I’m curious, how much do you rely on your alarm to wake up in the morning? And, how much to you rely on your self-discipline to go to bed at a time that allows you enough sleep before you need to get up?
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In my journal below, I consider the chicken or the egg idea when it comes to depression and the reliance on an alarm. And I started wondering if not getting enough sleep could be a factor in depression (or at least, a low energy mood), I don’t mean in all cases, but for me, where I feel like I’m so often in a low energy space, it seemed like it might make some sense.
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For most of my adult life, I relied much more heavily on my alarm, like much more. However, after listening to a podcast about quality sleep and its importance (which was more important in a zillion ways than I’d previously realized), I felt like it was finally time to get seriously serious about my sleep.
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Since writing this journal, I’m excited to say I’ve made heaps of progress. For a while I actually didn’t even allow myself to use an alarm, except when I absolutely needed to. And now, just this week actually, I’ve begun using an alarm again, though with the aim of waking up before it–still incentivizing me to go to sleep at a decent hour. And this morning, I’m proud to announce, I woke up before my alarm!
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Lastly, I’m not sure whether it’s causation, correlation or otherwise, but mood-wise, I’m certainly no where near ‘perfect’, but I can honestly say I’m in a much more empowered, positive place than I was when I first wrote this journal 🙂
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Dear Brave Soul,
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Below is one of my personal journal entries, and as such, I’ve not written it with the intention of an audience. I’ve decided to share some of these reflections with you based on two desires:
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1) to remember I am not alone — sharing my raw thoughts and being vulnerable may allow me to connect with others who have similar thoughts/feelings/experiences (aka, I’d love to hear from you!)
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2) to remember I am not my ego — I believe we all have a right to share our opinions. However, for much of my life, even still, it’s been difficult for me to express myself out of fear someone will respond negatively. Being vulnerable and opening up with my potentially esoteric, or even controversial, thoughts is me facing that fear, and I understand it may very well cause my ego pain.
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To note, these entries are largely unedited, though if I’ve added/clarified anything, you will see a ‘[…]’.
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Sincerely,
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my Dying Ego
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February 15, 2022
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Last night, or likely early this morning, when I wondered whether I should just get up, because I felt pretty rested, I had this intriguing thought. Could not getting enough sleep, night after night, and waking up to your alarm morning after morning, where you force your body out of bed, when it’s screaming to crawl back under the covers… could that cause depression, or maybe not necessarily depression, but cause a mindset of not being excited about your day, that feels maybe a little avoidant or not caring, or just a drab overall feeling? The idea that bed is more of a desire than to face the world, because your body is simply tired, but in so doing this repeatedly over and over, you begin to train your mind that your bed is a more desirable place, and that you don’t have enough energy to face the world? DUDE.
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I feel like I super resonate with this. Which means, I’d really like to get to a place where I don’t need an alarm to wake up in the morning, and to have a sleep schedule that’s right for me. I was thinking about this a bit last night after I was listening to a podcast about sleep, how basically getting enough quality sleep means going to bed at a decent hour and not needing an alarm to wake up.
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Author Bio: Hi, I’m Bethany! For over a decade, I’ve been on a winding journey in search of healing. I created Love myHealth as an outlet to share my story and empower others. I’m passionate about all things health, but what intrigues me most, is the healing essence of an empowering mindset. Some of my favorite things in life include acro yoga, walking under the stars, life-changing conversations with strangers, and food (most notably: gluten-free pizza and nice cream.)