How To Get Motivated To Exercise When Depressed
Depression can make it difficult to find the motivation to exercise, but regular physical activity is an important aspect of managing the condition. Here are some tips for getting motivated to exercise when youre feeling depressed:
Does Depression Cause A Lack Of Motivation
Experiencing little to no motivation is one of the core symptoms of depression. A lack of motivation when depressed may mean that you:
- Have little to no energy, causing you to feel lethargic
- Struggle to get out of bed in the morning and face the day
- Become uninterested in looking after your physical appearance or personal hygiene
- Become uninterested in activities or hobbies you used to enjoy
- Dont want to socialise with other people
- Struggle to concentrate or perform well at work
- Struggle to keep on top of daily tasks and responsibilities
Some other symptoms of depression include:
- Feelings of sadness, despair and hopelessness
- Crying more than usual
- Feeling irritable, anxious and restless
- Unexplained physical health problems, such as aches and pains with no clear cause
Ways To Get Motivated When You Are Feeling Down And Depressed
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Cleaning Motivation Tip: Create A Cleaning Route
The next thing I like to do to keep me motivated to clean is to follow a cleaning route. This is the route I take in my home to get the cleaning done.
I like to make a loop through the house so Im not zigzagging through the house. This keeps me on track without wasting time bouncing from one room to the next. If youd like to create your own cleaning route you can learn more here.
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Try Not To Feed Your Depression
Depression feeds on negative thoughts, doubts and fears and in turn, feeds more depression creating a snowball effect.
Whilst its hard to eliminate these thoughts you should try and identity these to help you minimise them,
As such, do the opposite listen to motivational speeches or read positive quotes to boost your mood one positive thought can outweigh hundreds of negative ones.
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Identify The External Stress Inducing Factors
External influences may often affect our motivation. Perhaps you have a chronic health problem. You might feel trapped in a dead-end workplace or work in a stressful environment. Maybe your significant other or family members have been critical of you. All of these factors may have an effect on motivation.
However, thinking about what you can do and what you can control can help you feel more in control of your life. Give yourself the power to walk away from a negative and stressful situation. If the work scene is crazy, take a few days off. Sometimes, a change of scenario can help you to be back on track!
How To Motivate Yourself To Exercise
So how do you motivate yourself to exercise when youre depressed? According to DeLissio, it helps to create a fitness routine centered around activities you actually enjoy. This makes it much easier to create and sustain motivation.
If you like hiking but you keep forcing yourself to lift in the weight room, and find yourself skipping days, youll be worse off than if you were to start training for something you love, she said.
DeLissio also suggests examining the two main types of motivation.
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Extrinsic Motivation relies on external sources, like rewards or avoiding punishment.
This source of motivation is weak and usually deteriorates when people stop validating your habits, she said. An example would be aiming to lose 10 lbs so you can post a hot picture on Instagram. You are forming your goals over the opinions of others, not the need to achieve based on your own values.
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Intrinsic motivation occurs when the behavior and reward are internal, not external.
An example is a weightlifter who trains because they enjoy weightlifting, DeLissio said. They enjoy it, so it feels effortless to train for it. This form of motivation is much stronger and leads to better adherence than extrinsic motivation.
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Understand How Your Depression Works
Depression has many names. It is sometimes called major depressive disorder or clinical depression. Other times it is called dysthymia. Whatever name it goes by, depression is a serious mood disorder the negatively impacts how people think, feel, sleep, eat, work, and go about other daily activities.
Youre not depressed if you feel down for a few days. Most people who are diagnosed with depression must have symptoms for at least two weeks. The common forms of symptoms are as follows:
Avoid Drugs And Alcohol
One in four adults with mental health issues also has a substance abuse disorder, according to Dual Diagnosis. When youre going through a rough patch in your mental health, it would be tempting to take the edge off with a few beers or smoking marijuana.
However, using substances to numb the pain of your depression could quickly lead to codependency, which could cause other issues in your life. Youll be battling two mental health issues instead of one, making the uphill battle you already face even steeper.
Avoid using drugs or alcohol when youre in a depressive episode. If you find yourself already intertwined with substances, it would be best to go to Alcoholics Anonymous or participate in a SMART recovery program, which focuses on moderating substance use rather than fully abstaining from them.
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How To Motivate Yourself When Depressed
You know youre depressed when the first thing you think about in the morning is how you wish you were still unconscious and not for sleepiness reasons. With such low inclination to start your day, its hard to figure out how to motivate yourself when youre depressed. Depression is a serious mental health issue, but there are ways to get up and get moving when you have it.
Engage Yourself In Hobbies
Indulging in healthy activities can make you come out of depression very easily. Getting yourself relaxed and not giving yourself enough time to think about any depressed thought is one of the achievement when you are trying to come out of depression. Gardening, engaging yourself with pet animals, cooking and baking are few of healthy hobbies you can adopt to cope with depression.
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Tips To Help You Exercise When Depression Has Got You Down
Its no secret that exercise can act as a natural antidepressant. In fact, many studies have shown the benefits of physical activity for alleviating symptoms of depression.
Exercise is a crucial component of any depression-beating plan,” says Dr. Tasha Holland-Kornegay, wellness expert for Nike.” When you exercise regularly, youre adding small victories to your day, improving your physical health, and boosting your mental health. One study conducted by University of New England researchers found that four weeks of regular exercise increased participant well-being, boosted personal accomplishment, and reduced psychological distress, perceived stress, and emotional exhaustion. In other words, regular exercise attacks depression at its foundation.
But one less-talked-about mental health fact is that depression can make it harder to get moving.
We are all told that exercise helps with depression symptoms, which is true. However, what we are often not told is that depression can make it very hard to exercise, says Thomas J. Jameson, C-MHC, Clinical Director of The Ohana Addiction Treatment Center.
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One of the main depression symptoms is a loss of interest in most activities, and that includes fitness, even if you previously enjoyed working out.
Another symptom is feeling tired or sapped of energy, adds Jameson. These two symptoms put together can make it impossible to work out when depressed.
Feel The Feeling But Dont Identify With It
The first step is self-awareness. Instead of trying to bury your emotions or resist your symptoms, let them rise to the surface and hear them out.
Go deep into the emotion and greet it as you would a good friend, with compassion and curiosity.
Remember that you are not your depression. Dont identify with this temporary emotion.
You are not depressed, you feel depressed.
Be aware of depression, the feeling and its associated thoughts and sensations. Pay attention to what its trying to tell you.
What does it feel like?
What sensations are associated with it?
Does it have reoccurring thoughts patterns?
There is much to learn by entering into a conversion with this depressed part and learning what it is about, what triggers it and how it truly feels like for you to be in that place.
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How Depression & Anxiety Affect Exercise
So weve established that exercise can be a boon for our mental states. But according to Joseph Librizzi, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker practicing in Colorado, when things like depression and anxiety creep in, even the activities that we know are beneficial suddenly seem insurmountable.
Besides making it less likely that well exercise and sustain an exercise routine, depression and anxiety are negative states that involve a contracted or critical mindset, a negative view of ones self and the world, that seems true when were in it and affects all aspects of our lives, he said.
Librizzi suggests investigating this perspective directly. If you can question and doubt this temporary state of mind, Librizzi says, you can begin to work through it and develop strong habits.
You know that depression or anxiety, while factually occurring, is not the truth about you, he said. It doesnt feel natural. You know generally but especially from times when it lifts and you feel as though youve been under a spell. Working out can be intentionally approached as a way of breaking the spell of untruth, a way of pursuing what is true about yourself. Improved mental health and general well-being are its fruit.
Replace Negativity With Positive Thoughts
Motivating yourself when you are depressed can be hard. Depression can make it difficult to see the positive in anything, and negative thinking can become a destructive habit.
But, remember that you are not your depression. You are in control of your thoughts and actions, and you have the power to change your perspective.
When you think negative thoughts, take a step back and ask yourself if there is any evidence to support those thoughts. If not, try to replace them with more positive or realistic thoughts.
Plus, most importantly, dont forget to be kind to yourself. Showing yourself some compassion can go a long way in helping you to feel better.
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Acknowledge Your Courage For Stepping Out Of Your Comfort Zone
As painful as it is, depression can become comfortable in a “devil you know” kind of way. You know what to expect, for the most part. You know the pain, you’re in the pain, you can predict that tomorrow will be more of the same. The idea of stepping out of this comfort zone can be quite anxiety-provoking. Steven Hayes, a psychologist whose work I admire, said, “If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’re going to get what you’ve always gotten.”
Can Adhd Cause A Lack Of Motivation Does Adhd Make You Feel Lazy
Though ADHD can look like simple laziness from the outside, one does not equal the other. However, ADHD can certainly cause a lack of motivation. The procrastination and lack of motivation that are caused by ADHD are not voluntary choices, though, nor are they controllable impulses.
It requires a lot of energy for someone with ADHD to start a task that is unappealing to them, since it can take a lot of time and many attempts to get the ball rolling. Although getting started is not impossible, the difficulty that comes with getting started can also cause a lot of guilt and shame.
This can easily morph into a toxic cycle. When someone with ADHD is unmotivated, they put off doing what they need to do, either because they feel overwhelmed or because of the uncomfortable feelings that the task brings up, which quickly saps their motivation.
However, when the task gets avoided, feelings of guilt and shame can plague them, since they often feel like they should be doing that task and taking so long to start it makes them bad or irresponsible. The guilt then compounds on the initial uncomfortable feelings around starting the task, making it even harder for them to feel motivated. This creates a vicious cycle of shame and avoidance, to which the only solution seems to be dodging those feelings.
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New Years Resolutions In Cancer Survivorship
The advantage of self-reward is that you are always there to give the rewards to yourself. You are always there to be the cheerleader that you need to keep you motivated in moving forward. Praising yourself, giving yourself credit for trying, and keeping track of your progresseven if it seems like small stepsis a way that can keep your motivation moving in the right direction.
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If You Cant Improve Your House Dont Make Things Worse
First, I suggest that if you can do nothing else, dont make things worse. Dont make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and leave the jars and bread out. Try your best to keep the status quo.
This might not seem to matter if the kitchen is completely trashed. What difference could two jars and a few crumbs make?
But use that as your starting point. Hang on by your fingernails until you can do more.
Once you can go a step further, try some tiny goals and microscopic victories.
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Coping With Depression & Laziness
You may feel so physically and mentally exhausted that doing the slightest task can feel too daunting. This absence of vitality will only deepen your depression and struggles with laziness making it harder and harder to cope with daily life. However, you can gradually break this cycle and supplement treatment by intentionally tweaking a few things in your life.
Below are some ideas for coping with laziness and depression:
- Maintain healthy habits Eat balanced and nutritious meals, develop a bedtime routine,get adequate sleep, engage in regular physical activity, and keep up with your overall personal hygiene
- Focus on your physical health Get your physical exam/health screening, have your eyes checked, and tend to your dental care.
- Develop an optimistic outlook Shift your attention toward pleasant moments throughout the day, use daily positive affirmations to motivate you, and journal about the things you find inspiring.
- Lean on your supports Connect with close friends and relatives, find a supportive community/religious organization, a support group with individuals who share the same struggles as you.
- Manage your stress properly Engage in relaxation practices such as meditation, deep breathing, and yoga to help manage stress.
- Ask for help Keep yourself accountable and ask a close friend/relative to help you with your to do list, remind you of deadlines and do daily check-ins with you.