In a recent post, I described how depression is not just something we feel or have; it is something we do. Then I described some steps to take for you to identify and practice some of the activities that not only can give your life meaning and vitality but also lessen the impact of depression in your life.
In one of his workshops on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Daniel Moran says that an important part of treating depression is “behavior activation.” When he asks his clients what they did before the depression showed up, they will list a few things, but then say that they don’t feel like doing them. Often, his response is, “I am not asking you to feel like doing them. I am asking you to do them.”
It’s not a matter of feeling better and then acting; there are ways that changing your actions can change your feelings.
In the May/June 2017 issue of Psychotherapy Networker, therapist Michele Weiner-Davis talks about the importance of this behavior activation. She describes her own experience of depression. She mustered all the energy she had to find the “magic bullet” that would overcome her depression. She tried a variety of models of psychotherapy. When those didn’t work, she read books on depression. She changed her diet and tried vitamins, supplements, antidepressants, and acupuncture.
Almost a year later, “I realized that there was no single magic bullet, I had to face the fact that I couldn’t afford to wait until I felt better to do better. So I made a promise to myself that every morning, I’d make my bed.” Behavior activation.
No, she didn’t wake up a few days later, and the depression was gone, but it was an important decision. Michele says that “making my bed gave my life structure. It was a metaphor, a springboard, for forcing me to engage in other therapeutic behaviors such as exercising daily, finishing a long overdue book, and honoring my work commitments. Realizing that I had the strength to get my feet moving, no matter how crappy I was feeling, was a major turning point for me. I began to feel a flutter of hope.”
I wonder if making the bed gave Michele this “flutter of hope” because she was doing it with intent. She didn’t just get up and make the bed without thinking, because it was something she always did. She did it intentionally. She did it mindfully. And notice, it didn’t make the depression go away; it became a springboard for other meaningful activities. Even with the feelings of the depression still there, she stopped “doing” her depression.
When I talk with clients about practicing mindfulness in an intentional way, often they will see it as one more thing that they have to do in an already busy life. But then I point out how anything thing that is part of your daily routine can be done with deliberate intention. Anything that you do without thinking you can do mindfully.
Like Michele, you can make the bed mindfully. Instead of quickly throwing the covers over the bed, you can notice the feel and the smell of the fabric. You can feel the muscles in your body working as you tuck the sheets and put the pillows in order. You can notice what you feel inside as you step back and enjoy what you have created.
This is just one of many activities my clients have done mindfully to practice behavior activation.
You can take a shower…mindfully. You can brush your teeth…mindfully. You can walk from your car to your office…mindfully. You can have a conversation with your coworker or your spouse…mindfully. As you become more mindful in the middle of these everyday activities, you can become more mindful of the people and the situations in your life that, even with the presence of the depression, give you meaning and vitality.
Learning about and practicing behavior activation is one of the many ways that I work with people who struggle with depression. To learn more, visit my depression treatment specialty page.