Can't get ready

[tehmina23]

I take Venlafaxine 300mg for depression & Aripiprazole 25mg for Psychosis.

I have a stupid problem which is that when I don't have plans like work or meeting a friend then I just can't get ready.

I feel so unmotivated. I haven't had a shower for 2 days and I need to.

Showering & getting ready seems like such a big thing now. I feel quite low anyway.

This happens nearly every week.

This is so common and hard to get out of...I think that you need to value yourself to do it with good grace and when you're depressed, of course you don't place much value on yourself.

What I used to do when I was down, was remember how much care my parents had taken of me when I was a baby and child.

And how I owed it to them to do the same.

It seemed to galvanise me. Or I'd force myself to go to the corner shop which would mean getting dressed etc.

What are you doing today? Got nothing planned?X

I'd planned to go for a coffee, my mum has come round & wants to go out so now I have to get ready...

When my anxiety peaks I have similar issues. I just can't seem to get motivated enough to bother.

I find setting myself goals where I need to go out helps.. So not stock piling milk and bread, shopping bits I can't get delivered to the house and spread out those tasks during the week so I can't go more than 24 hours without getting showered and dressed and out the house.

Maybe something like that borrow my dog thing would help you? Give you a reason to go out so you find it easier to get showered etc?

OP, I'm sorry you're not feeling well. If you're setting yourself a goal of 'getting ready' that may be too open-ended to feel achievable. Any chance you could break it down into more basic parts? Rather than 'shower and get ready', more specifically the task could be 'wash armpits, put on clean underwear and shirt' or whatever is your personal bottom line to feel like you're sufficiently presentable.

Some people struggle with the process of showering (undressing, getting in, washing, getting out, drying, choosing clean clothes etc) where just having a quick wash and changing underwear might feel more doable.

Is your home (or at least your bathroom) warm enough to make bathing an enjoyable (or at least benign) experience? Do you have enough clean clothes and can you find a suitable set of clean clothes if you change? These parts of the process can all get in the way too.

Consider that a lot of 'normal people' (ie people who don't consider themselves to have a MH problem) will happily slob around at the weekend or on hols without washing or changing clothes if they don't plan to go out. So it isn't in itself something bad. But I see it can be part of a larger issue where if you don't wash and dress regularly it can make it harder to leave the house as everything has piled up and all needs to be done at once.

I did have a good shower in the end but it took me ages.
I went for a coffee with my Mum & to Tesco, gradually felt better,

Today I'm at work so had to get ready in a hurry which is probably better!