Your Body Issues

[picklegwen]

I'd like to call this a transition period in my life. I am not going back to college next semester and have had to move back home earlier than I thought I would. Since coming home about a week ago all I do is stay in bed. I can't bring myself to shower and I forget to eat and only have one meal a day around 12-1 am. I listen to music on my laptop all day. I go to sleep at 5 am and wake up at 3 pm. I'm not trying to do this, I just fell into this weird pattern when I got home. I'm thinking of asking my mom for anti-depressants or sleeping pills. I sort of feel docile and indifferent and not necessarily sad. Something in me just won't wake up. It's weird... Help?

[MatildaLove]

I don't know if it's that there is anything physically or mentally wrong with you, but it could just be that since you haven't been doing much, your body has gotten used to sitting around. Rather than seeking immediate outside help, try breaking the pattern.

During school breaks, kids tend to not wake up, because there is no requirement for us to wakeup. Try making a schedule, nothing rigid or extreme, but set a few things to get done each day. Most importantly get moving, a little exercise can make you feel more energetic.

First set an alarm, instead of 12 hours of sleep, try cutting back to 10 or 9 hours. Start your day off simple, maybe you need to fully get moving for the day, just give yourself about 30 minutes where you get out of bed, but don't necessarily have to leap into action. Go for a walk (or run/jog), even better if you have a dog you can take with you, though if you live somewhere cold where they have snow on the ground this might be impossible you could instead just stretch inside and maybe try some light yoga or dancing. Then, since you worked up a light sweat, it might be nice to take a shower and get a nice clean scent.

It won't take very long to do these things, but they might give you the transition you need to take back control. You can adjust and add more activities to do.

Some ideas of things I like to do during breaks: cook my own lunches, clean, reorganize my stuff, select a few books to read,  write letters to my grandparents/friends, ride my bike to the library, bake cookies, get out of my house by watching movies at the dollar theater, going shopping without money and just trying on clothes I like or wouldn't usually take the time to try on.

Since you aren't going back to school for the next semester, have you considered getting a job? They give you a good reason to get out of the house, interact with people, and put some extra cash in your pocket. Plus if you set your schedule to apply for jobs, it will give you something else to do during the day.