I am very emotionally unstable

[Mike]

I would look at your diet, keep a list of what you eat each day and how you feel each day. Sooner or later you will see a relationship. Every body has mood shifts, that is normal, bad diet can make it much worse.

If you eat a lot of processed fast/crap food, it can really tear you up. It could be something as simple as too much bread, too little meats, no fruits, etc.

Do you know any diabetics? Ask one to check your sugar level one to two hours after eating. You should be below 125 if I remmber correctly.

[thehotspur]

Yeah eat a banana that will help...Jesus Christ. Ahem, people who get their psychology from the list of ingredients on the back of a box aside, I recommend that someone with your disposition consider not playing too poker until they are in a different place emotionally or psychologically. Not only is such a tendency to swing from one mood to another not conducive to playing the game properly, but the varying fortunes at the poker table induce these emotional swings. If poker make you miserable any sizable % of the time then knock it on the head for the time being, hobbies shouldn't make us feel bad. Good luck to you.

[orange]

[ QUOTE ]
I go through huuuuuuuuge mood swings all the time. I'd compare it to going through the menstrual cycle, but I have no first-hand experience. Some days I will be very aggressive and horny. The next day I will be sad and passive. I can be motivated one hour and not care the next. I can love an ex-girlfriend, not being able to live without her, then the next day not really care too much about what happens with her. I don't understand it. It's as if my entire thought process about everything changes.

[/ QUOTE ]

Bi-polar maybe?

[gergery]

Regular, adequate sleep and consistent moderate aerobic exercise will help.

-g

[KinkyKid]

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah eat a banana that will help...Jesus Christ. Ahem, people who get their psychology from the list of ingredients on the back of a box aside, I recommend that someone with your disposition consider not playing too poker until they are in a different place emotionally or psychologically. Not only is such a tendency to swing from one mood to another not conducive to playing the game properly, but the varying fortunes at the poker table induce these emotional swings. If poker make you miserable any sizable % of the time then knock it on the head for the time being, hobbies shouldn't make us feel bad. Good luck to you.

[/ QUOTE ]

A lot of research has been done linking exercise to alleviating symptoms of depression. The extension of this would be healthy living, which includes what you eat. So to say "eating a banana will help" is an oversimplification of the idea, its on the right track for some people. I think before anyone ever seeks professional help, they should try to exercise some every day, find a physical hobby that gets them outside and tries to eat well.

[thehotspur]

[ QUOTE ]
I think before anyone ever seeks professional help, they should try to exercise some every day, find a physical hobby that gets them outside and tries to eat well.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't mean to sound offensive, and I know you are genuinely giving advice to the best of your ability, and of course healthy living can be beneficial to one's state of mind but as a psychologist I just don't like it when people advise others whom they know nothing about that they diet or excerise is the answer. You don't know this guy, and to say that anyone should delay in seeking professional help ever is not necessarily a good thing to do. I hope that doesn't come across badly, but people who view psychological problems as being due to diet do so because they just aren't familiar with psychological issues.

[DonkBluffer]

All I can say is that if I'm very tired or hungry, I'm a real [censored]. If it gets too bad I just hate everybody and don't care about anything anymore. I have fast metabolism or something, if that helps. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[bkholdem]

Go see a doctor dude. Let a professional evaluate you. I wouldn't trust a psychiatrists evaluation over the internet so I sure as heck wouldn't trust some random poker players evaluation of my mental/emotional condition, let alone specific 'treatments'. Good sleep and good nutrition are good advice for all humans. Seems like you need more than that IMO.

[rory]

i have bipolar disorder and this is what life was like for me before i got help for it. i think people cannot really relate unless they have it. i would feel really aggravated and angry for no reason at all which could last anywhere from a day to a few weeks at a time. other times i would feel completely worthless and depressed and not really wanting to get out of bed or do anything which could also last just a day or for weeks at a time. other times i would feel fine for days or weeks at a time. occasionally my moods would change within hours, for no reason. it is not like how most people live, where an outside stimulus changes the mood, such as seeing a girlfriend and missing them or what not, it is a mood that just comes out of nowhere for no reason with no trigger and the mood is very powerful. mmoods that are actually triggered by something seem completely out of proportion with the trigger. someone turning on the TV would make me feel like i wanted to kill them. a sad song or moment in a movie would wipe me out for a week. people think you are just being moody or dramatic and you feel bad, like it is your fault and you should be able to control how you feel but you can't. actually, you just have a biological problem in your brain which is easily fixed by medication.

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/bipolar.cfm

at any rate going on medication changed my whole life-- i recommend at least going to a psychiatrist and talking about what you are going through. right now the hardest part for me is convincing myself to keep taking the medication because i can convince myself i do not have bipolar disorder when i am on the medication because i feel so much better. maybe you don't have it, but it sounds like might. worst case is you go and at least talk to someone about what you are going through and maybe feel better about what has been happening. you don't have to live your life the way you have been living it.

[donkeyradish]

Have you thought of food allergies?