The morning after I admitted it to myself, I lay in bed for forty minutes trying to work out the order in which to fix my entire life. By the time I'd got to whether to change jobs, I hadn't brushed my teeth.
That's the depression trap in miniature. The problem feels enormous. The actual next move is a glass of water.
This module is about the next 72 hours. The action floor.
The principle: smallest possible base
When you're depressed, your operating bandwidth is smaller than normal. The 72-hour stabilise is about identifying the smallest set of inputs that keep you above the line.
The base is four things:
- One meal. Doesn't matter what. Toast and eggs is fine. The aim is calories above zero by 11am.
- Water. Two litres across the day. Dehydrated depression is worse than hydrated depression by about 20 percent.
- Ten minutes outside. Not a run. A walk to the corner and back, in actual sunlight, with your phone in your pocket. Sunlight is a free dose of the same neurotransmitter pathway your medication is going to target.
- Sleep at the usual time, even if you can't sleep. Bed at your normal hour. Lights off. Phone in another room.
Four inputs. None takes more than ten minutes. They're plumbing, not philosophy.
What today looks like
A worked example. Today is Tuesday. Right now is 10am.
- By 11am: drink a glass of water. Eat something with protein.
- By 1pm: ten minutes outside. To the letterbox. No headphones if you can manage.
- 3pm: another glass of water.
- By 7pm: dinner. Doesn't have to be cooked.
- By 10pm: phone out of the bedroom. Lights off. Lie down.
That's it. Tomorrow you do it again.
What to NOT do
- Don't drink alcohol. Even a quiet two beers. Alcohol is a depressant.
- Don't make big decisions. Not the job. Not the relationship. Not the move.
- Don't open the spreadsheet.
- Don't tell everyone. One person. Save the wider conversation for when you've got footing.
- Don't read about depression on the internet for hours.
The 72-hour goal
The goal isn't to feel better. The goal is to not lose more ground.
If on Friday you've eaten three meals a day, drunk water, walked outside daily, slept at consistent hours, you have done the only thing this 72 hours could productively do.
From a held line, you can book the GP appointment in module 2. From a slipping line, you can't.
Eat. Walk. Sleep. Repeat.
Further watching
- 01The four-input base: one meal, two litres of water, ten minutes outside, bed at the usual time. Even if you can't sleep.
- 02Lower the bar until the bar is on the floor. Tinned soup counts. A walk to the letterbox counts.
- 03Three things to take off the table for 72 hours: alcohol, big decisions, the financial spreadsheet.
- 04The goal is not to feel better. The goal is not to lose more ground before Friday.
- 05From a held line you can make the GP call. From a slipping line, you can't.
The four-input base for the 72-hour stabilise is: