#drepession

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Scrolling. Watching. Looking.

I turned off my phone’s alarm. I hated it. I resented it. So, I cut it out of my life. It didn’t bring me joy, it was a burden. My body’s natural wake-up cycle woke me up on my own time. Of course, I made sure I didn’t have an early commitment like an opening shift at work. From now on, I’ll be checking my schedule the night before, and if I have an early shift, I’ll set an alarm. Otherwise, if I set an alarm, I’ll just turn it off in the morning and go back to sleep.

I’d like to see how I feel with this adjustment for a week or so. After that, I might start forcing myself out of bed by charging my phone in the living room instead of right next to me.

You hear a lot that the symptoms of depression result in staying in bed a lot later than usual. That is getting more and more common, and when I think critically about that, I don’t think it comes down to everyone in the world having depression. Some research may have to be done to see if depression is on the rise. My curiosity is now getting the better of me.

If staying in bed is a huge sign because you don’t want to get out of bed, maybe we as a society should stop enabling bed culture. Let me tell you what I mean by bed culture.

My wife, before she and I were married, would stay in her bed and text me all morning. I was out of bed consuming mindless content while she was doing the same while texting me in her bed. On the days she didn’t have to work or go to school, half of her day was flushed away. She texted me and consumed content on her phone. Instant gratification on two fronts.

What is it about our culture that truly enables us to be lazier? Maybe it’s not the television in the living room, but the television in your own room. Maybe it’s not the computer in the office, but the laptop you can use in bed.