When I was in major depression, I didn’t want to go anyplace, meet anyone, be part of a social gathering, eat out, exercise … you get the picture.
My ability to concentrate was gone. I felt so bad emotionally and physically that I just wanted to sit in a lounge chair like the invalid I was. There was no purpose in my going on, no meaning to anything I did, no appetite for much needed nourishment, and I was walking around in a daze because of lack of sleep.
A wise counselor insisted
that I force myself to do such things at least once a day. Sometimes it was just going to the library and looking at books. Other times it was going to the gym to exercise (I even felt better when I burned off energy). I met for coffee once a week with a friend who was also depressed. And I allowed my wife to drag me off to social gatherings, shopping, and eating out – even though I would rather have had my fingernails pulled out.
I pushed through the depressive resistance to do these things because someone I trusted told me I needed to. My psychotherapist brother reinforced that this was part of the therapy for getting better.
Depression is a formula for feeling overwhelmed with doing even simple things, inaction, lethargy, passivity, and feeling stuck in a pit. Doing things in spite of depression was a start for me. Every time I did my activity for the day, I felt better for it.
If you or someone you know is depressed, do something, do anything – even if you don’t want to, especially if you don’t want to.
Triumph Over Depression 