For this week’s Agony Aunties episode, we were asked how to handle mood swings. And to answer that, as usual in these episodes, we have a few different angles to approach. The first thing we suggest is to bring awareness to the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems within us, and to ground our approach towards mood regulation in the physical. If our bodies and nervous systems are dysregulated, we can experience a range of affective states, both positive and negative, and so finding ways to regulate ourselves first - be it through rest, diet, or exercise - is one approach to settle the body and to manage these mood swings.
We also recommend a sense of self-compassion here, as there are negative connotations to mood swings, and we hope that you don’t adopt any self-blaming language while trying to regulate your nervous system, but to approach your needs with a sense of softness and care. And, as always, we thank you for your questions here and for your prompts to these conversations. We really enjoy exploring these topics with you, so do please keep sending in your questions, and we’ll do our best to answer as many of them as we can.
Please email your questions to jsamuelpod@gmail.com or DM Julia on her Instagram @juliasamuelmbe.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
QUESTION EP: When do you know it's time to see a therapist?
QUESTION EP: How do you find the right therapist?
BONUS EP: Vanessa Vander on how her divorce made her feel like a failure
David Harewood on facing the pain and poison of the past
Lisa Smart on how to live her best life after her daughter’s death
Sadie Frost on finding purpose after her children left home
Amber Jeffrey on her anger in grief and discovering what really matters in life
Will Young on childhood trauma and how singing saved him
Meg Fowler on making difficult life decisions and the rollercoaster of IVF
Rosie Jones on refusing to be defined by her disability
Joanne on navigating her painful estrangement from her daughter
Dr Rupy Aujla on discovering that every challenge is an opportunity
Clare Hatton on the unbearable pain of watching your child suffer a mental breakdown
Ruby Wax on how she learnt to use comedy as a way to bear the unbearable
Julia Samuel sits in the therapy chair and shares the challenges she has faced
Zoe Blaskey on navigating the huge challenges of motherhood
Abi Morgan on personal trauma and rewriting the narrative
Jonny Wilkinson on how success ultimately brought him pain
Maya Shankar on her heartbreaking fertility challenges and the importance of kindness
Evanna Lynch on her relationship with fame and her desire to create deep connections
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Your Sleep Guru Podcast
Anxiety Slayer™ with Shann and Ananga
Men Do Talk Podcast
The Dr. John Delony Show
On Purpose with Jay Shetty