Mood changes, especially the bad ones, can be warning signs that your body is experiencing something far more serious. Negative mood changes can mean poor health.
A study showed that negative mood changes, such as anger and sadness, are linked to higher levels of inflammatory biomarkers. Inflammation is the body's immune response to damaged tissues, wounds, and infections.
The study involved participants from a community sample in a housing development in Bronx, New York who were of different race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The researchers asked the subjects to recall their feelings over a period of time as well as report on how they were feeling in the moment, in daily life. This occurred within a two-week period and the researchers drew blood from the subjects after each self-assessment to determine inflammation markers.
According to lead investigator Jennifer Graham-Engeland, an associate professor of biobehavioral health at Penn State, the research aims to show the association between both recalled and momentary measures of mood and its affect with measures on inflammation. The study showed that negative mood gained from the week closer to the blood draw had higher levels of inflammation. Meanwhile, the positive mood from the same week showed lower levels of inflammation among the male subjects.
Outside of its effect to inflammation, bad mood changes may also reflect a problem in the brain, which regulates moods and stress through networks and chemical neurotransmitters. Damage to any of these parts in the brain can manifest itself in the person's mood.
Dr. Nancy Donovan, an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, cites the disease of tiny blood vessels in the brain that can alter brain white matter. When this happens, it can disrupt brain connections that are beneficial for normal behavior and mood. Oftentimes, mood swings or bad mood changes can reflect a psychiatric disorder such as irritability, depression, anxiety, sadness, and loss of pleasure or interest.
"In our neuropsychiatry clinic at Brigham and Women's Hospital, patients with dementia frequently come for treatment of apathy, depression, anxiety, and other behavioral changes."
Moreover, mood changes can be linked to a neurological condition, a thyroid disease, or a sleep disorder. There is also medication that causes mood swings and nervousness, including the steroid medication prednisone Deltasone and Prednicot.
However, Dr. Donovan recommends consulting a doctor if the mood swings happen for more than a few weeks. A psychiatric evaluation may be necessary to treat the root cause of the mood changes.
