5 Small Signs Your Life Is Wildly Out Of Balance, According To Psychology
Being out of balance can make you spiral unexpectedly.
MiMaLeFi | Canva Is your life out of balance? No surprise if you answer yes, since life is always moving in and out of balance. Every change leads to some imbalance until you readjust to it.
However, significant or constant changes without correction can indicate your life is wildly out of balance and could lead to mental, emotional, or physical problems. When we are out of balance with one aspect of life, it can cause imbalance to spread and affect even the simplest everyday tasks.
Here are five small signs your life is wildly out of balance, according to psychology:
1. You display out-of-the-ordinary behaviors
What's out of the ordinary for you isn't necessarily out of the ordinary for someone else. This means that signs of imbalance are, at least to some extent, personal to you. For example, you might like your home to be neat. You like dishes cleaned and the bed made.
In contrast, some people don't care about these things. Their dishes pile up, beds are unmade, and clothes carpet the floor. For these people who don't prefer tidiness, these behaviors aren't likely to be signs that their lives are unbalanced.
However, for you, when your house gets messy and you leave it that way, it's a sign your life is out of balance. In general, this behavior isn't extraordinary. But it's weird for you. Something's not quite right. A study in the Journal of Environmental Psychology explored the associations between clutter and well-being and found that clutter in the home accounts for some of the variance in well-being.
Chances are, if you're not looking after your house, you're not looking after yourself, your self-care, or your mental or emotional health. Maybe you're spending more money than usual, and it makes you uncomfortable, but you don't do anything about it. Maybe your eating habits have changed. You're eating or drinking more, skipping meals, or switching from a healthy, balanced diet to junk food.
You're staying at home alone even though you have many friends and typically love socializing. It can be any change, especially those you can't explain.
Since this sign is how you differ from your norm, it's crucial to know yourself. Be self-referential rather than compare yourself to your friends or the general public.
2. You have mysterious ailments appear
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Ailments are always a sign that something is out of balance. But when you can identify the source — the flu, a strained muscle, or something more serious — you can address it. You can often regain balance.
However, if you have aches, pains, or other symptoms that health providers cannot identify, it's time to look inside yourself. Missed communication opportunities between health care providers and patients were found to be prevalent for a third of the patients in a 2019 study.
Are you emotionally, mentally, spiritually, or energetically out of balance?
3. You are chronically moody
Moodiness can express itself in several ways, such as being quick to anger or tears, a greater tendency toward confusion and forgetfulness, unease, indifference, lethargy, or hopelessness.
A one-off or periodic expression of moodiness doesn't necessarily imply chronic imbalance. However, more frequent and prolonged moods can be significant signs that your life is out of balance.
4. Your sleep patterns change
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Altered sleep patterns are typically signs of imbalance. Perhaps this manifests as going to bed much earlier than usual or sleeping longer hours. A study of 362 college students demonstrated how "healthy sleep patterns were positively associated with behavioral intention and perceived behavioral control."
It could also be a change in sleep quality, such as more frequent interruptions, inability to fall back asleep once awoken, more frequent or severe nightmares, or tossing and turning.
5. You have no will to do anything
One of the most common expressions of having no will and no interest is not wanting to get out of bed in the morning. This sign of imbalance can also underline the change in behaviors mentioned above. You lose all interest and power to motivate yourself to fulfill a want or need to do.
You might have noticed these signs can be indicative of other issues. For example, lack of will or lethargy can be a sign of depression, which is itself an imbalance.
When you notice any of these signs, take time to reflect and evaluate whether you can identify what is out of balance and how you can address it, whether through self-care or seeking help from someone else, even the medical community.
Patricia Bonnard, Ph.D., ACC, is a certified International Coaching Federation (ICF) leadership coach, certified Martha Beck life coach, and Master/Instructor Energy Healer.
