Finding motivation

Hi everyone, This is my 1st post on the forum. I will start with a little bit about whats been going on for me.

I wasn't sure where to post as I've had so many diagnoses in the past 2 and half years. General anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, depression, psychotic depression and agoraphobia.

I've had problems with anxiety for the past 10 years but managed to keep it under control on my own to a certain extent up until 2 and half years ago when I had a complete breakdown which resulted in me having to leave work. The anxiety became constant and I believed people were following me and watching me when I was outside.

I seen a couple of psychiatrists and was prescribed a number of different anti depressants and anti psychotics over the course of 2 years. after I was prescribed venlafaxine (effexor), the side effects from that drug convinced me that I don't want to be taking any medicines. So haven't been taking any medication for the past 6 months. I'm in an okay with the depression side of things but the anxiety about leaving the house and being around people is crippling.

I've pretty much been house bound for the past 2 and a half years. I have put on loads weight which really isn't helping my situation at all and it's really been getting me down and just annoying me more the past month. I know If I were to start exercising again It would help me so so so much. Not only physically but mentally too. I really think this is the only way I can combat my anxiety and depression but I'm finding it so hard to find motivation to exercise with the way I feel outside my house.

I'm moving house in about a week or so and I'm going to try and use that as a kind of fresh start and try my best in getting some daily exercise and eating healthier.

Any tips or ideas on ways to get motivated would be appreciated :yesyes:

If you read all that thank you and sorry for the big post :roflmao:

*Just wanted to add that I spend most of my time on my own. I have no friends except for immediate family.

Hi and welcome! I'm on my phone so it's hard to write a lot, but one thing that I thought of was maybe doing exercise in your home to start with, then slowly working up to going outside. Like try going for a short walk around the block and just do that until you are comfortable with it. Then maybe go farther or to a park. Take it slowly. Even the littlest bit can help!

I agree, do something that is easy at first and walking is excellent for this. Just go a little way and keep increasing it so that habituate to being outside, the way it would be tackled for an agoraphobic.

Then perhaps some cycling? This is recommended for depression, as is walking.

I know what you mean as I've let myself go due to all this and it has knocked my confidence and self esteem.

Could you do some exercise in the house? There are plenty of ways to do this to lose body fat and/or build muscle. You can do many routines with bodyweight alone, and one of the best ways to lose weight is High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)...which just means get your heart rate up and have short "resting" periods where you exercise at a lower intensity. Many of these routines include an easier variant for people who can't workout at that level yet.

You can do HIIT without any equipment as it's a mixed form of cardio and weights/bodyweight exercises.

If this is too much, look at say Interval Training which is an easier version and won't shift weight as quickly, but it could be a stepping stone.

You will find tons about all this on the internet.

If you have any health conditions other than anxiety & depression e.g. physical ones, you may need to consult your GP first though (a disclaimer always found with exercise programmes!).

Motivation can be hard, especially at first. I have seen something fairly recently about taking small steps towards your goals and it was just a way of anchoring two activities together e.g. the guy who created it did 10 push ups everytime he went to the toilet...it was called Tiny Habits. The idea was basically that we are not always motivated by anythign large, and in the case of we anxiety sufferers this can be offputting, so they use a small step model to introduce new behaviours. I wonder if this could get you started?

Thanks for the replies :)

I'm thinking of maybe getting an exercise bike to start with as I can use it indoors and doing some walking outside too going a little further eachday.

One of the problems I find is I hate the feeling of my heart racing, it makes me feel sick. I hope that will pass in time.

Hello Crossy and welcome.
Its great you are starting to think positive with regards to improving your physical health. There is certainly positives to good diet and exercise in regards to any illness. You sound like me from about 2 weeks ago. Ok time to beat this. What I would say is try and remember the mental side is the most important, or it is for me. Without your mental side changing then physical stuff just made me more fatigued and the symptoms got worse.
Its great you are looking at moving house as a new start, brilliant in fact. Mental fatigue is far more debilitating then physical fatigue. If your mind is constantly in a state of anxiety and you are mentally processing feelings your brain needs to rest to.
I started this process but altering my thoughts. Instead of questioning why me? why am I like this/ when will I get better? I am sick of feeling like this? You need to completely alter your thoughts to ok I have anxiety so what. Stop avoiding situations slowly at first. Almost welcome it, it is your new friend. live your life along side. It will change your outlook completely. You need to retrain your brain. It wont be easy and will take time. This approach along with exercise will become easier as this is now part of the new you the new life process. Anxiety you feel after such along time is coming from stress re feelings and your response to them. They have become familiar to your system, autonomic just like breathing but you can change this.
Hope this makes sense, its where I am 2 weeks on and I already have done more in terms of motivation and doing things than I have in the last year. And feel better for it.
Cheers Ross

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ps heart racing is a normal sign of adrenaline over production, caused by anxiety. Totally normal, wont hurt you. Try and see symptoms as not individual one i.e. heart is racing, throw is tight, headaches. They are all caused by the same thing adrenaline. That is produced by your body as a appropriate response to how you are feeling. See the symptoms under one umbrella, anxiety ice there them feelings again, oh its only anxiety so what. Its difficult to do, but practice will help. I am changing my mentality to this to break habits. Hope this helps. ross

I think you are far from alone on that one Crossy. Exercise causes similar physical sensations as anxiety. So does excitement! If you can habituate to it and by facing it, you will find you tolerate it easier and eventually it probably won't bother you. This will transale into your anxiety by increasing your tolerance to these symptoms because you will be fine with them when you exercise.

I think you are going about this in a sensible way. Start small and build up, you will soon move forward.