1. Typical Moods/Emotions?
*Waking up: any of the following:
*unwillingness to start the day,
*anxiousness to get the day going and certain tasks over and done with,
*anticipation for a desired event to come,
*relief that finally a sucky/painful night is over and I can finally get up and move around without disturbing anyone else's sleep,
*emotions/affects lingering from dreams (usually anxiety, overwhelm, frustration, or anger)
*Chores: frustration, overwhelm, exhaustion, relief when its done
*Problem Solving: anxiety, frustration, confusion, determination, mental exhaustion, overwhelm (by the # of variables needed to juggle/balance), insecurity (what's going on? what else could it be? what am I missing? what typical solutions? what alternative solutions? etc)
*Relationships: anxiety (is s/he ok? what's s/he thinking? am I upsetting him/her? does s/he still love/want me? can I trust him/her? will s/he judge me? does s/he understand me? is it worth trying to explain to him/her what's really going on with me?
*Animals in my life: wonder, appreciation, accepted, desire to understand what their world/experiences/instincts are like, and a desire to help meet their instincts and needs
*Learning something new: excitement, possibilities, hope, obsession (also see Problem Solving); frustration with box thinkers/presenters; frustration with "do what I say, don't bother trying to understand what you are doing nor why you are doing it" presentations
*Goals: frustration and annoyance at blockages, anger if it's a more active/intentional block; insecurities and anxiety and frustration with myself when I lack sufficient understanding/skills/abilities/tools for the steps of the goal (may turn into snappishness if the internal tension gets too high)
2. Why Mood Changes?
Circumstances, lol.
How tired I am, physically/mentally.
How excited/dreading I am for what's to come.
How much physical pain I'm in.
How confident I feel in my ability/understanding. (And since I'm always flipping my mental model around, to see it from different povs, my moods change quite often.)
How much else I am trying to juggle/do.
3. Temperamental?
I wouldn't say that mood changes are "unreasonable", there is usually a reason, and not everyone will have the same triggers/points causing a change in mood.
For myself, I can never fully anticipate well just what my mood (internal circumstances) might be. My normal mode seems to be anxiety, exhaustion, overwhelm, frustration, brainstorming, but I also get super excited and hopeful from the possibilities I see, which can lead me to taking on more than I can realistically handle (which inevitably leads to my normal mode, lol).
4. Difficulties from moods?
Yes, the quickness and extent of my mood changes are one of the reasons I'm on disability.
5. Mood Management Activities?
For minor things, Deep Breathing helps calm the body and mind to make thinking clearer/easier.
For sudden, acute, chronic things, LOTS of pacing (walking around the block) helps me get intense negative emotions out of my system and helps exhaust mind and body so I can focus better. I also pace the same way when I am overexcited by an idea and want to get some of the energy out while I'm imagining the possibilities, possible paths I could take, what I would need to learn/do, etc etc.
Cuddling with R or a pet.
Pain management activities (rarely medication).
Withdrawing from everything and/or shutting down for a recovery period.
Accepting that each affect/emotion is a signal to me to pay attention to something about what I'm trying to do, what the circumstances are, and what's lacking in my understanding/skill.
From the accepting, I've been practicing learning my boundaries/abilities, and practicing abiding by those boundaries/abilities.
**Humor helps greatly, particularly sarcasm/irony appreciation.
Understanding that current circumstances/mood isn't permanent, and will change as circumstances change.
Taking a break and returning to it later when I feel better.
6. Others comments?
People seem to jump to the conclusion that I'm angry, even though I'm not. I just don't devote time/energy to making them feel good, especially when I'm in pain and/or normal mode. I also tend to have a neutral look (not smiling/animated), and that leads some people to misinterpret me a LOT.
The times when I'm unable to do any of my mood managing activities, the normal mode might increase in intensity until I become snappish or have a quick unintended outburst (which seems to relieve some of my tension). Some people assume that I'm snapping at something simple, merely bcz they don't know/understand all that I am trying to juggle at that moment.
What most people don't know is that my anxieties etc are turned onto myself, as in I recognize that they are MY issues to deal with, and that I'm not blaming them. Also that I use **humor constantly (laughing is my preferred way of releasing tension). Combine the tension + sarcastic/ironic humor, and I'm pretty much doomed to being misunderstood by most people, heh.