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Obscure Phenomenon May Be Causing Disturbances In Your Mood
Possible Culprits In Depression, Anxiety, Or Paranoia
My two year old son screamed when I picked up his sock from the floor. How dare I clean up after him. How could I not know that he wanted the sock to stay on the floor this one time for some reason. “Down!” he yelled like his life depended on it. I put the sock back on the floor. I asked him if he had plans for the sock. “Nooo!” he screamed, then cried.
He was clearly very upset. It seemed to be about the sock. But I also knew that he refused to nap that day. It was also close to dinner. He was so in to playing earlier; he didn’t eat his apple mush or drink as much milk as usual.
To him it was absolutely about the sock. Perhaps there was something he wanted from that sock. I am not saying that the sock didn’t have anything to do with it. Perhaps it was the way I was picking up the sock. Perhaps I had the “play time is over” vibe. But he never screamed about socks before. As a mother I bet that it was more about the hunger and tiredness that evoked a negative state of mind in which anything and everything could be a trigger.
I recognize these states in myself. I know that when I am hungry, I am grumpy. When I am sleep deprived, I am irritable. First year after giving birth to my…
