@maninayton - Does Mental Illness Make It Hard For You To Get Out Of Bed?
I have just read an article on themighty.com website written by Ellyse Rafferty (see the link in 'Sources', below) in which she describes a strategy she uses to prompt herself to get out of bed on days when she is suffering from mental illness.
If, like me, you suffer from depression and you wake up somedays just not wanting to face the world this simple method may be of some help.
Ellyse Rafferty calls it the 'One Hour Rule'. It is simple. Within one hour of waking up you have to be out of bed. As she puts it:-
I tell myself: Just try. Get out of bed and get up. If it doesn’t work, and in an hour you feel worse, then you can go back to bed. And sometimes, I will. And that’s OK. But I make myself try. Try to taste the day. I don’t have to like it, I just have to do it.
By forcing yourself to get up and "Try to taste the day" you may find that once moving, things start to happen as a domino effect. You are up so you may as well have a shower. After doing that you might as well have some breakfast. Ok, I've done all that so I might as well go and do that little chore I had planned. And so on. One thing leads to another.
Of course, you will have days when it doesn't work and you find yourself back in bed within an hour or so. But it doesn't matter. At least you have the knowledge that you have given it your best shot. I'll leave the final word to Ellyse Rafferty:-
"There is so much power in baby steps. You can do a lot with sixty minutes."
"You are fighting. You still got out of bed."
I have collated a series of posts I did on Mindfulness into an ebook which can be downloaded here for the low, low price of 0.100 SBD
I also find it difficult to get up from bed most days. :( Yeah its hard for bipolar people. Early to bed also doesnt help. I have no idea how I am going to continue like this. I am a PhD student currently.
Hi @dexterdev and thank you for your comment. It sounds as if you are finding things hard at the moment and there must be a lot of stress for you in coping with your PhD. As I mentioned in my post I suffer from depression and the only way I can get through life is with medication. Have you seen and talked to anyone about how you are feeling? I obviously don't know your situation but if you are at university is there any help that you can seek out there? Are there any friends or family you can use as a support network? Don't suffer in silence @dexterdev - things are always better if you have someone to lean on. If you wish to talk further, please send me an email. Just visit my website - address at the top of my profile page - and go to the contact page. Stay strong and get in touch if need be.
Thank you for your kind reply. I have friends. But most of them really don't understand these things. And my mom is suffering too. So I dont share too much of sad things to her. Recently I met a wonderful lady and started to date her. I was feeling good at that time. But she left and now life became more depressing. Then I really understood that we are really alone in this world. Especially in a country like India, its difficult to survive.
Sorry to hear about your troubles @dexterdev. I know it sounds glib of me but things will get better. I have gone through bad times and come through the other side. It's hard but try to find joy in the little things of life.
No you aren't. I know I may be thousands of miles away but don't forget I am here for a chat if ever you feel you need to unburden to someone. Also, the Steemit community is full of kind-hearted and compassionate people who are willing to reach out if you ask. Why not do a post or two on how you are feeling and the difficulties you are facing. I'm sure you will get some feedback.
Take care until next time.
Thanks for sharing this!
I'm not dealing with this type of mental illness but I think I can use this "1 hour rule" for my procrastination and when I feel anxious and overwhelmed, which is very often. Just remove all the distractions and work on something that has to be done for an hour.
Hello again @nikolina. Just little steps - a bit at a time. It's amazing how you start to build up momentum once you start - although getting started is the hard part. Take care.