Sunday, May 30, 2010

Bad Moods, Are they Inevitable ?

A lot of people believe we are powerless to change things in our world and also in our selves. This can lead to a sense of helplessness and fear. Is it justified, Sure many things are out of our control, our genetic makeup for example. But I also believe there are many things that are within our control such as our mood on a given day. I can hear many of you say that Depression is a chemical imbalance and it just comes out of nowhere. Firstly for many forms of Depression it may well be a chemical imbalance but there is evidence now that suggests that the way we think in the first place can effect this balance or imbalance.
Secondly I don’t believe that Depression comes out of nowhere. It may feel like it does but there is a thought process that leads up to it. Some people become habitually moody when certain events occur. For example Financial situations, really get certain individuals going, an untidy house drives some people up the walls, Stress at work is the fault line for others. The list goes on and the strange thing is the people who experience these problems believe they are cause of their woes, Wrong the cause of their woes occurs within their own minds. It is not the events that are the real problem rather our reactions to them, How we think about these event is what causes the dip in mood or the rise in anxiety or anger. The Depression, anxiety or anger is what reduces the quality of our life. We tend to make a direct link between the event and the emotion bypassing the real cause ( Our Thoughts).  For example people may say I had an argument with my wife and I got angry, Or the investment I made lost money and I got depressed. In reality thoughts occur between the event and emotion which we can stop or change or create new ones. This is why we can say that bad moods are not inevitable. For years I thought that my moods were inevitable, I couldn’t figure out why I got into a state of mind, nothing had changed or if something had changed I believed that I had no control over how certain events made me feel. Now I know that I can interrupt this process, It’s not easy but it can be done and the benefits are well worth it, quite simply it can prevent illness and transform your life. One of the biggest hurdles I believe in this type of intervention is getting people to believe that bad moods are not inevitable.
I can’t emphasize this enough and it’s worth repeating “BAD MOODS ARE NOT INEVITABLE” at any time. Even very traumatic life experiences don’t have to lead to Depression, chronic Anger and resentment, or crippling anxiety. Just simply believe that you can change your thoughts.