Have you ever experienced starting the day excited and perky and then feel a sudden shift in your mood? It an occasional mood swing may appear trivial to you, but it may already be an early warning sign of having a mood disorder.

Mood swings are described as an extremely rapid change in mood. Although commonly associated with mood disorders, primarily bipolar disorder or manic depression, mood swings can naturally happen to everybody. In fact, over ten thousand Americans experience mood swings each year. This may occur on a daily or a monthly basis with the frequency of mood shifting dependent on the person. Research shows, however, that women experience mood swings twice as often as men do. But what causes mood swings?

Research has not been able to pinpoint a specific cause of mood swings and why they occur, but scientists have proposed such contributing factors, like:

1. Chemical imbalance. Medical professionals suggested that mood swings may be brought about by a chemical imbalance in the brain. The experience of feeling such emotions as happiness, anger, anxiety, stress, depression, and fear are brought about by certain kinds of neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are responsible for transmitting impulses from one nerve cell to another. The release and re-absorption of this brain chemical affects how a person feels. The study showed that people who experience mood swings might have an imbalance of the neurotransmitters serotonin, norepenephrine, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and dopamine.

2. Hormonal changes. Most mood swings for women have been attributed to a sudden hormonal change in their bodies. Most women experience shifting moods before, during, or after their monthly menstrual period. Also, women also experience mood swings during and after pregnancy. Adolescents often feel mood shifts once their body starts producing sex hormones during puberty. Often enough, mood swings start becoming less frequent as hormone levels return to their normal state.

Mood swings can be a pretty serious concern, especially if it occurs so often. It affects not only the sufferer but also the people around him. It can be pretty frustrating to people surrounding someone with a mood swing problem as it makes it difficult for them to know which mood they will encounter or should expect. For the person having the mood swing, it can be pretty exhausting too. Mood swings can make its sufferer feel unstable and uncertain of himself. It can lead to social isolation or even drive a person to deprive himself of activities that he once enjoyed.

It is important to know when to seek help, because if chronic mood swings persist and you refuse to have it dealt with, it might end up to something worse - a psychological mood disorder. If you continue to feel random mood shifts and you feel that it is starting to affect you and the people around you, seek psychological help. At the moment, there are medications aimed to help normalize our moods. Keep in mind that refusing to take a step to fix a problem only leads to a much bigger problem in the long run.