Posted by Tony P on March 17, 2004, at 3:36:42
In reply to Would Stay In Bed All Day If I Could, posted by JoshG on March 14, 2004, at 23:30:53
> I suffer from major depression and find myself spending large amounts of time hiding from the world in bed. Sometimes sleeping, sometimes just lying there under the covers. I never miss work but have a hard time being “productive” during my time off.
>
> This isn’t a new thing, just a behavior pattern that has gotten worse in recent months.
>
> I am curious to find out how other people handle this kind of problem. Do a lot of depressed folks find themselves preferring to stay in bed?
>
>
You've described my #1 behaviour pattern when depressed. I stay in bed, read novels continually (not working at present) and try and pretend I don't exist. If I have a few productive days, I then tend to crash in exactly the way you've described.I'm also tempted to see it as a character defect ("why can't you just use a little will-power"), but I suspect THAT self-image is also a symptom of depression ("bad me").
I find that 2 cups of coffee do the trick for me (believe it or not). This works best if I have somewhere to go or a purpose to motivate me, and also better in combination with some anti-anxiety med (benzo or Lamictal). Provided of course I can get out of bed to make the coffee.... ;-)....the auto-start button on my coffee-maker helps when I KNOW when I want/need to get up.
Wellbutrin was the only A/D that really countered the stay-in-bed pattern for me, but I found the side-effects too bothersome (it was _too_ effective).
Tony P
poster:Tony P
thread:324460
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040313/msgs/325187.html