Hello, I'm Austin. I made Mood Loops. I have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Level 1 and Inattentive-Type ADHD. Maybe you're familiar:

• I had an argument a while ago that triggered a seething, furious rage. I became jumpy, irritable, angry, untrusting, isolated. My noise sensitivity got worse. All over a minor injustice from someone I'd never spoken to before. I had those physical symptoms for a week.

• Another time, I missed a day of my medication. I felt giddy and restless, and the next day irritable and self-loathing.

• Whenever I eat eggs, dairy, bread, or foods containing nickel, my guts twist up and my muscles tense for a few days.

• My girlfriend gets overwhelmed by emotions at a certain point in her menstrual cycle. It's hard for me and hard for her.

For me, being autistic means that every thought—every feeling, every emotion, everything I notice, every irritation, every kind of pain—is huge, sticky, and barbed. I have to pluck each one and do something about it. I need to know why.

What helps me most is to map "Why am I here?" rumination to factual causes:

• I am having a meltdown. That's why.
• I have missed my medication. That's why.
• I have eaten something unusual. That's why.
• My girlfriend's menstrual cycle exists. That's why.

If my explanation seems authoritative, then, almost magically, I feel like I've been freed. I can shed my guilt and rage, and treat those autism-magnified feelings. I wanted to optimize my ability to give myself explanations, and I made Mood Loops.

Mood Loops is for capturing "That's why" for the things in my life that just keep happening. It's an inventory for divergences from my routine, and lets me say:

1. I feel crappy.
2. I remember I had a scary salad yesterday.
3. I'll make a new loop and forgive the next 3 days of this feeling I call "crappy."
4. Later: why do I feel crappy? Salad.
5. OK. I'm free.

I hope Mood Loops can free you too.

By the way, the day-by-day cycle system I made for Mood Loops is good for more than just moods and symptoms. Check out the examples below for some specific use cases.

-Austin