5 Healthy Ways To Combat Feeling Depressed In The Morning
Don't let feeling depressed in the morning rule your world.
getty Are you finding yourself feeling more and more depressed in the morning? Is the current stay-at-home situation making you feel so much hopelessness and despair?
Perhaps even before all of this started, you found yourself waking up and feeling depressed in the morning, which tended to sabotage your day. But now more than ever, it's important to take care of your mental health.
Waking up feeling depressed is a horrible thing. It messes with the rest of your day and makes you miss out on a whole lot of living.
Here are 5 ways to combat feeling depressed in the morning.
1. Get out of bed.
This small action is important. When we are depressed, our inclination is to stay in bed under the warm covers. Yes, sleep feels really good when we are depressed, but the toxic thoughts that rear their ugly heads are not.
When you are feeling depressed in the morning and can’t work up the energy to get out of bed, do your thoughts go to dark places? Do you start ruminating about everything that is wrong with your life?
Do you think about what a loser you are? How you will always be alone? How lazy you are that you can’t even get out of bed?
The longer you stay in bed listening to those damaging thoughts in your head, the more depressed you will become. So, get out of bed!
There are a number of ways to get out of bed and stay out of bed, according to my friends:
- Get out of bed to go to the bathroom and then strip your bed of sheets.
- Remove the mattress from the box spring.
- Cover your bed with junk.
Do whatever it takes so that you will not sink yourself back into that cozy den of dark thoughts. If you don't, your depression will definitely stay with you for the rest of the day, if not longer.
2. Take a shower.
Believe it or not, taking a shower can be an excellent cause for some relief if you are feeling depressed in the morning.
Taking a shower is something that people do on a day that is going to be productive, like when they're seeing friends or going to work. It sends a signal to your brain that today is not a day to stay home depressed, but to go out in the world, whether you need to or not.
Scientific research has shown that hot (and cold) water can be a great anti-depressant. A hot shower with a cold rinse or a hot bath can make all the difference on a depressing day.
So, take a shower, wash your hair, and get yourself presentable and ready for your day!
3. Eat breakfast.
When you're depressed, the last thing that you want to do is eat anything, much less breakfast. But eating when you are depressed is an essential tool for lifting depression.
Your body and your brain don’t function optimally when they have no fuel. When you wake up in the morning and your fuel tank is empty, the chances of you jumping out of bed and feeling 100 percent are slim to none.
So, after your shower, put something in your stomach that will give your brain and your body the energy to face the day and get you out of the house and living.
4. Do something that makes you happy.
Once you are up, bathed, and fed, the goal of your day should be to do at least one thing that makes you happy.
Whether it’s watching a TV show, FaceTiming with a friend, taking your dog for a walk, or having a hot bath, doing even one thing that makes you happy will raise your dopamine levels, which will alleviate your depression, even for a brief time.
The very best thing that you can do for yourself — even if it’s not one of your favorites — is to get some exercise. Exercise of any kind raises your dopamine levels essential for emotional health. So, if you can get out there and walk, run, or dance, you will be glad you did.
5. Believe that this will pass.
When we are depressed, it’s very easy for us to believe that the current situation will never pass and that we will always be depressed. When you are in the middle of a depression, the future always looks bleak.
From the perspective of someone who isn’t depressed, your world will get better. The things that are making you feel so down today will not necessarily make you feel horrible tomorrow.
If you can just get through this day, then chances are that tomorrow or the next day your depression will pass and you will be happy again.
Of course, if you find that your depression isn’t passing or that it’s getting worse, it’s important that you get help. There are different types of depression and some of them don’t get better without treatment. In fact, some of them get worse the longer they go untreated.
So, if you find yourself feeling depressed in the morning but find that your depression is not getting better, reach out to your primary doctor and let them help you get through this.
Feeling depressed in the morning is not fun.
After a good night’s sleep before the day begins, one hopes to have just a few moments of peace to enjoy the corner of the world in which we live. When we are depressed, those moments of peace are stolen from us.
So, if you are feeling depressed in the morning, get out of bed, take a shower, eat some breakfast, do something that you love to do, and have some hope.
Depression is horrible, but it doesn’t have to ruin your life. Do the things that you need to do now to manage your depression before it gets worse!
Mitzi Bockmann is an NYC based, certified life and love coach. Let her help you find, and keep, love in this crazy world in which we live. Email her at mitzi@letyourdreamsbegin.com and get started!