Associated disorders

Mood swings are commonly associated with mood disorder

Mood disorder

Mood disorder is the term designating a group of diagnoses in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders classification system where a disturbance in the person's mood is hypothesized to be the main underlying feature...

s including bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...

 (manic depression) and depression. In patients with cases of bipolar disorder, the patient experiences serious mood swings that last for days or even weeks. These episodes consist of the patient alternating rapidly between depression and euphoria.

Another major cause of mood swings are hyperactivity or hyperactivity/inattentiveness, as they are occasionally seen in individuals diagnosed with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. If the mood swing is not associated with a mood disorder, treatments are harder to assign. Most commonly, however, mood swings can be a result of dealing with daily life and/or unexpected situations.

Other causes of mood swings are due to hormonal changes, temporarily upsetting brain chemistry. As the hormones involved normalize, these mood swings generally subside on their own.

Cause

There are many different things that might trigger a mood swing in a person. Everyday people experience small changes in their mood; however, if these mood swings take control of a person's life and prevent normal functioning, medical advice may be appropriate.
Chemical imbalance
If a person has an abnormal level of certain neurotransmitter

Neurotransmitter

Neurotransmitters are endogenous chemicals that transmit signals from a neuron to a target cell across a synapse. Neurotransmitters are packaged into synaptic vesicles clustered beneath the membrane on the presynaptic side of a synapse, and are released into the synaptic cleft, where they bind to...

s (NTs) in their brain, it may result to having mood swings or a mood disorder. Serotonin

Serotonin

Serotonin or 5-hydroxytryptamine is a monoamine neurotransmitter. Biochemically derived from tryptophan, serotonin is primarily found in the gastrointestinal tract, platelets, and in the central nervous system of animals including humans...

 is a neurotransmitter in the brain that is involved with sleep, moods, and emotional states. A slight imbalance of this NT could result in depression. Norepinephrine

Norepinephrine

Norepinephrine is the US name for noradrenaline , a catecholamine with multiple roles including as a hormone and a neurotransmitter...

 is a neurotransmitter that is involved with learning, memory, and physical arousal. Like serotonin, an imbalance of norepinephrine may also result in depression.

See also

• Borderline personality disorder
  Borderline personality disorder
  Borderline personality disorder is a personality disorder described as a prolonged disturbance of personality function in a person , characterized by depth and variability of moods.The disorder typically involves unusual levels of instability in mood; black and white thinking, or splitting; the...
  
  
• Self-medication
  Self-medication
  Self-medication is a term used to describe the use of drugs or other self-soothing forms of behavior to treat untreated and often undiagnosed mental distress, stress and anxiety, including mental illnesses and/or psychological trauma...
  
  
• Splitting (psychology)
  Splitting (psychology)
  Splitting may mean two things: splitting of the mind, and splitting of mental concepts . The latter is thinking purely in extremes Splitting (also called all-or-nothing thinking in cognitive distortion) may mean two things: splitting of the mind, and splitting of mental concepts (or black and...