How much control over your mood do you have?

[Witterquick]

On a scale of 1 to 10, how much say do you have over your own mood?

It seems like I have absolutely no control over it whatsoever. I'm totally helpless against random things that happen to me throughout the day. If bad things happened, no matter how minor, I can't make myself feel better through force of will. I will feel down.

Sometimes I would be in a good mood for no reason at all or when everything just goes right and falls into place. How I wish I had more control and everyday would be a good day.

I'm curious, is it just me? Are most people like me and sway up and down day to day? Are there people who are in a good mood no matter what happens?

 

[Amaris]

Up until the age of 24, complete control. 10.
From 24 - 29, very little control. 3.
Starting now? Building it back up.


J.

 

[Gepard]

No, its not just you. I'm at the mercy of my emotions, well, pretty much all the time. For example, I'm going to be moving in a couple of weeks and there's a lot of stuff that needs to get done before then, but I've been suffering from serious depressions lately and can't drag myself out of bed until the early evening, even though I know I need to be up and about and taking care of business. Despite knowing what I need to do and how I need to feel to get it done, there isn't a damn thing I can do otherwise.

It really sucks, actually. So, I guess, like, 2, on your scale of 1-10.

 

[USS Triumphant]

I can't make myself feel better through force of will.

Don't use force of will. Use force of the absurd.

Imagine yourself, or the thing bothering you, on a map of the entire universe, with a tiny dot that says "you are here". Then, do the same thing on the eternal timeline.

"I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you'll understand that. Now, now... Here's looking at you kid."

I recommend reading the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books. There's enough deeply absurd philosophy in there to foil most urges to take things too seriously.

Also - check this out. See if this moves you.

 

[Small White Car]

About a 9.5/10

That doesn't mean I'm always happy. It's ok to let yourself be down when there's a reason for it. And sometimes the effort of making yourself happy isn't worth the trouble.

But if I have a reason to turn it around, I can do that pretty much instantly.

 

[Goji]

More in control than I used to be anyway.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I think I am pretty much in comtrol. I would rate myself about 8 or 9. If I start feeling bad all I have to do is think back to the time I was married to a violent and I relise that compared to then my life is pretty good now.

The only time I don't feel like I am in control is when I am around to many members of my family (my mother and my siblings). When there is more than one of them they find somethimg to criticise me for. Maybe they just like having a scapegoat.

 

[Michael Chris]

It depends. For me, it really can fluctuate between 10 and 0.

 

[Thespeckledkiwi]

Usually slamming my head into things helps me control my moods...but then I forget math

 

[Kommander]

My actual mood I have little control over. If something bad happens, I'm going to feel bad. If something good happens, I'm going to feel good.

My outward display of emotions and how they effect my actions, I am almost in complete control. If I wasn't, I'd probably beat the shit out of no less than three people every day. Occasionally, I will have emotional outbursts, but they're always carefully calculated.

 

[sojourner]

9 out of 10, except for those little "Murphy's Law" moments that occur. Then I just want to throw something for a split second.

I have even been complimented by coworkers on my almost lack of emotional reaction in high stress situations. I guess I have taken the "don't cry over spilt milk" to new levels.

 

[Brutal Strudel]

I'd say very little--at best a 3--because I have very little control over my reality and my reality sucks, has for a very long time. You know how, once you've realized you cannot fix something that is busted no matter how dear it may be to you, you reluctantly conclude you have to throw it away? That's pretty much where I am vis-a-vis my life right now.

As for outward displays of my despair? I'm pretty good at masking them in certain situations--say, a 6 or 7. I can also find cause to laugh even in my darkest moments, though often I find myself laughing at the pointless, sadistic shitstorm that is so much of human life--all life, really, which appears to be little more than a prank matter plays upon itself. And hey, I have it easy--just look at this little guy.

(EDIT: No, I don't laugh at that. I look at that and I realize that I can never believe in a benevolent creator or order of creation.)

Zippadee-fucking-doo-DAH!

 

[BigFoot]

I can't really control my mood all that well (maybe a 3 out of 10), but I can do things that improve my mood, like go for a drive with the top down, or go for a bicycle ride. The problem is I can do neither of those two things during the winter.

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

I am horrible at controlling my own mood, but I am very good at telling people how to control their moods. I am very much at the mercy of random and not so random events in my life that totally control my moods. There are our times when my whole day will be ruined based on what time I wake up. I am capable of going from optimistic to suicidal in a flash. However...

Studying cognitive-behavioral therapy for 25 years has taught me though that moods are very much under our control if we decide to take control of them. It has nothing to do with force of will. Like everything else in life controlling your moods is a skill that requires a proper method and lots of practice at it. Much of our moods are based on automatic thoughts we have. The thing about automatic thoughts is they are just that. Automatic. You don't have to do anything to have them so they come naturally. A lot of these thoughts are distorted and wrong so it is easy to automatically develop bad moods out of them. So being in a bad mood comes very easy. You don't have to do anything for it to show up. Being in a good mood is hard work. It requires you to think clearly. Humans don't seem to be designed to think clearly. But we can learn.

 

[RoJoHen]

I have complete control over my mood. I simply choose to let certain things piss me off. I used to just let everything slide and was happy all the time, but I've decided recently that sometimes I fucking deserve to get angry.

 

[DangerMouse]

WHAT???

*smashes glass against a wall*



Hahahaha... yeah I'm a little flighty.

Try to control myself but rarely succeed

 

[Jadzia]

The question is kind of strange to me.

It is more important that one's mood be appropriate for the given situation. This appropriateness can depend on infinitely many factors. If "control" takes the form of changing mood to something arbitrary (and inappropriate), then that would be a bad thing to do.

To answer your question: I have as much control over my mood as I feel I have appropriate moods. And I consider all of my moods to be appropriate.

 

[captcalhoun]

about a 7.

if i want to feel better, i look at lad's mags. half-naked chicks always cheer me up. can't think why...

 

[Zulu Romeo]

It is more important that one's mood be appropriate for the given situation. This appropriateness can depend on infinitely many factors. If "control" takes the form of changing mood to something arbitrary (and inappropriate), then that would be a bad thing to do.

Indeed. Showing an inappropriately manic mood to something that most people would show revulsion, or acting sullen and sorrowful to a generally fortunate series of circumstances would be worrying.


Me, I do have moments where I show extremes of mood, but in hindsight I feel the vast majority of these situations can be explained, whether it's a response to extreme circumstances or due to something I've taken e.g. medications, caffeine, etc. Up until recently I feel I can control these very well. I'm better now.

 

[Cakes488]

On a scale of 1 to 10, how much say do you have over your own mood?

It seems like I have absolutely no control over it whatsoever. I'm totally helpless against random things that happen to me throughout the day. If bad things happened, no matter how minor, I can't make myself feel better through force of will. I will feel down.

Sometimes I would be in a good mood for no reason at all or when everything just goes right and falls into place. How I wish I had more control and everyday would be a good day.

I'm curious, is it just me? Are most people like me and sway up and down day to day? Are there people who are in a good mood no matter what happens?

I'll say a 7.

I'm pretty good in this department. When bad things happen I'm able to "talk myself down" and I try to see the good in the situation... or that there is a reason that it occured. Sometimes it seeps back in...and then I just have another pep talk with myself. Hell there might be multiple pep talks if necessary. This seems to work most of the time.

Generally I'm in a good mood most of the time anyway...I'm very jovial and make a lot of jokes that people have always laughed at. Yeah I'm fun to be around! So when you're in the dumps my friend you can reach out to me and I'll give you one of my pep talks too!