I saw Therapist yesterday, and was telling her about the
extremes of mood I'm experiencing, and the sudden drop off. She asked one very simple question - does it happen at the same time every day? Yes, it does. In the afternoon. When I'm starting to get tired. So simple, so obvious, yet it never occurred to me (which is why I still need to pay someone to bring these things to my attention). So now I know. Tiredness is one of my biggest pitfalls when it comes to staying well with depression. When I'm tired, all of my energy goes into normal, day to day functioning, and there's nothing left for the extra effort it normally takes to keep floating and keep a low mood at bay.
So how can I make this better? Sleep!!! That's it. Sounds simple but tends to be problematic for me. We all know that in order to get the best sleep that we can, we should have the same routine before bed every night. We should also not watch TV to close to trying to sleep, stay away from gadgets (I'm chronic for being on the interweb right up till I want to sleep), not exercise too late in the day....................etc etc. In an ideal world this would work fine. In this world, it's going to take some effort. Tonight, I'm determined to get to bed early. I've downloaded a sleep app - I know, I know, still a gadget, but it's something to listen to rather than look at. I'm going to try that and see if it helps. Knowing that tiredness is a problem is half the battle. But remembering that as I get more tired, and having the wherewithal to do something about it before the problem gets any bigger, that's a different ball game altogether, and one that I don't plan on playing anytime soon.
