Mood Swings

It doesn?t take much to change your moods: a song on the radio, the color of the walls, your spouse?s voice telling you good night. Your moods are legendary among friends and family, who?ve seen them shift faster than an Indy 500 driver.

In women, mood swings are often related to hormonal fluctuations and may occur before the monthly period, during and right after pregnancy and during menopause. But female hormones aren?t the only culprits: Men, too, can go into funks?over a cloudy sky, a spouse?s offhand comment or just a stressful day at work. The natural remedies in this chapter, used with the approval of your doctor, may help control mood swings, according to some health professionals.

Flower Remedy/Essence Therapy

?Chamomile is a classic remedy for a moody personality,? says Patricia Kaminski, co-director of the Flower Essence Society, a Nevada City, California, organization that studies and promotes the use of flower remedies/essences.

For the generally stable person who finds himself pouting like a child when things don?t go his way, Kaminski recommends the remedy Chicory. ?Self-centeredness isn?t something we outgrow, so this can be helpful for both adults and children,? says Kaminski.

Flower remedies/essences are available in some health food stores and through mail order (refer to the resource list on page 635). For information on preparing and administering flower remedies/essences, see page 37.

Food Therapy

?When people have an overgrowth of yeast in their intestines, they can have a lot of emotional shifts, because certain substances are released into their blood that affect their psyches,? says Elson Haas, M.D., director of the Preventive Medical Center of Marin in San Rafael, California, and author of Staying Healthy with Nutrition. Other people develop emotional reactions to certain foods, such as refined sugar, he says. If you?re prone to mood swings, he recommends limiting your intake of yeast-producing foods such as vinegar and baked goods as well as of refined sugar, caffeine and alcohol.

?Mood swings can also be caused by foods that typically cause allergic reactions in people?things such as milk products and wheat,? says Dr. Haas. ?So if you notice mood swings after consuming these foods, you might have a food allergy and should avoid them.?

Hydrotherapy

The neutral bath is a classic water treatment for emotional ups and downs, says Tori Hudson, N.D., a naturopathic physician and professor at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon. The next time you need to chill out, fill your tub with water just slightly cooler than body temperature. It should feel like a hot bath that?s beginning to get a little chilly, says Dr. Hudson. Soak for 20 minutes, adding water as needed to maintain the temperature of the bath.

Juice Therapy

?Mood swings are often caused by problems in the pancreas,? says Eve Campanelli, Ph.D., a holistic family practitioner in Beverly Hills, California. ?Carrot juice contains natural insulin and stabilizes the pancreas.? Many people may be able to control mood swings by minimizing the amount of sugar in their diets and by drinking two glasses of fresh carrot juice a day, according to Dr. Campanelli. Because carrot juice is quite sweet, she recommends diluting four ounces of the juice with an equal amount of water for each glass.

For information on juicing techniques, see page 93.

Sound Therapy

Mood swings often arise because of stress, anger or anxiety, says Janalea Hoffman, R.M.T., a composer and music therapist based in Kansas City, Missouri. Some people find relief from shifting moods by listening to relaxing music with a slow, steady beat, which slows your heart rate and calms your mind, she says. Try listening to this type of music for about 30 minutes a day. She suggests her tapes Musical Hypnosis and Deep Daydreams; for other selections, see ?Sailing Away to Key Largo? on page 129. Many of these pieces are available in music stores. For mail-order information, refer to the resource list on page 642.

Here?s another idea: If you live near the ocean, try sitting on or near the beach for a half-hour or so each day. Ocean waves crash the shore at a steady rhythm that helps calm you down, Hoffman says. ?That?s why people feel so good at the ocean,? she says. ?It?s a constant sound, a relaxing sound. And people really respond to the rhythm.?

If you can?t get near the ocean, Hoffman suggests buying or making a tape recording of ocean waves. ?It?s probably not quite as good as the real thing, but the rhythm will still be the same,? she says. You can find these tapes in many music stores. But, she adds, the sound of real waves is better than synthesized waves.

Yoga

Mood swings may mean that you?ve lost balance in your life, says Alice Christensen, founder and executive director of the American Yoga Association. To bring things back in line, Christensen suggests these yoga poses that stress balance: standing sun (page 607), tree (page 608) and dancer (page 609). Make them part of your daily yoga routine, Christensen says.