Get Out of the Bed!

Getting out of the bed when your depressed can be a major task.  People can easily mistake depression as someone being lazy. Depression can cause a lack of energy and motivation, for some depression can be debilitating.   Hopefully, these three tips will help!

1. Be Depressed but upright! This means, simply get out of the bed and set in a chair or on the couch.  Instead of just laying there, sitting upright may help you to read a motivational book or decide to get all the way up and do other activities.   
2. Prepare for the little voice in your head that says, “Stay in bed.” Speak back to it, “Yes, I’m depressed. But, I will be depressed outside. I’m not staying in this house.”  Activity and depression don’t like to live together. 
3.  Break things into tiny steps.  Take it 15 minutes at a time. No more than that.  When your depressed it’s easier to break things down into tiny, tiny steps, then to look at everything we have to do and get overwhelmed.  Start with what you can do, like brushing your teeth and taking a shower.  Take a break, then go to the next step of eating breakfast.  Take small steps.  

 
Contributions: Therese Borchardand La’Shonda Fletcher, LMFT, MAR