I think I'm becoming depressed

[CantDo]

Today I dropped the kids off to school and then stayed in bed most of the day and played with baby when she was awake and that's about it. I had a small snack to eat. Apart from this I've done nothing.

Ive lost the will to do anything. I've no motivation. There's chores / jobs / cleaning to do which would make me feel good if I did them but I can't get myself to do them. I

I'm not in the mood to play with the kids, make dinner or feed the baby. Im utterly exhausted.

If it wasn't for the kids, I literally would spend the whole day in bed. Everything is such a struggle.

What can I do to help myself today. Apart from go to the gp which I've already booked an appt for. It's not till next week though.

I'm sorry you're feeling like this. It sounds like you're doing really well.

Lower your expectations, and just get the bear minimum done: feed the kids, wash them, put them to bed. Then look after yourself and get all the rest you need.

in the past I have found a three pronged approach works:

• rest and wellbeing: make sure you're resting properly and eating properly
• distraction: distract yourself from unhelpful thoughts by watching TV or listening to the radio. Don't try to think about anything major.
• talking: tell a friend or your partner. Not to discuss all your woes but just so someone knows how you feel.

funnily enough i came on here to write a similar post! It turns out my advice is quite good ... I should really listen to that myself!

arsearsearse

I'm resting during the day but I am hardly getting any sleep. DD wakes up almost every hour. I am extremely sleep deprived and exhausted.

Im not eating properly. Need to sort that out.

I'm distracted too much I think! I'm just wasting my time online or reading! I need to get stuff done but have lost all motivation. I think this is what's getting me down .

I've told DH. He helps as much as he can around the house when he's home and takes baby for a while.

How old is your baby? Sleep is everything for my mental health personally. It's difficult to say without knowing you whether you are depressed; I have had depression and am quite self aware so I can differentiate between depression (need more me time doing healthy activities like being outside, hobbies, seeing friends) v when I need to give myself a kick up the arse and write a JFDI list and just fucking do the things on it. I have low standards though so there's never that many things on the list.

I think the sleep deprivation is playing a big part in my mental health. I feel exhausted. I'm thinking of giving her a bottle before bed to see if that works. I've tried everything. I'm at my wit's end tbh.

I feel the same, no motivation to do anything whatsoever. The difference is my baby sleeps all night, so it's not sleep deprivation

you poor thing. Well done for making a doctors appointment, that’s a great first step. Sleep deprivation definitely won’t be helping. Would you be able to nap when DH takes her or do you feel too wired to drop off?

A few things that always help me (although I try to rebel against them)

• get outside. Even if it’s the last thing you want to do, wrap baby up and go for a walk. The fresh air and exercise will help your mood and you’ll feel better for having made the effort.
• talk to friends and family, can anyone take baby for a few hours for you to rest?
• it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by needing to do things and not feel motivated. Make a a short list with little boxes you can tick off. Include vey basic things like ‘got out of bed’ ‘took kids to school’ and tick them off straight away. Having a list already started really helps. But don’t add too much to it, a couple of essential things. Most things can wait.
• be kind to yourself. Reading isn’t a bad way to spend your day. Maybe try and get to the sofa instead of going back to bed. My first step to recovery was making the bed nicely when I go out, so I was less tempted to get back in. Even if I then spent all day on the sofa, at least I go out of bed.