journeyupward Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 My Pdoc asked me to keep a Chart/Graph for him tracking my moods everyday. It gives him a visual to see if there is a pattern to my mood fluctuations, triggers, whether the meds are working or not, and if I'm in trouble (depression or mixed moods).Does anyone else have to do this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nancyannee Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 during the short time I was being treated, the doc asked me to do the same thing. I was religious about it for about 3 months. She never asked to see it or have me talk about it. so I quit doing it. I think it would be a good tool if your doctor actually uses it. It really shows how your mood changes from hour to hour...day to day....when you write it down and then go back and look at it, it helps put things into perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 It's not just a tool for your doctor. Think of charting as a way to raise your own awareness of your moods. Moods are like lenses that change the way you respond to events in your life. When you are in a bad mood, things seem more overwhelming than when you aren't in a bad mood, for instance. But often mood is invisible to us - if someone asks us to think about it we can maybe reflect that we are in a bad mood, but we don't think "hey - I'm in a crappy mood right now so I ought not to give too much credence to my judgments for the next few hours or so". When you journal and chart your moods (for charting is just a visualization tool), you become more aware of your moods and any patterns that may be part of your moods. the more you are aware of moods, the more you can compensate for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracey.f Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 My doctor had me keep an hourly chart of my day for a year of the 1 1/2 years we saw each other!When we had our weekly appointments he would have a look over the chart. Besides our conversations about other aspects of my life, he wanted to talk about some of the contents of the chart!You see as far as i was concerned,i felt like i did nothing at all, i was lazy and that i was a failure as a person,a mum,a wife and a friend! I could do more if i just tried harder, i'd been told this by a couple of people in my life over the years!What he wanted me to see was not what the things that i wasn't doing but to see the little things i was doing and that they meant a great deal!! That if i managed to get up and have a conversation today, i had done something that i maybe hadn't been able to do the previous day! That if i put some washing on ,or cook dinner ,i read a book with my kids or i give them a bath ,i was not doing nothing. That instead of being lazy,that i had an illness and that my life was just different than other people i knew. Ii will say there were times that i really had to ask myself(i still do at times,though i do try to remember what i learnt) am i ill or am i just lazy?????I just wanted to say i have been there and though it felt like a full time job filling the charts out, it was worth it! Even though at times it could be painfull.Please forgive me if all of this doesn't quite make sense but the brain is a little off at the mo.Regards tracey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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