Mood tracking is one simple way to take care of your mental well-being. Keeping a daily record of feelings, mood, and symptoms allows you to gain self-awareness and teach you a lot about yourself and your current condition.
When you understand your emotions, you may better manage your lifestyle choices; make informed health decisions, prevent or avoid negative triggers, and work towards better well-being.
Short term benefits of Mood Tracking
Offers perspective and insight into your moods.
Woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? It had happened to all of us. But have you ever wondered what the real reason behind your grumpiness is? Maybe something from yesterday is still bothering you? Or you’re feeling anxious about some upcoming event?
Usually, there is rarely only one reason behind this uncomfortable feeling. Mood tracking can help you recognize your emotions and teach you to determine if the cause of the emotional outburst was just missing car keys or something bigger? [1]
Get insight into what you need to best take care of yourself.
Examining your feelings will help you figure out what is best for you right now. Feeling happy? That’s great; you should enjoy this moment. Feeling anxious? Do you have enough support to manage the stressors in your life? Would it be a good idea to take time for yourself? As our needs vary from day to day, recognizing our emotions can help us genuinely hear what our body is trying to tell us at that moment.
It helps reveal what your triggers are.
Emotional triggers are situations, people, opinions, memories, or events that cause a strong and excessive emotional reaction within us.
Triggers create certain patterns which can lead you to act in a certain way in a certain situation or with a certain person. Identifying the thing that triggers you will help you find out how you can take actions that best serve your highest self and gradually break the deteriorating patterns of your mental health. [2]
Helps to communicate clearly to others.
Reflecting on your feelings can help you notice how people around you are affecting you. You may find that some people make you feel a lot of joy and that around some people, you are always feeling frustrated. If someone’s company makes you feel good, try to create opportunities to spend more time together or express your gratitude. And if someone or something does not, you may want to create a healthier boundary and balance between yourself and the bothering thing and let people know what you can and can’t give. Tracking your mood can help you learn how to express your emotions and describe them to others easier.
Long term benefits of Mood Tracking
Helps you build a deeper connection to yourself.
Mood tracking is a way to make you calm down and be present in this situation. Instead of focusing on ourselves, we tend to let other people’s lives and social media steal our attention too often. [3] Our concentration is being robbed by several things around us all the time, and it’s not a wonder that we take too few stops to ask ourselves how am I feeling today.
Feeling happy? Feeling sad? Feeling anxious? But can’t say for what reason. Paying attention to your feelings can also help you build a deeper connection to your mental well-being and eventually figure out what you need. [1]
It will support your healing process.
If you keep inflating the balloon with air and don’t stop, we all know what eventually happens. The air needs a vent to flow. The same applies to emotions. If you keep suppressing emotions and don't give them a vent out, the consequences are probably not so good.
Mood tracking helps you sort through the difficult things that have happened, help you start processing the emotions, and begin making sense of them. Eventually, it allows you to come to a deeper understanding of yourself, which is a core piece of the healing process. [1]
Allows you to spot when things aren’t OK.
Mood tracking can help you realize when things are no longer ok, and notice whether or not it would be time to ask for help. Each person experiences things differently. What is normal for others may not be right for you, and tracking your mood will help you understand what is. Lowering your guard can feel vulnerable, but it really is nothing but courage. Accepting the situation and seeking help will just help you get on your feet faster. You're not alone, and you deserve support when you need it.
SOURCES
“The benefits of mood tracking.” Blue Jay of Happiness, 2019. Assessed March 19, 2021. https://bluejayofhappiness.com/2019/04/07/the-benefits-of-mood-tracking/
“5 Benefits of Tracking your Mood.” Calm, 2020. Assessed March 19, 2021. https://blog.calm.com/blog/5-benefits-of-tracking-your-mood
”5 Reasons Why Keeping a Mood Journal Is Good For Your Mental Health.” Lifehack, 2021. Assessed March 19, 2021. https://www.lifehack.org/875824/mood-journal