After a knock to the head, many people notice changes in mood that are hard to put into words. An ordinary day can feel heavy. A small annoyance can turn into a sharp reply. Some people feel flat for hours without knowing why. This page is a plain note on how to track those shifts so you can describe them clearly to a clinician in the St. Louis metro. It is educational only and does not tell you what is causing anything.
Mood is hard to remember accurately. By the end of a week, the rough mornings tend to blur together, and the good afternoons can seem like they never happened. Writing things down as they happen gives you something concrete to bring to an appointment, and it helps you notice patterns you might otherwise miss.
What to write each day
Keep a small notebook or a note on your phone. Each day, write the date and then three short lines in plain words. Skip broad labels. A line like 'woke up flat, had no interest in lunch, snapped at my partner around four' tells a clinician far more than 'bad mood.'
Include the time of day, what was happening, who was around, how you slept, and whether anything seemed to help. Describe strength in your own words, such as mild, clear, or hard to shake. If you already use a scale in your daily life, you can use it, but you do not need to invent one.
Patterns worth noticing
Look for timing. Do the low stretches arrive at the same hour? Do they follow poor sleep, a long stretch at a desk, skipped meals, a crowded errand, or a loud room? You are not trying to solve anything yet. You are trying to describe what happens as accurately as you can.
It also helps to separate what you feel. Irritability, low energy, tearfulness, and a sense of feeling distant from people are different experiences. Give each its own line when it shows up. A clinician can make more sense of 'short with people, but I had energy' than of a single word that covers everything.
Calm stretches count too
Write down the good hours as well. A calm stretch is useful information. Note what was different that day: a quiet walk, a short rest, less background noise, a meal eaten earlier, or a conversation that did not drain you. Over a few weeks, these notes can show what tends to make the hard days easier or harder.
Bringing the log to your visit
Bring the log to your appointment and read it aloud or hand it over. Say when the changes started relative to the knock, whether they seem to be getting better, staying the same, or getting worse, and whether anything you tried made a difference. Keep the list honest rather than tidy. Missing days are fine. Write down that you missed them.
If you are unsure whether a change is worth mentioning, mention it anyway. Describing something early gives a clinician more to work with. A log is a record of what you noticed, not a test you have to pass, and it does not replace an examination.
Do not wait for a log to be complete if you notice anything severe or sudden. That includes a sudden severe headache, new confusion, trouble speaking, new weakness, a change in vision, or any thought of harming yourself. Seek urgent help right away. A written record is useful, but it should never delay care when symptoms are serious.
If starting a full log feels like too much today, write one line. Include the date, one word for how your mood felt, and one thing that was happening. That single line is a start, and a steady habit of short notes will usually tell you more than a long entry you only write once.