Have you ever felt you needed to make a decision, but you really didn’t feel up to it? And whenever you’ve felt that way, your decisions don’t turn out well?

You may be onto something. We simply don’t function well under certain conditions, like when we’re tired or hungry. That’s when you’re most likely do something you’ll live to regret. So you need to stop and figure out what your body needs. With this in mind, some therapists are recommending a coping mechanism with the acronym HALT, which stands for:

• Hungry
• Angry
• Lonely
• Tired

“The purpose [of HALT] is to help us identify these experiences when we are tempted to engage in a negative behavior and to instead address the underlying issue,” says Kassondra Glenn, LMSW, a social worker and addiction specialist.

Use this method to ask yourself what is going on with your body. If it’s clear you are having a bad day, you can use the HALT acronym as a checklist to determine exactly where the problem is: hungry, angry, lonely, tired.

“Asking these questions brings more self-awareness. You’ll see what causes you to feel unlike yourself, which guides you toward having more emotional regulation and keeping a more centered, peaceful state of being,” says physician and integrative medicine specialist Dr. Catherine Uram.

Once you regain emotional control, you’ll be better at thinking clearly and acting rationally.

If you think this method would benefit you, the details are at “Here’s How To Use the HALT Method To Figure Out Why You’re So Grumpy” by Isadora Baum (https://www.wellandgood.com/halt-method/?).