Quick attitude changes, or mood swings, happen due to factors like stress, poor sleep, diet, hormones, brain chemistry, or underlying conditions such as ADHD, depression, or personality disorders, with normal life events also causing shifts, but intense or frequent changes warrant a doctor's visit to rule out medical or mental health issues.
Personality changes can be caused by a mental illness like depression, bipolar disorder, or personality disorders. It may also be caused by physical illnesses like a urinary tract infection (especially in older adults), concussion, or brain tumor. Understanding the cause can help create an effective treatment.
Acidity, pollution, hunger, lack of proper nutrients, lack of sleep, low hygiene, wrong food that snatches away energy and makes you lethargic, cravings for a dopamine rush, there can be many reasons for low mood. Sometimes a short nap will lift you up and sometimes, a bathing and dressing up will make you feel better.
The anger or frustration may last the rest of the day — or disappear within 10 minutes. When people with ADHD have mood changes, they may not see their behavior or how it's impacting others. Afterward, they often feel bad about how they've been acting.
Sometimes, mood swings are symptoms of mood disorders like depression or bipolar disorder. Or they may relate to other mental health conditions, like: Anxiety. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Symptoms of ADHD Mood Swings
Switching from excited one moment to sad, angry, or anxious the next. Fluctuating between having trouble paying attention and hyperfocusing on an activity. Having bursts of energy and fatigue through the day. Feeling emotions intensely and having difficulty regulating them.
Emotional Health: Quiet BPD is characterized by intense loneliness, shame, and self-criticism. This constant internal struggle can lead to other mental health conditions, adding to the complexity of their emotional wellbeing.
The ADHD "30% Rule" is a guideline suggesting that executive functions (like self-regulation, planning, and emotional control) in people with ADHD develop about 30% slower than in neurotypical individuals, meaning a 10-year-old might function more like a 7-year-old in these areas, requiring adjusted expectations for maturity, task management, and behavior. It's a tool for caregivers and adults with ADHD to set realistic goals, not a strict scientific law, helping to reduce frustration by matching demands to the person's actual developmental level (executive age) rather than just their chronological age.
ADHD Burnout Symptoms
The Ring of Fire ADHD subtype receives its name due to the “ring of fire” pattern of increased brain activity seen on the SPECT scans. It is characterized by intense emotions and sensory sensitivities — symptoms that may cause it to be mistaken for bipolar disorder or autism.
Five key signs of bipolar disorder involve extreme mood shifts, including manic symptoms like inflated energy, reduced need for sleep, racing thoughts, impulsivity (spending, risky behavior), and irritability, alongside depressive symptoms such as profound sadness, loss of interest, fatigue, significant sleep/appetite changes, and suicidal thoughts, all lasting for extended periods and impacting daily life.
Vitamin B-12 and other B vitamins play a role in making brain chemicals that affect mood and other brain functions. Low levels of B-12 and other B vitamins and folate may be linked to depression. Low levels of a vitamin, also called a vitamin deficiency, can happen if you're not eating a balanced diet.
For example, you might go from feeling happy to irritated to sad during the day, depending on what's happening in your life. Symptoms of bipolar disorder are different. With bipolar disorder, manic episodes last at least 7 days, and depressive episodes (feeling very low) usually last at least 2 weeks.
The first stage of a mental breakdown, often starting subtly, involves feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and increasingly anxious or irritable, coupled with difficulty concentrating, changes in sleep/appetite, and withdrawing from activities or people that once brought joy, all stemming from intense stress that becomes too much to handle.
Personality disorders involve pervasive patterns of unusual behaviors, thoughts, and emotions, making it hard to function, with common signs including unstable relationships, identity issues, extreme mood swings, impulsive/risky actions (like self-harm or substance misuse), persistent distrust, intense fear of abandonment, difficulty with emotional regulation, problems controlling anger, lack of empathy, and trouble with boundaries or self-image.
10 Types of Difficult People
The ADHD "2-Minute Rule" suggests doing any task taking under two minutes immediately to build momentum, but it often backfires by derailing focus due to weak working memory, time blindness, and transition difficulties in people with ADHD. A better approach is to write down these quick tasks on a separate "catch-all" list instead of interrupting your main work, then schedule specific times to review and tackle them, or use a slightly longer timeframe like a 5-minute rule to prevent getting lost down "rabbit holes".
The 24-hour rule for ADHD is a self-regulation strategy to combat impulsivity by creating a mandatory waiting period (often a full day) before reacting to emotionally charged situations or making significant decisions, allowing time for reflection and reducing regretful snap judgments, especially for things like impulse purchases or arguments. It's a pause button that gives the brain space to process, move from impulse to intention, and evaluate choices more logically, helping manage ADHD's impact on emotional regulation and decision-making.
6 Essential (and Often-Overlooked) Supplements for ADHD
Increase stress relief by exercising outdoors—people with ADHD often benefit from sunshine and green surroundings. Try relaxing forms of exercise, such as mindful walking, yoga, or tai chi. In addition to relieving stress, they can teach you to better control your attention and impulses.
The 5 C's of ADHD, developed by psychologist Dr. Sharon Saline, is a framework for parents and individuals to manage ADHD challenges, focusing on Self-Control, Compassion, Collaboration, Consistency, and Celebration. This approach builds skills for better emotional regulation (Self-Control), empathy (Compassion), working together (Collaboration), establishing routines (Consistency), and recognizing progress (Celebration) to foster a supportive environment and reduce stress.
BPD Meltdown
During a meltdown, people may experience extreme mood swings, impulsivity, and difficulty calming down. Understanding how BPD contributes to meltdowns is crucial for developing coping strategies and providing support to manage and navigate these overwhelming emotional experiences.
The "3 C's of BPD" typically refer to advice for loved ones of someone with Borderline Personality Disorder, reminding them: "I didn't cause it, I can't cure it, I can't control it," to help set boundaries and avoid taking on undue responsibility for the person's actions or illness. Another set of "C's" describes core BPD traits for individuals: Clinginess (fear of abandonment), Conflict (intense relationships/moods), and Confusion (unstable self-image).