What is the relationship between sleeping too much and depression? How can one recover and get support for these issues? Discover the key principles of recovery, the four major dimensions, and resources from SAMHSA.

The Relationship Between Sleeping Too Much and Depression

Oversleeping can be a symptom of depression, as individuals with depression may sleep excessively as a way to cope with their negative emotions. However, too much sleep can also contribute to the development and persistence of depression. The relationship between sleeping too much and depression is complex and bidirectional – they can both cause and exacerbate each other. Understanding this connection is crucial for effective treatment and recovery.

The Guiding Principles of Recovery

Recovery from mental health and substance use conditions is defined by SAMHSA as “a process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live self-directed lives, and strive to reach their full potential.” The guiding principles of recovery include:

• Hope: The belief that recovery is possible and that these challenges can be overcome.
• Personalized Approach: Recovery is highly personal and occurs via many different pathways.
• Holistic Wellness: Recovery addresses the whole person and their community.
• Resilience: Setbacks are a natural part of life, and resilience is a key component of recovery.

The Four Major Dimensions of Recovery

SAMHSA identifies four major dimensions that support a life in recovery:

1. Health: Overcoming or managing one’s disease(s) or symptoms, and making informed, healthy choices.
2. Home: Having a stable and safe place to live.
3. Purpose: Conducting meaningful daily activities and having the independence to participate in society.
4. Community: Having relationships and social networks that provide support, friendship, love, and hope.

SAMHSA’s Office of Recovery

SAMHSA’s Office of Recovery was established to evaluate and initiate policy, programs, and services with a recovery focus. The office serves as a national clearinghouse and resource for recovery-oriented care, partnering with recovery community leaders to promote recovery-oriented principles and practices in real-world settings.

Recovery and Resilience

Resilience refers to an individual’s ability to cope with change and adversity. Resilience develops over time and gives an individual the capacity not only to cope with life’s challenges but also to be better prepared for the next stressful situation. Psychological resilience, the ability to cope with adversity and adapt to stressful life events, varies widely from person to person and depends on environmental as well as personal factors.

Recovery and Relationships

Having supportive relationships and social networks is a key component of the “Community” dimension of recovery. These relationships provide individuals in recovery with the support, friendship, love, and hope they need to maintain their progress and continue on their journey. Maintaining healthy relationships is an important aspect of overall recovery and wellness.

Recovery Support Services

Recovery support services are non-clinical services that assist individuals and families working toward recovery from mental and/or substance use disorders. These services can include peer support, recovery coaching, housing support, employment support, and other community-based services. Accessing these services can be an important part of the recovery process.

Cultural Awareness and Competency

Providing culturally aware and competent recovery-oriented care is essential for ensuring that individuals from diverse backgrounds can access the support they need. This involves understanding the unique cultural factors that may impact an individual’s recovery journey and tailoring services accordingly.

The Office of Behavioral Health Equity

The Office of Behavioral Health Equity at SAMHSA works to promote behavioral health equity by addressing disparities and improving access to quality care for underserved populations. This includes individuals from racial/ethnic minority groups, LGBTQ+ individuals, individuals with disabilities, and other marginalized communities.

In summary, the relationship between sleeping too much and depression is complex, but understanding the guiding principles and dimensions of recovery can help individuals and their support systems navigate the path to wellness. SAMHSA’s Office of Recovery and other resources provide valuable tools and support for those on the recovery journey.

Recovery and Recovery Support | SAMHSA

Overview

Recovery signals a dramatic shift in the expectation for positive outcomes for individuals who experience mental and substance use conditions or the co-occurring of the two.

SAMHSA’s working definition of recovery defines recovery as a process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live self-directed lives, and strive to reach their full potential.

Today, when individuals with mental and/or substance use disorders seek help, they are met with the knowledge and belief that anyone can recover and/or manage their conditions successfully. The value of recovery and recovery-oriented systems of care is widely accepted by states, communities, health care providers, peers, families, researchers, and advocates including the U.S. Surgeon General, the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), and others.

Guiding Principles

Hope, the belief that these challenges and conditions can be overcome, is the foundation of recovery. A person’s recovery is built on his or her strengths, talents, coping abilities, resources, and inherent values. It is holistic, addresses the whole person and their community, and is supported by peers, friends, and family members.

The process of recovery is highly personal and occurs via many pathways. It may include clinical treatment, medications, faith-based approaches, peer support, family support, self-care, and other approaches. Recovery is characterized by continual growth and improvement in one’s health and wellness and managing setbacks. Because setbacks are a natural part of life, resilience becomes a key component of recovery.

• Guiding Principles
• The Four Dimensions of Recovery
• The Office of Recovery
• Recovery and Resilience
• Recovery and Relationships
• Recovery Support
• Cultural Awareness and Competency
• The Office of Behavioral Health Equity

The Four Major Dimensions of Recovery

The Four Major Dimensions of Recovery

• Health
  

  Overcoming or managing one’s disease(s) or symptoms, and making informed, healthy choices that support physical and emotional well-being

• Home
  

  Having a stable and safe place to live

• Purpose
  

  Conducting meaningful daily activities, such as a job, school volunteerism, family caretaking, or creative endeavors, and the independence, income, and resources to participate in society

• Community
  

  Having relationships and social networks that provide support, friendship, love, and hope

The Office of Recovery

SAMHSA’s Office of Recovery

The Office of Recovery was established to evaluate and initiate policy, programs and services with a recovery focus and ensure the voices of individuals in recovery are represented. The Office will support the growth and expansion of recovery support services across the country.

A national clearinghouse and resource for recovery-oriented care across the mental health, substance use, and co-occurring domains, the Office promotes a recovery-oriented system of care working in partnership with recovery community leaders, tracking progress over time and identifying to resolve barriers to system transformation.

Implement recovery-oriented principles and practices in real-world practice settings with diverse groups of people diagnosed with behavioral health conditions.

SAMHSA shares the importance of recovery support and highlights resources that encourage engagement in mental health and substance use treatment.

The goal of this challenge is to identify innovations developed by peer-run or community-based organizations that advance recovery.

This video series is a set of conversations between parents and providers discussing varying topics related to difficult situations parents find themselves in.

Recovery and Resilience

Recovery and Resilience

Resilience refers to an individual’s ability to cope with change and adversity. Resilience develops over time and gives an individual the capacity not only to cope with life’s challenges but also to be better prepared for the next stressful situation. Psychological resilience, the ability to cope with adversity and to adapt to stressful life events, varies widely from person to person and depends on environmental as well as personal factors. It refers to positive adaptation, or the ability to maintain mental and physical health despite participating in stressful situations. Resilience is playing up those protective factors so they can outweigh the risk factors. Optimism and the ability to remain hopeful are essential to resilience and the process of recovery.

Because recovery is a highly individualized process, recovery services and supports must be age appropriate and offered over the life course and flexible enough to ensure cultural relevancy. What may work for adults in recovery may be very different for youth or older adults in recovery. For example, the promotion of resiliency in young people, and the nature of social supports, peer mentors, and recovery coaching for adolescents and transitional age youth are different than recovery support services for adults and older adults.

Recovery and Relationships

Recovery and Relationships

The process of recovery is supported through relationships and social networks. This often involves family members who become the champions of their loved one’s recovery. They provide essential support to their family member’s journey of recovery and similarly experience the moments of positive healing as well as the difficult challenges. Families of people in recovery may experience adversities in their social, occupational, and financial lives, as well as in their overall quality of family life.

These experiences can lead to increased family stress, guilt, shame, anger, fear, anxiety, loss, grief, and isolation. The concept of resilience in recovery is also vital for family members who need access to intentional supports that promote their health and well-being. The support of peers and friends is also crucial in engaging and supporting individuals in recovery.

Peer support assists individuals to engage or stay connected to the recovery process through a shared understanding, respect, and mutual empowerment. Peer support extends beyond the reach of clinical treatment into the everyday environment providing non-clinical, strengths-based support. This relationship can help lay the foundation for SAMHSA’s four dimensions of recovery.

A peer-led national center that provides training and technical assistance related to substance use disorder recovery.

Recovery Support – Cultural Awareness and Competency

Recovery Support

SAMHSA advanced recovery support systems to promote partnering with people in recovery from mental and substance use disorders and their family members to guide the behavioral health system and promote individual, program, and system-level approaches that foster health and resilience; increase housing to support recovery; reduce barriers to employment, education, and other life goals; and secure necessary social supports in their chosen community.

Recovery support is provided in various settings. Recovery support services help people enter into and navigate systems of care, remove barriers to recovery, stay engaged in the recovery process, and live full lives in communities of their choice.

Recovery support services include culturally and linguistically appropriate services that assist individuals and families working toward recovery from mental and/or substance use problems. They incorporate a full range of social, legal, and other services (PDF | 409 KB). that facilitate recovery, wellness, and linkage to and coordination among service providers, and other supports shown to improve quality of life for people (and their families) in and seeking recovery.

Recovery support services may be provided before, during, or after clinical treatment, or may be provided to individuals who are not in treatment but seek support services.

These services, provided by professionals and peers, are delivered through a variety of community and faith-based groups, treatment providers, schools, and other specialized services.  The broad range of service delivery options ensures the life experiences of all people are valued and represented.

For example, in the United States there are 34 recovery high schools that help reduce the risk in high school environments for youth with substance use disorders. These schools typically have high retention rates and low rates of students returning to substance use.

Additionally, SAMHSA’s Bringing Recovery Supports to Scale Technical Assistance Center Strategy (BRSS TACS) advances effective recovery supports and services for people with mental or substance use disorders and their families.

Find more Publications and Resources on Recovery and Recovery Support.

Cultural Awareness and Competency

Supporting recovery requires that mental health and addiction services:

• Be responsive and respectful to the health beliefs, practices, and cultural and linguistic needs of diverse people and groups
• Actively address diversity in the delivery of services
• Seek to reduce health disparities in access and outcomes

Cultural competence describes the ability of an individual or organization to interact effectively with people of different cultures. To produce positive change, practitioners must understand the cultural context of the community that they serve, and have the willingness and skills to work within this context. This means drawing on community-based values, traditions, and customs, and working with knowledgeable people from the community to plan, implement, and evaluate recovery activities.

Individuals, families, and communities that have experienced social and economic disadvantages are more likely to face greater obstacles to overall health. Characteristics such as race or ethnicity, religion, low socioeconomic status, gender, age, mental health, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity, geographic location, or other characteristics historically linked to exclusion or discrimination are known to influence health status.

SAMHSA is committed to addressing these health disparities by providing culturally and linguistically appropriate mental health, prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery support programs. This commitment is reinforced through the agency’s disparity impact statement that monitors programs and activities to ensure that access, use, and outcomes are equitable across racial, ethnic, and other under resourced populations.

Last Updated

Last Updated: 04/24/2023

Can Too Much Sleep Cause Depression? What To Know

Good sleep is an essential part of physical and mental health.

Sleep doesn’t just recharge you and prepare you to face another day. The right amount of sleep can also benefit your health in a number of ways. Still, even though quality sleep is necessary, you can overdo it.

The sweet spot for healthy sleep generally falls between 7 and 9 hours each night for most adults, or 8 to 10 hours for teenagers.

If you often don’t get the sleep you need, you’ll probably feel tired during the day, and you might notice more serious health effects over time.

Regularly getting more sleep than you need — sleeping more than 9 or 10 hours most nights — can leave you feeling pretty rotten, too.

You might feel groggy and disoriented if you oversleep, but you could also notice a low mood or feelings of depression.

But can oversleeping actually cause depression? We’ll explore the link between the two below.

While 2015 research found links between oversleeping and depression, most existing evidence suggests oversleeping is a symptom, not a cause, of depression.

Sleep problems commonly occur with depression. In fact, research from 2017 suggests that most people living with major depression have some type of sleep difficulty.

The study, which considered data from 3,573 people diagnosed with major depression, found that over 92 percent of the participants had trouble sleeping. Insomnia was the most common sleep problem, but nearly half of these participants experienced hypersomnia. About a third said they experienced both hypersomnia and insomnia.

Hypersomnia — or excessive daytime sleepiness, even after lots of sleep — is more often associated with atypical depression, now called major depression with atypical features. With this type of depression, positive life changes, exciting news, and other outside factors can temporarily brighten your mood — something that usually won’t happen with major depression.

According to research from 2008, you’re more likely to notice oversleeping with depression if you’re a woman or under the age of 30.

The link can go both ways

Sleep problems can develop long before depression, though experts have yet to determine exactly how sleep difficulties might contribute to depression risk.

When you live with depression, oversleeping on a regular basis could potentially worsen your symptoms.

A 2014 study even suggested that people who sleep for more than 8 hours may experience more depression symptoms than people who sleep 8 hours or fewer each night.

Think of it as a cycle. Depression often affects your mood, energy, and outlook for the future. You might feel drained and lethargic, less interested in your usual activities, and hopeless that your symptoms will ever improve.

Sleep, then, offers more than one solution. You might sleep because:

• you feel fatigued
• you have little interest in anything else
• sleep helps you temporarily escape other symptoms

Even simply lying in bed and occasionally dozing off might seem like the best way to spend your time when you don’t feel up to anything else. But then you might start feeling guilty about spending so much time in bed, leading to an even more dismal mood.

It’s normal to feel a little down or “blah” after sleeping in, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have depression.

Clinical depression causes persistent changes in mood that show up in most areas of life.

You might notice:

• changes in your normal energy levels
• feelings of sadness or hopelessness that don’t go away
• less interest in the activities you usually enjoy

These symptoms usually remain pretty consistent throughout the day. Oversleeping, on the other hand, can leave you feeling low, but your mood will probably lift eventually.

So why do you feel so out of it? Here are a few possible explanations.

Oversleeping disrupts your usual sleep-wake cycle

Not getting the right amount of sleep can throw off your circadian rhythm, or your natural sleep-wake cycle. This internal biological clock helps regulate daytime energy and alertness and nighttime sleepiness by sending signals to your body when it’s time to go to sleep or wake up.

Sleeping too little or too much can confuse the cells that send these signals, leaving your body uncertain how to respond. Should you wake up and feel energized? Or is more sleep the answer?

Consequently, you might wake up exhausted and lethargic, or feel ready for bed just a few hours after getting up. Over time, an inconsistent sleep-wake schedule can make it difficult to get the sleep you need — even when you aim for just the right amount.

Sleeping in can derail your plans for the day

You went to bed last night with big plans for the morning: Get up early, do some chores, take a long walk, and go grocery shopping for an afternoon barbecue with friends.

When you wake up 2 hours later than you planned, your mood instantly plummets as you realize you’ll need to hustle to even get half of those things done. You were looking forward to knocking out some cleaning and getting some exercise, but you’ll probably have to skip one of those.

Feeling as if you’ve already wasted your day can frustrate you and leave you grumpy and irritated. You might even decide not to bother with any of your plans, since you can’t do exactly what you wanted to do.

If oversleeping regularly keeps you from meeting friends or doing other things you enjoy, you might begin to feel guilty and disappointed in yourself. You might even stop making plans entirely, which can fuel loneliness and, in time, depression.

You have a sleep disorder

Oversleeping and ever-present exhaustion are key signs of the sleep condition hypersomnia.

With hypersomnia, you might wake up feeling disoriented and somehow still drained of energy. Instead of feeling refreshed, you might be unable to find the motivation to get out of bed and go about your day.

Other symptoms include:

• trouble with concentration and memory
• slowed-down thoughts or speech
• irritability
• anxiety
• changes in appetite and weight

These symptoms are often also seen with depression. It’s possible, then, that you could be oversleeping not because you have depression, but because you have a sleep disorder.

You could also oversleep when you don’t sleep well during the night. Maybe you’re in bed for 7 to 9 hours, but your sleep is frequently disrupted by:

• outside lights or noises
• nightmares
• mental or physical health conditions, such as anxiety or sleep apnea
• medication side effects
• stress

You wake up much later than planned, completely out of sorts. You stare at the clock in disbelief and dismay. What next?

If you already feel miserable, it might seem tempting to write the day off and stay in bed.

Yet, even though getting up might feel like an impossible feat, these strategies can help ease that groggy, late-morning funk.

Get moving

Not everyone wants to exercise first thing in the morning, but 2020 research suggested a short morning workout may help boost daytime concentration, focus, and memory.

Exercise can also boost energy and improve your mood, so it may help you shake off lingering fatigue and frustration after oversleeping.

Try a short walk around your neighborhood, or put on some energizing dance tunes to reap the mood-boosting benefits of music.

Even simple stretches and yoga can help you feel more awake and alert.

Eat breakfast

When you feel sleepy in the morning, your first concern might be coffee, green tea, or another energizing beverage.

You might not feel all that hungry, but a light, protein-rich breakfast can provide an energy boost that helps you feel more prepared to face the day.

A few nutritious breakfast ideas:

• oatmeal topped with fruit and yogurt
• a banana or apple with nut butter
• avocado or egg on whole-grain toast

Mild dehydration can also cause fatigue, so drinking some water might also help. (A quick splash on your face can’t hurt, either!)

Get some sun

For a natural energy boost, open your curtains or step outside into the sunlight as soon as you wake up. Natural light tells your body it’s time to start the day, so sunlight can help you feel more energized and awake.

Breakfast on the porch or a backyard yoga session can help raise your spirits along with your energy.

If it’s a cloudy day, or still dark when you wake up, turning on the lights can help, too.

Most people oversleep on occasion, especially after a few late nights or intense physical activity. If you usually don’t have any problems getting up in the morning, you probably don’t need to worry about sleeping too long once in a while.

But, if you notice more frequent oversleeping, it may be time to talk with a healthcare professional. Only medical and mental health professionals can diagnose sleep disorders and mental health conditions.

Getting an expert opinion becomes even more important when:

• symptoms of depression persist for longer than 1 to 2 weeks
• you don’t feel rested after any amount of sleep
• you can’t stay awake during the day
• your regular activities no longer interest you
• changes in mood begin to affect your daily life or relationships

If you need help now

If you need someone to talk with in a moment of distress, trained, compassionate crisis counselors can listen and offer support with finding helpful ways to cope. Here are a few options:

• Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.
• Text HOME to 741741 to reach the Crisis Text Line.
• Call 866-488-7386 or text START to 678678 to reach a counselor from The Trevor Project for LGBTQIA+ youth

Since depression and sleep disorder symptoms can overlap, make sure to tell a professional about all of your symptoms.

Even the symptoms that don’t seem relevant — anxiety, anger, aches and pains, increased tearfulness — can help a professional figure out what’s affecting your sleep habits.

Already getting support for depression? If you continue to oversleep, even as other symptoms improve, let your care team know. They can offer guidance on alternative approaches and treatments that can help prevent oversleeping and reduce the chances of your symptoms getting worse.

A night of good sleep usually feels pretty darn great, but oversleeping can leave you anxious, guilty, and irritable.

If you’re unable to shake a bad mood after sleeping in, calming breathing exercises or a loving-kindness meditation may help.

You can’t reclaim those lost hours, but that’s OK. Tomorrow is another day, and practicing self-compassion today can help you make the most of the hours that remain.

Crystal Raypole has previously worked as a writer and editor for GoodTherapy. Her fields of interest include Asian languages and literature, Japanese translation, cooking, natural sciences, sex positivity, and mental health. In particular, she’s committed to helping decrease stigma around mental health issues.

How to get out of bed during depression — Snob

Anastasia Maksimova in her book “Out of Depression. Exit nearby” shares his personal experience and gives a number of recommendations: when it is necessary to seek help from a specialist, how to concentrate, what to eat and how to help a person who has become a hostage to this disease. “Snob” publishes one of the chapters of

Photo: Twinsfisch/Unsplash

In the midst of depression, I knew exactly why I was waking up in the morning: to enjoy my sleep when I got home from work. Sleep, sex, a hot bath where I could sit for hours, and aerial gymnastics – only they brought me back to life. I know that many depressed people not only can’t have sex, they literally can’t get out of bed, take a shower, or cook food. Depression breaks willpower like a cookie and plunges us into apathy.

I lie down and stare at a wall with a faded pattern. I know that in moments of immobility I am vulnerable to my demons, and still I cannot move. Hands and feet seem to be nailed to the mattress, thoughts are stratified by fibers – I can’t concentrate on any of them. It is worth thinking about something, as it immediately crumbles into dust. My ability to focus is zero.

I’m screaming inside my head.

When I manage to get up and go to the kitchen, I stand by the table and try to force myself to do something. Turn on the kettle. You still have to decide what to wear. Brush your teeth. Too many tasks… And why all? For what purpose?

I’ll start by saying that it’s not your fault. This is not laziness, not idleness, not weak will. You are sick, and your condition is the result of an illness that makes you feel sick. Depression is known for its ability to paralyze desire and control. Even if before the first episode you were happy to meet every new day, then at the peak of depression it may seem to you that you won’t be able (and it’s pointless) even to get out of bed.

Why is this happening? Daily mood swings are normal in depression. At certain times of the day – right after sleep, in the middle of the day or late in the evening – you can feel a sharp deterioration in mood, weakness and lack of any motivation. During these peak moments, it is hard to get out of bed, it is impossible to get to work, brush your teeth, have breakfast or take a shower. Depressed people live on such “emotional swings” for months, balancing between the desire to die and the fear that it will take too much strength.

By the way, the time of day when the “worst thing” comes is different for different people. For me, for example, it was always morning, and in the evening I felt much better.

Stillness is calming. Lulls. But it also makes us easy prey for bad thoughts. Why can’t we get up in the morning?

You didn’t sleep well at night. There is a very strong link between depression and sleep disorders. Approximately three-quarters of patients with depression suffer from insomnia or, conversely, sleep too much, can not wake up. Sleep disturbance is one of the most dangerous symptoms of depression, it increases the risk of suicide. The feeling of lack of sleep affects those diagnosed with depression more than healthy people. The structure of sleep in patients with depression also changes: due to high levels of stress, they wake up more often at night, and their total sleep time is significantly reduced. The ratio of sleep phases also changes. The worst thing is that, unfortunately, many antidepressants not only do not solve this problem, but, on the contrary, worsen sleep. If you have been tossing and turning all night, it is not surprising that in the morning you do not want to get out of bed: your body is broken, your head is foggy, and most of all you want to stay in bed and continue to sleep.

No motivation. The main question that pops up in my head: why? Why get up, wash the dishes, take the children to kindergarten, why go to work, turn on the laptop, why strain? After all, it doesn’t make sense. Depression plunges us into absolute emptiness, into a vacuum. It takes away every grain of joy, and most importantly, it takes away the meaning. The paradox is that the longer we lie and let our thoughts circle over the garbage pit of consciousness, the worse it gets.

There are many decisions to be made. As soon as we get up, a whole mountain of tasks piles on us. It seems that making a choice is not difficult, but for a depressed person it easily becomes a straw that breaks the camel’s back. I could easily burst into tears, deciding whether to wear jeans or trousers for me – from the mere fact that it is necessary to think about it. Will paralysis is one of the symptoms of depression. More conscientious people fear that they will spoil everything with the wrong decision, but I was repelled by the very need for choice. One day I was driving to work and thinking about the afterlife (why not?). It suddenly occurred to me that when I die, my consciousness will die: no more decisions to make, no more early mornings, no more daily chores to deal with. This made it so good! Honestly, it was a very deep feeling of accepting death.

Guilt. It is born and consolidated due to inaction and is like running in a wheel of self-torture. You feel guilty for not being able to cope with depression, pull yourself together and finally start doing something, and these experiences take even more strength, weakness increases, and it becomes even more difficult to get up.

No positive expectation. Another reason why people stay in bed even when they have to get up and go to work is because they don’t see anything joyful during the day. Everything comes down to routine: work, lunch, subway, home … And so again and again: not a single joyful event that would make you smile.

Fatigue. This is my middle name. What it’s like to sleep 15-16 hours a day and still feel overwhelmed – I know this well. I could fall asleep on the subway, on the escalator, I could doze off at work with my head in my hands. It was like we were playing hide-and-seek with sleep, and I was a little kid who stuck his head under the bed and thought no one could see him. Sleep found me everywhere I went. Getting up in the morning was torture for me – and if not for the alarm clock, I would have stayed in bed until late at night.

Just no strength. There is such an eerie phenomenon – psychomotor retardation. This is a violation of not only cognitive, but also motor functions. In other words, you cannot move your arm or get out of bed, not figuratively, but literally. This symptom occurs only in very severe cases of depression.

Terry Cheeney, in his article for Psychology Today, describes this condition as follows: “One of the hardest things about depression that I explain to people is that the disease takes away control not only over emotions, but also over the body. This is called psychomotor retardation. It begins with a general slowdown of mental and physical processes and can lead to a state close to paralysis. One of those things that tops the list of symptoms of depression that I hate.

Not only is it difficult for me to move, it is literally impossible. Imagine that there is a bowl of frozen yogurt in front of me. I love frozen yogurt, I believe it makes the world a better place. But when I’m depressed, I can’t muster the energy and will to bring myself to move my hand and take a spoon. Yogurt just stands in front of me and teases me: “Well, who’s frozen now?” If I can’t force myself to do what will bring me pleasure, you can imagine how I feel when I have to do household chores.

I can’t tell you what to do in each of these cases because medication is often needed to break this vicious cycle. As, for example, for cases where depression prevents you from moving, including psychomotor retardation. I will tell you about the ways that helped me force myself to break out of the horizontal captivity.

Photo: Ben Blennerhassett/Unsplash

Simplify the morning as much as possible

The thought that I need not only to get up, but to make decisions immediately drove me into a state close to a stupor. If you work outside the home, you start to get nervous about what to wear, what to take with you, remember the tasks for the day … These thoughts make you feel sick – you want to freeze and not move, preferably never. I couldn’t bring myself to open the closet to pick out clothes.

If my partner didn’t make me breakfast, I wouldn’t eat anything because I wouldn’t have the strength to choose between cereal and a sandwich.

But every depression has “bright spots” – short periods when there is a clearing. For me, they happened mainly in the evenings, when the mood swings reached the “tolerable” point. I grabbed them to spread the straws and alleviate the morning suffering as much as possible. I laid out clothes next to the bed – down to my underpants, bra and tights. I packed my bag, put the cosmetics that I would need on the washing machine, and thought about what to eat for breakfast. So my morning became almost autonomous: after sleep, I could act without loading my brain.

It took away the fear of decisions. I was no longer so afraid to get out of bed: it no longer seemed to me that I would immediately be attacked by a million and one choices that had to be made. I have completely automated my morning.

Organize your time

The situation is more complicated if you work from home. On the one hand, you do not need to rush anywhere. On the other hand, you don’t have to rush anywhere. Unfortunately, this requires even more self-discipline, which you most likely do not have the strength for right now. Structure your morning as much as possible. You should have a plan for literally every 10 minutes: I get up, brush my teeth, pour coffee into the coffee pot . .. The more detailed the schedule, the easier it will be to implement this plan.

You must not leave yourself room for thought. If you leave space for depression to seep in, she will take advantage of this, you can be sure. But when your head and hands are busy with actions, your brain becomes “closer”.

It doesn’t matter at all which part of the plan you implement. The main thing is that you have a plan for this time. Praise yourself, even if you have made two points out of ten, and do not forget to tell yourself that this is already an amazing success.

Monitor “bank account”

There was a wonderful episode on the Talking Brains podcast in which 20-year-old psychologist Dr. Irene Kerzhnerman recommended that we treat our mental energy like a bank account: “Everything we do requires us to use energy. And there are things that we need to “recharge the battery.” They usually fall into five categories: eating, sleeping, reading, laughing, and moving.” To continue the bank account metaphor, these are incomes, and everything else is expenses.

If you are depressed, it’s time to recalculate, because the disease – depending on the severity – is a tax on your income of about 50%. Try to treat life like a bank account. Suppose a person wakes up with 1000 energy points in his pocket. He spends 1-2 points each on a routine like brushing his teeth, walking the dog, or making breakfast. Then he probably spends about 200-300 points on a difficult task at work, but he goes to lunch, laughs with friends and reads an interesting book in between, thus compensating for the costs. Maybe after work he goes to the gym, gets another 400 points, and by the end of the day is in the black.

Well done man! We envy you. But we are not like that.

Instead of waking up with 1000 points, we wake up with 500 or 300… Try to estimate how many points you will give yourself at the beginning of the day. I know the most tempting answer is “0” or “1”, but try to be realistic. Give yourself some space.

What takes a couple of points for a non-depressed person will require much more from you. Write down each action that takes energy. For example: get out of bed (100), brush your teeth (50), take a shower (400), put on makeup (1000) … Now see what you can throw away from this list if you don’t have enough points for life. Or think about how to replenish the energy balance.

Draw a table with one column for the action, a second for how many points you think it will take, and a third for how much it actually took. I understand this may sound silly. But many actions are much easier to perform when you are ready for them than when you think about them. Planning itself calms the nervous system and activates the cerebral cortex.

Try this for at least a few days. Don’t forget to write down things that give you strength. So you will evaluate whether everything is in order with your “account” and how to fix the situation.

Do one thing

Sometimes we want too much of ourselves. And then this endless line floats in my head “I can’t, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t” – until we give up, cover our heads with a blanket and allow ourselves to fall into a slumber.

Don’t let apathy take over your mind. I know this is easier said than done because I was there too. But we underestimate ourselves even when we are depressed. No need to plan to move mountains and build a crystal palace, just get up and do one thing.

If you’re frustrated by the pile of dishes in the kitchen, get up and wash one cup. Only one. It will not take much time and effort, and you will make a breakthrough from your swamp, and it will be much more valuable. If you feel the energy in yourself to wash the plate as well – great, let’s go! If not, that’s fine too. Go back to bed if you want to, and praise yourself for being able to get up and do something. See, it’s not that hard. Or, on the contrary, it is incredibly difficult. And then all the more worth considering yourself a good fellow.

Don’t get up

Actually, this advice goes against most books I’ve read about depression. According to their authors, the main thing is to get up. But, in my opinion, it is much more important to make the “rational brain” move.

You may simply not be able to get up no matter what you do. I understand because I know what it’s like. A familiar feeling: just put your foot on the floor – and all the sorrows of this world will fall. And here, in bed, there is at least the illusion of security and tranquility.

And you know what? Don’t get up. Nobody dies if you just stay in bed today. There is absolutely no reason to blame yourself. Accept it as a decision, not a defeat. Much more important is not to allow yourself to lie down staring at the ceiling or the wall. Grab a book, laptop, notepad, coloring book, and crayons—anything that will keep you entertained. Shake your brain. In the end, you can even stretch in bed – you don’t have to leave the “island of calm” for this.

Don’t make it a daily practice, but don’t beat yourself up for spending one full day in bed.

Most importantly, whatever method you choose to get yourself to stand up, praise yourself for every action. There is nothing ridiculous here. Now you are a fighter, and every step for you is a victory. It’s not your fault that you feel lethargic, it’s just how your brain works right now. You can change it. The main thing is to give yourself time for this.

7 Symptoms of Hidden Depression You May Not Be Aware of

You may not be aware of your illness until you are examined by a specialist. What are the symptoms of hidden depression?

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Health problems

What do these symptoms mean?

mental health

Depression

Inability to get out of bed, low self-esteem, feelings of powerlessness and social isolation – most of us have no trouble identifying the classic signs of clinical depression.

Do not self-medicate! In our articles, we collect the latest scientific data and the opinions of authoritative health experts. But remember: only a doctor can diagnose and prescribe treatment.

But the fact is that these symptoms appear most often already when the disease has gone far enough. At the same time, you yourself can be one of the 300 million inhabitants of the Earth who suffer from depression – and not know about it. Pay attention to these early signs of hidden depression – if you find yourself with three or more, it may be time to see a doctor.

You often lose your temper

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Have you become more irritable and often lash out at colleagues, friends, and even your dog? According to a 2013 study, more than half of depressed patients list temper tantrums and irritability among their symptoms. If you notice that your character has become more explosive, you may need to see a doctor or at least take a depression test.

You started waking up unusually early

People suffering from depression sleep a lot: their energy level is extremely low, and due to disturbed biochemical processes, the brain does not get proper rest during sleep and you want to sleep longer and longer. But few people know that insomnia and extreme early awakenings, when you wake up at four or five in the morning and can’t get back to sleep, are also a sign of depression.

You are not interested in anything

If your usual hobby has ceased to attract you, if you do not return to your once favorite activity for two weeks or more, this may also be a sign of depression. This is one of the most insidious symptoms, since it does not allow us to help ourselves: doing what we love, we get pleasure and happiness hormones that could help us cope with the disease – but the inability to return to the once beloved activity only exacerbates the symptoms.

You’re spending more time on social media

If you’re suddenly spending more time than usual on your Facebook or Instagram, it could also be a sign of depression. The fact is that this disease inevitably leads to a decrease in social activity, and “sticking” in social networks can be an attempt to eliminate the lack of activity. But the problem is that ignoring the problem does not help to cope with it and only aggravates the situation.

You constantly feel pain in your back and lower back

A study conducted in 2015 confirmed the relationship between depression and persistent pain in the lower back, and the more severe the depression, the more intense the pain patients complained of. The authors of the study suggest that this may be due to the fact that depression makes our nerve endings more sensitive. Be that as it may, regular pain, especially if accompanied by other symptoms, is a serious reason to see a doctor.

You lose your appetite

Most often, depression is accompanied by a change in appetite, and in the early stages it usually becomes lower. In some cases, this initially pleases patients, but soon the loss of weight and appetite causes a decrease in energy, the level of which in depression is already extremely low.

You become less decisive

Of course, shyness and indecision are not necessarily associated with depression and may simply be features of your character, but if these qualities have appeared in you recently, this may be a sign of an illness. If suddenly you begin to experience difficulty in making a decision, and the need to make a choice plunges you into despair or panic, consult a doctor. Yes, this decision may be difficult, but in the end it can save you.