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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

January blues - anyone else?

13 replies

frugalnecessity · 05/01/2023 20:05

I don't know what is wrong with me but since the week between Xmas and New Year, I have just felt so lethargic, down and unmotivated. Objectively I have a good life - a home, a nice boyfriend, a job, a holiday to look forward to in Feb etc but I just feel very lonely and listless at the moment - it's a struggle to get out of bed and I can't be bothered with the tidying/cleaning etc I need to do. I have a couple of stressors, eg the cost of living crisis (like everyone else!) and an unhealthy relationship with food thanks to a history of anorexia which I am trying to rectify. Also a good friend moved away recently but only 25 mins away!, On the whole life isn't terrible. I don't know why I can't shake this sense of ennui.

I feel totally unreasonable to feel like this since I have no valid reasons to! Anyone else? Is it the time of year?

OP posts:

Pulipalaver · 05/01/2023 20:10

I've felt utterly black since New Year's party.
Can't shift it, it's like a heavy slug in my soul, weighing me down.

PurpleEmpress · 05/01/2023 20:12

Me too. Didn’t get up until past 11am today and have drooped around the house the rest of the day not doing much. I have told myself I will go out tomorrow for a walk even if only a short one. I need a loaf of bread so that will get me shifting Sainsbury’s way

emzzx · 05/01/2023 20:14

Same here!! Everything feels like a slog, I’m back at work tomorrow and looking forward to getting out of my bed earlier than 12pm and being distracted from the grey rainy sky!

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 05/01/2023 20:20

Generally I don't mind winter but the last couple of days have been 'I could stay in bed until lunchtime, no problem' and just lounging around once I do get out of bed. I think it's not helped by a barrage of bad news every day.

Kfjsjdbd · 05/01/2023 20:21

Yes same. I feel really down, though I haven’t got anything to be down about. I’m trying to see it as a cloud just passing through. Not sure what I can do to shake it as I’m doing everything recommended already

Original poster

frugalnecessity · 05/01/2023 20:24

I haven't been getting out of bed til gone 12 either and I feel so ashamed about it, thank you everyone for your honesty and solidarity. It's so hard when you can't shift it isn't it? I just want to get a grip!

OP posts:

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 05/01/2023 20:25

It hasn’t hit me yet this year, but it will do at some point. It always does!

Auldfangsyne · 05/01/2023 20:35

I think Christmas has been a distraction of just how shit life is at the moment. We have always been fairly comfortable (good jobs both FT) but even I'm shocked at the cost of living and cutting back.

I don't have an ED but imagine Christmas and the aftermath must be very tricky if you do.

Your friend moving might be the last straw for you.

Be kind to yourself. Book in time with your friend and thinks to look forward too and seek help if it doesn't get better soon.

LadyGaGasPokerFace · 05/01/2023 20:40

Doesn’t help that there’s 300 days in the month of January. It’s a bit of a come down from the high.

TwoBigNoisyBoys · 05/01/2023 20:41

Yep, exactly the same here. I was back in work today so had to literally drag myself out of bed. It’s like wading through mud and has been one thing after another. I developed flu Boxing Day, and this came after a year of treatment for breast cancer. I’m absolutely battered, physically and emotionally and fed up of getting knocked down every time I try to get up ☹️ All I want to do is sleep…

Bellie99 · 05/01/2023 21:03

I've been SO flat since NEw Years. Hardly moved off the sofa, feeling very tearful and absolutely no motivation at all. Didn't even sort out the order for the grocery delivery today, so now have the most random selection of ingredients to make meals with this week.
Will try and get outside tomorrow to see if it helps.

ditherydotty · 05/01/2023 21:23

This Christmas has been so dull and has really dragged out. I was so looking forward to 2 weeks off with the kids but it's like Groundhog Day, we're not back to school / work until 9th and it's just too long. No motivation to do a big clean and exciting activities I'd planned or start my healthy eating plan.

Hoping when we go back to our normal routines I'll get a bit of momentum back.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 05/01/2023 21:36

I was feeling like that but also dreading going back to work and back to the grind and overly large workload and stress and early mornings. But I went back yesterday and it actually gave me a bit of a lift. I enjoyed seeing my colleagues, and having tasks to do, and a bit of a routine to my day. Unfortunately a couple of my colleagues had been bereaved over Christmas so actually that put things in perspective for me and made me come home and be glad to be with my family and be grateful for them.

This time of year people are torn between wanting to hibernate and needing a routine to their day. We often THINK we need rest and hibernation and staying in bed till late morning but then when we get up and only have a few more hours of daylight and our mealtimes are all at funny times, it makes us feel a bit slovenly/slothful. You feel like you've achieved nothing and wasted the day. So while we don't enjoy the stress of the working day in general, it's probably better for us, wellbeing wise, overall.

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