Daily Mood Journal

[Crazy_Bug_Lady]

Hi All,

I had an appointment with my PDoc today. She would like me to do a daily journal to try and track my moods...

I was wondering, has anyone done anything like this before?? I'm not too sure what to write. I mean, obviously my mood, but what else???

[Former-Member]

My psychologist got me doing a body scan a few times a day to see if I could start noticing how I was feeling to identify moods and related stuff (especially for y anxiety i think) so I'd write what i felt ie clenched jaws, sick feeling in stomach , tight chest, etc and then write the mood I thought I had. I also journaled anything about significant things that had happened

[Appleblossom]

I have done it periodically since separating from ex ... 13 years ago ... just for a few weeks at a time ...

I found it ... good to spot check and give myself a mark out of 10 on whatever parameters I was concerned about and rating at the time.  eg ... energy ... productivity ... mood .. physical activity ...

It took a very long time for me to able to do this ... almost 20 years after I started therapy.

I think @Former-Member psych's comment to look at and note more somatic feelings is good

especially if you have difficulty rating your mood.

[Former-Member]

Oh yes I forgot the scaling!! 0 -10 on the anxiety scale - I hate scales - it's such an arbitrary subjective thing! I need concrete rulers of measurement - used to frustrate me when ever shed ask where I was on my anxiety scale - up high somewhere!!!

[eth]

@Crazy_Bug_Lady  I kept charts this year for my psychologist for months.  Am just having a break from it currently but still monitor sleep closely.   I would add to the list :  irritability, anxiety, lack of motivation vs feeling motivated and/or creative or even elevated, difficulty concentrating, being distracted easily, agitated vs slowed down, depressed, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, thoughts of death or suicide, increased or decreased self confidence, changes in appetite, more talkative, racing thoughts, increase in goal-directed activity, eager to engage in pleasurable activities - all these things are from the charts I used.  You don't have to do them all every day, this is just to give you some ideas.  Hope this helps.

[Appleblossom]

I would often get panicked and couldnt respond or rate if very agitated or directly asked.

But as I was journalling anyway... I have often done it to please me ... that was when it was most useful ... when I could actually see how far I had come ...

[eth]

It really helps me identify when things are changing and monitor how far away from the middle (up or down)  I get.  Then I can put necessary strategies for self managment, support and medical needs in place faster if things change in a problematic way.

[Crazy_Bug_Lady]

I'm the same as you guys, I am no good at "rating my emotions". How do I put a number on how I feel??
I am sad. 1-100% how sad?? *very sad*. Very sad isn't a number.

[eth]

I don't use numbers for mine.  I have a column on the left of the page of the different symptoms and on any given day I do a column to the right and go down the list ticking the boxes that apply and leaving others blank.  Or just write a note for the day describing how I felt and any likely triggers.  If you feel stuck about the exercise then write that and tell the doctor.  They might help you find a way of doing it that works for you.

[chookmojo]

I just thought I would reply about making a useable scale, seeing as a few people have mentioned that this is not an intuitive process for them.

Any scale needs to be defined before it can be used, and defining it can be part of the process to helping to manage whatever it is measuring.

As has been mentioned, when we are in the thick of something it is all too easy to just know that we feel 'Bad'.... by introducing criteria by which we can assess and grade how 'bad' we feel we start to introduce nuances that may have previously been overlooked. A whole week might have been 'Bad', but with nuances in place we may be able to identify some ups and downs, over time we can notice trends and patterns.

Starting a 1-10 scale might be a bit daunting, so to make it easier I like to break it into several steps.

First define 3 levels, Zero, Maximum and Middle.

Depending on the scale and on your experience these are going to vary, but something like:

Zero= "Everything is fantastic, I wish life were like this everyday, I feel great and have no signs of symptom X"

Maximum= "Totally unable to function, unable to perform basic self care/fear of immiment death/Physically unable to breathe/move even to protect self."

Whatever is in the maximum section - make it REALLY maximum. This is not a state that you could sustain for an entire day, let alone years. This is a state where calling 000 would be involved.

Middle= What is the logical midpoint between these two extremes? Something like "Experincing symptoms but able to peform necessary functions and can still enjoy some aspects of life. It would be hard to go on like this but I could manage it."

Now you are going to define to two midway points between Zero and Middle (I'll call this Midlow), and middle and maximum (MidHigh😞

What is halfway between Zero and that middle point? MidLow

Maybe something like "Some symptoms, but able to perform most functions that I want to with some effort. Able to enjoy plenty of aspects of my life. Not feeling too limited. Could carry on like this indefinitely"

What is halfway between the middle point and that maximum? MidHigh

Maybe somethign like: "Able to perform necessary functions with considerable effort and distress. Difficult to find aspects of life that can be enjoyed. Would be very difficult to go one like this for en extended period of time."

And then lastly you find the remaining midway points between Zero and Midlow, Midlow and Middle, Middle and midHigh, Mid High and maximum in the same way (what is the halfway point between each pair).

Get it all written out into a list and number each bit 1-10. Hey presto, you now have a scale tailor made for YOUR experience.

And because it is just for you and your experience you can tweak or adjust this as you go along if you come up with any better defining attributes along the way. 

I personally tend to think of it as TWO scales which work simultaneously but in opposite directions - Ability to Enjoy Your Life, and Distressing Symptoms, but you might have a different way of thinking of it.