Mood Swings in Men: Causes, Myths and Prevention

Have you ever experienced an uncertainty about the state of your mind?

That myriad emotions cloud inside your head and you swing like a pendulum between happiness, sadness and anger? And have you ever ended up hurting someone unintentionally? To be honest, these are the signs of mood swings.

Women are Not the Only Ones

First of all, let's bust a myth here. If you thought such things only happened to the members of the fair sex, you're in for a rude shock. Doctors, scientists and sociologists (both male and female) would beg to differ. Guys also have their world of emotional ups and downs and can experience mood swing. Changes in men's hormonal balance can also result in physiological changes, which eventually results in psychological changes.

Men's mind conforms to the changes in the physiology of men, that is, things like puberty and mid-life crisis. The rise and fall of certain chemicals has a significant effect on a man's emotions. It's true that women can experience more severe mood swings as the hormonal imbalance in them during PMS and menopause is much more acute. Their emotional imbalances can last for longer periods of time. A man's mood swings are less dramatic and their shelf life is lesser depending on how much testosterone has decreased.

Depression vs Mood Swings

It would be erroneous to confuse long-term depression with mood swings as they are two entirely different stories. Depression is normally triggered by the impact of external factors such as physical trauma, demise of a loved-one, getting fired from a job etc. Mood swings on the other hand, are triggered from what goes on inside the body and the chemical mumbo-jumbo happening inside the brain.

Men, too, are Emotional Beings

Another myth which has been doing the rounds since ages is that men are not - rather should not be - emotional. While women generally tend to be more emotional than men, saying that men are emotionless is nothing but gibberish. Society has been teaching men to hide emotions as the display of emotions reflects weakness. So most of our emotional baggage comes in gushes.

There's nothing wrong with men experiencing emotional ups and down, sometimes even as strong as the ones which women experience. They are a very healthy part of their lives. But what really happens is that men don't exhibit their mood swings as much as women do.

As the saying goes, “excess of everything is bad” and the same applies to these mood swings. They need to be control if they occur quite frequently. But how do you know that you've crossed the mark?

Signs that you are too emotional:

Envious of people every now and then

Sessions of extreme anger and fury

Sleeplessness due to worry/anxiety

Acute paranoia or fear

Obsessed with something or someone

Sheer lack of rational thinking

Go by the heart a lot more than going by your head

Taming those Mood Swings

Any form of general and regular exercise can help keep the testosterone levels balanced. This will help in reducing the aggressive and fickle mood swings. Sex can also help in regulating mood swings. Another way to control your mood swings is through the “questioning” method. Ask yourself “why” before acting strongly on your emotions. This way, you can compel your brain to start thinking rationally about the problem, rather than acting abruptly and aggressively in that situation. This may not be as easy as it sounds but with some constant practice and patience, you can eventually be a master of this technique.

However, if the situation spirals out of control and nothing seems to be working out, then DO NOT hesitate from seeking clinical advice from a qualified psychiatrist. (MensXP.com)