Navigating mood can be really tricky, whether it’s your partner's or your own.
Which is why we are here to teach you about mood and how it affects you and your relationship.
You will learn how to express and cope with mood, so that you and your partner can get emotionally intimate and minimize any misunderstandings or potential conflicts.
As similar as they may seem, mood is actually different from emotion. Mood refers to your ongoing overall subjective emotional, mental, and physical state, and is usually referred to as positive or negative. Emotions may be influenced by mood, but mood is a broad state of feeling and your outward expression of those feelings.
Positive mood is a state of high energy, productivity, and motivation. It includes feeling happy, content, and an optimistic view of the world. Feeling engaged and connected with your life and relationship with your partner are also aspects of being in a positive mood. If you’re in a positive mood, you’re more likely to communicate with ease, show empathy and compassion toward your partner, and see the good things in them and all they do. Partner’s who are usually in a state of positive mood are more likely to feel connected, intimate, and understood in their relationship for these reasons.
Negative mood is a state of low energy, productivity, and motivation. You’re more likely to feel sad, angry, irritable, anxious, and pessimistic in this state. Feeling disconnected and lacking interest in your life and your partner are aspects associated with being in a negative mood. Negative mood can make it very difficult to engage with your partner, lowering your ability to effectively communicate and connect. For these reasons, a negative mood can create a lot of distance between you and your partner and create the potential for conflict due to miscommunication and misunderstandings.
Being in a positive or negative mood, and moving between the two is natural and normal. Sometimes you might find yourself in a bad mood or great mood longer than the other, which is okay too! However, it is important to seek help if you are experiencing drastic shifts in mood or a negative mood lasting for a period of two weeks or longer. These are potential signs of mood disorders, suggesting that additional support or resources might be needed. This article features sources for mental health help and information.
Although we all wish we could be in a great mood all of the time for the sake of our loved ones and ourselves, the human experience does in fact include being in a bad mood from time to time. So, how and what should we work on understanding, expressing, and improving our mood when we find ourselves in a negative state?
How your mood affects your relationship
Your mood can affect your relationship in a number of ways.
For example:
- When you're feeling happy and positive, you tend to show more love, support, and active involvement in your relationship.
- When you're feeling stressed or anxious, you're more likely to be irritable, withdrawn, and critical of your partner.
- When you're feeling depressed, you may pull back from your partner and find it hard to express what you need.
Be conscious of your feelings and thoughts, they need to be acknowledged and welcomed. It can be difficult and even seem counterproductive to welcome a negative thought or feeling, but this step is necessary to work through a negative mood. Once you understand how you’re feeling, it will be easier to share with your partner. As mentioned earlier, a negative mood can take away your motivation to engage and make it difficult to communicate. It can be helpful to try and remind yourself why you should connect with your partner and communicate what state you’re in. Connection enhances intimacy, minimizes conflict, and overall it will keep you and your partner on the same page feeling understood, respected, and loved.
Mood changes depending on a wide variety of things. Stabilizing mood can be a challenging task, especially if you’ve got a lot of things on the go. The best way to promote a positive mood is through self care and love. Spend enough time and effort taking care of your body by eating nutritiously, exercising at least a little (walking counts too!), sleeping enough, bathing, and relaxing (whether that's reading, writing, watching a movie, or spending time in nature.) Another great practice for improving mood is smiling! Researchers have found that adopting a positive facial expression can improve the way you feel and think!
Dealing with mood isn’t always easy, but the benefits are worth the work! It may be uncomfortable to share deep and personal inner experiences with your partner, but in doing so they will be able to be more supportive and compassionate toward you. Understanding yourself expressing your feelings to your partner will only bring you two closer together.
Discover more how your mood impacts your relationship by taking the "Feeling Moody" course simply by downloading Couply on Android or Apple! Couply also offers other courses with a variety of relationship questions, couple's quizzes, expert articles, and even games that you and your partner can enjoy together that will help you achieve a happier and healthier relationship.
