Here's an idea: If your symptoms are caused by your own habits and behavior, you can try writing scripts. Scripts are basically just messages that you write down and read to yourself at certain times. They may help; they may not. You can use your own judgement and your support system to create them and determine how successful they are. And keep in mind that if your symptoms have a biological basis, these scripts may have little or no effect.
I would start with at least 2 scripts: one for you to read when you are feeling upset or catch yourself having mood swings and another for you to read on a regular schedule. Maybe call the first one your 'Surprise Script' and the other your 'Planned Script'.
For your Surprise Script, write down what you want to say to yourself when you're feeling upset or out of control. You can start by simply admitting, 'I'm upset right now, and I don't want to feel this way.' You may include something like 'I feel overwhelmed, as if I have no control over my reactions. But is that really true? By stopping and reading this script, I am already starting to change my behavior and take control of the situation.' You can go on to include things from your Planned Script.
For your Planned Script, include the negative effects that your problems are having and the reasons that you want to change them. How are your problems hurting you, what are they costing you - time, happiness, personal relationships? Write these down. Take an honest look at your thoughts and behaviors and point out the ones that are harmful or don't make sense. If you are overreacting, admit it. If you have legitimate concerns, confront them - let them out in the open. List the positive ways that your life would change if you learn to deal with your concerns or change your behavior. If there are other things that you could do to deal with your problems, remind yourself to do those as well.
You could try a 5 paragraph structure:
1) describe the problem
2) talk about the negative effects that it has on your life
3) list the things that you can do and are doing to resolve or learn to deal with the problem
4) remind yourself of the reasons that you are making this effort to resolve or deal with the problem and name some ways that your life will improve
5) Congratulate yourself for completing the exercise and acknowledge any ways that you have already improved (you would add these as you progress)
It's very important that you not lie to yourself or try to make the situation seem better than it really is. Include positive and encouraging comments, like 'I'm reading this script because I want to get better' or 'If I can learn to deal with this problem, my life will be better because [list some ways that your life will be better]'. But comments that are not true or ignore or dismiss your problem, like 'There's nothing at all to worry about' or 'Everything will be okay' are not helpful.
When you're done writing your scripts, schedule time to read them - be sure it's a schedule that you can easily keep. You may want to start with 30 minutes a day for 1 week. Find a place free of interruptions, and spend all of the scheduled time reading your script and thinking about what it says. You can make changes to the script during this time too. At the end of the week (or whatever), decide if you want to continue for another week, maybe with a new script.
If you miss a day or let yourself slip, you don't need to beat yourself up - just admit it and get back on schedule. And congratulate yourself for your successes, even ones that seem small.
It's hard to give more specific details about what your scripts could say - it depends on your specific situation. They will say things that you probably already say to yourself or can figure out on your own. The scripts help by adding planning, structure, and focus to your effort, and they make you examine your problem in a more thorough and detailed way. But if you don't feel comfortable doing it, then just don't. And if you do see another psychologist, you can ask them whether they think these kinds of scripts could help you. If they think so, they can help you write them.
Congratulations on your improvement.
