Small, cheap, habitual actions are what work. I Crawl Through It by A.S. King refined the advice from my mom to “just do something!” when I was depressed as a teenager. I could only imagine big, daunting things to do rather than the tiny steps that are more effective.
Steps to build the habit of opting in to temporary cold might be one hand in a bowl of cold water every morning, then the face, then turning off the hot water before the cold water in the shower, etc.
Breath-holding to increase carbon dioxide can be another helpful system shock, spurring a will to live.
To get up in the morning when I’m feeling stuck I’ll start breathing quickly and deeply to increase the chances I can bypass the sinkhole of my thoughts and find myself sitting up.
meristohm|4 years ago
[0] https://www.worldcat.org/title/i-crawl-through-it-a-novel/
[1] https://www.worldcat.org/title/breath/oclc/1249567607&refere...