When Depression Keeps You Stuck

I don’t claim to know all of life’s answers. But I have learned that if you’re hoping for change, one of the most valuable things you can do is become gently curious about where your time and energy are going.

Not with judgment or shame. Just curiosity.

As someone living with bipolar disorder, I’ve experienced depression many times throughout my life. I know how heavy it can feel and how convincing it can be. Over the years, I’ve noticed something that continues to stand out to me: depression often pulls us toward behaviors that can unintentionally keep us feeling stuck.

For me, that can look like oversleeping, staying inside, avoiding chores, withdrawing from other people, eating too much or too little. None of these things happen because I don’t care or because I’m not trying. They happen because depression makes even the smallest tasks feel enormous.

What I’ve learned over time is that while I can’t always control how I feel in a given moment, I can sometimes choose one small action that moves me in a healthier direction. Many of those ideas were inspired by the skills I learned through Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).

One small walk. One chore. One conversation. One moment in the sunlight. Those tiny actions don’t make depression disappear overnight, but they can begin to loosen its grip, giving us the opportunity to not only feel better, at turns but grow stronger for it.

By one small step at a time.

Lisa Amy is the creator of One Level Forward and author of the Beyond the Cards blog. As someone living with mental illness, she combines lived experience, years of mental health advocacy, and a passion for emotional growth to share practical, compassionate ideas that help people move one level forward.