Does anyone here feel they have the special ability to alter their mood?

Like, maybe you're euthymic, but you start thinking "sad thoughts" and those thoughts trigger a depressive episode. OR you think you're hypo/manic, so you start behaving in a hypo/manic fashion, which in turn causes you to actually become hypo/manic.

Or maybe you just think you're hypo/manic and therefore behave that way because you *expect* to be hypomanic. Same idea with depression.

idk if this makes sense

It makes sense and it's possible this does happen to me...to a degree....but no, I really don't think I have control over my moods and that is the problem. When I think I'm hypo, I focus on staying calm, when I think I'm depressed, I focus on what can help and feeling better. Despite what I focus on, my mood has a mind of its own.

[wildflowerchild25]

I definitely don't. I try everything to get out of depression and nothing works. Eventually I just give up and give in to the depression.

i just try and go with the flow.

Originally Posted by ElsaMars

It makes sense and it's possible this does happen to me...to a degree....but no, I really don't think I have control over my moods and that is the problem. When I think I'm hypo, I focus on staying calm, when I think I'm depressed, I focus on what can help and feeling better. Despite what I focus on, my mood has a mind of its own.

Yeah.

I sometimes wonder if we have the ability to "control" our moods without realizing it. Like, we all have episodes which are caused by a chemical imbalance, but 5-10% of the time we have episodes which are triggered by external things. (e.g., We might enter a depressive episode if a loved one passes away; or we might enter a manic episode due to stress.) So I guess I'm saying we maybe trigger ourselves by thinking a certain way. "We think; therefore we are."

But of course I think it might be a "chicken and egg" problem: Did the behavior start before the episode, or did the episode start before the behavior?

I see where your thoughts are going. I'm a big believer in self fulfilling prophecies. You are right, in the end you are left with the chicken and egg question. Anything I might be doing is completely subconscious which is technically still "me" but not exactly. I like to think I will be able to control my moods in the future. I hope that knowlege is power when fighting my illness and I will have control once I break the code.