Bad Mood Rising

Some days just don’t work. You might have started out energised and with good intentions, but then reality bites. Perhaps you’ve made some great suggestions at work about something important only to be ignored or patronised yet again, or posted the crap out of an amazing idea on social media only for the world to demonstrate that it still doesn’t feel the same way about it as you do.

Even if we hold a generally positive attitude, our inner nihilist can be found quite quickly if we go looking for it, ready to throw out a negative thought (it was never going to work out, you’re just not good enough...)?along with the invisible rubber bands to pull us back to bed for a bit of a sulk. There might not be any catalyst at all, we just feel at odds with the world for no apparent reason.

Those of us who are interested in personal development will be familiar with the equation E + R = O (Event + Response = Outcome), whereby bringing a positive mindset to an event or circumstance will normally result in a more positive outcome, or at least a better attitude towards the outcome. It’s definitely a useful approach in general, yet being a human being means that we will occasionally rail against even the best advice. Bad days will come along, they just will. With this in mind, here are three tips for dealing with a bad mood rising.

1.?Take Time Out (Temporarily)

No one should ever feel bad for feeling bad from time to time, admitting negative feelings to yourself is far better than pretending everything is fine when it isn’t: relentless positivity is not positivity, it’s a false positive, which is invariably a bad thing.

Sometimes your bed or sofa is just where you need to be for a while, so try to give yourself time out. This isn’t a ‘bad’ response within the E + R = O equation, it’s simply delaying your response for when you feel more able to apply a helpful mindset.

In his bestselling book?SUMO (Shut Up, Move On), writer Paul McGee refers to this as?Hippo Time, a period in which to wallow when life has knocked us sideways, allowing time to process and digest our feelings. However, he stresses that this should only ever be temporary: ‘Hippo Time is part of the journey. It’s not meant to be the destination.’

2.?Do Something Physical

It’s usually the last thing we’re in the mood for, but exercise will help to work physical resistance out of our bodies. Whilst regular rather than sporadic exercise offers the greatest health benefits, any movement that gets the blood pumping and engages muscles will help to increase dopamine levels (sometimes known as ‘happy hormones’).

Obviously if you’re a sedentary person then a sudden burst of high-intensity aerobics may do more harm than good, but even something as simple as going out for a walk can help to alter your perspective. Being out in nature is proven to be mood altering and anyone interested in colour theory and psychology will know that green is a calming colour - this is because green has shorter wavelengths, which means that our eyes don’t need to adjust to see them, and multiple shades will have a harmonising rather than confusing effect. Green is also thought to inspire creative thinking, which can help us to explore a different outlook.

If you can’t get out and about, try a breathing exercise. I like this?one-minute video?by Beautiful Chorus?and use it in our?Study Skills course?for helping to deal with exam stress. You can always practice the exercise without the video when you need to, finding a quiet place to breathe steadily in through the nose to the count of 5, then out through the mouth to the count of 5.

3.?Try Not To Pass It On

We watched the film?The Courier?last week and there was a scene in which Benedict Cumberbatch’s character berated his son for not packing the waterproofs for their holiday. Of course his outburst had nothing to do with the fact that they might get rained on and everything to do with deflecting stress about his work and the struggle of having to keep it from his family, but the scenario was familiar.

Words can hurt and there can be moments when we might be indifferent to how much we may hurt someone else in order to get the feeling out. This can be briefly cathartic, but also extremely damaging - good reason why?Hippo Time?is not an indulgence but a means of working through our mood by ourselves in order to get to the bottom of why we feel the way we do.

Just being able to tell our family, friends and colleagues that we are in a bad mood is helpful. Idioms like ‘got?out of the wrong side of bed’ or feeling like?a 'bear with a sore head’ may be clichés, but that’s because they are recognisable images by which to give those around us a heads up that we are out of sorts without having to go into detail. There’s no shame in it and hopefully they will appreciate that we are making a conscious effort not to vent our mood onto them.

Everyone gets into a low mood from time to time, it’s a fact of life and doesn’t even have to have a reason at the back of it, it’s simply part of being human. For anyone who is struggling longer term, The NHS have a lot of great?resources on their website?for dealing with depression and anxiety.

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