Why Do I Suffer Mood Swings? Common Causes And Possible Diseases
Mood changes are part of human existence and, in most cases, they do not have to be viewed with concern or be the symptom of an illness.
However, it is also true that this concept can encompass both the day-to-day experiences of a person without mental health problems who is simply a little tense because of their job, as well as the manifestations of a physical or psychological disorder.
That is why the best thing is to know, even if only superficially, the main causes of mood swings. Although the diagnosis is made solely and exclusively by health professionals, knowing them will help you react in time in those cases in which the emotional swing is more pronounced or causes more problems.
So, let’s see what are the most common causes of mood swings.
As I mentioned before, the term “mood swings” is broad and abstract enough to give a name to a normal experience in certain transitory and more or less frequent circumstances (for example, preparing for an important exam or being very tired after going out. running) or one of the symptoms of a pathology.
That is why We will distinguish between usual causes and non-habitual causeswhich correspond more or less to the triggers associated with lifestyle, on the one hand, and with a disease, on the other.
1. Common causes
Within this category we find situations in which our emotional side is affected by specific events that have to do with how we interact with the world and with others. With one exception: premenstrual syndrome, which despite being almost 100% biologically caused, is also relatively common (although fortunately in most cases it does not cause many problems).
Lack of sleep makes us more vulnerable to everything we don’t expect, and also limits our ability to focus our attention on what we want. This means that when we feel sleepy our mind is more “dispersed” and it is difficult for us to manage and channel our emotions.
1.2. Consumption of drugs
Given that there are a wide variety of drugs, it is not surprising that many of them affect emotion regulation. Ultimately, these substances are by definition elements that interfere with normal brain function thanks to its ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and to interact with neurons generating psychoactive effects.
1.3. Premenstrual syndrome
Premenstrual syndrome is the product of a slight imbalance in normal (statistically) hormone levels of the woman’s body. Specifically, progesterone and estrogen. This “unequal” segregation of hormones affects the nervous system a little and makes the person somewhat more inclined to experience emotions in a more intense way, sometimes without knowing what generates them.
1.4. Stress buildup
Suffer burnout due to stress problems makes our nervous system more active than normal for a relatively long periodand this causes us to react more intensely to stimuli that in other circumstances we would barely care about.
2. Unusual causes
All the causes of mood changes that we will see below have to do with a pathology. It is also worth noting that although some of these diseases tend to only produce significant mood changes but not very pronounced or abrupt, some do generate very pronounced emotional ups and downs; In cases like this we speak of emotional lability.
Obviously, mood disorders are closely related to mood swings because their main symptomatology revolves around emotions. Among this group of mental illnesses, major depression stands out, one of the most frequent psychopathologies in the Western world; One of its characteristics is emotional lability oriented towards emotions linked to sadness and hopelessness, as well as crying spells (although the latter does not occur in all cases).
That is, the person with depression can change their mood relatively quickly but without experiencing positive emotions associated with joy or pleasure, they can only go from feeling relatively bad to feeling very bad.
2.2. Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder is another mood disorder; Unlike depression, here mood swings can occur in all directions. Of course, here the state of high emotional activation tends to last weeks or months.
You may be interested: “Types of Bipolar Disorder and their characteristics”
23. Cyclothymia
Cyclothymia is a moderate version of bipolar disorder; Also here you can go from sadness to a state similar to euphoria, but once you have entered one of these emotional states you do not go to the other in a matter of minutes or hours, but rather weeks.
2.4. Hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism
Among the medical diseases most associated with mood changes, the following stand out: pathologies that affect the thyroid gland located in the neck of people. In all cases, this phenomenon is accompanied by other physical symptoms, such as fatigue, weakening of the skin and hair, bulging of the neck, increased body weight, etc.
Within the wide variety of disorders grouped in Autism Spectrum Disorders, some of them go hand in hand with the tendency to experience sudden mood changes.
Now, these do not have to be completely biological in origin (the way in which people around the person react to the symptoms of autism greatly influences this). Furthermore, in some cases what really happens is that the person does not adjust their way of expressing emotions to social norms and conventionsso some of their behaviors may be seen as “inappropriate” simply because they are not accepted in a certain culture.
2.6. Borderline personality disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder is a not very common psychological disorder. which is associated with problems establishing solid and lasting relationships, and with emotional instability, especially linked to self-perception and self-esteem, as well as the valuation of others (friends, family, potential lovers, etc.).
You may be interested: “Borderline Personality Disorder: causes, symptoms and treatment”
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My name is Thomas Saint Cecilia and I specialize in cognitive-behavioral psychology applied to adults, adolescents, teams and companies. I offer my services both in person at my office in Madrid and online by video call.
