Mood Tracking.

I have an old planner, red with gold hearts, in which I wrote a couple of sentences about my moods and symptoms each day. It's strange to read because at that time, I was having hallucinations and other psychotic symptoms. I was also working full time. 

I don't have such bizarre symptoms to track now, but I still see the value of tracking my moods. Last February, I started using Silk and Sonder planners. Each planner covers one month and includes a mood tracking page with six mood options. At first, I thought six moods were too few, and I didn't think I could give each day just one mood. 

However, I decided to try it. I have since settled on these moods:

• Joyful
• Passionate
• Hopeful
• Depressed
• Exhausted
• Anxious

On Joyful days, I feel an actual bright happiness. On Passionate days, I'm deeply involved in my life, often reading or writing with great focus. On Hopeful days, I don't feel wonderful, but I feel okay and at least somewhat positive. 

On Depressed days, I feel down or miserable. On Exhausted Days, I may be weary of everything, I may be physically worn out, or I may be sick. On Anxious Days, I may be manic, irritable, or worried. 

These six moods basically cover the range of my typical feelings. I choose a mood based on my primary, dominant, or overarching feelings for the day. I often journal about how I'm going to track a day.

December was a great month. I had several joyful days, which included my trip to New York. I had lots of hopeful days and some passionate days. I had some anxious days, one exhausted day, and amazingly, no depressed days! 

My mood tracking since has been more erratic and has included more negative emotions. January was a difficult month. February is a little more positive and consistent.

Mood tracking is a great way for me to get an idea of my mood trends, especially as they connect to certain seasons, months, events, and medication changes. Mood tracking can also give me an idea of my mood cycles or mood consistency, which makes reporting to my psychiatrist and therapist a lot easier. I've found it to be quite worthwhile, and it only takes a few seconds each day. I use stickers or colored pencils to mark my moods each month. These stickers are from MegBMakes on etsy.