A mood chart can be kept in many ways.  A calendar, notebook, your computer or even recording on an audio cassette to be transferred later all work.  We at Bipolar World have created a printable chart that can be accessed at MOOD CHART , copied and printed.  Print several pages to start your mood chart. 

Decide on how frequently you should record your moods.  If your moods have been stable for a long time once a week or once a month may be sufficient.  If your cycles are short, you are have medication changes or are cycling at the present time, daily or even twice daily entries should be made.

Fill in the date and time, the medications you have taken that day, and if there has been a medication change and under the Mood and Comments column rate your mood for that day.  Make note of anything significant that may have happened during the day that may have affected your mood, such as sleep problems, work problems, a cold, an argument or the weather.  You may notice that these sort of triggers affect your mood quite regularly.  Try to choose a regular time each day to do your mood chart...perhaps with your evening medication.

We suggest keeping your mood chart and a mood diary together in a thin binder or duo-tang.  Your mood diary is simply pages of binder paper.  If your Moods and Comments for a particular day are too long to fit in the column on the mood chart make a notation...see mood diary, then date and write your comments there.

See the mood scale by Dr Ronald Fieve at  Bipolar World Mood Rating to get a better idea of how your moods could be rated.

Finally, for convenience, after a period of time (perhaps a month) you can graph your moods and quickly visualize the ups and downs for a longer period of time.

Share your charts with your psychiatrist and be a part of the team working toward better cooperation and control of your mood swings.