If you are not creative or do not want to take the time to keep up with a paper chart, you can track your mood online at websites that usually offer a way to connect with likeminded people. You also have the option to log onto the Apple App Store and Google Play Store and search for “mood chart” or “mood tracker” apps to download on your phone. Or, you can keep a paper chart that you have downloaded. [1] X Research source
For the purposes of creating our chart we will be focusing on mood, anxiety, sleep, and medications by documenting them in a journal.
1- Extremely Depressed 2- Very Depressed 3- Somewhat Depressed 4- Mildly Depressed 5- Stable 6- Mildly Manic 7- Somewhat Manic 8- Very Manic 9-Extremely Manic If you are tracking additional factors, such as anxiety, you can follow a similar protocol. Create a rating scale from 1 to 9 (or some other number) ranging from Extremely Low to Extremely High in anxiety.
October 18th: Sleep: 7 hrs 8:00am: Mood: 3 Medications: 200 mg Tegretol; 100 mg Wellbutrin 2:00pm: Mood: 4 Medications: None 8:00pm: Mood: 4 Medications: 200 mg Tegretol; 100 mg Wellbutrin Notes: Worked. Ate 3 meals. Walked 2 miles. Day got better as it went on. Decent focus and attention. Had negative thoughts “I screwed up that presentation; I’m a failure. " “My girlfriend didn’t call; No one cares about me. " Was able to pull myself out of them and challenge their truth. No alcohol or non-prescribed drugs today.
Reminder: Cement this new behavior by notifying yourself of when you should be doing it. It may be simpler to set a firm rule that each day you will chart your mood right before breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Routine: Follow the same procedure for charting each day so that you physically and mentally become accustomed to incorporating this new behavior into your day. Reward: In addition, to learning new and interesting facts about yourself through charting, you should also create some other regular reward for sticking to this behavior. Maybe you could tell yourself that if you chart 3 times a day for a week, you will reward yourself with a treat over the weekend.
