Getting over your Mood Swings!
Hello Teens,
Do you know what mood
swings are? Yes of course! I must be more than silly for asking such a
question. When this minute you’re happy and the next, you’re sad, moody,
gloomy, fierce, filled with rage for a reason that you do not know about, then
that’s a mood swing right there.
WHAT’RE MOOD SWINGS?
Mood swings have been
said to be things which only teenagers experience, but that’s not true. Even
adults have mood swings, even our dear old grannies have mood swings, and even
spoilt little toddlers have mood swings. However, it is more intense in
teenagers. We, teenagers, are at the point in our lives when we begin to
question everything, looking for our true selves, looking for even a mere graze
of that feeling of adulthood—independence. This usually starts with our search
for independence in our thought. We become aware to a myriad of things which we
were oblivious of during our childhood. If you think that you are strange for
having frequent mood swings, you need not think so because it is only normal.
WHY ARE MOOD SWINGS NORMAL?
Researchers once
believed that the teenage brain was fixed at the end of childhood, and that a
teenage mood swing could be blamed on raging hormones or a lack of experience.
But more recent MRI scans reveal that not only is there a major reorganization
in the teenage brain, but it continues to develop until the early twenties.
So it's not
necessarily what happens in your life that makes you have mood swings; it's how
you react to what's happening in your life. Hopefully there's some comfort in
learning that your testiness is the result of your brain chemistry rather than
a flaw in your personality. These are the facts:
·
Researchers
at the State University of New York say adults have a hormone called THP that's
released at times of stress to help calm a person down. But this hormone works
the opposite in teens, actually increasing anxiety. They aren't sure why, or
how long it takes until it stabilizes in adulthood, but it certainly
contributes to teenage mood swings.
·
Scientists
at San Diego State University learned that as puberty kicks in, a teen's
ability to recognize other people's emotions takes a downward turn, sometimes
by as much as 20%. Teens experience a sudden increase in nerve activity,
leading to what they call a "noisier" brain. This temporary state may
make it difficult to process information, read social situations correctly, and
empathize accurately, all of which could lead to crankiness.
·
A lack of
sleep is another predictor of moodiness. While most adults start to produce the
darkness hormone melatonin at about 10:00 p.m., teens studied in a sleep
laboratory were found not to begin producing it until 1:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.
Try to go to bed earlier to prevent mood swings from occurring.
[Source: Beinggirl.com]
THE NEED TO OVERCOME MOOD SWINGS
As much as having mood
swings may be normal, it doesn’t make it acceptable. That rape is common
doesn’t make it acceptable—just trying to paint a picture. Nobody wants to be
surrounded by volcanoes, people who no one knows when they would ‘erupt’ with
rage or gloom. We all want to be surrounded by sane cool-headed people. As much
as you may not have an explanation for your mood swings, you still need to get
over them. Getting through adolescence and surviving it is an achievement worth
celebrating.
HOW TO GET OVER YOUR
MOOD SWINGS
Learn to talk it out
As we must have learnt in school, dialogue is the best method of resolving ‘conflict’. Whenever your mood swing is caused by what someone said to you or what someone did to you, always learn to talk out your issue with the person. Depending on the state of mind of the person learn to use your emotional intelligence to pick the best time to talk with the person about his/her actions. Most times you’d see that when you begin to talk things out with people and not hold all that negative energy, you’ll be having those mood swings a little less frequently because those around you are now aware of what tips you off and they will stay away from saying or doing those things.
Exercise
Most of us may not be aware of the impact of exercise on our physical and mental health. Exercise stimulates hormones in our body that gives us this sense of relaxation. Exercise regularly and your moods would get a little bit more stable, seriously. Whenever you get that mood swing again, just try taking a walk or jogging around your compound, by the tie you do that for like 10 minutes, you should be as good as new.
Sleep enough!
It is a known fact that most 21st century teens do not get enough sleep—me inclusive. The ideal sleeping time is for 8 hours. Sometimes, I sleep for just two hours. However, you must not be like me because that is what works for me, to know what works for you, you need to know thyself. Sleep calms our neurons and creates a sense of physiological relaxation. When you don’t sleep enough, your neurons would always be restive and haywire, making you prone to becoming more easily nfluenced emotionally. Drop that video game and go to bed, leave that movie and go to bed and calm those nerves. I rarely have mood swings—that’s if I ever do, that’s why my sleeping hours don’t come in the way of my emotional stability.
Cry if you must!
Most of us like to act all tough and impermeable, but just drop that act a little bit. Mood swings usually come when we introspect into that part of our life that is not as glossy as we thought, or when we reminisce about a failed relationship, or when someone just harshly points out our foibles which we never want to admit we are guilty of. Crying breaks all those walls and lets you be you. Crying is actually good for you once in a while. Stay in touch with your lachrymal glands. Most times, when you have a mood swing and you really cry, you’d find out that you’ll get over it quicker than when you didn’t, so please cry if you must.
Understand that “This too will pass”
I think I’ll be correct when I say that most of us, teenagers, when we have those mood swings at some point we must have said to ourselves that we would be like that ‘forever’. My quickest guess is that for most of us, if not all, we eventually do get over it even if it takes hours or days. When you are aware that that moodiness you’re feeling would not last, trust me you’d get over it very quickly, but when you begin to picture that moment of evanescent depression as your whole life, it just may turn out to be your whole life. Always have it at the back of your mind that that mood swing you’re experiencing would pass, when you do, you’ll begin to feel foolish for holding on to it longer than necessary.
As we must have learnt in school, dialogue is the best method of resolving ‘conflict’. Whenever your mood swing is caused by what someone said to you or what someone did to you, always learn to talk out your issue with the person. Depending on the state of mind of the person learn to use your emotional intelligence to pick the best time to talk with the person about his/her actions. Most times you’d see that when you begin to talk things out with people and not hold all that negative energy, you’ll be having those mood swings a little less frequently because those around you are now aware of what tips you off and they will stay away from saying or doing those things.
Exercise
Most of us may not be aware of the impact of exercise on our physical and mental health. Exercise stimulates hormones in our body that gives us this sense of relaxation. Exercise regularly and your moods would get a little bit more stable, seriously. Whenever you get that mood swing again, just try taking a walk or jogging around your compound, by the tie you do that for like 10 minutes, you should be as good as new.
Sleep enough!
It is a known fact that most 21st century teens do not get enough sleep—me inclusive. The ideal sleeping time is for 8 hours. Sometimes, I sleep for just two hours. However, you must not be like me because that is what works for me, to know what works for you, you need to know thyself. Sleep calms our neurons and creates a sense of physiological relaxation. When you don’t sleep enough, your neurons would always be restive and haywire, making you prone to becoming more easily nfluenced emotionally. Drop that video game and go to bed, leave that movie and go to bed and calm those nerves. I rarely have mood swings—that’s if I ever do, that’s why my sleeping hours don’t come in the way of my emotional stability.
Cry if you must!
Most of us like to act all tough and impermeable, but just drop that act a little bit. Mood swings usually come when we introspect into that part of our life that is not as glossy as we thought, or when we reminisce about a failed relationship, or when someone just harshly points out our foibles which we never want to admit we are guilty of. Crying breaks all those walls and lets you be you. Crying is actually good for you once in a while. Stay in touch with your lachrymal glands. Most times, when you have a mood swing and you really cry, you’d find out that you’ll get over it quicker than when you didn’t, so please cry if you must.
Understand that “This too will pass”
I think I’ll be correct when I say that most of us, teenagers, when we have those mood swings at some point we must have said to ourselves that we would be like that ‘forever’. My quickest guess is that for most of us, if not all, we eventually do get over it even if it takes hours or days. When you are aware that that moodiness you’re feeling would not last, trust me you’d get over it very quickly, but when you begin to picture that moment of evanescent depression as your whole life, it just may turn out to be your whole life. Always have it at the back of your mind that that mood swing you’re experiencing would pass, when you do, you’ll begin to feel foolish for holding on to it longer than necessary.
If you follow all
these processes, I see no reason why we would still have a ‘moody monster’ in
you; you’d turn out to become a happy harp sooner than you think.
If you have any questions, or contributions, please drop a
comment.
1 comments:
Awesome post bro. Thanks for letting us know we can actually control our bodies
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