Can Switching In Change Your Mood?

[Ranger]

I have heard of switching out to adjust your attitude or switching in so the entire system is affected by the fronter's mindset, but has anyone switched in only to suddenly have a different mood?

 

The last time I switched in, I instantly became tired and demotivated. Before, I was tired but eager to get some things done. Cat didn't feel demotivated prior to the switch, so the change in my mood felt out of the blue. This is frustrating because I want to stay switched-in for more than an hour before giving up and taking a nap, especially because I want to switch-in for my classes this semester.

 

I have had issues with being sleepy and tired during switching attempts, but we never suspected the switching itself could be the problem. Usually we blamed the problem on me laying down and realizing how comfy and warm the bed was or the mental effort put into the attempt exhausting us.

 

The only other explanation Cat and I thought of is I'm more sensitive to the body being sleep deprived. The only reason it may not affect me as much normally is because I'm possessing the body and have a level of detachment from it. If this is the case, does that mean some headmates within the same system are more sensitive to the body's state than others when switched-in?

 

My guess is this isn't limited to motivation or being tired. Has anyone else experienced any other sudden mood changes immediately after switching in?

[Luminesce]

We rarely have particularly strong moods, but absolutely the mood-of-the-fronters can be totally different immediately after switching for us, most noticeably when Lucilyn switches in and by default is just happier/more excited than us. But I believe even bad moods are overwritten - none of us are the type to run away from feeling bad, we'd rather work through it, but at least from my college days I know Tewi was able to take over for me when I wasn't feeling up to anything.

 

That's just technically speaking though. It would be simpler to say that we each keep our own moods, so if someone who felt bad switched out, the new fronter would probably feel their default while the one who switched out would still feel bad, though they'd also tend to go inactive quickly. That's why we tend to try and work through feeling bad rather than switching to get away from it.

 

This all probably differs by system, though, including preference for wanting to "work through" feeling bad lol.

[Ember.Vesper]

Vesper: The closest I've come is that, in my first few weeks of switching only, I often lost my train of thought while switching and forgot what I switched in to do. Becoming fatigued has always taken time; more likely, someone new switching in will help wake the body up a bit. For us, our various emotional states hold very steady switching in both directions.

 

I'm more sensitive to the body's state than Ember regardless of whether I'm switched in or not. For us, it's more a matter of personality than position.

 

Ember: There were a few times that Vesper stole the front and put me in "time out" rather than allow me to continue escalating with my then-wife. I would generally calm down in ten to twenty minutes and be let back out -- utterly different from, say, Bear's re-booting. We can't change moods without experiencing thought and time.

[Luminesce]

Oh, I wasn't really thinking about it from the perspective of switching in changing the existing mood of the person switching in. Hmm. I mean, "Can it?", I'm sure it can. Does it for us? Not really, no. If my tulpas are totally unfocused, there might be slight drifting towards feeling like body's default/autopilot state, which is basically how I usually feel, but at least as experienced switchers we've not had it happen to an extent where it was noticeable or lasting upon becoming ~conscious/leaving autopilot mode. But our experiences aren't really yours, maybe switching could do that to you. It's certainly not optimal and would hopefully be something you could grow out of over time/with practice.

 

(But yeah, short version, my tulpas' moods come with them to the body immediately upon switching, and stay more or less the same upon switching out, and change rather naturally based on circumstances while-switched)

Edited January 8, 2020 by Luminesce