When you don’t feel like doing anything

A circle that feeds itself

When your mood drops, the natural thing is to withdraw: stay in, cancel plans, put it off till tomorrow. At first it brings relief, because you save yourself the effort. But everything you stop doing is one chance fewer to enjoy yourself, to feel capable or to be with someone. With fewer good things in the day, your mood drops a little further, and your energy with it.

In the 1970s the psychologist Peter Lewinsohn studied the relationship between pleasant activities and depression, and proposed one of the first psychological treatments based on it: helping people to recover, little by little, what gave them satisfaction and their contact with others.

A study that turned things round

In 1996, Neil Jacobson and his team at the University of Washington wanted to find out which part of cognitive therapy for depression was the part that really helped. They randomly assigned 150 people with depression to three groups. One received the full therapy; another, only part of it; and the third, only what they called behavioural activation: planning activities and doing them, without working directly on thoughts.

At the end of treatment, and months later too, those who had received only the activation did as well as the others. Even their negative thoughts had changed as much as those of the people who had worked on them.

Twenty years later, in 2016, a British trial led by David Richards, with 440 adults with depression, compared behavioural activation, delivered by mental health workers with less training, with cognitive behavioural therapy delivered by psychotherapists. After a year, the results were equivalent. It is a simple method, and that is why it is easier to teach and to take to more people.

First do, then the feeling

The central idea fits in a sentence that people who work with this method repeat: act according to a plan, not according to your mood. When you are well, waiting until you feel like it is reasonable. When you are low, the feeling usually comes after you start, not before. That is why people talk about working “from the outside in”: first change what you do and, in time, how you feel changes.

It isn’t about filling the day with tasks or forcing yourself to enjoy things. It is about choosing a few small, concrete things, connected with what matters to you or with what you have been avoiding for a while, and doing them even if you don’t feel like it.

Really small steps

Some tips from people who use behavioural activation:

• Start with something very small. Not “tidy the house”, but “wash the breakfast cups”. Not “do some exercise”, but “walk round the block”.
• Give it a day and a time, like an appointment with yourself.
• Mix things that give pleasure, such as listening to a song or sitting in the sun, with others that give a sense of getting something done, such as paying a bill or answering a message that has been waiting.
• Note down how you feel before and after. Often the difference is small, but seeing it encourages you to carry on.
• If one day it doesn’t work out, that helps too: it tells you what was too big or at what time of day it is easier.
• Include someone: a walk with a neighbour, a short phone call. Being with others is one of the first things to go when your mood drops, and the WHO recommends looking after it.

Every step counts, even if it seems small. The value of small steps forward is about just that.

Moving the body, even a little

Movement is one of the most studied activities. In 2024, a review led by Michael Noetel of the University of Queensland brought together 218 trials with more than fourteen thousand people with depression. Walking or running, yoga and strength training were associated with a moderate improvement, greater the more intense the exercise. The authors warn that many of those studies were of low quality, so it is best taken as one more help, not a cure. The WHO points out that even a short walk counts.

A bad patch or depression?

Having little energy for a few days is part of life. The World Health Organization speaks of a depressive episode when low mood (sadness, irritability, a feeling of emptiness) or loss of interest in things lasts most of the day, nearly every day, for at least two weeks. It usually comes with other changes: in sleep or appetite, marked tiredness, difficulty concentrating, excessive guilt or a feeling of worthlessness, hopelessness.

If you recognise yourself in that, talk to your doctor. Depression can be treated, and behavioural activation is only one of the options. Sometimes a lack of energy also has physical causes that are worth looking at. Asking for help is hard, above all when you have no strength left even for that, and that is exactly why it counts for so much.

If you also think that it isn’t worth going on, don’t wait until you feel like it to look for someone. In Spain you can talk to a person at the Teléfono de la Esperanza, 717 003 717, at any time. If you are thinking of ending your life, call 024: it is free and answered 24 hours a day. If you are in another country, call your local emergency number or a helpline there.

One line is enough

You don’t need to feel like it to light a “For me” star: writing “today I can’t cope with anything” under “What weighs on me” is enough. It is a very small step, and other people will see it and leave you a touch.