Emotions, anger and mood swings – understanding your feelings

Feelings, thoughts and moods: why emotions rise and fall, how to manage anger, and when mood changes such as bipolar disorder need care.

Chapters on this topic

Chapter 5: Emotions, Feelings, Thoughts and Moods

Four words, one inner weather : Feeling is allowed. Being overthrown for weeks is a different problem.

Chapter 11: Mood, Psychotic and Personality Conditions

Cycles, reality-testing, and long styles : A name can open a clinic. It can also stigmatise. Use it as a door, not a sentence.

Chapter 22: Advanced Psychological Issues

Names that open the right door : Dissociation, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), eating disorders, personality patterns, and substances are treatable. They are not character verdicts.

Stories from real life (17)

Not Angry, Just Tired – Sana, thirty-three, worked as an accountant in Hyderabad. For nearly a week she had been in what she called 'a mood'. She snapped at…
I Always Fail – Vikram, forty, was an engineer in Chennai who had just delivered a client presentation. Most of it went well, but one slide had a…
The Pressure Cooker at Home – Mr Deshmukh, fifty-five, was a bank clerk in Nagpur known for his short fuse. One evening his son Aditya came home late. Mr Deshmukh…
Three O’Clock Worries – Elena, twenty-eight, was a graphic designer living in Madrid. Most nights she woke at three with her mind running: Did I send the right…
Sunday-Night Money – A couple fought about money every Sunday. The mood dropped after a lonely Saturday. Naming their moods did not solve the money problem, but…
The Child Who Was “Angry” – He was hungry. Dinner fixed more than a lecture on character. Body first, story second
Eight Days Without Sleep – Vikram, twenty-eight, an advertising executive in Delhi, has not slept properly for a week. He feels brilliant. He talks fast, makes big plans to…
The Voices in Shanta’s Son – Shanta lives in a village in Odisha. Her son Mohan, twenty-two, was a quiet, hard-working student. Over the past months he has become suspicious,…
Zoe at Two in the Morning – Zoe, twenty-three, lives in Bristol. Her friendships burn bright and then collapse. When her closest friend takes longer to reply, Zoe is sure she…
Coming Home, Slowly – Sanjay, thirty-one, spent two months in hospital in Bengaluru for schizophrenia. Now he is home with his parents. He is calmer, but he is…
Mr Hassan Prefers the Edge of the Room – Hassan, forty-five, an accountant in Cairo, has always kept to himself. At work he avoids meetings and lunches, afraid people will find him boring…
Vikram, Age 23 – Twenty-three-year-old Vikram was usually a grounded young man, but over the course of a few weeks, he completely changed. He suddenly stopped sleeping, yet…
The Glass Wall – Daniel Okafor, twenty-two, a student in Manchester, was walking back from the library after weeks of exam stress and little sleep when something odd…
Checking the Gas Again – Rukmini Iyer, thirty-four, an accountant in Chennai, used to be easy-going. In the past year she began checking the gas stove before leaving home.…
The Empty Plate – Ananya Menon, fifteen, from Kochi, had always been a high achiever. After a classmate teased her about her weight, she started 'eating healthy'. Soon…
Mira and the Storm of Feelings – Mira D'Souza, twenty-six, from Goa, felt things more intensely than anyone she knew. When her boyfriend Rohan was late replying, she felt a flood…
One Drink to Sleep – Vikram Chauhan, fifty-one, was a successful transport contractor in Jaipur. After a business loss, he began to have 'one drink' at night to switch…

Shloks (2)

Bhagavad Gita 2.62–2.63 – Dwelling on objects, attachment is born; from attachment, desire; from desire, anger. From anger, delusion; from delusion, loss of memory; from loss of memory,…
Bhagavad Gita 5.18 – The wise see the same in a learned humble person, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and one who cooks a dog.