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TRACKING YOUR OWN MOOD:

The Harvard Bipolar Research Program has what we feel is a very good web site with detailed information on mood monitoring.  It includes information on mood monitoring for both clients and professionals, as well as a wealth of other resources.  They thoughtfully have made many of the charts and summaries available in a printable form - these are some bright folks sharing some very good work.  Take a look!

An important element in learning about your mood symptoms can be considering what characterizes periods when you are "up" or "down."  Of course, everyone has ups and downs.  It's part of life.  However, if you have a history of severe ups and downs that affect your life then you may want to organize information about these periods and talk to your doctor, psychologist, or psychiatrist.  There are a lot of different ways of organizing information on moods.  The following are some examples that people often use.  Feel free to take a look at them and figure out which one or ones suit you best.  If you have concerns about up or down moods, you may want to bring the information you write down when you meet with your therapist or doctor.

One way to collect important information about mood is to think about what was going on before a mood shift.  Sometimes, there are triggers such as stressful events (the end of a relationship, difficulty at work or school, family problems) that precede a change in mood.  In response to those events, people may respond by changes in feelings, changes in how they think (for example, only thinking about the negative side of things, being self-critical, etc.), or changes in how they behave (withdrawing from friends, no longer doing things that are fun, stopping exercise).  Sometimes it's possible to find patterns in what triggers a mood change.  They can be as obvious as a stressful situation, or as subtle as patterns that follow changes in seasons.

Another way of gathering information is to identify some of the thoughts, feelings, and changes in behavior that, for you, are associated with mild, moderate, or severe depression or mania:

The more detailed you can make this chart the better.  If you've dealt with depression a lot, it can sneak up on you.  Sometimes, people don't necessarily feel sad when they are depressed.  They may simply feel like nothing they usually like is enjoyable any more.  With "up" periods, sometimes recognizing the changes in sleep, racing thoughts, and impulsivity just feel good, and others may notice that you're acting in a way that's unusual for you before you notice it yourself.  Therefore, you may want to talk with a friend or family who knows you well to see if they notice things that happen when your mood starts to change.

Once you have a list of the moods, their severity and thoughts, feelings, and behaviors associated with them, you can also put together a history of your moods.  Ideally, this history will include things like how long an "up" or "down" mood lasted, if there were any events that might have triggered them (for example, the end of a relationship, a stressful event, etc.), and how severe the mood was.  Often, people will draw a chart that looks like this and then use a line to draw variations in their mood:

If you can put together all of this information, it can be tremendously helpful to bring it to your doctor, psychiatrist, or psychologist so she or he can better understand your history and your life.  It's a lot of work, but it can be worth it in helping plan effective treatment.

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The information posted on this site reflects our understanding of peer-reviewed research and generally accepted principles in psychology.  It is not intended to be used for self-treatment or as a substitute for individualized assessment and treatment by a licensed professional, and should not be construed as professional advice.

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