Thursday, April 15, 2010

Cranking

Last night I was wearing some SERIOUS grumpypants.

I was normal all day and then I came home and turned into a Crank Monster.
I think it was some combination of any or all of the following: a few drinks after school with my classmates, not enough to eat, hormones, stress, and general tiredness from the week.

Everything was fine. And then all of a sudden everything was NOT FINE. And I was on edge. Irritable. Sensitive. Weepy.

Things that I wouldn't normally even think about were severely upsetting to me. Things that are Fine and Perfectly Normal suddenly caused a downward spiral into despair, anger, sadness, and regret.

Logically, I could tell that there was nothing really the matter. Logically, I could tell that I wanted to quit grumping and snap out of it.
But the thing about logic? It doesn't make the feelings go away.

The only thing really I know how to do when I feel this way is to give myself a little "time out;" to excuse myself and go cry in the bathroom. But it doesn't really make me feel better and I'm sure it's awkward for other people when I come out all sniffly and red-eyed pathetic looking.

There are many things that do make me feel better when I'm down-- a shower, a yummy treat, a cuddle-- but when I'm wearing crankypants it's harder for me to see them. But I did eventually calm down. I had a nice rest of the evening, went to sleep feeling a little better, and woke up this morning feeling happy, refreshed, and totally back to normal.

I would like to learn how to, like, streamline this process: feel cranky for no real reason, do ________, feel better. So am I the lone crazy Crankmonster here? Or does this happen to anyone else? And what do you do to make it better in the moment?