Many many people have asked themselves the simple question down the years, "What is a mood swing?" I am sure many children across the world has typed it into Google to try and pinpoint why their parents are being so difficult. There is no simple answer to the question and even the great psychologists and neuroscientists are not in agreement on this one.

To answer the question "What is a mood swing?", we need to dig deeper. The type and severity can vary greatly, with a mild relatively rare occurrence on the one end of the spectrum to full-blown bipolar disorder on the other. The duration can also vary from a few hours to a number of days. Clinically the disease would have to be present for at least four days before bipolar disorder could be diagnosed.

When sufferers ask their psychiatrists, they need to be able to provide answers. Possible causes include poor diet, sleep deficit, drug abuse and hormonal imbalances. Another major cause is the actual brain chemistry of the individual involved, in particular the neurotransmitter serotonin. Another neurotransmitter which has often been linked in the past is norepinephrine. In general a lack of these two neurotransmitters sets the conditions for depression and when they are normalized, by exercise in the case of serotonin, then the individual feels melancholic again.

There are a number of treatment methodologies available in the market at present. A standard treatment for a number of psychological conditions including this disorder is Cognitive Behavior Therapy. It has proved to be highly successful in a number of clinical trials providing at least minor improvement and even occasionally a full cure.

Individuals on their own can also practice a variety of distraction techniques. What often works for many people is to attempt to watch television or read a book, basically any non-demanding activity which draws the attention away from the condition. There are also techniques to help the victims to cope by actively restraining themselves from the extreme grand highs of melancholy and the deep troughs of depression. This actually inculcates emotional maturity in the patient which has the benefit of improving their self-esteem in the long term as well.

While the experts do not have the cure, it is currently and most likely not for the foreseeable future, it does bring to mind the fascinating short story by Isaac Asimov, "The last Question". It starts with an individual typing in the words "What is a mood swing?" into the global computer network, essentially our 'Google' if you will. The system responds in the negative, but that it will continue to search for the answer.

A few hundred years later the next individual types the same phrase and gets the same response. Finally, mankind is nearing extinction and the final sentient being types the phrase again into the antimatter drive. The universal consciousness of the entire collective history of mankind of all time considers the question, "What is a mood swing," and only then could we possibly get the answer, but only maybe!