These shifts in mood tend to peak during adolescence and gradually stabilize by young adulthood. If you have seasonal allergies , you may find that your mood is influenced by the time of year you tend to have symptoms. Constant sneezing, watery eyes, post-nasal drip, and itchiness also can lead to fatigue, especially if your allergies interfere with sleep.

Likewise, feeling unwell can cause you to feel irritable or make it difficult to concentrate, especially if your allergies cause other symptoms like headaches or a sore throat.

While medications such as antidepressants and mood stabilizers are expected to affect a person's moods, medications prescribed for other reasons also may cause mood swings as a side effect. Even though mood changes can be a symptom of depression or another mental health condition, some medications used to treat these disorders can cause changes in mood.

For example, a person who has bipolar disorder may be misdiagnosed with depression and prescribed medication. But, certain antidepressants may trigger a manic episode in someone with bipolar disorder.

Other possible causes of mood swings may stem from changes in hormone levels, particularly estrogen. Fluctuations in hormones are normal and are well known to impact mood, such as the periodic changes of the menstrual cycle. For the same reason, mood swings are also common in response to other causes of shifting levels of hormones, such as pregnancy and menopause.

Certain forms of hormonal birth control, such as the Pill, may help ease mood swings associated with the menstrual cycle, but it also has been suggested that changes in mood could be a side effect of these medications.

However, more research is needed, as other studies did not find a link between oral contraceptives and mood swings. Mood swings are also common with depression, especially if it is untreated. People who are depressed also may have other symptoms, such as:.

Mood swings are a hallmark symptom of bipolar disorder. There are two main types of bipolar disorder: bipolar I and bipolar II. Both are characterized by periods of mania or hypomania that alternate with depression.

Some people experience both sets of symptoms at the same time, which is known as mixed episodes. A person experiencing an episode of mania may:.

During a period of depression, a person with bipolar disorder may:. If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at for support and assistance from a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call For more mental health resources, see our National Helpline Database.

Medications used to treat bipolar disorder may help manage these intense shifts. Of note, researchers are getting better at predicting the mood shifts in people with bipolar disorder, which may help doctors diagnose and treat the condition.

Borderline personality disorder BPD is another mental health disorder that can cause persistent mood swings. These mood shifts are typically intense and variable and can last from a few hours to a few days.

Other symptoms of BPD include:. When it comes to risk factors for mood swings, a number of factors may come into play.

However, the biggest contributors to mood swings include diet, sleep, and substance abuse. Here's a closer look at how these risk factors can increase the likelihood of mood swings. A person who is eating a diet that's nutritionally inadequate or not getting enough to eat may experience mood changes in response to fluctuating blood sugar levels and malnourishment.

For example, if you notice your grouchy coworker has more spring in their step after they have breakfast and a cup of coffee, their bad morning mood may have been stemming from caffeine withdrawal or low blood sugar known as hypoglycemia.

Digestive disorders that affect the body's ability to absorb nutrients, such as celiac disease and inflammatory bowel disease IBD , have also been associated with mood swings. These conditions also have been linked to specific mental health conditions, such as depression.

A person who is sleep-deprived, especially when chronic, may experience intense mood fluctuations, as well as other psychiatric symptoms. Maybe your colleague just isn't much of a morning person, but their mood naturally lifts as they wake up and they feel more prepared for the day ahead.

People who are dealing with substance use disorders also may be more prone to experiencing extreme shifts in mood, especially when they are unable to get or use a substance.

They also may experience mood swings when they are trying to quit a drug and experiencing withdrawal. When misused, medications known to cause mood changes can have especially severe effects. For example, symptoms may be erratic and even life-threatening if a person, such as an athlete, misuses steroid medications.

If a person shows sudden mood swings, are acting highly irrationally, or become suicidal, seek immediate medical care. Mood swings can be challenging, especially if they interfere with your day-to-day life, school or work, and relationships.

Medications called mood stabilizers, psychotherapy or counseling, and interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy CBT may be helpful if an underlying mental illness is causing mood swings or making them worse.

You may be able to manage less frequent, mild, or occasional mood swings on your own, especially if you have a good sense of what triggers them. The first step is identifying factors in your life and environment, such as stress, poor sleep, or skipping your morning coffee, that precede or cause your mood swings.

To better manage and cope with these changes in mood, you may want to experiment with different approaches, such as:. Balbuena L, Bowen R, Baetz M, Marwaha S. Mood instability and irritability as core symptoms of major depression: An exploration using Rasch Analysis. Front Psychiatry.

Angst J, Dobler-Mikola A. The Zurich study: II. The continuum from normal to pathological depressive mood swings. Archiv für Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten.

Kendler KS, Eaves LJ, Loken EK, et al. The impact of environmental experiences on symptoms of anxiety and depression across the life span. Psychol Sci. Broome MR, Saunders KE, Harrison PJ, Marwaha S. Mood instability: significance, definition and measurement. Br J Psychiatry.

Penckofer S, Quinn L, Byrn M, Ferrans C, Miller M, Strange P. Does glycemic variability impact mood and quality of life? Diabetes Technol Ther. Bathla M, Singh M, Relan P. Prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms among patients with hypothyroidism.

Indian J Endocrinol Metab. Sobanski E, Banaschewski T, Asherson P, et al. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. Cservenka A, Stroup ML, Etkin A, Nagel BJ. The effects of age, sex, and hormones on emotional conflict-related brain response during adolescence.

Brain Cogn. Cartwright C, Gibson K, Read J, Cowan O, Dehar T. Long-term antidepressant use: patient perspectives of benefits and adverse effects. Patient Prefer Adherence. Gitlin MJ. Antidepressants in bipolar depression: an enduring controversy.

Int J Bipolar Disord. The influence of estrogen on female mood changes. Chin Sci Bull. Schaffir J, Worly BL, Gur TL. Combined hormonal contraception and its effects on mood: a critical review.

Eur J Contracept Reprod Health Care. Bowen R, Peters E, Marwaha S, Baetz M, Balbuena L. You could be easily distracted and have racing thoughts. Your sleep also could be affected. You also could be easily distracted and more likely to think about suicide or plan for suicide, depending on the seriousness of symptoms.

If you're concerned that you may have a mood disorder, see your doctor or a mental health professional as soon as you can. If you're not sure you want to seek treatment, talk to a friend or loved one, a faith leader, or someone else you trust.

Your mood disorder is not likely to go away on its own. And it may get worse over time. Get professional help before your mood disorder becomes serious. It may be easier to treat early on. There is a problem with information submitted for this request.

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You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail. You'll soon start receiving the latest Mayo Clinic health information you requested in your inbox. Mood disorders are caused by traits passed down to you, as well as environmental factors and life events.

Environmental factors can include, for example, childhood experiences and stressful life events. Some prescription drugs, such as corticosteroids and medicines for Parkinson's disease, and street drugs also can cause mood disorders. Risk factors include life experiences and stressful life events that increase the risk of certain types of mood disorders.

Mood disorders may occur along with neurological disorders. These are conditions that affect the brain and the nervous system. For example, depression is common among people with multiple sclerosis, dementia, traumatic brain injury, stroke and epilepsy.

Depression also often occurs in people who have movements disorders like Parkinson's disease and those who have other long-term health conditions. Mood disorders care at Mayo Clinic. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products.

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This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version. Overview Mood disorders, such as depression and bipolar disorder, affect people emotionally.

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By Mayo Clinic Staff. Show references Mood disorders fact sheet. National Institutes of Health. Accessed March 15, Allscripts EPSi. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Overview of mood disorders. Merck Manual Professional Version. Mood disorders. Personality disorders. In: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSMTR.

American Psychiatric Association; ; Kung S expert opinion. Mayo Clinic. April 16, Rakofsky J, et al. Continuum: Lifelong Learning in Neurology. Datta S, et al. The lifeline and Accessed March 16, Galima SV, et al.

Seasonal affective disorder: Common questions and answers. American Family Physician. Accessed April 17,

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Help by covering transaction fees? Your mood may be something that you've tried to achieve such as peacefulness from doing yoga or something over which you feel you have no control such as annoyance about a parking ticket.

And it may last only a short while, or hang around. Understanding your moods may help you work out what causes them and how you tend to behave when you are in different moods. You probably know that you feel good when you are in a positive mood such as when you feel content, loving or excited.

And you probably know you feel much worse when you are in a negative mood such as when you feel anxious, disgusted or annoyed.

Your moods are useful to you. And they are a big part of how you choose to behave and think. A negative mood can be a useful indicator of a problem that needs to be tackled.

Most moods pass within a day or so. And, even in a flat mood, you can still go about your daily activities. But if down or dark moods are significantly disrupting your life, it's important that you seek help. Moods and emotions are complex. It's thought three factors combine to create them in the brain: biology for example, hormones and brain chemicals , psychology such as personality and learned responses , and environment like illness and emotional stress.

Common, everyday causes of a negative mood are:. Some of these, such as your nutrition, exercise and sleep habits, or your use of alcohol and other drugs, are lifestyle related. If you are more aware of your moods, you may be able to better manage your lifestyle choices, make informed health decisions, prevent or avoid triggers of negative moods, and work towards a better quality of life.

The trick is to watch for changes in your mood, particularly any very high swings or very low dips which may mean you need help to even out your emotional state. Self-monitoring is free and takes hardly any time.

And it becomes easier as you make it part of your daily routine. Usually, a low mood goes away quite quickly and does not require treatment. But, if your low moods are lasting for more than two weeks and you have felt sad, down or miserable most of the time or have lost interest in most of your usual activities, you could have depression External Link.

Make an appointment to talk to your GP about how you are feeling. If your low moods are fairly frequent and you do not have clinical depression External Link or any other clinically diagnosed mental health issue , you may like to consider therapies such as cognitive behaviour therapy CBT or mindfulness.

CBT External Link involves looking at how you perceive events and how your thoughts about those events affect your mood. Mindfulness External Link is a popular approach to managing low mood, in which you maintain a moment-by-moment awareness of your thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations and environment.

You accept what comes without judgement. Other forms of counselling and psychological treatment are available. Discuss your options with your GP. Consult your GP before taking St John's wort or other complementary therapies, as they can interact with prescription medicines, alcohol and other drugs, and other complementary medicines to cause side effects.

Sometimes moodiness signals a serious medical condition known as a 'mood disorder'. There are two main types of mood disorder: bipolar disorder External Link previously known as manic depression and depressive disorders such as depression External Link , seasonal affective disorder and postnatal depression External Link.

Moodiness may also reflect substance abuse or a medical condition such as dementia or cardiac disease. Reacting negatively to life and having frequent bad moods doesn't necessarily mean you have a mood disorder or a serious health condition.

But, if your moods are making it hard for you to work, socialise or function, see a healthcare professional. If your moods are triggered by excessive worrying that seems difficult to control, you might have generalised anxiety disorder External Link. This disorder involves excessive and ongoing worry or anxiety about common issues such as family, money or work problems.

Sometimes it's not you but your friend or loved one who's experiencing low mood. At these times you may like to try doing some of the social activities listed above.

Go to a movie together or have a lunch date, watch old movies or go for a run in the park. If you're concerned your friend or loved one's low moods could be a sign of a mental health problem, make time to ask ' Are you okay? External Link ', and really listen to what they have to say.

SANE Australia has advice about how to respond to someone who tells you they're not okay External Link. This includes encouraging them to seek professional help. Mental health first aid is the help you give to someone developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis.

You can give this first aid until the person has appropriate professional treatment or their crisis is resolved. While moods are common in children, sometimes their moodiness can be a sign of something more serious too. Talk to your children about how they are feeling.

If you're concerned there is something more serious going on, see a healthcare professional. Raising Children Network has some tips for communicating with young children External Link , and Headspace has advice for families about how to talk to young people about mental health External Link.

If your child would like to talk to someone else about how they are feeling, Kids Helpline External Link offers phone, email and webchat counselling services.

This page has been produced in consultation with and approved by:. The following services provide specialised healthcare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Victoria. Asking for help when you first suspect you have an alcohol or drug problem is important.

If you think you have an addiction, speak to your local doctor or phone DirectLine. Learn all about alcohol - includes standard drink size, health risks and effects, how to keep track of your drinking, binge drinking, how long it takes to leave the body, tips to lower intake.

The Alexander technique stresses that movement should be economical and needs only the minimum amount of energy and effort. Amphetamines are stimulant drugs that speed up messages between the brain and body.