Mood Boosters

If you’ve experienced grief from trauma or loss, the feelings can be overwhelming at times leaving you exhausted from trying to contain them. It can leave you feeling that you are too much while at the same time trying to cope with all the feelings within you and the responsibilities outside of you.

Whew! That can burn up a lot of serotonin (contributes to our happiness, wellbeing, and mental health – click here to learn more) in your body until you can figure out how to feel safe in your body and connect with others again. During winter months, you may also struggle with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) which can affect your serotonin levels too. If you experience a low mood and have trouble with your memory, you may need to work on boosting your serotonin levels. Your body is always “speaking” to you through thoughts, feelings, and sensations.

How can you help your body produce more serotonin naturally to help you increase your mood?

First, check your diet. If you are eating a lot of processed foods that are high in carbohydrates, your body struggles to keep you at optimum wellbeing levels. A diet high in processed foods and low in exercise may contribute to depressive symptoms¹. However, it has been proven a myth that foods high in tryptophan produce brain serotonin².

Second, try exercise for mild depressive symptoms. Exercise increases brain serotonin function due to increased tryptophan availability in the brain². Regular aerobic exercise has been shown to improve mood although you should always check with your primary care physician before beginning any new exercise regimen.

Third, try bright light therapy if you struggle with SAD. It can also help reduce nonseasonal depression for certain disorders in women, especially those who suffer from premenstrual dysphoric disorder². You can find some on Amazon here.

If you have consistent depressive symptoms, it’s always best to reach out for help from a qualified professional such as your doctor or a therapist.

Grief is exhausting whether it’s from a physical loss or from past trauma. Your body gets activated, and you need help to bring your nervous system back to a place where you can have a sense of peace and calm and at the same time understand that what happened to you was heartbreaking.

Other things you can do to help contain your grief is to try putting words to what you are thinking and feeling. You can use journaling, art therapy, or photo therapy to help. When you don’t stop to put words to what’s going on inside, the feelings continue to grow and can even come out sideways in ways you don’t intend or plan for. Putting words to what you are feeling and thinking helps to externalize them and allows you to see them for what they are. Many times, when you can name what you are feeling, you realize that the feelings are normal given what you’ve experienced. Once you realize that the feelings belong, you can begin to allow them to do their work of helping you to heal by giving them a voice. When you know what you are dealing with you can then begin to take steps toward meeting the needs you have, but you must take time to stop and notice what your body is “saying”.

While you aren’t responsible for what happened to you, you do have to take responsibility for what you will do with what happened to you. You must figure out what steps will help you to move forward with what happened. Unfortunately, you can’t go back and change what happened, and there is no magic pill you can take. However, you can decide the direction you want your life to go from here, but you can’t do it alone.

You are hard-wired for connection; and therefore, you need supportive people in your life to continue to grow and keep walking the healing path. Who can you connect with that brings you a sense of calm? Who is a good listener that has time to hear your story without judging you? Think of three people who can be a good support team for you. It helps to have more than one person so that when one is busy, you have others that you can turn to for connection.

As you can see, there is no one way to boost your mood. There are multiple things that you can do. Remember, healthy people allow themselves to feel their appropriate feelings and to connect with others, sharing who they are including their grief and loss. Trying to boost your mood to avoid uncomfortable feelings may work in the short-term, but it will not last because it isn’t based in reality.

If you find that you need more help because your mood is not lifting, reach out! Help is available. If you’re in NC and are looking for grief counseling or trauma therapy, use the contact form on the website to see if Breathe Again Counseling can be of help to you.

¹ Sánchez-Villegas, A., Toledo, E., De Irala, J., Ruiz-Canela, M., Pla-Vidal, J., & Martínez-González, M. A. (2012). Fast-food and commercial baked goods consumption and the risk of depression. Public health nutrition, 15(3), 424-432.

² Young S. N. (2007). How to increase serotonin in the human brain without drugs. Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience: JPN, 32(6), 394–399.