What I’m Noticing About Myself Lately

The other day in counseling, we were catching up on the last few weeks. My therapist asked a lot of follow-up questions. Which, honestly, is kind of the point. She wanted to check in about side effects and make sure nothing concerning was creeping in under the radar.

Then she asked the question.

Were the meds making me moodier?

Without hesitation, I said, “Nah. I feel great!”

And I meant it.

But after I left the session, the question lingered. I replayed the last couple of weeks in my head. I had been quicker to shut down whining and complaining. I had been less tolerant of behavior that drained me. So maybe I was moodier?

When in doubt, I ask my other half. He’s very good at telling me the truth, whether I’m fully ready for it or not.

So, half joking and half bracing myself, I asked him, “Do you think the meds are making me moodier?”

He didn’t pause.

“No,” he said. “You’re just not letting people walk all over you anymore. You’re setting clearer boundaries. Honestly, I’ve felt for a long time that you put up with too much from the kids before putting your foot down. You’re just putting your foot down sooner now.”

That stopped me in my tracks.

Because from the inside, it did feel like irritability. Sharp edges. Less patience for nonsense. A quicker reaction when something didn’t sit right. I worried I’d become harder. Less easygoing. Less agreeable. Less… pleasant.

Then he added something that mattered even more.

“With how much better you feel and how productive you are, I haven’t seen anything that would make me worry or ask you to stop taking the medication.”

I don’t always appreciate my husband’s perspective. But on this particular topic, I really did.

It gave me space to pause and look honestly at how I’d been responding all week. Not emotionally, but realistically. Was I overreacting? Was I snapping unnecessarily?

Turns out, my reactions were reasonable.

They were just unfamiliar.

Or maybe they were unfamiliar compared to the version of me who was burned out, overextended, and constantly absorbing more than she should.

What felt like moodiness was actually me responding sooner instead of later. Speaking up instead of swallowing it. Addressing things before resentment had time to grow roots.

And that realization felt less like a problem… and more like progress.