MOOD MAPPING:
- Details
- Created on Friday, 09 November 2012 12:21
- Written by Marian Moore
Marian @ Krysan
The Wellbeing Consultancy
Planting golden seeds in Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, and Durham
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M O O D M A P P I N G
with
DR. LIZ MILLER
DEAR FRIENDS
"Mood disorders are among the most distressing diseases from which to suffer. MoodMapping: Plot Your Way to Emotional Health is an excellent resource for sufferers. In this clearly written book, the author, herself a sufferer, describes how she devised MoodMappping, which is a powerful new technique allowing the self-assessment and self-monitoring of mood. It is interesting that rather being conceived by a psychiatrist, it took the genius and training of a brilliant neurosurgeon to devise this method.
Dr Liz Miller describes how those who suffer from a mood disorder can apply her technique successfully to cope with the vicissitudes of life. Her writing is brilliant, open and honest. She makes it very easy to follow her method, in a text that is rich in practical examples. Dr. Miller displays a profound understanding of the daily difficulties that patients encounter in the personal arena of their own thoughts. She explains how the gladiatorial battles taking place there can be won, with negative thoughts and emotions being vanquished. This book is truly a delight to read. I highly recommend it."
Prof. Basant K Puri
MoodMapping —
an easy way to chart how you feel
Mood Mapping is a simple, visual way to understand and record the way you feel.
Mood can change in an instant or gradually over time. Some people are "morning people", others more nocturnal. Some days are better than others. Mapping your mood helps you see when you are at your best, your worst, and even when it might better just to stay at home!
MoodMapping increases peoples' self awareness by explaining why they feel and behave in the way they do. It develops the observing self. The observing self enables people to see moods or emotions for what they are, rather than being caught up and overwhelmed by them. It is also a quick way to check in with yourself and ask yourself "How are you feeling?"
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MEASURING STRESS
"Nowadays almost everyone experiences stress. Stress is difficult to quantify, as is exhaustion, depression and anxiety. Yet without measuring these, it can be difficult to know whether they are improving, getting worse or no different. Does music make you feel better? if so how much better, or would a short meditation be more effective? Once you can measure how something changes, the remedy can be refined!
Almost everyone would like more energy, to be more positive and more resilient. It is easier to solve problems when you can generate enough energy to help put your plans into action, compared, for example, to those times when everything seems an effort. MoodMapping helps work our which strategies might be most effective in different situations.
Fig. 1
MoodMapping separates mood into two parts, energy and positivity (or how good you feel). Fig 1. The two axes divide the map into four quarters which describe the four basic moods;
Action,
Stress,
Exhaustion or Depression
and Calm
The four basic moods affect not just how a person feels but also how they behave. For example, a small child runs towards a road; a person in Action - runs to the child and whisks them away from danger. A person who is Stressed may panic and scream. A person who is exhausted or depressed may think "How awful, that child may die, I wish I could do something" while a person who is Calm, can think how to avert the danger without unnecessarily alarming people.
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A SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE
"From a scientific perspective, mood most likely come from the deepest part of the brain that is the brainstem, where the sympathetic or flight and fight part of the nervous system joins with the housekeeping or parasympathetic nervous system. Thus when someone wakes up in the morning, the first thing they are aware of is how we feel, and then the rest of the brain helps them work out why they feel that way, and what to do next.
MoodMapping is a simple technique that is easy to learn and easy to teach. The individual plots their mood using an internal scale, first by estimating how much energy they have and putting a mark on the vertical axis. Then they estimate how good or positive they feel and plot that on the horizontal axis. The Mood point is where vertical and horizontal marks on the graph cross. See Figure 1.
The Mood Point can be labeled with the time and a quick note. If required, an intervention or strategy can be offered, mood plotted again and the effect of the intervention measured.
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FIVE KEY AREAS
"MoodMapping separates interventions into five key areas, those relating to:
1 - Environment and surroundings:
This includes home, work environment, nature, noise, music, light, colour. In short anything external that affects how someone feels
2 - Physical health:
This includes diet and exercise, vitamins, lifestyle, sleep, and physical conditions
3 - Relationships:
Humans are social creatures and we need people around us! We need those people to be interesting, challenging, supportive and above all -on our side!
4 - Strategies:
People need to know how to deal with difficult situations. Techniques such as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy help improve thinking, while counselling and coaching provide support
5 - Nature and purpose: Maslow called this self actualisation, someone’s need to express their personal experiences and unique abilities
The best approach depends on how a person feels, their situation, their resources, abilities and experience. For example, sometimes it helps to talk with a friend, other times to work out a plan of action and sometimes we just need some quiet time.
__________________SEE ONE, DO ONE, TEACH ONE
"Just knowing how you feel can help. It is not always easy to make changes, especially when someone feels exhausted or even depressed. And there are occasions when it is best to accept the way we feel and let time do the healing.
Moodmapping is a simple, easy to follow system that helps people understand and manage how they feel before resorting to medication or other crutch. I want to encourage readers to try it for themselves, recording their mood at regular intervals during the day in notes or in a journal and pass the skill on to their clients and the people around them.
As I learnt in medical school, knowledge and ideas spread best when people "See one, Do one, Teach One"!
Dr. Liz MillerNOVEMBER 2012
MOODMAPPING WEBSITE ADDRESS
Find out more from the book MoodMapping by Dr Liz Miller and from the website www.moodmapping.com
MOODMAPPING BOOK REFERENCE
MILLER, LIZ Dr., (2009), Mood Mapping: Plot your way to emotional health and happiness, pub. London, Rodale
1 December 2012
Hi MarianRE CHARTING THE 'MOOD POINT'
This is a diagram to explain the 'mood point' which makes sense after the one with the four basic moods (Fig 1 above), with this I think people should get the idea.
Fig. 2
Sincerely yours,Dr. Liz Miller
Hi Dr. Lizzie
Thanks for all the recommendations on LinkedIn. Much appreciated - like all the good advice in your book. Here's something especially for you.
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