12 tips to bust a bad mood

By Jenna Bergen

updated 12:57 p.m. ET Feb. 1, 2009

Mike Genevie was the kind of guy who always came ready with a joke. But when his relationship with his girlfriend went sour, his sunny outlook on life turned overcast. "She stopped returning my calls," says the 27-year-old auditor from Levittown, Pennsylvania. "I found out that she was with someone else." Suddenly, when a commercial for an antidepressant appeared on television, he found himself reaching for a pen and pad instead of the remote control.

Genevie has plenty of company. A 2005 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that people take antidepressants even more often than they pop pills for high blood pressure, asthma, and high cholesterol. But many often don't need to be medicated — they're just feeling down at the moment. "Antidepressants are prescribed too often," says Stuart Shipko, M.D., a psychiatrist and the author of "Surviving Panic Disorder." Dr. Shipko cautions that taking a pill can lead to real problems: addiction, sexual impairment, or both. "Unless a person has a serious mental-health problem, the risk-benefit ratio doesn't favor these drugs," he says.

Fortunately, there are plenty of DIY ways to boost your body's own feel-good forces. Try a combination of the following blues-busting strategies, and your life view can brighten up in no time.

Stack the deck with seafood
Why it works: Two types of omega-3 fatty acids are abundant in seafood — eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). In humans, high DHA levels are linked to raised levels of dopamine and serotonin, the same brain chemicals that antidepressants boost. What's more, a shortfall of DHA in animals has been linked to symptoms and markers that mimic depression. "You're at greater risk of being depressed, anxious, and irritable by avoiding fish," says Joseph R. Hibbeln, M.D., acting chief of nutritional neurochemistry at the NIH's National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Do this: Eat cold-water fish (salmon or mackerel) at least twice a week. Otherwise, take a daily 1-gram dose of Jarrow Formulas EPA-DHA Balance (jarrow.com). The 2-to-1 ratio of EPA to DHA makes for good brain food, because EPA seems to hold more sway than DHA over mood and behavior, according to Parris Kidd, Ph.D., a nutrition educator and contributing editor for the Alternative Medicine Review.

Be patient, Grasshopper. It takes 8 to 12 weeks for most to feel a full response kicking in.

Lift your spirits with good scents
Why it works: If the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, the way to his mood-selector switch may be through his nostrils. A Physiology & Behavior study found that people sitting in a dentist's office were less anxious and in better moods when the waiting room smelled like orange or lavender. If those scents can distract you from the drone of a dentist's drill, imagine what they can do in less torturous settings.

Do this: You're probably not the kind of guy who drives around with an air freshener dangling from his rearview. Instead, spritz on Giorgio Armani's citrusy Acqua Di Gio or Calvin Klein Eternity for Men before work or a date. Bonus: Nothing will boost your mood faster than the cute girl one cube over commenting on how swell you smell.

Set a goal — and then nail it
Why it works: Setting higher expectations for yourself doesn't create stress — it actually provides a release valve for stress. A 2006 study found that people who set goals were less anxious, felt better about themselves, and found more meaning in their lives than did their free-floating counterparts. "Setting goals boosts mood by increasing the likelihood of success, which results in better feelings about yourself and life in general," says Jennifer S. Cheavens, Ph.D., the study's lead author and an assistant professor at Ohio State.

Do this: Cheavens recommends setting reasonable, concrete goals and using multiple avenues to meet them. For example, commit to hitting the gym three times a week instead of vaguely declaring that you'll drop 10 pounds. If you miss a workout, vow to skip the starch at dinner. "You want goals to have smaller accomplishment points along the way, so you enjoy the mood boost that comes with success," says Cheavens.

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