Mood swings in women and the way out

Mood swings and irritability in women are often used interchangeably. However, the impatience or anger toward an event is irritability while sudden changes in emotions, mood, and/or temperament are mood swings. Mood swings in women are extremely infuriating because, more often than not, they are unexplainable. Some women have a tendency to experience more mood swings than others. These are some of the causes of mood swings in women:

Stress and Anxiety. People typically deal with stress in various ways.  Some can manage stress more effectively than others. These can cause stress; conflict with spouse, children acting unruly, financial challenges, difficult bosses or co-workers, unreasonable family members etc.

Depression. Generally, its not everyone with depression that expresses sadness.  Rather some depressed people become angry or agitated. Mood swings could actually be a symptom of depression.
Lack of Sleep. Insufficient sleep is not good for the human health and medical practitioners usually recommend adequate sleep of 6 to 8 hours. Those who don’t sleep well often become irritable and find it more difficult to deal with the stress of life.

Drugs and Alcohol. Alcohol and illicit drugs, such as cocaine and methamphetamines, can bring on a high.  But what goes up must eventually come down.  Not only are drugs bad for our physical health, they do much damage to our mental health as well.

The need for energy. This is another lifestyle cause of mood swings in women, it causes women to take large quantities of sugar and caffeine and this can definitely cause changes in mood from the energy high to the crash when it wears off.

Pregnancy. During pregnancy a woman’s estrogen levels are in flux. Likewise, women’s lowered self-esteem due to their body image and the ability for them to do their daily tasks pays a toll on their emotional state. During pregnancy, a woman can quickly alternate between crying and laughing, all these causes mood swing.

Pre Menstrual Syndrome (PMS). Patients who suffer from PMS often report mood swings up to two weeks prior to the onset of their periods. As the hormones in our body change, so does our mood and emotions change too. When we reach a certain time during the month, we have changes in our estrogen levels which affect the serotonin and dopamine levels in our brain and affects overall mood.

The Way to control mood swings in women are outlined below:
Change in eating habits – The foods you eat determine the balance of your hormones. You can control your mood swings by ensuring that you eat regularly throughout your day. Get protein with every meal, decrease the carbohydrates and you will be able to regulate your blood sugar levels and mood swings.

Exercise Daily – Exercises typically helps to relieve stress. Lowering your stress levels will drastically help you balance your mood swings.Consume the Right Amounts of Vitamins and Nutrients –Eating healthy is great, as long as you are getting the proper amount of vitamins and nutrients. Try a great multivitamin or herbal supplements to help regulate your emotions. Drink a lot of water and shun energy drinks.

Medications – Talk with your doctor if you are unable to regulate your moods on your own. Often they may prescribe contraceptive pills or antidepressants. The contraceptives will help regulate your period cycles and help you avoid severe mood swings, while the antidepressants will help balance your hormone levels. To avoid side effects, follow the prescribed dosage.

Sufficient sleep – Endeavour to get a minimum of 8 hours of sleep each night, and keep a routine sleep-wake cycle.  Don’t watch TV or do anything in bed other than prayer, sex and sleep.

Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and sweets – avoid illicit drugs. Staying away from coffee and other caffeinated drinks for two weeks before your period may make a difference in your mood because caffeine can increase anxiety, nervousness, and insomnia. Cutting down on alcohol may also be helpful because alcohol acts as a depressant. And steering clear of candy, soda, and other sugary foods, especially in the week before your period, may help ease severe PMS symptoms by preventing mood swings associated with blood sugar fluctuations.

Getting the emotions out is the first step to controlling your mood swings. There are other options for controlling and dealing with mood swings namely, sleeping off, listening to your favourite music, voicing out to a friend or loved one are all practical ways to help you cope with your emotions.