 73-4] Learning to bring oneself down from Grandiosity states of mind, or up from exaggerated shame states, is part of taking a proactive approach to managing one's own moods and varying sense of self-esteem.
Behavioral activation is a component of CBT that can break the cycle (depression leads to inactivity, inactivity leads to depression).
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT): Another manifestation of mood swing is irritability, which can lead to elation, anger or aggression.
Emotion regulation therapy (ERT) has a package of mindful emotion regulation skills (e.g., attention regulation skills, metacognitive regulation skills, etc.) that can be handy to have when mood swings happen.
Interpersonal and social rhythm therapy can be used to regulate life rhythm when mood swings happen frequently and disrupt the rhythm of life.
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) has a function to increase psychological flexibility by learning to assess present experience or be mindful, accept everything internally or externally, commit action to move toward Recovery model, etc.
See also
Further reading
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Ronald R. Fieve, Moodswing (1989)
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Susanne P. Schad-Somers, On mood swings (1990)
External links
