In this post, Emma talks about about behavioral activation.
So I was watching Mr. Beast with my kids the other day and he made this video where he buried himself alive for 7 days.
And he’s in a box, he can’t sit up and he can’t stand. And by day four he says. “I just don’t feel like doing anything.”
It’s a weird feeling like I’m very tired but for some reason, I can’t sleep. I don’t know I’ve never had this happen before. Why am I crying? I don’t know I don’t know why but I have like no motivation to do anything.
So, look here. We see this again. This guy is stuck inside of a circle for 100 days and by day whatever, he says, “I just don’t feel like doing anything. I just want to sleep all day.”
Behavioral Activation For Depression
So, what happened? They didn’t have depression and then stop feeling motivated. They stopped being active and then they stopped feeling motivated.
So, what you do when you don’t feel motivated determines whether you feed or starve depression and this is key to a super important and effective treatment for depression which is behavioral activation, which is essentially taking action even when you don’t feel like it.
You go to the party even if you’re not in the mood. You get out of bed even if you don’t have something to look forward to. You ask for support even if that seems really uncomfortable.
Because the simple act of taking action can reverse depression. You see your brain is plastic. It downregulates your energy and your motivation if you’re inactive and or if you’re stuck in a situation that you can’t control and then it upregulates your energy and your motivation if you’re active or if you feel capable and free.
By simply changing our activity levels we can improve our energy and motivation levels and that’s one reason why exercise is one of the most effective treatments for depression.
Click the link below to check out the course, How to Process Your Emotions.
