Laying in bed due to Depression (5 helpful tips)

Why can’t I get out of bed? The greatest challenge most of us face every morning.

There aren’t many people who wake up to their set alarm every morning, let alone before it.  When you have a busy routine either at work, at home, or as a student, your mind tends to fantasize about how relaxing it could be if you could stay in bed lazing around all day, every day. Most of us even do so. But what happens when you eventually succumb to this long-lived desire and can’t seem to give it up.

We all know that sadness is a natural emotion, and it is okay to feel that way given that you can relieve this feeling by either the coping strategies you already know how to find on the internet or with professional help. Sadness is often confused with depression since it is mostly affiliated with it. However, depression is a persistent, unshakable, severe mental illness, which has an overpowering effect on a person’s activities such as appetite, sleep, routine, or a task as simple as getting out of bed in the morning.

Yes, there are certain times when even the simplest of tasks like getting out of bed may feel overwhelming. Why does it happen? Is depression the cause, or effect? How can you cope? What to do. This blog is a comprehensive overview of those questions you ask every day.

What is Depression and how does it affect our lives?

Depression is the most common medical illness affected by a roundabout of 246 billion people worldwide. It is a mood disorder; negatively influencing our emotions and actions. The resulting symptoms may intensify from mild to severe if left untreated. Depression reinforces certain emotional and physical problems that can affect your daily life.

The most common obstacle that affects our everyday lives is our sleep routine and the hardest challenge encountered by the majority of youth, in contrast, is how to get out of bed in the morning.

Why can’t I get out of bed?

Sometimes laziness tempts you to lie in bed; when you wake up in the morning and end up lying there indolently for hours, or the guilty pleasures that you reward yourself with, during a busy routine. Other times it’s because you are depressed and can’t bring yourself to get out of bed.

If you have been in this situation for more than two weeks, chances are you might be suffering from depression. If accompanied by this feeling, you are also indicating other symptoms such as low concentration span, anger, and constant sadness; this behavior might likely be coming from you being depressed.

Depression associated with lying in bed all-day

How does any mood or mental illness prevent a person from stepping out of bed?

Depression causes alterations in neurotransmitters (serotonin and norepinephrine) that regulate mood, sleep, memory, appetite, energy, memory and alertness. Imbalanced levels of these neurotransmitters can cause you to feel drained most of the time. but then again, this theory is surrounded by controversy, there’s a lot more to depression than a chemical imbalance of the brain.

The most recurring symptoms of depression that explain why depressed people lay in bed are

·         Irritability, anxiousness

·         Hopeless outlook

·         Fatigue

·         Insomnia

·         Isolation, dissocializing

·         Lack of motivation and interest

Even though these symptoms are quite self-explanatory, the thought that a perfectly able-bodied person can’t get himself to rise seems trumped-up, how does that happen?

Lack of motivation- the root cause of this problem

To understand how lack of motivation prevents you from indulging in your daily life activities, or how it simply compels you to stay in bed, we need to understand that depression is usually characterized by consistent sadness. Sadness does not always escalate to depression. Although when your blues become a constant unshakeable force, this grief manifests itself into physical and psychological symptoms which drag you to the point of relentless agony and suffering.

In relevance to the utterance of this blog, motivation is a catalyst that speeds up the healing process. A person with depression fails to recognize what is or isn’t important in his life. Such a person fails to find positivity in any circumstance. Every aspect stands as insignificant as the other as if nothing matters anymore. A person with no objective, and nothing to love, may certainly have trouble getting out of bed every day.

The above-mentioned goals do not only refer to how much money you are chasing, how loving your family is, or how successful your career may be. There is a deeper meaning affiliated with an objective which is a sense of self, your self-esteem, the true meaning of “finding your purpose”. Sometimes the things that make the most sense to you turn out to be a façade of the reality your mind has you believed.

“Depression does not discriminate”, wise words from Doug Meijer, enlisted as one of the 200^th richest people in America, a multi billionaire, who battled with severe depression.

Failure is a common aspect of our lives. It is mostly followed by self-loathing, lack of motivation, and the fear of starting over. In a world where time, money, and effort are limited, having an evolved mechanism to disengage from a failing objective, is critical for survival.

What is the cause of depression?

Humans often feel distressed when things don’t happen the way they thought they would. There is no profound cause of depression. Our minds are intensely complex, every personality having shaped in a different circumstance. Some suffer from depression during medical illness. Some suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), commonly bear depression. Some have a genetic history of depression. Conflicts, abuse, social isolation, are other common reasons.

What does the research say about phenomenological depression?

An article presented by Kevin A. Aho has shed light on fascinating, narrow insights on depression narrated by the people who have experienced it first-hand. This research was done with the sole purpose of knowing what depression meant or what depression usually feels like. The analysis or summary of the article had three major findings. These findings may not be a profound solution, yet a vague answer to how and why depressed people find it hard to get out of bed each morning.

The first point mentioned is that depression makes it difficult to move or perform basic functional tasks resulting in the collapse of his functional life-world.  The second point states that the individual fails to find any significance in his life or this world, and the third one stating that depression diminishes the affected person’s possibility to create his “own identity”, the phenomenon of “self-creation” limiting him to explore the various alternatives of finding his true self and a way to live in this world. Then again, narrative reports are not accounted as justifiable in scientific research, and prevent medical experts and the general public from understanding the entirety of this experience. 

How to cope with this illness?

‘The thing that can help the most is the thing that is most difficult to do’, a catchphrase at depression recovery that sufficiently explains how every depressed person feels when he thinks about the things he should do to get better.

The trick is to start small and build from there. Initiating the first step takes all you’ve got. Eventually, these small steps will allow you to gain control over yourself and lift the fog of depression and self-loath, making you feel lighter and hopeful by each day.

Just show up

You’re lying there awake on your bed, thinking about the tasks you have to accomplish today. Whether you’re a kid who must go to school, a mom who must wake up and send her kids off to school, or a bachelor attempting to save his first job; the first step needs you to resist this urge to shield yourself under your covers to avoid the stress of the day.

Yes, you may want to give in but fight that impulse. Preparing before time can also help you stay on guard with these emotions. Most of our anxiousness ends the minute we decide that we want to start this day. Show up to work, school, your daily routine because a body in motion, tends to stay in motion.

Cognitive therapy

Cognitive therapy is the type of remedy that supports behavioral activities and family-like interventions that help cope with depression. A study on CBT stated that one out of three of every depressed individual gets better just by attending the intervention. Cognitive therapy often focuses on problem-solving and helps a person understand and identify his negative thoughts and actions. 

Exercise

Is exercise as effective as psychotherapy?

Studies reveal that exercise provides as much therapy as any other remedy, rivaling antidepressant medications. Exercise can prevent the development of psychiatric disorders and helps in enhancing mood. A study examining over 10,000 Harvard University alumni over a 20 years course found that the depression rates were linked to the ratio of physical activity. Moreover, the main focus of the study explained how physical activity helped overcome depression and restore normal mood. Physical activity, if consistent and positive about it, is always a great stimulator to rise every morning.

Try to maintain a healthy routine

Did you know that sleep and depression are closely intertwined?

Just as a sedentary lifestyle enhances negative feelings, maintaining a healthy sleep routine and appetite may help you overcome depression. Focusing on yourself may help boost your self-esteem and help you maintain a healthy relationship with yourself.

Conclusion

In this blog post we addressed the question, why can’t I get out of bed? , and explained what depression is and how it is linked to this feeling. We understood the root causes that prevent a person from having a productive day, rendering him lazing around in bed whilst worsening his fears even more so. This article has also outlined the ways you can prevent this from happening

FAQs(Frequently asked  questions)

Why do I feel tired all the time? Is it depression or laziness?

Fatigue is a symptom of depression. However, being tired all the time can be due to other reasons as well. Such as sleep deprivation, overworking, etc.

Can waking up early help decrease depression?

You may have heard of the expression, early to rise, early to shine. People who naturally tend to wake up early have a lower tendency to develop any mental illness in contrast to the “night owls”.

Is sleep and depression related?

Yes, depression and sleep are closely related to one another. Insomniac people have a higher risk of developing depression; similarly oversleep can also be linked to depression in some aspects.

References

Aho, K. A. (2013, Feb 4). Depression and embodiment: phenomenological reflections on motility, affectivity, and transcendence. springer link. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11019-013-9470-8

Lejuez, C. W. (2001, April 25). A brief behavioral activation treatment for depression. Treatment manual. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11317637/