The question of moods

Rrecent years, I have enjoyed number of dialogues with Dr. Paul Ekman, once of the pioneers of the scientific study of emotion, or what is called "affective neuroscience." In Dr. Ekman's view, it is not our emotions, which he describes as fleeting, that are the most harmful to our well-being, but our moods. While emotions come and go quite quickly, moods are more enduring, and because they are largely latent, underlying our state of mind but without any particular focus, they can also be somewhat hidden to our conscious awareness and therefore harder to tackle. It is moods, Dr. Ekman says, which make us more susceptible to certain emotions, and it is to them that we should turn our attention. This, I think, is a helpful observation. 

In my understanding, emotions, mood, and personal traits can all be treated as kindred phenomena, which lie along a kind of continuum, each having a more enduring quality than the former. For this reason, the fundamental ways of dealing with them are largely the same. However, the question of moods also raises the issue of person's general level of energy, both physical and mental. In Buddhist tradition there is a strong emphasis, particularly in the context of mental training, on countering the opposing problems of excessive laxity, dullness, or sloth on the one hand and excessive excitement on the other. While moods may appear to be very difficult to dislodge, I think we all have experienced a mood lifting very quickly in response to some good news. This shows that they are not as stable and enduring as they may seem. Sometimes a mood can be the product of some emotion bottled up inside, and when you release that emotion by talking with someone, perhaps apologizing for something you regret or even sharing a joke, your mood can quickly change. Of course, such relief can be temporary, somewhat like the relief you get from taking painkillers. So, in the end, the most effective way to deal with moods is to deal with the underlying emotions themselves.

There is no doubt that dealing with our negative propensities is very challenging. Faced with life's daily setbacks, we can all too easily fall into old negative habits of mind such as frustration, anger or despondency. What we need, therefore, is a constant renewal of our effort to live by the values we want to uphold.