How To Monitor Your Psychological State: Mood, Emotions and Thoughts

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Alisa Khvostova has over ten years of experience in writing for different online mediums. Now she is a contributor to VistaCreate. Her expertise lies in writing articles about photography, business, and marketing.

Nowadays, it is not easy to control our mood. In 2023, the world is moving fast—sometimes faster than we allow ourselves to think. And that’s reasonable. The same is true for our psychological state. From time to time, everybody can feel moody. The most important thing is for us to understand the reasons why and try to positively monitor our emotions and thoughts.

In this blog post, we will first identify all the factors that can affect your mood to better understand the importance of self-reflection. By the end of this read, you will also know the best ways to monitor your mental state.

From using a mood board maker to sharing your feelings to the importance of workouts, nothing will be left out.

What Affects Your Mood, Emotions and Thoughts

It is very important to understand that everyone has dark moods. As mentioned above, our psychological state is never 100% stable for long periods. In other words, we all have our ups and downs. The first thing you have to do before you start monitoring your mental state is to understand what can affect your mood.

There are multiple factors that can negatively influence our emotions and thoughts in our daily lives. Some of the most common ones are:

Stress
Lack of sleep
Inadequate nutrition
Lack of socialization
The weather
Negative interactions with other people
News
Lack of productive activities (e.g., exercise)
Physical illnesses

These are only a few of the elements that can cause a negative mood. For example, hormonal changes and disorders like depression and anxiety can also have a major effect on our emotions. After identifying which of the above factors affect your mental state, you’re automatically one step closer to resolving the issue.

After all, no one knows you better than yourself, right? Therefore, the first thing you can do is self-reflect. Let’s have a look at how important self-reflection is when it comes to monitoring and controlling your psychological state.

Monitoring Your Psychological State: The Importance of Self-Reflection

There is no bad time for a self check-in. Self-reflection is by far the best way to build our resilience and reduce our anxiety in everyday life. And the best part is that it’s not hard to do. All you need to do is be honest with your feelings and thoughts. You can start by identifying your negative emotions and associating them with specific events.

For example, it is known that a major life event (e.g., divorce) affects our mental state to a great extent. So whatever you feel after such a phase is normal. Remember that self-reflection is primarily about understanding yourself better.

To do that, you need to be consistent. If you start ignoring your feelings, it will probably get worse in the long run. There are several ways to confront your negative thoughts. Taking deep breaths, for example, may sound simple, but it’s one of the best ways to overcome anxiety.

5 Best Ways to Monitor Your Psychological State

Now that we have identified the importance of self check-ins, it is time to explore some more practical tips and tricks. In other words, here’s how to put self-reflection into practice. There are multiple ways to monitor your psychological state. But, the 5 ones we will explore below have proved to be very effective for most people.

1. Use Moodboards, Questionnaires, and Tests

A mood board is one of the most fun and creative ways to express your feelings and style. By simply creating a collage that shows your feelings, you can explore your inner world. With a mood board, you can also share your ideas and thoughts with the people around you without having to express them with words.

Questionnaires and tests are another way to find out what’s bothering you. There is no better way to explore your inner self than to use questionnaires and tests for self-assessment. This process may not be as fun as creating a mood board, but it is another necessary step in self-reflection.

2. Keep Track of All the Things That Make You Happy

Cropped shot of a beautiful young woman writing in her notebook while sitting at home

Being grateful for the things that make you happy is crucial when it comes to monitoring your mental state. You don’t have to rely on others to hear a positive word. You should frequently remind yourself of all your positive attributes through the art of journaling. Even when you fail in achieving something, you need to remind yourself that this is normal and that no one is perfect.

If you’d like, you can also visualize your state and feelings via a drawing, a chart or a graph. We know that this doesn’t work for everybody, but it is a smart idea if you want to be creative and turn self-reflection into a fun process.

3. Challenging Yourself: Exercise Regularly

Beautiful fit young woman having a stretch in her home gym on the terrace

It’s proven that exercise is one of the best ways to get rid of negative feelings and thoughts. In fact, recent research conducted by PMC shows that exercise comes with multiple health benefits. Just by running a few minutes a day, you reduce the risk of depression by 26%.

Apart from that, exercise can also help you with anxiety and stress. By releasing valuable endorphins, your mental and physical energy will be increased. The good thing is that you can adapt your workout to your daily routine, needs and preferences.

For example, some people prefer to work out from home and build a home gym. Others want to combine working out with socializing and opt for a gym subscription. In other words, it’s entirely up to you! The only thing that is certain is that exercise will prove beneficial in the long run.

4. Socialize: Share your Thoughts and Feelings

A young woman is talking with a female friend about her problem in a cafe. The friend is supportive and understanding.

We cannot overemphasize the importance of trust in self-reflection. Only when you trust the people closest to you can you share your true thoughts and feelings. And believe us, when you do, you will automatically feel much better.

Of course, if you do not want to share your current mood with your friends and family, that’s understandable. In this case, you can seek professional help. If you really want to monitor your mood, thoughts and feelings, it is always a good idea to book a session with a therapist.

5. Think Positive

If you do not think positively, it will be much harder to overcome your problems. No matter what you do, self-reflection, as the name implies, begins and ends with yourself. Focusing on the moment and looking positively into the future is simply the best way to control your state of mind.

In other words, self-reflection is nothing more than a way to understand yourself better and to realize that what you feel is not random. There is always a reason why you feel the way you do. With this in mind, you are already one step closer to having control over your state of mind.

Take Charge Of Your Emotions

We know that monitoring your psychological state can be quite a challenge. We hope the above tips help you understand that this is an ongoing process that is both normal and doable.

Various activities, such as creating a mood board or even a personal blog, can help you with this. Not only will this help you think positively, but it will also help you express your inner thoughts and find other people who feel the same way you do. Every single person on this planet can feel anxious or depressed from time to time. So you are not alone in this journey. Stay positive!

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