Mood repair strategies

Mood repair strategies offer techniques that an individual can use to shift their mood from general sadness or clinical depression to a state of greater contentment or happiness. A mood repair strategy is a cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal psychological tool used to affect the mood regulation of an individual. Various mood repair strategies are most commonly used in cognitive therapy. They are commonly assigned as homework by therapists in order to help positively impact individuals who are experiencing dysphoria or depression. However, these tools can also be used for individuals experiencing temporary unwanted moods. Many factors go into the effectiveness of mood repair strategies on an individual ranging from the client's self-esteem to their experience with the strategy being used. Even the way the mood repair strategy is presented (either to avoid negative moods or to pursue positive moods) may have an effect on that strategy's ability to improve mood.

Mood repair strategies have existed in a casual and unscientific way for basically all of modern human history due to general affect and the desire to change that affect when it is negative. Generally the techniques could be considered "common knowledge" but these techniques were unexplored in research. Concepts such as "think happy thoughts" and "don't listen to sad music" are commonly prescribed by friends or family to those suffering in negative moods. What remained to be seen though, was how the various individuals differed and subsequently, which of these "common knowledge" concepts should be suggested or how they should be phrased when presented. The first scholarly mention of mood repair strategies came from Joseph Forgas and Gorden Bower in 1988. Extensive listing and studying of these techniques started in the mid 1990s. It has primarily focused on the differences in the individuals to whom the mood repair strategies are given and how the strategies prove effective on each type of person. While various personality types may be more receptive to mood repair strategies it appears that there has been some success in working with all types of individuals. While professional use of mood repair strategies began primarily in the clinical cognitive psychology movement the expansion of the positive psychology movement is helping to increase the professional use of these mood repair strategies.

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