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How to Get Out of Bed When Depression Is Keeping You Down

Do you wake up in the morning and, within moments of opening your eyes to a day full of opportunity, think “what’s the point?”

You are not alone. This feeling of constant dejection, that complete inability to feel any sense of self-belief or confidence, is something that often leaves you feeling weak and timid. Such feelings often can be quite aggravating, and will normally leave you with a huge sense of ill-feeling. This feeling, for many of us, is depression: a complete inability to see beyond the negatives in our lives.

For many of us, depression is one of the biggest obstacles in day-to-day life. It stops us from looking for new opportunities for self-improvement, and it holds us back in moments of clarity. When we begin to see the light, depression closes the blinds and curtains. Getting out of bed can even feel like a minor victory, such is our lack of effervescence for life as a whole.

If you feel like this on a regular basis, then I recommend you consider some of the following tips for managing your depression. They might help you to get your feet out of bed when you feel at your lowest.

Stay Hydrated

To start-off, you should look to improve your fluid levels. It’s an important first step to success, and can bring about a sense of clarity. Dehydration causes physical and mental limitations, and will only contribute to your ill-feeling.

Stay hydrated on a more regular basis and use a hydration calculator to help get a closer idea of where you might be going wrong.

Start with Small Steps

Make it simple to start-off – sit up nice and slowly. Appreciate that you are living with depression, and that every step – even merely sitting up in bed – is a minor victory. Make sure that you take some time every morning to look around you. Instead of wishing you were surrounded with riches and opulence, consider taking a moment in the morning to appreciate what you do have in life.

A small bit of gratitude in the morning for the good things in your life will have a positive impact on your attitude for the rest of the day.

Make Getting up Worthwhile

Part of the reason why you might not get up is that you have no real reason to move in the first place. If you feel like this, then make a morning schedule worth moving for. Simply jot down some things you could do in the morning: a coffee/tea, some breakfast, a light workout and then a shower sounds a lot better than moping around in front of the TV, does it not?

If you want to start working towards a happier sense of self, then you should make getting up a more worthwhile experience. Give yourself something to do every morning to start your day.

Sort out Your Inner Affairs

So, you woke up this morning and you immediately felt the burning embers of a tinge of rage. That is not good. Instead of just raging at the world and letting that heated ember keep you warm, consider why you feel like this.

What at this moment in time is making you so angry? What makes you want to storm around the place and feel like ranting? Take a moment to think about what makes you feel that way. You never know, a solution might pop out in your moment of self-reflection!

Stop Taking Criticism so Strongly

Someone being mean to you or critiquing your work or personality can become an easy excuse for staying in bed. Instead of thinking he or she was rude to you and using that as another example of a world out to get you, ask yourself this: did the person have a point?

Often, yes. If someone was just being mean and you cannot see a reason for the criticism, then why let it get you down?

However, if that person did have a point, consider listening to the critique and taking the steps needed to force a positive change. Trust me, it’s much better than just moping around and waiting for the worst to come!

Command Technology, Don’t Let It Rule You

Instead of allowing your social media accounts to keep you awake until 4AM, use social media to your advantage. Network. Communicate with others. Open up new avenues of potential business or opportunity. Instead of just refreshing your Twitter feed for the 50th time this morning, send that tweet or direct message to the person you want to make a positive impression on.

You never know, reaching out across technology might just open an opportunity to you that you did not think was possible.

Start Saying No

The best thing that you can do to make sure you can get out of bed is to start saying no to commitments or situations you are dreading. One of the reasons you might stay in bed all day is that you simply feel like you have to face the obligations of the day when you cannot or do not want to face them.

Instead of forcing yourself into damaging and negative scenarios, learn to say no. There is often an immense satisfaction that stems from saying no, and it can mean that you spend less time fretting about what is to come.

And lastly, stay focused on change. Your life will not see a material shift for the better simply because you want it. Nor will such changes happen overnight. Instead, you should look to be good to yourself and tell yourself that change will come, but it won’t be immediate.

Every step above, though, is a small step towards forcing such positive change to come. It’s the smallest, simplest yet most strikingly significant way to really make the problem of getting out of bed a touch easier to overcome.

If you find it hard to get out of bed in the morning, then consider the above. These simple changes in thinking and day-to-day planning might make it easier to pull back the covers and just get on with it.

 

 

Author Bio: George Minton is the community manager at Trusted Alkaline. He has a background in web design and marketing and works day to day on improving user experience and website functionality. When not working, George enjoys rugby and swimming.

 

Photo by Gregory Pappas on Unsplash

The opinions and views expressed in this guest blog do not necessarily reflect those of www.rtor.org or its sponsor, Laurel House, Inc. The author and www.rtor.org have no affiliations with any products or services mentioned in this article or linked to herein.

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