This isn’t meant to be a criticism of your post, but as someone who fades in and out of this situation I want to say: “go outside” is not overly helpful advice for people in this situation. I’ve tried going outside but without a goal to fulfill or any idea of how “normal people” have fun, it’s a struggle to make it feel any less empty than being at home. Obviously it’s not your job to write a book-length guide on how to live a fulfilling life though, so carry on.
Right? “Go outside!” AND THEN DO WHAT, MOTHERFUCKER? Just be depressed outside??
People have this weird idea that because they like being outside, that it must be some sort of cure-all for depression. They also seem to think that being sad is the same as depression.
Seeing green spaces does have an impact on our ability to self regulate, which is helpful for both sadness and depression, but the advice is not formulated well. I have adhd, so my version would be “make getting outside the most important thing, guilt yourself for hours, force yourself finally, then go for an aimless three hour walk that does actually really help with eating and sleeping regularly, then build from there.” That’s obviously fucking nuts to say to someone else, so people say go outside instead
Set yourself a goal for some place to walk, could be a park, a lake, a gas station, doesn’t matter. The most important thing is that it takes you a reasonable amount of time to get there and back again (preferably at least an hour). You can listen to music or a podcast or an audiobook while you walk if you want to.
The point is that your body responds positively to a lot of different stimuli:
- moving
- open spaces
- natural light
- green things
Among others. You don’t have to do “anything specific” in order to get those stimuli and get your endorphins flowing. Once that happens, people typically start feeling happier, and get more of a desire to do other things, making it easier to do more cool things.
Go to a park. Look at some trees. So tall and wavy. Go up and touch their bark. Heck, why not climb up a bit? Climb all the way to the top. Take off your clothes and make a nest of leaves in the nook of a high branch. It is your tree now, nobody can take it away from you. Let loose a loud screech of “ook ook” to let everyone know.
Once that happens, people typically start feeling happier, and get more of a desire to do other things, making it easier to do more cool things.
You overestimate my power!
I have bad joints, man. A walk isn’t as relaxing when you’ve got the knees of an old man. Especially not when everything in both directions of your house is, quite literally, uphill both ways 😭
I’ve learned to at very least I can go outside and just be in the sunlight for a while every day. For me personally it often involves messing around in my garden for a few minutes or going for a walk. If you aren’t able to do that mentally or physically then just sit outside on your porch or something and just be there observing the world. None of this stuff is a cure all but this is such a minimal thing that anyone can do and for some reason I feel a little bit better that day.