Female Mood Swings: Preventing Troubles in Relationships

Female Mood Swings Preventing Troubles in Relationships Women approaching menopause often feel like they are prepared to face the physical changes their body will undergo, but fewer women are as prepared for the emotional and psychological changes that accompany this change. Emotional upheavals, such as female mood swings, affect as many as 50% of menopausal women. Any woman who’s ever been a teenager knows that mood swings can have a drastic effect on relationships with others, but in adulthood, the stakes are somewhat higher.

About Female Mood Swings

Female mood swings (and male mood swings) are defined as extreme and abrupt changes in mood, causing emotional reactions that are not commensurate with the reaction’s trigger. Women who experience female mood swings often report feeling as if their emotions are on a pendulum, literally swinging from one extreme to the other.

Women who experience mood swings can blame the constant hormonal fluctuations that their bodies are undergoing as they transition into the non-reproductive years. Hormones in flux, like estrogen and progesterone, control serotonin levels in the brain. Serotonin is a mood manipulator, making people happier, sadder, angrier, or mellower.

Unfortunately, all of these erratic changes in mood can make female mood swings an unpleasant experience for the woman experiencing them and those around her.

Female Mood Swings and Relationships

Mood swings can cause women to feel like their emotions are completely out of control, as if the emotions are ruling the day while the woman is forced to be a stage for them –no matter how illogical or frightening they are. A woman experiencing female mood swings might not behave as she normally would, causing confusing and frustration with her friends and loved ones.

Although women cannot control their hormones, they can try to alleviate the effects of mood swings to the best of their ability to ease the strain they can put on relationships. Although these take considerable will-power, women can try:

Female Mood Swings Preventing Troubles in Relationships • Deep breathing –if a woman feels an inappropriate response rising, she can take a few deep breaths to even out her female mood swing

• Walking away –another strategy is for women to excuse themselves momentarily to compose themselves when they feel a female mood swing coming on

• Exercise –exercise has a myriad of benefits, including helping to regulate mood and female mood swings. Just 20 minutes of exercise a day can help significantly.

• Honesty –some women find that being open with loved ones about mood swings as they are experiencing one is beneficial.

More about Female Mood Swings

These tips for balancing female mood swings and personal relationships are starting points only –women need to find the strategies that best match their personal style and comfort. Please, read on to learn more about mood swings and other possible treatment options.