How do you get out of bed when depressed?

[Deleted member 541]

@whiteraven Work is what gets me out of bed too. I firmly believe that you have to have a purpose in life. Job, kids, animals, husband, wife...... whatever, but a purpose to motivate you...

 

[Tornadic Thoughts]

On the days I feel I can't get out of bed, my bladder eventually does the job for me. I make myself get in the shower or soak in a hot epsom salt bath as soon as I get up to go pee. If I miss that window of opportunity, I can very easily remain in my dysfunctional funk the rest of the day. The shower is the fastest route, but the bath provides some ritual time that also helps, like smudging, using essential oils, and having more time to practice alternate nostril and diaphragmatic breathing.

I visualize the water washing away a lot of the shit weighing me down and imagine it going down the drain. Adios mother f*ckers is my final farewell to those thoughts. Some days it works like magic, other days I still feel quite shitty, but much cleaner and more likely to get dressed and do something other than go back to bed. And once in a while, my day will be so shitty I feel like I need to bathe multiple times to wash the residue of my and other people's baggage away.

I also stretch, do my deep breathing exercises, and speak very kindly to my body and whole self while still in bed in the mornings, and that helps a great deal. My next move is to grab some water then go outside and do some deep breathing exercises, hop on the mini-trampoline for a few, then spend at least 20 minutes in the direct morning sun, weather permitting.

Then I crank some jams and grab a hula-hoop to dance with for a few songs. After all that, I prepare my herbal infusions and lemon water and hydrate the cells I just spent time oxygenating. It's a lot of damn work to be honest, but helps create that forward momentum I need most days.

Being more than okay with not having to make every single day a productive one is just as important by allowing myself to go back to bed when I really need to without an added self-inflicted guilt trip.

Making my overall health my greatest daily purpose, vs. picking symptoms apart and trying to address them one at a time helped me improve in ways I thought were no longer possible based on my age and various professional opinions. Previously, it also seemed everyone else's well-being and bottom lines were my main focus while mine remained on the back burner. Shifting my a-tension was very necessary.

Tapping into water, earth, air, and fire elements each day are my keys to improved functioning within most days. Water (bathing - or even as simple as spritzing myself on a hot day with some water and peppermint essential oil) feels like it washes away the layers and leaves me feeling cleansed, earth (gardening, foraging, walking barefoot on grass and in the dirt - connecting with the animals in all ways possible other than on my dinner plate) provides much nourishment as long as I nurture and respect it, the air that I breathe (my breath and choosing to purposely tap into its power by practicing it multiple times daily) and how I choose to breathe it is the key ingredient in that which supports my life, as no breath = no life, and the fire (in the outdoor fire pit, via smudging with sage sticks, or via gentle non endocrine disrupting candles) reminds me of the importance of being able to sit with things until they're extinguished and how just a little spark can quickly ignite some major shit.

 

[Deleted member 37085]

Still trying to find that *sweet spot* that never was re sleep, movement, and wakey-wakey! So I do appreciate all the posts here and this thread too.

 

[Nessa7]

I take my alarm and put it next to whatever I think will have the most impact in the morning. When it goes off in the morning, I have to get out of bed to turn it off, and I might as well do whatever it is that I put it next to since I'm already out of bed and standing next to it.

 

[whiteraven]

On the days I feel I can't get out of bed, my bladder eventually does the job for me.

LOL. Oh, I totally forgot my bladder. That very often does the job for me. If you've never just laid there in a pool of your own pee, do it a few times, and you won't do it many more.

 

[Deanna]

I've always wondered if our metabolism is slower. I have an ( almost dead) thyroid that doesn't work. I take pills for it. I have a physical job and I'll be damn if I don't have to come home and get on the treadmill for an hour.. I don't much anymore because I've been going through a funk.. but now I need to go mow the yard. I have burn-out, because I've been here for so long, but I guess I should be grateful I have a roof over my head.. :headphone:

 

[anthony]

How do you get out of bed when depressed?

Step 1 -- force yourself to the shower.

Step 2 -- enjoy the shower, brush your teeth in the shower, wash, shampoo, so forth.

Step 3 -- get dressed.

Step 4 -- start planning something to do and occupy your time back at step 1.

 

[notsurewheretoturn]

For me its my pets. They need me, no one else does.

It also helps that my bathroom is as far from the bedroom as possible so when I have to get up to go to the loo, I have to go through the lounge (say hello to the degus on the way), through the kitchen (switch the kettle on on the way) . By the time I'm back in the lounge and heading to the bedroom, my boys are awake and wanting their breakfast.

Feeding them and watching them play keeps me from going back to bed. Looking after them keeps me alive.

 

[anthony]

@notsurewheretoturn, that is a super good setup you have for your management. Well done. Use what you have so it works for you -- more people who struggle with this should do exactly what you're doing. As you know, it works.