[Nihel]

So lately I have been having horrible mood swings lately on the anger side. I seem to get mad at anything even if there is nothing to get mad about. Now I'm not on any meds because of the lack of money. I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to control moods better, maybe some kind of herb pill i can get from wal-mart or something that would help. I up to try anything that might work :/ cause this is getting out of hand.

[amaviena]

medication is essential to being healthy. I would see about getting state assistance or there maybe some places where you can apply for free medication or medication assistance.

[paddym22]

I am learning a method at the moment called Mindfulness, it has proven very successful and is a core part of Dialectical Behavioural Therapy.
It is very exciting and I am already trying to apply it in my life.

I will try to explain it in so far as I can but I am still learning it so please bear with me

It is based on the theory that there are three states of mind

The reasonable mind - thinking rationally and logically, fact based thinking,and focused.

The Emotion mind- thinking and behaviour are controlled by your current mental state, reasonable logical thinking is difficult reality seems huge or distorted and the persons behaviour is the same as the persons emotional state.

The Wise mindis a mixture of both reasonable and emotion mind added to intuitive experience and analysis.

Mindfulness skills are the tools to balance emotion mind and reasonable mind to become wise mind.

There are three what skill and three how skills.

The first what skill is observing oneself, insofar as to experience in the moment with awareness what is happening as opposed to leaving a particular situation or trying to end an emotion. Observing is different to the event itself just like observing singing and singing or observing a mood swing and a mood swing.
The second what skill is to describe the events and personal responses in words. In learning to describe you learn not to take emotions and thoughts literally for instance in your mood swing you may feel threatened or agitated but that does not mean the world is ending or someone is trying to harm you.
The third Mindful skill is to participate without self consicousness but with attention.

The three how skills are

Taking a nonjudgemental stance, the problem with judging someone or thing deemed good can always become bad. In this instance your mood swing may have painful consequences or the outcome of the mood swing may be destructive. A nonjudgemental approach observes the consequences and may suggest ways to alter the behaviour or event.
The second how is to learn to focus the mind and awareness in the current moment's activity rather than thinking about something else.
The third how skill is being effective that is to focus on doing what works rather than what is 'right' versus 'wrong' or 'fair' versus 'unfair' This sometime requires sacrifising principles to achieve a goal. For instance

So with an agressive mood we want to achieve a placid mood. In the agressive mood state we are in the emotion mind mood and want to get to the wise mind.

So first we observe we are in an agressive mood, then we describe in words the aggressive mood be it threatening or angry but not any outside influences and thirdly we are attentive of this mood. Now we take a nonjudgemental stance in that we accept the mood and realise the consequences of the mood and suggest to ourselves ways to avert the consequences. We then focus right in the moment, this is vital to the process, forgetting all outside influences. Then finally we focus on doing what is effective way to end the aggressive mood.


I hope I made that understandable.

Paddy

[amaviena]

Something that's also proved very effective for BP patients is Cognitive Bahvioral Therapy.

[amaviena]

Anything I can find links Dialectical Behavioral Therapy as being SUPER effective with Borderline Patients as well. I'm not borderline, but it seems like it would work for me too! Thatnks, Paddy! I'm going tog o buy a book now! LOL <3

[thinker22]

I was having an aggressive, angry mood on Monday. It was totally out of control. I was having visions of making buildings burst into flames with my mind I was so frustrated about something.

Anyway, like Paddy said, and I guess I've learned as a coping skill on my own, I feel the feelings while my logical brain tells me all the consequences of doing something destructive. My inner self says, "Go home, cool off, go to sleep if necessary, it's not worth going to a hospital or jail." So that's what I do even if I'm fantasizing about revenge or whatever. Even though the chemicals and impulse is telling me one thing, I do another because I've seen what happens (my brothers) when one acts on one's temper...and it's pretty ugly. Besides, it usually isn't the fault of whoever you want to or unintentionally take it out on. What a bad day that would be for them if I went ballistic. When it is the fault (as you see it) of a particular person, just think of how much more it will cost you than them. Like in that movie called "Noise" where the guy went crazy every time a car alarm went off for no reason and had to break in and cut the wire to the battery. So you get a moment of silence or your revenge. But then you have to go to jail and pay fines. Not worth it! Even if people are being inconsiderate ***holes.

Just because sometimes the law is stupid doesn't mean acting more stupid is the solution.

Sorry for the digressing...I don't know of any herbs or supplements that can calm down rage or aggression. I only know of the ones that are supposed to help you sleep like melatonin or St John's Wort, but you aren't allowed to take either of those if you're on any meds without clearing it with your doctor.

Hope this helps and you feel better soon.

[Nikki_busymind]

I'm also prone to bouts of nasty anger. I've broken mobile phones, fax machines and even a laptop in a fit of rage. I've gotten speeding tickets, and almost gotten into some nasty confrontations on the road. In short, I'm pretty scary some of the time. I too, do not use medications. I made that decision because I'm comfortable self managing, and medications have such a lot of side effects. I may return to meds again at some point, but at the moment, I've been quite stable. I find that diet and excercise really help keep me on more of an even keel. It sounds very cliched, but getting out for a walk or having a good run to burn off the anger does help control the mood. Its not a miracle cure, I still have bursts of crazy, but the on the whole it is less when I'm active. I try to eat healthy and I don't drink very much. When I slip up because of work stress and tend to eat more takeout and drink more, I do notice an overall difference to my anger levels. I also try, as I feel my irritation levels growing, to get away from my family and other things that start to wind me up.

Anyway, best of luck to you!

[Nihel]

Amanda I would be on medications but its really not worth all the side effects
Paddy That made alot of sense thank you
Thinker thats what i did this morning i had just fallen asleep when my boyfriends alarm clock went off i wanted to get snappy and yell at him but i just kept telling myself to be nice and when i spoke it came out nice for once.
Nikki thank you i think i will try that i mean i have been eating better but not as much as i should be :/