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12-Steps to Creating Motivation When Depressed

By Nathan Feiles, LCSW Creating motivation when f eeling depressed can be one of the most dif f icult things a person can do. An episode of depression can be physically and emotionally draining. T he simplest of tasks seem to take maximum ef f ort, and sometimes even beyond maximum. Some may f eel lethargic. It may be tough make meals, or clean up at home, or take showers, or even get out of bed. Navigating motivation when depressed can be tough because the instinct is to wait f or the energy to return. People who are depressed of ten f all into the trap of trying to wait it out that if you give in to the urge to stay in bed f or a f ew days, that youll be re-energized and recharged, believing youll have exorcised the depression demons by just going with it. Unf ortunately, its not usually as simple as this. If everybody tried to wait out their depressive episodes, some people would be in bed f or 20 years, realizing somewhere along the way that depression actually tends to breed depression if its not actively conf ronted. T hats right, catering to our depressive urges actually reinforces them. Obviously, actively doing anything doesnt sound so desirable when f eeling depressed, let alone conf ronting our depressive urges head-on. While its important to give depressive symptoms their attention and get to understand and learn about whats underlying the depressive episode, the concept of mind over matter can help create motivation when depressed. I have seen evidence with many people that creating a change in mindset with small, manageable, behavioral steps can change a whole experience of depression. For some its brought their symptoms entirely into remission. T his doesnt replace taking the steps to learn more about whats causing the episodes, but these steps can help us move on with our lives while we continue to work on the underlying issues. Lets look at some steps that can help break an episode or a cycle of depression. 1) Opposite Action In Dialectical-Behavioral T herapy (an of f shoot of Cognitive-Behavioral T herapy), Opposite Action is the idea of f orcing yourself to do something that you know is good f or you, in order to prevent the reinf orcement of a bad habit. For example, if you want to stay on the couch and watch tv all day, when realizing this only gives in to depression, opposite action would say to get up and go out, knowing it would be a healthier behavior. Its very much a just to the opposite of your unhealthy urge technique. In CBT, the principle is that your behaviors can create positive changes in your emotions. 2) Set an Alarm T his isnt only f or getting out of bed. T he alarm can be f or anything that marks a symptom of depression. You might set an alarm to wake yourself up at a certain time to make sure you get out of bed in the morning; or you might set an alarm to signal a meal time if youre missing meals, or signal time to do laundry, or run a particular set of errands, and so on. T he alarm serves as a cue to draw your attention to a target area where you want to become more active in change. 3) Make Your Bed Getting out of bed can be very tough with depression. T he f irst step to take is to sit up on the bed, put your f eet on the f loor, and visualize leaving all of your troubles and thoughts behind you in the

bed. T hen, get up and nicely make your bed, leaving the troubles behind f or the day. Making the bed is essential in this process, as it signals to your brain that there isnt an option to get back in the bed f or the day. As you make your bed, it can also be helpf ul to imagine the troubles youre lef t behind dissipating as the covers are pulled up. 4) Wash Up T he more routine-setting steps youre able to add on af ter you make your bed, the better. Try washing your f ace and brushing your teeth to help wake you up. With these kind of steps youre training your brain to understand that youre getting ready f or something, rather than simply a day laying around. 5) Get Dressed T his is a crucial step in separating f rom the bed to the day. Sitting around in pajamas on the couch is still possible, even if you escape the bedroom. Getting dressed decreases the urge to lounge, because again youre reinf orcing in your brain that youre getting ready f or something. 6) Go Outside T his can be one of the toughest steps f or people who struggle with depression actually leaving the house. One of the problems with this step is that people are easily held back by not having a place to go. Okay, I can go outside..but then what? So f or this step, the idea is to not have a place to go. T he goal is going outside, not the particular place you go once youre outside. Go outside, close the door behind you, and do whatever comes to mind a walk around the block, down the street, pacing in f ront of your house, getting in your car and driving on an errand, and so on. It can be anything or nothing at all, but the goal is to spend at least ten minutes outside bef ore going back in. 7) Choose One Exercise Getting your body moving is a good way to start f eeling better. Choose an exercise that works f or you: walking, running, swimming, jump-roping, etc. Whatever you choose to do, make it a point to do it every day when you go outside. And if its an indoor exercise (like a treadmill), do it bef ore you go outside. 8) Make a List of Activities Brainstorm activities that youd enjoy doing. Include things to do at home and out with people. Try to generate a list of things that includes others and that gives you some time to yourself . T he activities can be a mix of productive (e.g. work-related) activities, and hobbies, and self -care. 9) Schedule Activities Schedule the activities throughout the week. Try to plan out either one or two weeks ahead of time and actually write the activities into your calendar with specif ic days and times. Spread them out as much as possible and make sure to stick to the schedule. 10) Daily Necessity Schedule T his schedule is if youre having trouble getting motivated to do your daily activities such as eating, cooking, showering, or other household chores. For this, youre creating a daily home schedule. Choose the specif ic times youre going to do each activity every day. It can be as specif ic as you f eel you need: time to get dressed, brush your teeth, start cooking, eating, showering, turning of f the tv bef ore bed, and so on. T his is to help you get your daily necessities actually f unctioning on a daily basis. 11) See Family and Friends T his one is more about the people than the activity. Being around other people is of ten helpf ul f or mood improvement. Schedule specif ic dates and times with f riends and f amily, outside of the house. T he more you can remove yourself f rom the environment of depression (usually the home and bedroom), the better chance of overcoming it. 12) Psychotherapy Its important to keep in mind that the desire to stay inside and and lay around isnt what causes depression it is a symptom of depression. Psychotherapy remains a necessary step throughout the process of dealing with depression in order to prevent f urther episodes, reduce severity, and hopef ully be rid of depression altogether. Even if we can resolve some of the motivational issues through pushing ourselves to take behavioral steps, the internal issues that are causing the depression still need to be addressed. Otherwise, when our motivation drops, the depression may return if we dont have a handle on the underlying issues.

Whats most important to keep in mind is that youre not going to feel like doing anything discussed above. If youre going to wait to f eel like it, then it may not happen. Using opposite action will be the necessary f irst step to conquering depression knowing in your mind that it will be good f or you to take the steps to move f orward, and just doing it. By also engaging in psychotherapy, youre still able to give appropriate attention to whats happening inside of you, including if medication therapy may (or may not) also be helpf ul. You do have the power to increase your motivation and to break out of depression. It may take some ef f ort, but the opportunity is there f or you to reclaim your lif e. Nathan Feiles, LCSW is a psychotherapist in the New York City area. In his private psychotherapy practice, Nathan Feiles works with individuals, couples, and groups, specializing in relationships, depression, anxiety, lif e adjustments and transitions, stress reduction, migraines, f ear of f lying, divorce, and phobias. He is also the f ounder of the NYC Migraine Group, and runs separate groups f or Divorced Parents; and Divorced Men. For more inf ormation about Nathan Feiless work, including a complete list of services, please visit his website at http://www.nyclif eandrelationshipcounseling.com Like this author? Catch up on other posts by Nathan Feiles, LCSW (or subscribe to their f eed).

Last reviewed: 30 Jan 2013

APA Reference Anonymous. (2013). 12-Steps to Creating Motivation When Depressed. Psych Central. Retrieved on March 31, 2014, f rom http://blogs.psychcentral.com/relationships-balance/2013/01/28/12-steps-to-creating-motivationwhen-depressed/