How to Break Out of a Bad Mood

Sometimes we get in a bad mood, or a funk. It’s alright to be in a bad mood, but it is also important to get out of one as well.

Here are some tips to help you break out of that bad mood.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Honest self-evaluation

1. 1 – Determine If It’s A Bad-Mood, or You Are Depressed
   
   If you are sad, discouraged, feeling worthless, indecisive, lost interest in life, poor self-image, changing in appetite and sleep, worried about your health you may be clinically depressed. It may be worth speaking to a professional psychiatrist or psychologist if the symptoms above are noted over a length of time.

2. 2 – Breaking Out of Your Bad Mood – Pinpoint the Issue
   
   Determine the source of your bad mood. Is it a circumstance? Is it a person? Get to the root of your bad mood. Make sure that family members or co-workers are not suffering because of one instance in you YOUR life. Look at this problem in gray, instead of black and white. Make sure you don’t blame yourself for a particular problem and take the blame for it all.

3. 3 – Breaking Out of Your Bad Mood – Personal Recreation
   · Do something that will make you laugh
   · Go see a fun or happy movie with a friend.
   · Give flowers to someone (wife, mother, babysitter, aunt, sister)
   · Take an old friend out to dinner, or invite them over.
   · Exercise regularly
   · Straighten up

4. 4 – Breaking Out of Your Bad Mood – Elimination
   *THINGS that are bothering you (squeaky doors, uneven pictures, overrun e-mail inbox) and start taking care of those things.
   
   *PEOPLE who put you in a bad mood or feed off of you while you are in one (Negative Nellies) be cautious of the things you share with them. Misery loves company, but they are quite unproductive together.
   
   *COMMITMENTS that are sucking you dry. Eliminate these commitments, you are not contributing to anything but an early grave. Use your time for something rewarding and special to you.
   
   * CLUTTER - When you go through and straighten up, make sure you get rid of some of that clutter. Donate it to charity or throw it in the trash. Sometimes that clutter can bring you down. Get rid of it.

5. Breaking Out of Your Bad Mood – SMILE
   * Make sure you smile, it’s over
   * Make sure you laugh, there is always something funny going on
   * Make sure you learn, the triggers that put you in a bad mood will still be out there – looming, don’t fall in their trap again

Tips & Warnings

• This too shall pass.
• Usually things are better the next day.
• Seek help if you are depressed.

Resources

• Get Out Of That Funk - Persistent Bad Mood Leads To Poor Health

[smdivin]

on 7/13/2008 Good advice. Thanks!

[Traqqer]

on 7/13/2008 Thanks for these tips. They'll help the next time I get upset.

[Hapworth]

on 7/13/2008 Smiling helps!

[Melanierose]

on 7/13/2008 This is a wonderful article. People really need an uplifter sometimes and I like how you explained that a bad mood is different then depression! 4 stars!

[LilacGirl]

on 7/13/2008 These are all good ideas to help a depressed person.