How To Get A Good Nights Sleep When Youre Depressed: 3 Tips
Lets do our best to stop this harmful cyclethe good news is that if youre depressed and your sleep quality is suffering, you can make a few simple changes to get a good nights sleep again. First, drop those energy drinks and pour out your pot of coffee. Now, try crawling into bed only when youre ready for sleep, follow a bedtime routine, and ease yourself asleep:
1) Declare your bed your sleeping place. While beds were made for sleeping, most of us dont strictly use them for sleeping: we watch Netflix in bed, we read in bed, we talk on the phone in bed, we scroll through social media in bed, we do everything we possibly can from the comfort of our bed. I know, its cozy! But what if I told you that you could get a better nights sleep if you declare your bed your sleeping placein which you utilize it strictly for sleeping. Thats right, doing so will help you to sleep soundly at night, as your brain starts to associate your bed with sleep instead of a place for various activities.
2) Follow a bedtime routine. Take some time to put together a relaxing, beneficial bedtime routine. This might include taking a warm shower, journaling, reading your book, or spending a few minutes cuddling with your pup. Once you start employing this routine, your brain will start to associate it with bedtime , and signal to your body that its time to wind down.
What’s The Difference Between Low Mood And Depression
A general low mood can include:
- sadness
- anger
However, a low mood will tend to lift after a few days or weeks.
Making some small changes in your life, such as resolving a difficult situation, talking about your problems or getting more sleep, can usually improve your mood.
A low mood that doesn’t go away can be a sign of depression. Symptoms of depression can include the following:
- low mood lasting two weeks or more
- not getting any enjoyment out of life
- feeling hopeless
- feeling tired or lacking energy
- not being able to concentrate on everyday things like reading the paper or watching television
- comfort eating or losing your appetite
- sleeping more than usual or being unable to sleep
Read more about the symptoms of depression.
Depression can also come on at specific points in your life, such as the winter months and after the birth of a child .
Persistent Irritability Or Mood Swings
Depression can cause us to experience outbursts and mood swings. One minute were angry, the next were crying uncontrollably or we shut down and go numb. Changes in our mood can switch in a moments notice. Sometimes these changes can be triggered by small or insignificant challenges, while other times they can come about unprovoked. If you notice a pattern of irritability or mood swings that last more than a few days, it may be linked to depression.
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Waking Up Feeling Unmotivated
Many people live with this type of depression every day. I did. I really hated the mornings. Its not because Im a night person or because I was tired or didnt get enough sleep. I just couldnt find a good enough reason to wake and drag myself out of bed.
I didnt realize it back then, but I was depressed. I suffered from morning depression. You know whats weird? This depressing feeling disappeared shortly after I started my day like it was never there.
Today I wake up happy, excited and charged with energy. Ill tell you exactly how this happened, but first, lets talk about what causes early rise sadness.
Morning depression applies only to the early hours of the day. And the depression fades away later on like it never existed.
People who usually cope with morning melancholy feel energetic with an elevated mood a few hours after waking up they are inspired mainly in the evening and night time.
Reflect On What Youre Looking Forward To
During an anxiety peak, it may be difficult to think about anything other than feeling anxious or stressed. However, it can also be helpful to think about something youre looking forward to time with your child or partner, meeting up with a friend for a walk, or devoting time to a hobby of yours. In thinking this way, you give anxiety less of a hold over your life and you get to take front and center on the stage.
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Why Am I Angry When Someone Wakes Me Up
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This article will look at the reasons as to why you become angry when someone wakes you up. Furthermore, the article will also look at how you can counter this negative emotion and wake up in a better mood even if someone else wakes you up!
What Morning Depression Feels Like
Depression upon waking described by sufferers as deep sadness, a lack of desire starting the morning, a lack of motivation, feeling of emptiness, unexplained unhappiness, heaviness, and a desire to sleep as much as possible.
They also say that when the alarm buzzing, their brains look for excuses as to why they should not wake.
These excuses, when remembered, later on, do not make sense to the depression sufferers. When completely immersed with their daily routine, a few hours later, they regret that they did not wake earlier. They also realize that staying asleep was sort of surrendering to the depression and excuses their minds created.
According to research, this morning depression phenomenon is called Diurnal Mood Variation.
This includes people who suffer from symptoms of depression during certain hours of the day, usually in the morning, while being emotionally balanced and grounded later on.
What causes this specific morning depression condition and how can you avoid it, or at least reduce it significantly so that it will not hit you with intensity in the mornings?
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You Have Higher Amounts Of Stress Hormones In The Morning
Theres actually a physiological reason why some people experience anxiety in the mornings, Dr. Saltz says. For one, its when cortisol levels are naturally at their highest. She explains that cortisol is often called the stress hormone because high levels of it can lead to feeling stressed.
Theres nothing you can do from stopping cortisol from raising slightly in the morningthats biologically what happensbut there are steps you can take to lower your cortisol overall so that it doesnt peak as high, Dr. Saltz says.
2. Coffee can lead to feeling anxious.
What you eat or drink in the morning can also lead to increased feelings of anxiety, according to Dr. Saltz. The first thing many people do in the morning is drink a cup of coffee. Caffeine, particularly for people who already have anxiety, can definitely worsen the symptoms of that. She explains that caffeine can lead to feeling jittery and having an increased heart rate. Then our brain tries to come up with a reason to explain why we feel that way: Im feeling jittery. I must be worried about X. Dr. Saltz says this happens so quickly that it can feel like we have the thought first and then the physiological reaction, but its actually the other way around.
3. Sugar is another culprit.
4. Morning anxiety could also be a sign of having general anxiety disorder.
5. Youre chronically stressed.
Tips For Sleeping Better
Sleep problems can increase the risk of initially developing depression, and persistent sleep issues can also increase the risk of relapse in people who have successfully been treated for depression. As a result, taking some of the following steps can both help you sleep better, boost your mood, and help decrease some of the problematic symptoms of depression.
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Anger: Causes And Effects
Waking up angry usually has several factors involved, including your thought patterns, mental state, physical health, and lifestyle choices. Making changes to some of these areas – or even all of these areas – can help mitigate some of the anger you feel upon waking. While anger has a reputation as being a spur-of-the-moment, large, and uncontrollable emotion, anger can also function as a low hum, almost like a background emotion, that can negatively color your entire day.
As frustrating as long-term anger can be, it can be overcome. Engaging in healthier habits, receiving help from professionals such as therapists and physicians, and actively working to improve your mental state can all go a long way in making sure that anger is not the primary emotion you feel upon waking, but is instead relegated back to its rightful place as an emotion on the spectrum of your abilities, rather than the driving force behind your day-to-day.
Pilgrimage Of Desire: A Path Out Of Walking Depression
My lifes work is to help writers and artists recognize their depression and find healing by making their creative work a priority.
One of the ways I do that is by sharing my own story of depression and recovery in a memoir called Pilgrimage of Desire. The book is interspersed with coaching questions and exercises, which help readers take their own steps toward happiness.
As a young adult, I longed to make my mark on the world as a writer. But after university, I got sidetracked by all the demands of ordinary life.
Soon I joined the ranks of the walking depressed. I was working, volunteering, and looking after my family, but I was also desperately sad.
I found the path out of depression by following my desiresto write, to travel, to become a mother and a creativity coach. Eventually I left ordinary life behind. My husband quit his job and we sold our house and headed out on a trip around the world with our kids, aged five and three. I thought Id found my happy ending, but there was more to the story
Do these signs ring true for you? Have you ever been depressed and kept on walking?
I invite you to share your own experiences in the comments. When you do, please be kind to yourself and others. Kindness is the watchword. To keep this space safe and helpful, I remove comments that are unkind or invalidate other peoples experience of depression.
UPDATE: A video for those who responded to this article when it was first posted in March 2012.
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Adhd And Morning Anger
Do you wake up in the morning feeling angry at the world? Does everything, from your alarm clock to the smell of your toothpaste make you mad? It might be a standing joke, that you are like a bear with a sore head in the morning. There is a serious side too, morning anger can cause many problems including couples breaking up because of it.
How Are Depression And Anxiety Diagnosed
There are no specific tests but your GP may perform some blood tests for other health conditions that share similar symptoms with depression or anxiety.
Your GP will need to get a good picture of the way youre feeling mentally and physically. They will ask you lots of questions about your symptoms and the changes youve noticed.
It can be difficult to think about specific answers on-the-spot but the following suggestions might help you plan ahead for your appointment.
- Make a list of all your symptoms, whether they are worse at certain times of the day or on particular occasions, how long youve had them and their effect on your day-to-day life and relationship with others.
- Explain any circumstances that could be contributing to these symptoms and the way you feel.
- Take a list of all medications you currently take, including any supplements or non-prescription medication.
- Be as open and honest as you can remember anything you say is confidential.
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Morning Depression: Why You Wake Up Feeling Depressed And How To Cope
- Post category:Psychology & Mental Health/Self-Improvement
Did you wake up depressed and tired? The good news is there are ways to help. A diurnal variation known as morning depression happens to more people than you think.
Sometimes these changes in overall mood happen rapidly and randomly. The strange thing is, people often just think its grogginess or a normal process of waking up, but its not. Morning depression is characterized by several symptoms that may differ from the normal process of waking.
Eat A Filling Healthy Breakfast
Getting fuel into your body when you wake up can help stabilize your blood sugar upon waking. For some, waking up angry is a result of blood sugar drops or spikes after sleeping all night – or perhaps staying up late and snacking. This is easily remedied by eating a filling, healthy breakfast when you wake up in the morning. Skipping breakfast altogether can perpetuate the cycle of blood sugar dips and spikes, as can grabbing the closest sugary, nutrient-light object you can find. Instead, opt for breakfast with plenty of protein, fiber, and nutrients.
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Focus On Good Sleep Hygiene
If you find yourself having challenges falling asleep or staying asleep, it may mean that you need to work on your sleep hygiene. You can do this by trying to reduce your screen time before bed, going to sleep at a consistent time every night, engaging in relaxing activities before bed . All of these ideas can help you achieve better quality sleep, which can also help reduce how intense your anxiety may be upon waking up.
HomeBlogAdviceHow to Reduce Morning Anxiety
Your alarm goes off. Instead of waking up refreshed and energized, a very different feeling kicks in anxiety.
Anxiety is like an unwelcome visitor popping in when you least expect it. When you experience anxious thoughts or feelings in the morning, it robs your peace of mind and sets the tone for your whole day. Why do you wake up with butterflies in your stomach? How can you get rid of these feelings? Here are some ways you can address morning anxiety and improve your overall outlook for the day.
Ways To Cope With This Depression
1. Improving sleep environment
Making improvements in your sleep environment can change the way you feel when you wake up. This is because these changes help you sleep better, thus you feel better in general. Some things to consider when setting up your sleep environment:
- turn off televisions,
Usually, your mood can be a bit lighter if youre not still fighting sleeplessness.
2. Wake up earlier
If you have depression in the morning, and you sleep as long as you can before work, then change this. Instead, get up earlier and do something before you have to get ready for work. It really doesnt matter what you do as long as its productive and you stay busy. Why does this help? Its because doing something in the morning before work reduces morning humdrum and you feel more energized for your job.
3. Turn on the lights immediately
As soon as you wake up, either open a curtain or switch on an overhead light. Light is a great weapon against depression because of how depression interacts with vitamin D. If you can get up and quickly open that window, you are letting natural light come into the room and lifting your mood. Its amazing how fast this works. After a while, depression in the morning will be greatly reduced.
4. Keep it consistent
5. Refrain from caffeine before bedtime
6. Stop ruminating before sleep
7. Prepare for the morning routines
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Related Stories From Yourtango:
- Are you living with feelings of sadness, tearfulness, emptiness or hopelessness?
- Are you more irritable than usual?
- Have you lost interest in things that used to make you happy?
- Are you not sleeping as well as you used to?
- Have your sleep patterns changed? Are you spending more time in bed?
- Have your eating patterns changed? Have you lost or gained weight?
- Are you more anxious than you used to be?
- Do you struggle with feelings of worthlessness?
- Do you have a hard time focusing?
- Do you think about committing suicide?
- Do you have new physical problems, like headaches or backaches?
If you answered yes to any, or all, of these questions you might be struggling with chemical depression.
Stand Up To Your Inner Critic
As discussed in the section on emotionally focused therapy, being able to stand up to your inner critic will help to alleviate your depression and possibly also reduce your anger. This requires you to acknowledge your anger and emotions, rather than avoiding your feelings.
This is best done with the help of a therapist however, you can also engage in this process by writing about your feelings in a journal, identifying your critical inner voice, writing responses to your critical inner voice
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From Fruit Fly To Stink Eye: Searching For Anger’s Animal Roots
“I would say 1 in 3 patients would report to me that they would lose their temper, they would get angry, they would throw things or yell and scream or slam the door,” says Fava. Afterward, these people would be filled with remorse.
Fava thinks these “anger attacks” may be a phenomenon that is similar to panic attacks. His research found that this kind of anger subsided in the majority of patients treated with antidepressants.
Psychiatry has carefully studied how anxiety and depressed mood are experienced by patients, notes Fava, but anger has been relatively neglected. “I don’t think that we have really examined all the variables and all the levels of anger dysregulation that people experience,” he says.
That view is shared by Dr. Mark Zimmerman, a professor of psychiatry at Brown University. “The field has not sufficiently attended to problems with anger,” says Zimmerman.
“The most frequently used scales to evaluate whether or not medications work for treating depression don’t have any anger-specific items,” he notes.
Yet Zimmerman says clinicians frequently see increased anger in people who come to doctors seeking help. “Irritability is not that much less frequent than sadness and anxiety in patients who are presenting for psychiatric treatment,” he says.
“Two-thirds of individuals reported notable irritability and anger,” he says, “and approximately half reported it at a moderate or severe level.”