Why do I suffer from mood swings? Common causes and possible diseases

A review of the main causes of sudden mood swings.

Mood swings are part of human existence and, in most cases, need not be viewed with concern or be the symptom of an illness.

However, it is also true that within this concept can be encompassed both the day-to-day experiences of a person without metal health problems who is simply a little tense because of their work, as well as the manifestations of a physical or psychological disorder.

That is why it is best to know, even if only in passing, the main causes of mood swings. Although the diagnosis is made solely and exclusively by health professionals, knowing them will help to react in time in those cases in which the emotional ups and downs are more pronounced or give more problems.

So, let's see what are the most common causes of mood swings.

Possible causes of mood swings

As I said before, the term "mood swings" is sufficiently broad and abstract to give name to a normal experience in certain transitory and more or less frequent circumstances (for example, to prepare for an important exam or to be very tired after going out for a run) or to one of the symptoms of a pathology.

It is for this reason that distinguish between usual causes and unusual causeswhich correspond more or less to lifestyle-related triggers on the one hand, and to an illness on the other.

1. Usual 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% Biological in cause, is also relatively frequent (although fortunately in most cases it does not cause many problems).

Lack of sleep

Lack of sleep makes us more vulnerable to anything we do not expect, and also limits our ability to focus our attention. limits our ability to focus our attention on what we want to do.. This makes us feel sleepy, our mind is more "scattered" and we find it difficult to manage and channel our emotions.

1.2. Drug use

Given that there is a wide variety of drugs, it is not surprising that many of them affect the regulation of emotions. After all, these substances are by definition elements that interfere with the normal functioning of the brain. interfere with the normal functioning of the brain thanks to their capacity to cross the hematoencephalic barrier and to interact with the neurons generating psychoactive effects.

1.3. Premenstrual Syndrome

The premenstrual syndrome is the product of a slight imbalance in the normal levels (statistically) of hormones in a woman's body. in a woman's body. Specifically, progesterone and estrogen. This "uneven" secretion of hormones affects the nervous system somewhat and makes the person somewhat more prone to experience emotions in a more intense way, sometimes without knowing what generates them.

1.4. Stress accumulation

Suffering burnout due to stress problems makes our nervous system more active than normal for a relatively long period of time, and this causes us to react more intensely to stimuli that we would otherwise hardly care about.This causes us to react more intensely to stimuli that would otherwise hardly matter to us.

2. Unusual causes

All the causes of mood swings that we will see below have to do with a pathology. It should also be noted that although some of these diseases tend to produce only significant but not very pronounced or abrupt mood swings, some do generate very pronounced emotional ups and downs; in such cases we speak of emotional lability.

2.1. Major depression

Obviously, mood disorders are closely related to mood swings because their main symptomatology revolves around emotions. This group of mental illnesses includes major depression, one of the most frequent psychopathologies in the Western world.One of its characteristics is emotional lability oriented to emotions related to sadness and hopelessness, as well as crying spells (although the latter does not occur in all cases).

That is to say, the person with depression can change of humor with relative rapidity but without getting to experience positive emotions associated to the happiness or to the pleasure, only can happen of feeling relatively badly to feeling very badly.

Bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder is another mood disorder.Unlike depression, here mood swings can occur in all directions. However, here the state of high emotional arousal tends to last for weeks or months.

2.3. Cyclothymia

Cyclothymia is a moderate version of bipolar disorderCyclothymia is a moderate version of bipolar disorder; here too, one can go from sadness to a state similar to euphoria, but once one has entered one of these emotional states, one does not go to the other in a matter of minutes or hours, but in a matter of weeks.

2.4. Hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism

Among the diseases of medical root more associated with the changes of humor stand out the pathologies that affect the thyroid gland located in the neck of the 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, increase in body weight, etc.

2.5. Autism Spectrum Disorders

Within the great variety of alterations grouped in Autism Spectrum Disorders, some of them go hand in hand with the tendency to experience sudden mood changes.

However, these do not necessarily have to be totally biological in origin (the way in which the people in the person's environment react to the symptoms of autism has a great influence on this). Moreover, in some cases what really happens is that the person does not adjust the way he/she does not adjust his or her way of expressing emotions to social norms and conventionsThus, some of his behaviors may be seen as "inappropriate" simply because they do not enjoy acceptance in a certain culture.

2.6. Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline Personality Disorder is a rare psychological disorder. which is associated with problems in establishing solid and lasting relationships, and emotional instability especially linked to the perception of oneself and self-esteem, as well as the valuation of others (friends, family, possible lovers, etc.).

Are you interested in professional psychological support?

If you want to have the help of a psychologist to overcome problems related to the management of emotions, please contact me.

My name is Tomás Santa 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.