Have you ever woken up in the morning and experienced sadness that enfolded you? Do you find yourself struggling to get out of bed?
Like no matter how hard you try you can’t put a smile on your face in the morning?
You don’t feel sleepy, but something… heavy, keeps holding you down, sort of a pinch in the heart that says, “Stay in bed. Don’t get up.”
BEEP BEEP BEEEEEEEEPPPPP!!! *annoying alarm going off*
Is it morning already? Already you can feel the heaviness. You’ve been awake just seconds and you already want to get back to sleep.
Maybe just a few more minutes…
Then a few more.
And a few more after that.
Many people live like this every day. I did. I really hated the mornings. It’s not because I’m a night person or because I was tired or didn’t get enough sleep. I just couldn’t find a good enough reason to drag myself out of bed.
I didn’t realize it back then, but I was depressed. I suffered from morning depression. You know what’s weird? This depressing feeling disappeared a few hours after I started my day like it was never there.
Today I wake up happy, excited and charged with energy. I’ll tell you exactly how this change happened, but first, let’s talk about what causes morning depression and how it feels like.
Morning depression applies only to the hours following the moment you wake up. The feeling of depression fades away later on, like it was never there.
People who usually suffer from morning depression feel energetic with an elevated mood a few hours after waking up; they are inspired mainly in the evening and night hours.
How Morning Depression Feels Like
Depression upon waking up is described by sufferers as a deep sadness, a lack of desire starting the day, a lack of motivation, unexplained unhappiness, a heaviness and a desire to sleep as much as possible.
They also say that when they wake up in the morning, their brains look for excuses as to why they should not get up.
These excuses, when remembered later on, do not make sense to the depression sufferers. When completely awake a few hours later, they regret that they did not wake up earlier; they also realize that staying asleep is a means of surrendering to the excuses their minds have created.
According to research, this phenomenon of morning depression is called Dinaural Mood Variation.
This phenomenon includes people who suffer from symptoms of depression during certain hours of the day, while feeling emotionally balanced and stable at other hours.
What causes morning depression and how can you avoid it, or at least reduce it significantly so that it will not hit you with intensity in the mornings?
4 Reasons You Wake Up Depressed
Here are some scientifically probable explanations for waking up depressed. In my opinion, these “rational” causes are not satisfying; therefore, below them I will provide my personal impressions of “waking-up” depression.
According to studies, here are the common reasons people wake up with a sense of depression and sadness in the mornings:
Low blood sugar levels (hypoglycemia)
There is a direct link between mood and blood sugar balance. This is part of our survival system; humans and animals get very unhappy when their blood sugar is low. This mechanism is designed to make finding food a priority. While you sleep, your blood sugar levels progressively drop. The reason for this is that you haven’t eaten anything in the past few hours. Many people don’t eat before they sleep, so all those hours add up.
Poor nutrition
This relates significantly to low blood sugar levels. People tend to eat so much processed sugar that it causes a major drop in blood sugar levels, which leads to depression and anxiety. When foods of this kind are eaten at night before one sleeps, the negative effect of hypoglycemia is increased. The conclusion is to eat healthy. Here you can find a detailed article about foods for the brain that reduce anxiety and depression.
Bad sleep
If your sleep is not stable and you suffer from sleep problems such as waking up in the middle of the night several times or having difficulty letting go of your scattered thoughts, it is definitely going to influence how depressed you are when waking up. Bad sleep can cause morning depression, grumpiness, anger, stress and anxiety. A great (and surprising) solution for sleep problems is presented below.
Lack of desire to deal with your reality
We covered the common scientific reasons that might make you depressed upon waking up. However, after talking to many people who suffer from morning depression (and considering my own experience, as I had the same symptoms until a few years ago), I have another, probable explanation that does not involve physical aspects.
Waking up in the morning is more than merely opening your eyes and starting the day. Waking up in the morning is a process of “who am I” and “where am I” questions.
Waking up is coming back from a world of dreams under comfortable sheets to a world of reality – many times, a reality that you do not want to be in, a reality that you don’t enjoy.
The depression involved in waking up in the morning occurs because you are not happy about your life in certain areas; you are unsatisfied.
Therefore, opening your eyes and coming back to reality is difficult because all of the things you are not happy about are popping up rapidly all at once!
Your brain can barely function rationally and cannot deal with all of the fear that is emerging. It’s the fear of “how will I start off when I have all these problems?”
Morning depression while vacationing
Here is an interesting point that illustrates my view of morning depression – almost everyone I talked to who suffers from depression upon waking up gave the same reply to the question I asked.
The question was simple: “While on vacation, do you feel depressed when waking up?” The answer was “no” among all of them. What happened to low blood sugar levels? Do they go away on vacation?
The answer is simple. When you step out of your stressful reality and travel somewhere, all the trouble goes away, so morning depression disappears.
The Solutions For Waking-Up Depressions
Sleep well
As mentioned above, better sleep can highly improve your mood the following morning. One of the best methods to deal with sleep problems is listening to Binaural Beats and Isochronic Tones. This is a sound therapy consisting of healing frequencies that sync with your brain and put you in a deep, relaxed state of mind. Furthermore, the theta and delta waves will induce sleep faster and easier. Here is one of my most popular sessions for better sleep.
Don’t skip breakfast
When you finally force yourself to wake up and get out of bed, despite being depressed, it is extremely important that you not skip breakfast. Even if you’re not hungry, eat something small, just in case low blood sugar levels do affect you. Read here an elaborated list of foods that improve your mood.
Stretch your body right after you wake up
Stretching not only helps your body feel better by getting rid of the fatigue you experience, it also calms the mind. Stretching helps release mental tension, enhances your mood and relieves morning depression.
Lightbox (SAD lamps)
More than 70% of the people I interviewed reported that a light box was extremely helpful, reducing their depression symptoms to the minimum and even eliminating them. The light box is used in “light therapy.” The light mimics sunlight, which elevates your mood instantly.
Wake up earlier
Set your alarm to an early hour so that you will not start your day in a rush and stress. It might be difficult at first, but it takes only 30 days to form a habit. After a short while, believe it or not, waking up early will become part of your routine.
Start your day with doing something that makes you feel good
This relates to the previous advice. You do not have to start off just to get ready to go to work. Your job should not be the reason you wake up early. A while ago, when I experienced depression upon waking, I developed a new habit – I biked to the lake every day and wrote. I wrote about everything. People don’t even know how therapeutic writing can be. Every time I wrote, I felt centered and balanced. Writing focused my thoughts and gave me clarity about many things. It also greatly caused my morning depression to disappear.
Self-dialog
This is a wonderful method that will work for you for the long run with your morning depression. However, it requires daily practice. Self-dialog is having a conversation with yourself. First, it keeps you awake and prevents you from falling asleep right away. Second, it helps prevent you from falling into an automatic depression; instead, it helps you analyze your depression and gradually reduce it before you start your day.
What can you say to yourself when you wake up and all you want to do is avoid reality? First, remind yourself that it will soon be over, that it is just an hour or two of unjustified depression.
Here is an example of a self-dialog you can embrace
“I feel very overwhelmed right now because I just woke up and all of the things that I fear are emerging right away, all at once. I realize that it can be scary and a bit stressful, but all is well. I can take care of everything. I’m on top of things and later on I will feel much better. However, I will not get better if I surrender to my excuses and ignore life. I should just face it and trust myself that I’m going to manage everything the right way. All is well.”
Waking up with depression does not have to be part of your life. It can be dealt with pretty easily, especially if your depression is gone later on.
Choose the techniques that resonate with you the most and start applying them. It will feel weird and unnatural at first because your mind is not used to feeling happy and lucid in the mornings, but practicing these methods consistently is the key.
The Ultimate Solution For Morning Depression
All of the above are wonderful ways to stop morning depression, but there is another method, both super-efficient and easy, that has proven itself scientifically time after time. This method is called subliminal messages.
Subliminal messages contain positive affirmations and suggestions that you cannot fully hear and understand; by that, they effortlessly bypass your consciousness and natural resistance.
If, for example, you hear clear-spoken affirmations such as, “I feel wonderful to wake up in the morning,” you will reject it right away because this kind of statement is the complete opposite of your built-in thought patterns.
However, when you don’t hear this suggestion, you will not have the option to resist it; in other words, the suggestion will stop your morning depression.
Once you have no resistance, there is nothing that will stop these powerful affirmations from syncing in and reaching deep inside your subconscious mind.
They are recorded in a way that bypasses conscious processing. Allowing them to take root deeply and permanently rewire your mind to feel happier in the mornings.
It works almost like the advertisements you see on TV. When you see a delicious meal being displayed, you feel hungry. You weren’t hungry before, but now, you definitely want some good food.
Reshape Your Brain Conditioning
Be sure that your subconscious mind will absorb all of the hidden affirmations. According to world-famous researchers, the subconscious mind processes 40 million bits of information every second! On the other hand, the consciousness processes only 40 bits of information. In other words, the subconscious mind is a million time stronger than your consciousness! That’s what makes the subliminal messages method revolutionary.
Now imagine that before and while you sleep you listen to a subliminal session with tens of thousands of repeated hidden affirmations about stopping morning depression, without any resistance from your side whatsoever.
What do you believe is going to happen? That’s right! The reprogramming of your subconscious mind! This method has been explored in many studies and has been found to be an efficient means of decreasing depression, anxiety, and various addictions such as alcohol and food, and helping with other areas of life.
The subliminal messages are recorded with multi-layers – a unique formula that has changed the lives of thousands of people worldwide! They will do the same for you.
Subliminal Messages Will Stop Your Morning Depression
Imagine how it would feel to wake up in the morning full of energy, vitality and exhilaration; with a sense of bursting liveliness and a great start to your day. Imagine what your morning would look like free of depression. It would turn around your whole day! Once you start your with happiness and joy, your whole day will feel this way.
No more fear of dealing with reality and daily routines. No more lack of motivation to get out of bed. No more waking up depressed. From now on, all of this can change for you because you will program your subconscious mind to feel good!
You will raise your energy vibration and change the way you perceive your life. The world will cease to be threatening and will become a safe place for you. Your lack of energy will be replaced with excitement because your subconscious will contain different patterns – more positive, more empowering.
Subliminal messages will do this for you. (Below you can find the subliminal affirmations.)
This is your time to say goodbye to morning depression and to open your eyes with a genuine smile that comes from within.
How To Use The Hypnotic Session For Morning Depression
1. Listen day and night.
2. Allow the recording to play in the background at a comfort volume so it will not wake you up when sleeping or distract you from your regular tasks when awake.
3. Headphones are not a must.
4. Never listen in a moving vihecle and/or when doing activities that might put you or others at risk.