Britt Reints, author of An Amateur’s Guide to the Pursuit of Happiness, has been living with depression since 2007 and says that self-care is an important part of managing it. However, self-care can be difficult for people with depression. “The good thing about a morning routine is that you make sure you take care of yourself before the day gets ahead of you,” Reints says. Anyone can benefit from a morning routine, whether you have depression or not, says Renee Garfinkel, PhD, a psychologist in private practice in Washington, D.C. But when you’re living with depression, establishing a morning routine may need to be more of a conscious choice. Depression can make you wonder why you should bother getting out of bed at all. Having a routine that feels automatic can give you less time to dwell in that mindset. Why Mornings Are So Hard When You’re Depressed It’s typical for people with depression to have a difficult time getting out of bed in the morning. One reason for that is biological, Dr. Garfinkel says. Certain types of depression involve the circadian rhythm (or your “body clock”), which can lead to sleep disturbances. That’s why some people may sleep too much or have insomnia. Depression symptoms also include a lack of energy and motivation. And living with depression can mean you’re hit with negative thoughts as soon as you wake up. “These symptoms are often at their worst in the morning,” Garfinkel says. The Impact of a Morning Routine Reints had a relapse of depression after successfully being on depression medication for two years. Suddenly, she wasn’t able to motivate herself to get out of bed for four days, and she had other physical symptoms. “I didn’t know what was wrong because I was already taking antidepressant medication,” she says. One doctor she saw finally helped her realize that, for her, it was a lot more than medication that could affect her depression management. A strong contributing factor was her diet. She realized she felt much better when she didn’t eat a lot of carbohydrates. Another factor was having a regular morning routine. Getting up, taking a shower, and getting dressed had a huge effect on how she felt. She understood that the first day would be hard, but sticking to a routine would make it easier the more she did it. Reints started with easier morning tasks first, knowing they take less motivation while leaving her enough energy to do what’s next on the list. The thought of doing everything at once — getting dressed, taking a shower, doing her hair — felt daunting, so she learned to just focus on one thing at a time. Today, her morning routine consists of:
Five minutes of stretching as soon as she gets out of bed. “It’s something small and not overwhelming,” she says, and it gives her energy.Waking up her kids and helping them get ready.Showering and dressing.Talking to her mother on the phone. Part of her motivation to get earlier tasks done in the morning is so she’ll have enough time for a half-hour talk with her mom, who lives in another time zone. They’ve found that early mornings are the best time for them to talk, and having that daily connection is a big part of what helps her fight depression.Eating breakfast and drinking coffee. She has two scrambled eggs rather than a carb-heavy meal.Taking her depression medication. Taking her antidepressant at the start of each day is one of the most important aspects of her morning routine.Fifteen minutes of meditation once her kids are at school.
Reints’ routine helps her to get everything in place so she can sit down and work for three hours in the morning, which helps keep her on track. Garfinkel agrees that taking your morning routine one step at a time makes it easier to move forward. Another good idea is to do what you can the night before, such as setting out your clothes or putting your toothbrush and towel on the sink. “You’ve set an intention at night that this is what you’re going to do in the morning,” she says. Staying on Course Reints admits that some mornings she can get distracted and go right to checking her email rather than following her typical routine. When this happens, the morning has escaped her without having eaten breakfast or doing the writing she wanted to do. She also says that she doesn’t follow the same routine on weekends and admits that she’s never as productive as on weekdays. Not following her morning routine won’t make her spiral into a depression, Reints says, but it helps her live more optimally. If she doesn’t follow it, she’ll get behind on work and may start feeling overwhelmed. When that happens, she’s at greater risk for feeling depressed. Of course, the single most important thing you can do if you’re depressed is to seek professional help. Once you’re being treated, establishing a morning routine to help manage your depression is a good idea, and your doctor will likely have suggestions to help make it optimal for you and your particular health situation. Managing depression is something Reints is still learning how to do. “It’s always evolving,” she says. Maintaining a regular morning routine is just one way she’s committed to managing life with the condition.
