If you're thinking about ending your life, or you're not safe right now, call 000 in Australia or 911 in the US. You can also call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or call or text 988 in the US, any time. Anywhere else, findahelpline.com lists free local lines.
How to clean when you feel low
When you feel low, housework can slip, and a messy room can make it harder to start. You don't have to clean the whole place. Pick one small job and do just that.
Pick one job that takes ten minutes or less
Choose one of these and leave the rest for another day. Each takes ten minutes or less:
- Take out the rubbish Achievement5 minutes
- Wipe down the kitchen bench Achievement5 minutes
- Make your bed Achievement5 minutes
- Sort the mail Achievement5 minutes
- Wash the dishes Achievement10 minutes
- Put clothes away Achievement10 minutes
- Do a load of laundry Achievement10 minutes
The achievement list has more ideas.
Set a timer and stop when it ends
Set a timer for five or ten minutes. When it goes off, you can stop, even if the job isn't finished. If you want to keep going, that's fine too.
Notice how you feel after
When you're done, ask yourself how you feel: worse, the same, a bit better or much better. You can also score how much you got done, from 0 to 10. Some activity diaries used in behavioural activation ask you to rate this, often called a sense of achievement. Activity monitoring shows how to keep one.
Build a short routine
Once a job or two feels manageable, plan them for set times in the week, such as the dishes after dinner and the rubbish on Tuesday night. Activity scheduling shows how to plan a week.
On days when it's too much
Some days even five minutes is too much. Pick something from the rest list instead, or leave one chore until tomorrow on purpose. If most days feel like this, talk to your GP.
When to get more help
Has it lasted more than two weeks? Is it getting in the way of work, study or the people around you? Then talk to your GP. In Australia, your GP can refer you to a psychologist under a Mental Health Treatment Plan.
Beyond Blue is on 1300 22 4636 in Australia. If you're not safe, call 000 in Australia or 911 in the US. Lifeline is on 13 11 14, and in the US you can call or text 988. Anywhere else, see findahelpline.com.
What the research says
A 2020 Cochrane review brought together 53 studies of behavioural activation for depression in adults, with about 5,500 people. Five of those studies, with 601 people, compared it with CBT. The review found no clear difference between the two in the short term, up to six months after treatment, and rated that evidence as moderate certainty.
Behavioural activation is a recommended psychological approach for depression (RANZCP 2020; NICE NG222).
These studies tested behavioural activation with a therapist or trained mental health worker. They didn't test Bloom, and Bloom isn't therapy.
How to get motivated when you feel low has more on starting small.
Bloom does this with you
Bloom picks small activities for each day, including quick jobs around the home, and asks how you feel after each one.
Sources
- Kanter JW and others (2010). What is behavioral activation? Clinical Psychology Review 30: 608–620. doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2010.04.001
- Uphoff E and others (2020). Behavioural activation therapy for depression in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD013305.pub2
- NICE (2022). Depression in adults: treatment and management (NG222). www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng222
- Malhi GS and others (2021). The 2020 Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical practice guidelines for mood disorders. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 55: 7–117. www.ranzcp.org/getmedia/a8c79505-c0b5-46b4-9f27-67f79e047674/RANZCP-mood-disorders-clinical-practice-guideline-2020.pdf