What is a mood
Our spiritual sphere has a large number of components, including emotions and feelings. Our emotions are determined by situations: we are angry at a specific action or happy about certain actions. Feelings are always an attitude towards an object, an object - I love this dog, I am satisfied with the work done, etc.
Mood
- this is the general emotional background at the current moment in time, independent of the object or circumstances.
Of course, there may be an external factor that influenced a sharp deterioration in mood (a person or an event), however, when it disappears, we do not feel better.
The internal state is important for a person; how our day, and therefore life, will go depends on it.
The distinctive features of mood from other emotional components are:
- The brightness of the emotional background is lower than that of feelings or emotions
. A sad mood is not as actively experienced as rage or anger. If it is good, then it does not manifest itself too strongly on the outside; we can jump for joy, rather with emotions of happiness and delight. - Mood is a longer lasting state than emotion
. The latter lasts seconds and minutes, the mood may not change for days and weeks. - Lack of awareness of the reasons for a particular mood
. Our emotional mood is in most cases unaccountable, the subject of mood changes is absent or poorly defined: a person is “overwhelmed.” - Mood has a contagion effect
. If it is good, then the sky seems bluer and the work progresses. When your mood is low, it affects both your actions and your attitude towards other people. For example, a pleasant person begins to irritate. - The mood is very multifaceted, it has a large number of components
. It happens that a person himself is not able to describe and analyze it. In addition, the mood can combine different emotions. A mother giving her daughter away in marriage is both happy and sad at the same time.
Like other emotions, mood can be inspiring and exciting, or it can negatively impact productivity. In psychology, there are still no unified approaches to the nature of the emergence of this or that emotional background; the factors that cause it have not been definitively identified.
At the same time, the functions of this phenomenon are clearly established:
- A person's mood can tell others a lot about the individual's needs.
- Attitude determines a person’s acceptance of a specific behavioral model.
- The emotional state leads to self-regulation and forces one to adapt to external factors.
Another indisputable statement is that the mood is based on physiological factors: hormonal and biochemical processes occurring in the body.
Balanced diet
Being stressed, “out of mood,” and decreased vital activity lead to an increase in the amount of food consumed and a simultaneous decrease in its quality. At the same time, there is a feedback: systematic uncontrolled consumption of high-calorie and unhealthy foods develops apathy, laziness, and internal negativity.
Proper, nutritious and regular nutrition has a different effect: it replenishes the body’s energy, vitamin and mineral reserves, improves the condition of organs and systems, stabilizes the production of the required amount of hormones, including the joy hormone – serotonin. This is facilitated by eating sea fish, cheeses, yoghurts, nuts, cereals, fruits and dried fruits, and chocolate. It is important to know moderation in everything and enjoy food.
What kind of mood is there?
With all the variety of types of mood, a person usually characterizes it as good or bad.
A bad mood is...
The symptoms of low mood are known to everyone:
- everything seems hateful;
- laziness overcomes;
- there is no desire to communicate with family and friends.
Depending on mental characteristics, a person tries to either hide from the world or take it out on loved ones. We do not always understand the reasons for our condition, it is important to know one thing - a bad mood is an indicator that not everything is going well in our lives.
It is necessary to understand the causes of decreased tone, especially if the condition recurs regularly. After all, a bad mood that persists for a long time is already depression that needs to be treated. Constant despondency provokes other bodily ailments, including oncology.
Most often, this tone causes dissatisfaction with oneself, a feeling of guilt, and a lack of purpose. Calmly analyze what could have caused the decline in emotional background. A bad mood is a reason to delve into yourself. Why have I stopped loving myself so much that I allow sadness to ruin my life?
Eradicate dislike for yourself, pamper yourself like a little child. Sometimes a bad mood is a reaction to pathological processes in the body, changes in hormonal levels. In this case, you should consult a doctor for an examination.
good
A person in a cheerful mood can be identified even visually. He has a straight back and a mischievous look. Physiological processes are activated - the stress hormone cortisol is absent, heart function improves, facial muscles are relaxed, and an involuntary smile appears. Optimists and cheerful people look very young for quite a long time, their nasolabial folds are less pronounced.
In a good mood, we are ready to “move mountains”; any activity is productive and interesting. We enjoy doing household chores, finding pleasure in cleaning the apartment and plowing the potato field. At work, at such moments, we are able to redo everything that we have been putting off for a long time.
A person can hum, reaches out to people, they are close to him, and the level of empathy increases. There is a tendency to help people “just like that”, without demanding anything in return. Even old enemies don’t seem so unpleasant, and you don’t even want to think about them at all.
Creativity in this state also increases - new ideas appear, you want to engage in creativity or sports. A person thinks through plans to improve himself and his life - take up physical training, find a new source of income. I want to rearrange the furniture in my apartment and buy a new tablecloth.
A good mood is an emotional uplift, which has a great effect on health, appearance and leads to productive activity.
Active lifestyle
It has been scientifically proven that sports and sex have a positive effect on health. Sports activities strengthen muscles and joints, increase endurance, and improve appearance. At the same time, adrenaline and endorphin are produced during physical activity. Adrenaline in the right amount energizes, endorphin improves mood and causes satisfaction. At the end of any workout, there is a significant increase in the overall tone of the body, a change in worldview, and a change in mood in a positive direction.
Sex is also a powerful mechanism for launching the most important hormones: the same endorphin, oxytocin and dopamine. Endorphin increases satisfaction and feelings of joy. Oxytocin stimulates pleasure, calmness, tenderness, devotion, and maternal instinct in women. Dopamine increases mood, self-satisfaction, and determination.
Regular high-quality sex has a positive effect on the health of the reproductive, cardiovascular and nervous systems, energizes and increases the level of “happiness”.
Types of moods
Bad and good mood are states that we understand, but this classification is very simplified. In addition, conflicting emotions can be mixed at the same time.
For example, you met an old school friend. On the one hand, you are glad that you saw her and talked. On the other hand, you are embarrassed because it took you a long time to find answers to the questions. In addition, you may be disappointed that you didn't look your best.
In addition to good and bad, psychology distinguishes the following types of mood.
Sad
Characterized by a low emotional background and passive actions.
Predominant emotions:
- Boredom.
- Anxiety.
- Laziness.
- Fear.
- Closedness.
The person is not confident in himself, the level of self-esteem is low. Melancholy, apathy, sadness, melancholy, and aversion to any type of activity sets in.
Working
The mood is neutral, there is no particular joy, the level of activity is moderately active.
Human condition:
Cheerful. There is aspiration towards the goal. Expressed interest in productive work.
In a working mood, we are aimed at achieving success and get down to business with enthusiasm.
Joyful
Characterized by increased emotional tone and active actions.
Characteristic emotions:
- Delight.
- Inspiration.
- Optimism.
- Euphoria.
A person is at the mercy of such feelings as love, trust, faith in success. The level of determination and desire to act is increased.
Negative
The emotional background is elevated, negative in nature, with a desire for active actions of a destructive nature.
Emotions experienced:
- Aggression.
- Anger.
- Fury.
- Annoyance.
- Disgust.
- Contempt.
- Resentment.
- Guilt.
Often arising against the backdrop of unforeseen undesirable situations, negative actions can be directed towards other people and even inanimate objects. A person is capable of hitting, starting to destroy pieces of furniture, i.e. throw out irritation outward.
Neutral
The emotional tone is muted, perhaps slightly increased, but the activity is low.
Characteristics of this mood:
- Expectation.
- Abstraction.
- Contemplation.
In such states, we observe what is happening from the outside, analyze events and people’s actions, and draw conclusions. This is a kind of emotional rest, calm contemplation of reality.
The presented classification is also incomplete and cannot reflect all the shades of emotional states inherent in a person. People often confuse the concept of a bad or sad mood with depression. This is fundamentally wrong.
We have already said that mood is distinguished by such a feature as a short duration in time. If sadness and apathy last for weeks, it is necessary to undergo treatment, this is a pathology.
Do a goal-finding exercise
- Take a piece of paper and draw two perpendicular lines.
- In the first square you get, write down where you would like to be in five years.
- The second is what needs to happen for you to achieve it. These points will become your goals for the year.
- In the third square, write down what you need to do to get closer to your long-term goals. This will give you goals for the quarter.
- Fourth, what to do to achieve the desired quarterly results. Here you will get your weekly goals.
These four squares will help you see what you are striving for and create a plan to realize your dream. Follow it to truly change your life.
Factors influencing a person's mood
It is within the power of a person to raise his morale, try to cheer up and tune in to a positive mood. But the reasons for our mood are often unconscious. How can factors influence it?
Physical condition of the body
"In a healthy body healthy mind!" - This is true. Our mood is closely related to the state of various systems: endocrine, vegetative-vascular, nervous, hormonal.
Mood swings often occur due to hormonal imbalances, and heart problems lead to emotions of fear and melancholy. Many people know what a disgusting mood after drinking a large amount of alcohol, the poisoned body takes revenge on its owner.
It happens that neurons limit the production of proteins serotonin and dopamine, which are hormones of joy and happiness, then despondency and melancholy set in. The state of health is not among the primary factors of melancholy or mood, only in the presence of severe mental or physical disorders.
Objective circumstances
The leading reasons influencing the emotional background are external factors. Any event that does not seem worthy of attention at first glance can contribute to a change in mood. Moreover, it is difficult to immediately say in which direction our emotions will move.
Imagine early spring, you went outside, the sun is shining brightly after a long winter. This fact can fill you with joy for the whole day; we, like any living creature, have been strengthened by the energy of the luminary. But, literally, after 100 meters, a passing car splashed your expensive suit, and now the state of euphoria has already disappeared somewhere, giving way to annoyance and irritation.
Psychologists believe that further emotional background will depend on two factors:
- the significance of each circumstance personally for the person;
- an individual's predisposition to perceive positive or negative emotions.
For one of us, rain is a spoiled mood for the whole day, for the second it is an opportunity to run through puddles, like in childhood, and read a book at home.
There are external reasons that will definitely plunge a person into a serious state - death or separation from loved ones, loss of livelihood, illness of a child, news of losses, etc. No sane person would have fun in such situations. Nevertheless, there is a way out of any trouble (except death), a mature person will look for it and find it. Prolonged suffering will lead to loss of meaning in life and psychological pathologies.
Mental characteristics of personality
All people are divided conditionally into 4 psychotypes, on which their characteristic emotional background depends:
- Phlegmatic people do not get excited by momentary emotions
. Their mood is maintained for a long time and is not subject to frequent changes. The experiences of phlegmatic people have a calm course, they are smoothed out. Therefore, the mood of such people is mainly neutral or working. - Cholerics flare up like matches
. Emotions and feelings are always sharp, bright, if there is delight, then to a squeal, if anger, then to assault. Their life is an emotional swing. But experiences do not last long; they quickly cool down. Accordingly, the mood with such a temperament changes quickly (five minutes of laughter, five minutes of tears). - Melancholic people are always in a state of unaccountable sadness
. Remember Pierrot from the fairy tale about the wooden Pinocchio. Such people have a low emotional background and are unable to experience bright positive emotions. Any external obstacle can ruin an already bad mood. - Sanguine people are able to experience vivid feelings, but their emotions are closer to calm
. Such people do not dwell on the negative for a long time, have high self-esteem, and are able to control their mood. They spend most of their time in a cheerful mood, sometimes in a neutral state.
When we learn to recognize the factors that influence our mood, we can change it.
About depression and the dangers of negativity
According to statistics, about 120-150 million people experience depression every year. It is one of the most common mental illnesses in the world.
The essence of the problem is that only a small number of “carriers” of this disease have good reasons for it, such as heredity, loss of a loved one, illness. For most, the root cause is instability to stress factors, which for a certain period of time determines a state known in everyday life as “out of mood.”
Systematic dissatisfaction with life destabilizes the personality and its perception of the surrounding reality, attracts negativity, and leads to the development of depression. In this chain of events, it is important to reassess your values in time and protect your life’s fire from dying out.
How to cheer yourself up
It is imperative to improve our emotional mood, because it affects our affairs and physical well-being. If it seems that it is impossible to improve your mood, remember Baron Munchausen, who pulled himself out of the swamp.
Let's give some recommendations:
- Make it a habit to start every morning with pleasant thoughts
. Dream about the great things that lie ahead for you. Remember that a new day is a gift from fate and an opportunity to start a new life. Don't worry about possible troubles in advance; they haven't happened. - Try to think and talk only about health and success
. The subconscious mind will remember the settings and give the command for appropriate actions. “What goes around comes around” - this proverb also applies to thoughts and attitudes. “Now is the time to make the best use of time. Today is the day to have a perfect day." These phrases should become a daily motto.
- To any psychological garbage, be it an obsessive negative thought or unsolicited criticism, say: “Stop”
. Take a broom and sweep the unnecessary rubbish out of your head.
- Increase self-esteem, a confident person knows how to control emotions
. He is so independent that he will not adapt to negative experiences; he wants and can live for his own pleasure. For the same reason, do not compare yourself to anyone and do not rely on the opinions of others. Only you yourself must manage your life.
- Give yourself aesthetic pleasure
. Do your hair, put on your favorite dress, take out your perfume. Brew aromatic coffee with cream or pour your favorite herbal tea. If the body is happy, the soul will be happy too!
- Try, if possible, to change something in the space around you
. You can rearrange the furniture, clean up the mess, put a bowl of sweets or fruit on the table. External beauty can change your mood. The pleasure of what you see will go straight to the brain, which will set the mood for positive emotions.
- Physical activity is a great way to relieve the blues, you can just walk or run, jump, dance
. Sex is a powerful antidepressant.
The main thing is to accept everything you have with gratitude. Say: “thank you for having...”. When you start listing what you have (luxurious hair, big or girlish breasts, your home, a beautiful child, kind parents, a cool dog, a new mug, a flower in a pot, a friend from school, a lover or husband, etc.), You will understand what value you are and what values you hold in your hands!
Proper rest
Excessive fatigue is a significant stress for the body. Unfortunately, most people don't know how to rest. Vacations should not be a waste of free time. It must be carried out with benefit and maximum utilization.
Possible options for spending time: the company of close friends or just interesting people, films for a positive mood, music for the mood, reading, creativity, fishing, solitude in the lap of nature, beauty treatments or just taking a relaxing bath.
It is good to combine individual versions of such activities with meditation. For example, yoga classes and music for the mood.
Also, we must not forget about the beauty of nature. How often in the bustle of the city people have no time to raise their heads and appreciate at least the beauty of the sky. Meanwhile, the pleasure of contemplating the natural beauty of the world stimulates an improvement in vitality.
It is important to find time exclusively for yourself, even if it is a small amount. One hour spent for pleasure awakens new reserves of energy, opens horizons, clears thoughts, awakens interest in meeting people, communicating, new activities, and self-development. And in all of the above there is hidden a reserve of good mood for our loved ones. And this is not selfishness at all, but healthy methods of keeping your sensual soul in good shape.
Honesty
Lying is bad. It's even worse when a person deceives himself. There are many such situations: living with unloved people under the same roof, unnecessary work, achieving someone else's goal. If doubt creeps into your soul, you need to analyze yourself and your world.
- Determine your own life goal.
- Correlate the functions performed and the type of activity in terms of consistency with it.
- Decide whether the people with whom you are building a relationship are truly loved.
When answering the questions posed, you need to be extremely honest. After all, the lack of agreement between implemented actions and desires is a serious reason for destabilizing the internal state. You cannot be afraid of changes if they happen for your own benefit; you must be afraid of imaginary stability that destroys the personality.
