Lethargy and lack of energy are one of the most common warning signs that depression is affecting your life. The idea of raising your activity levels can sound very daunting when you feel this way - BUT...
Activity does not mean punishing exercise schedules or unpleasant exertion
Activity means anything that engages your mind or body in any way!
Activity (and the lack of it) has a direct effect on the brain chemicals affecting mood. Assess how depression has deprived your life of pleasurable activities - from reading the newspaper to going for a walk - and start reintroducing them in small manageable steps. Use the following step-by-step strategy to help you...
Note what you were doing for each hour, or group of hours, after you wake up. Give each section two ratings from 1 (low) to 10 (high). The first rating is for the level of pleasure or enjoyment you had during that period of the day. The second rating is for your sense of achievement during that time. The two ratings might be very different, because some activities might not be enjoyable but might nevertheless give you a sense of achievement.
Use this blank activity wheel to print and make copies for your own use.
The partially completed example below shows an activity record for a generally low day for Ben. Notice how the pleasure and/or achievement levels tend to rise when he is more active.
Activity |
Pleasure |
Achievement |
| Wake up and stay in bed | 1 | 1 |
| Get up and sit in kitchen with housemate | 3 | 4 |
| Go back to bed | 2 | 1 |
| Get up and shower | 3 | 5 |
| Go to campus and chat in student union | 4 | 3 |
| Return overdue library book and check emails | 2 | 6 |
| Come home and watch TV | 3 | 3 |
Once you have completed activity wheels for a week, look for the patterns and notice which activities have had the highest pleasure or achievement ratings.
Think about how to take small steps to build more activity into each day. Start with very small goals, like getting up out of bed and taking a few deep breaths before deciding whether or not to go back to bed (if you usually wake up and find it hard to get out of bed). Choose activities which are mainly pleasurable or likely to give you a sense of achievement.
Make a rule that you will "have a go" for a certain amount of time before you give up on a planned activity, even if it's just 5 minutes, but after that you can give up because you'll have achieved what you set out to do. If you want to carry on with the task though, of course you can.
Keep filling in activity wheels, so you can see the difference you're making.
You can keep up the momentum of this strategy by checking for any depressed thinking habits. Where you notice patterns of low scores, try to work out what thoughts or beliefs you have in relation to what you were doing. For example, if getting out of bed has a low score you may find you have an all-or-nothing thinking habit: "I've woken up feeling low again, so the whole day will be bad." Learn more about how to challenge depressed thinking.
If depression has made you very lethargic, getting up and dressed as soon as you wake up might give a good sense of achievement. If you've been getting more socially isolated, make a date with a friend to watch a favourite TV show. If you've not been getting out much, try to take a short walk around the block or down to the shops. See focusing outward and learning self care for more ideas.
Once your general activity levels are higher, or if depression has not yet affected your activity levels too badly, think about developing an enjoyable exercise routine as a further strategy to defeat depression. See the increasing exercise page for further ideas and strategies.
