Ever find yourself “in a mood” without knowing how you got there? You might have been feeling just fine only a short time ago. Nothing earth-shattering happened. Yet somehow you’re now feeling stressed, sad or whatever, and you have no idea why.
Next time this happens, try asking yourself, “What went through my mind when I started to feel this way?” If you’re not sure, take your best guess. It’s very likely that if you can identify your thought, then you’ll have a handle on why you’re feeling the way you are.
This idea is key in cognitive-behavioral therapy: What goes through our minds—not what happens in our environment—is mainly responsible for our moods.
It’s possible that something happened to trigger your thought. Maybe it was your spouse’s tone of voice, or the expression on your boss’s face. Whatever the trigger, it was the meaning you attached to it that led to your mood. CBT helps you identify these meanings and examine them, with the goal of gaining better control over your own moods and behaviors.
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