Extreme Mood Swings: 7 Ways to Control Your Emotions and Moods | Slism
RSS 2.0 - Slism

Extreme Mood Swings: 7 Ways to Control Your Emotions and Moods

Stress can be devastating to our mental health and well-being. Sometimes we say things in the heat of the moment that cannot be taken back. It can lose us relationships, friends, and jobs. Take back control of yourself by keeping your extreme mood swings to a minimum.

Extreme mood swings

We all have them, sometimes for no reason. Some days our mood is just off. I'm sure we've all heard the joke It must be her time of the month at least once in our lives. But mood swings are no laughing matter. They can negatively affect our image to others if we are inconsistent with our moods. Extreme mood swings should be controlled to the best of your ability.

black and white stretch woman

Ways to control your emotions

1. Keep calm

2. Celebrate enough

3. Be witty

4. Slow down

5. Balance

6. Attitude

7. Outlets

Ways to Limit Your Extreme Mood Swings and Behave in a More Consistent Manner. Keep Level-Headed and the World is Your Oyster

Learn to keep your highs not too high and your lows not too low moderate your moods. See life from a neutral point of view and keep your nasty mood swings in check.

1. Remain cool under pressure

The best advice I can give to counteract extreme mood swings is to be prepared for anything. When you are prepared, you minimize risk for shock when things become overwhelming.

blonde young women in crowd

Visualize yourself in a potentially harmful scenario and what you would do to escape unharmed. The number one cause of overreacting is being taken by something off-guard. The way to stay cool, calm, and collected is to always be prepared.

Level-Headed People Never Panic

Understand that panicking never solves anything. Take life as it comes and learn to put things in perspective. Something that you place a lot of importance in at one moment you may lose interest in the next. Control extreme mood swings so that life isn't so black and grey. You may think things are bad but they could always be worse. And never be satisfied, as things could always be better also.

Prioritize Important Things First

In stressful situations, always remember your priorities. Before letting your emotions get out of hand, have a decision-making process to filter out unnecessary stressors from your focus. Don't sweat the small stuff. Things have a way of working themselves out.

Distinguish the Real Emergencies from the False Alarms

You must realize that some things can wait. For the sake of your sanity, take things one step at a time and get out of the mindset that you have to do everything yourself.

2. Celebrate good times, then move on

Don't get stuck in success, as there will be many good times to look forward to if you move on. If you are satisfied with the way everything is, you have no more room to grow. It benefits you to have the mindset that the best is yet to come.

celebrating girl during winter

However, good times can't last forever. One who spends too much time celebrating one victory is setting themselves up for an eventual letdown. This is where always being prepared comes into play.

See the Good in the Bad

Good things happen every day. Sometimes, good things happen even when they are initially considered bad. Learn to take the good with the bad, and understand that everything happens for a reason. Your extreme mood swings are sometimes an overreaction to a situation you still have not completely figured out yet.

3. Keep your wits about you

blond in sunglasses

Remember that your rational mind is available and is always capable of overpowering your emotional mind. Choose to think rationally by thinking before you react. Analyze what was said or done and review the possible reasons behind it. After you have spent some time thinking about it, perhaps then you are ready to make a decision on the best course of action.

Relationships are More Difficult when You Can't Control Your Emotions

Put your irrational fears that he could be leading you on. Your negative mood swings are controlling your mind and making you feel hopeless before you even give the relationship a chance.

Wise People Speak Only when Necessary

Keep your emotions in check by thinking before talking. You may be feeling rage, embarrassment, or extreme joy. Whichever the case, keep your extreme emotions internal until the appropriate situation to let them out. Understand the audience with which you are talking to. If you are meeting someone for the first time, perhaps it is too soon to be showing all of your cards.

4. Take a moment to count your blessings

Next time you are in a heated argument and you are about to say something you may regret later, take a step back. There's a lot in your life to be thankful for.

thinking girl on pillars

Don't forget about the people you care most about and what they would think about you lowering yourself to satisfy your ego. Remain civilized and know when you are about to overreact.

Be Courageous in Times of Trouble

Don't resort to feelings of self-doubt when the going gets tough. Stay true to yourself in order to control your extreme mood swings. You can take the advice of others but ultimately it has to be you that is in control of your emotions.

Be Strong and Never Give Up

What makes some people more resilient than others? Are they born this way, or through many harsh life experiences have toughened up? Learn from the strong people in your life that are always able to keep a level-head. Ask them questions about their method of dealing with the problems in their life. You will then understand more about yourself and what you need to do to overcome the mood swings that are holding you back.

5. Maintain a well-balanced lifestyle

Mood swings are caused by hormone chemical imbalances. Sometimes, they can be so serious that they require medical attention.
If your mood swings are out of control, seek help. Your professionals will probably ask you about your lifestyle. Stress caused by overwork and underwork are very real. Maintain a lifestyle balance with both work and play. Always make your health the top priority in your life.

face the clock

Routines are synonymous with maintaining a balanced lifestyle. If you don't have this thing you do on schedule, then make one. It will help you emotions and moods.

Routine is good
woman exercising abdominals

Remember that the way to controlling mood swings isn't well understood sometimes. It helps to have routine in your daily life to where you are taking care of your personal hygiene needs. The right diet, proper exercise, and an adequate social life are among the factors that contribute to a healthy lifestyle. One of addiction, isolation, and unhealthy habits will be more likely to leave you moody and unpredictable times. Sometimes the treatment for an unpredictable mood is a predictable routine with a set schedule to make our life a bit less hectic.

6. Attitude adjustment

black and white sweater woman

Have an attitude of optimism and you will no longer have any more time or energy for erratic mood swing disorders. Program your mind to be positive and it will just be more natural to stay positive no matter what events life throws at you. Instead of getting caught up in your emotions, learn to step back and relax. The things that make your mood wildly frustrate often cannot be controlled. What can be controlled are your moods. It's up to you to make sure that you keep a level head at all times. Otherwise you put yourself at risk for the negative consequences of having an over-reactive personality.

Pessimistic point of view

If optimism doesn't work, you could always try the opposite end of the emotional spectrum. It may not be the healthiest approach, but pessimism has a way of eliminating disappointment and resulting bad mood swings by having you always prepared for the worst possible scenario. If you always expect bad things to happen, then you will be more ready to handle them as opposed to surprised or shocked. That way your mood in certain situations doesn't get out of control.

Avoid surprises

With both positivity and negative energies, you are hoping to focus your attention on controllable aspects of your life instead of the random things that life throws at you to get you off-guard. The worst thing for control mood swings is to be surprised about anything. Whether it's a good or bad surprise, you aren't ready for it. There is no telling how you will react. The only way to prevent this is by considering all possible outcomes. You will never be surprised by anything anymore.

7. Find a healthy outlet

punching bag woman

Find an outlet for your emotions that does not involve something addictive or personally destructive. This could be anything that focuses your mind on something other than your thoughts. Consider getting passionate about something, or getting more passionate about something you already do. If you spend time doing things, you will have less time to think and therefore less time to overreact emotionally to things. Healthy outlets for emotions are quite common; everybody has them. If you don't have enough opportunity to vent your frustrations or even your joys, then it is about time you find something. Friends, family, therapists, hobbies, jobs, and much more are available at your disposal. They are mood stabilizers for an overactive emotional personality.

Dealing with extreme mood swings: find the cause of your moods early on

If you are prone to extreme mood swings, try to find out the underlying cause. Are you carrying a lot of stress and anxiety everywhere you go?
Are you getting enough sleep?
Is your diet consisting of too much sugar or caffeine?
Once you find the likely cause, you can begin to understand why you are cranky at certain times.