DEMYSTIFYING THE SCIENCE BEHIND HORMONAL MOOD SWINGS IN WOMEN.

The tides of estrogen, the surges of serotonin and the dances of dopamine. Understanding emotions has never been more thrilling.

Picture this: You wake up one morning, ready to take on the day's challenges, and you feel like you are basking in the Sun. But as hours pass, a wave of irritability washes you over, leaving you in sudden storms of sadness and frustration. If you are nodding along, you are not alone. Every woman has experienced this wild ride of hormonal mood swings that can turn a good day, sour, in an instant. But you know? There's more to these mood swings than those that meet an eye. Welcome to the secret world of hormonal fluctuations in women, where biology and psychology, science and sensation collide in a whirlwind of emotions.

There are so many factors that are involved in changing your mood. Be it irregular sleep, eating disorders, or anything serious going on with your health or your life. Along with finding new body hair or bodily changes, your brain is also changing and developing rapidly, during your teenage years. 

PUBERTY:

As mentioned, if you are a teen, and you feel like sometimes your mood might be all over the place then most probably it is your puberty who is to blame. While bodily changes are the most obvious changes during your puberty, you also experience major hormonal changes. When you are growing up, you produce lower levels of Serotonin, the happy hormone or the feel-good hormone. Serotonin is the key hormone that is responsible for making you happy, regulating your sleep and balancing your mood. but since your natural levels are low when you hit puberty, you feeling irritated is completely justified. When it's your time to hit puberty, the pituitary gland- hormone control centre in your brain releases Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), into your bloodstream. Now stick with me here, as this might sound a bit confusing, LH and FSH are two hormones that direct your ovaries (gland that stores your eggs)  to start producing oestrogen, the hormone that controls your menstrual cycle. In the meantime, your ovaries will start producing eggs every month, this process is often termed as Ovulation and your period will start. 

All these new chemicals and hormones whizzing around your body can really affect your mood and as your body is adjusting to this change,  so is your mind. See? Mood swings are totally natural, that's not you being overly sensitive. 

PRE AND POST MENSTRUAL SYNDROME:

Now you might be thinking, that mood swings will end on your 18th birthday and you will kiss them goodbye forever? Annoyingly, it doesn't always work out that way. Mood swings can continue to impact women well into their adulthoods. Even after puberty has calmed down, you will still feel like being controlled by your hormones. Your mood will change before you start your cycle, when you have entered your cycle and even after your monthly cycle has ended. You might notice that you feel upset and tense. Things that normally wouldn't bother you much, will make you cry. Or you might not want to hangout with your peers, and just totally shut down and disappear on everyone. This is all typically because of sudden fluctuations in your hormones, and if you catch yourself feeling this way, just know that it's all completely normal and no you aren't the only one experiencing this. 

Although blaming your mood shifts totally on biology can sound comforting, apart from this internal factor, there are also several external factors that contribute towards how you feel.  

GROWING UP:

It's important to remember that growing up is tough. Final deadlines, college applications, working out who you are, will they/ will they not relationships- all this may sound like a hard relate. As you grow older, you are given more responsibilities, and surrounding your life around it can be a bit more challenging. Finding the balance between social life, good grades and a good sleep, can seem impossible. Your teen years are a time of exploration. You are working out who you are, who you want to date, your style, and the influences that are going to shape yourself and your identity as you grow. This all might be exciting and fun, but sometimes it's a lot. It can be emotionally confusing and draining. It's completely normal to adapt to the change as you grow and to feel overwhelmed at times. This is how you are built. 

Mood swings can be summarized as the “part of the deal” when you are growing up and sometimes they are part and parcel of becoming an adult. But this jumble of feelings can be distressing and exhausting sometimes, so it's important to remember you are not all alone in this whirlwind of emotions. Try to be gentle with yourself, you don't need to have it all worked out.