6 Reasons You Have More Bad Days than Good

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It is natural to have emotional ups and downs. It is common for people have periods where they feel a little sadder than others, depending on what is going on in their lives. In fact, the majority of people have normal fluctuations in mood, but generally, they are pretty even keel- neither elated all the time, nor down in the dumps. But, how often do you really take inventory of your mood state? If you were to rate yourself, 1 being your saddest and 10 being your happiest, where do you typically level out? If you are at a 5 than that would indicate you are doing okay most days. Maybe you are not supremely happy, but you are not in the depths of despair either. You are content. If you tend to hold at anything below a 5, however, that would indicate being at the sadder end of the spectrum. If that is the case, here are several reasons that might be and recommendations for what to do about it.

Poor Self-Care

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Think of the body as a machine. That machine needs the fuel of proper nutrition, hydration, and rest to perform at optimal levels. But more often than not, we allow ourselves to eek by with 5 hours of sleep. We pump ourselves full of caffeine, sugar, and energy drinks to compensate. We routinely skip meals, snack on less than nutritious foods, and then binge at meal time. Then, even though moderate physical activity is essential to the wellness equation as well, most people continue to live largely sedentary lifestyles. Somehow our bodies, being the amazing machines that they are, take this licking and keep on ticking. But it is only a matter of time before we suffer the consequences of inadequate self-care. If you are not feeling great physically or emotionally, evaluate these areas and see if you can start making any positive changes.

Continual Stress

If you have one stressful life event at a time, it would be one thing. But it is not uncommon to have multiple life stressors back to back. What if your water heater bursts flooding your house, your partner loses a job, an unexpected medical bill hits, and your dog runs away...all in one week? Any one of these events by themselves can bring a person down. When they all happen within a short amount of time, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. And if it has been several months or longer of stressors like this, you might even get burned out. With stress, you at least try to keep problem solving and figuring out how to tackle an issue. With burnout though you can become apathetic. You lose your sense that you can do anything to change a situation, so you stop trying. As you might imagine, once you burnout it is often a slippery slope downward.

Major Depression

For some people, when they have experienced prolonged stress and sadness with no relief, their symptoms can develop into major depressive disorder. This is a serious mood disorder marked by persistent sadness or irritability, worthlessness, hopelessness, and suicidal thoughts. Other milder symptoms might include loss of interest in things you used to enjoy, lack of energy and sleep disturbance, or difficulty concentrating. Whereas you can point to a cause with situational sadness, you cannot always find a reason for major depression. In fact, things can be going fairly well, but the down mood persists. If that is the case, schedule with a doctor or mental health provider right away.

Generalized Anxiety

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A final reason for a consistently low mood is this invisible culprit. Anxiety. It is an invisible culprit because most people do not think of anxiety as something that affects one’s mood, but it does. If you are in a constant state of hyperarousal, it is emotionally and physically exhausting. If you ruminate constantly about social interactions, what others think of you, or all the things that could go wrong in life, it drains your energy. It not only drains you, but it can cause the same feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt found in depression because you wonder if you are alone in your fears. Maybe "blah" isn't your baseline, but jumpy and worried are. Either way, it is important to note it and do something about it.

Monitor Your Moods

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It is normal to feel down on occasion. There are even some particularly stressful periods of life that cause you to feel down for a few weeks or more. But when you find that you are stressed and burned out more often than not, sad and anxious more days than not, and your mood starts to impact your daily functioning, then it is important to do something about it. Start by monitoring your mood. Then, evaluate your self-care regimen. Reach out for support from loved ones. And do not be afraid to pursue professional support as well. All of these things work together to improve your overall wellness. The occasional blahs are normal; a baseline of blahs is not.