# Low Mood in Mornings?



## ardrum (May 13, 2007)

This isn't really a disorder, but I didn't know where else to post it.

I don't face depression, but I've noticed that my mood when I wake up in the morning is the poorest that it will be for the entire day. I'm not sure why this is, but it is a rather unpleasant experience. The faster I get up and start my day, the faster it goes away.

I'm wondering if anyone else faces this scenario. I'm very curious to know why I would feel so "blah" when I wake up, regardless of when or how many hours of sleep I had. The feeling is usually gone within 10-30 minutes, for unknown reasons.


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## nothing to fear (Mar 23, 2005)

it's good that it goes away so quickly. my mood usually gets worse as the day goes on.


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## Redefine (Jan 11, 2005)

I'm always cranky in the mornings no matter what. Except for me, the less sleep I get the worse I feel.


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## psyche (Jul 16, 2007)

I find that that happens to me because when you're sleeping, you get to escape from the world for a while, so when you wake up and realise you're back, it's not exactly the happiest thing. especially after a wonderful dream.

or maybe it's a vitamin deficiency. LOL.....


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## smalltowngirl (Feb 17, 2006)

I have the opposite problem. My mood's the worst at night right before I go to bed because I start feeling tired, and somehow that leads to depressing thoughts. 

:yawn It sounds like you're just not a morning person. (Unlike my dad who wakes up and starts singing... :roll Crazy morning people. :lol ) I'm not a morning person either but as long as I get enough sleep at night then my mood in the morning is pretty neutral.


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## leppardess (Nov 8, 2003)

I'm a grouch in the morning until I've had time to wake up properly. That usually takes at least 3 hours.... yes, it takes me forever to wake up...


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## Shauna The Dead (Jun 16, 2005)

I'm usually grumpy if I have to wake up early. :b Especially if I have to be in a hurry to get ready.


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## leppardess (Nov 8, 2003)

*Re: re: Low Mood in Mornings?*



Little Miss Scare-All said:


> I'm usually grumpy if I have to wake up early. :b Especially if I have to be in a hurry to get ready.


If I have to rush when I first get up... forget it, I'm grumpy for the rest of the day unless a miracle happens...


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## Shauna The Dead (Jun 16, 2005)

My grumpiness usually goes away after I finish getting ready, but not always. I was in Tennessee last weekend & we were supposed to be out of the motel room by 11 am, and I didn't wake up until 10:15. I had to rush like crazy getting ready. :mum 
My mom had went out to get breakfast & left me & my friend in the bed... my friend had already woke up at about 9 or 9:30 or something, but she didn't know the check out time was 11 so she didn't wake me up. So my mom got back at 10:15(she'd gotten stuck in traffic--hadn't planned on being out that late) and told me I had 45 minutes to get ready...I dont know how I done it, but I did it. :fall


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## leppardess (Nov 8, 2003)

*Re: re: Low Mood in Mornings?*



Little Miss Scare-All said:


> My grumpiness usually goes away after I finish getting ready, but not always. I was in Tennessee last weekend & we were supposed to be out of the motel room by 11 am, and I didn't wake up until 10:15. I had to rush like crazy getting ready. :mum
> My mom had went out to get breakfast & left me & my friend in the bed... my friend had already woke up at about 9 or 9:30 or something, but she didn't know the check out time was 11 so she didn't wake me up. So my mom got back at 10:15(she'd gotten stuck in traffic--hadn't planned on being out that late) and told me I had 45 minutes to get ready...I dont know how I done it, but I did it. :fall


Ohhhh I hate when that happens :mum I feel for ya :hug

A couple of times, when I was visiting my best friend in KY, when I was staying at the motel, I'd wake up at 10 am and had to be out by 11... that just set the day up for me to be in a bad mood all day.


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## Shauna The Dead (Jun 16, 2005)

:hug I hate it too...that day I didn't really stay in too bad a mood though. After I got out of the motel, just in time.


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## ardrum (May 13, 2007)

Yeah, being in a hurry is stressful, but usually that actually helps to remove that "blah" feeling for me. Of course, in that case, I'm replacing it with stress, so that's not the best substitute. 

I might come up with some mood-enhancing mental exercises to do as soon as I wake up. I'm not sure what they would be, but perhaps something like this could help give me a lift right away.


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## sean88 (Apr 29, 2006)

ardrum said:


> This isn't really a disorder, but I didn't know where else to post it.
> 
> I don't face depression, but I've noticed that my mood when I wake up in the morning is the poorest that it will be for the entire day. I'm not sure why this is, but it is a rather unpleasant experience. The faster I get up and start my day, the faster it goes away.
> 
> I'm wondering if anyone else faces this scenario. I'm very curious to know why I would feel so "blah" when I wake up, regardless of when or how many hours of sleep I had. The feeling is usually gone within 10-30 minutes, for unknown reasons.


I'm the exact same way. I think it's just the fact knowing that I have to get out of bed and get on with my life. But once you get up and about it's alright. I usually don't even fully awake until the afternoon, so I walk around like a zombie. lol


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## ardrum (May 13, 2007)

sean88 said:


> ardrum said:
> 
> 
> > This isn't really a disorder, but I didn't know where else to post it.
> ...


Yeah, I suppose it's possible that the "I'm tired, but I have to get up" explains it, but I'm not too sure. I've been sleeping more (8-9 hours a night), but I still seem to have the same feeling. With 9 hours of sleep, I feel quite rested, even in the mornings (starting at around 8am... I get up at 7am).


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## lilly (Mar 22, 2006)

My mood is ok if I slept well. If I take a tablet & I woke still too early I feel bad and if I have a bad night without a tablet.
My mood can be elevated when I'm feeling gloomy when I can get out of my own head - like realise I need to switch to outside myself like going to the shops or maybe conciously going to do something in the house.


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## Sad_ape (May 26, 2007)

I feel like I'm about to die when I wake up some mornings. My body feels stiff and I just want to go back to sleep. I notice having a cup of coffee then engaging in something kind of active like washing dishes, tapping my fingers on the counter or whatever kind of kicks me out of it. I think if I were to miss my coffee in the morning I'd just feel terrible the entire day. It's strange though because sometimes I'll wake up feeling great but most the time I just feel really out of it for most of the day.


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## yeah_yeah_yeah (Mar 27, 2007)

Well, after a lot of searching, I finally found a theory for why a lot of depressives / anxers feel rough in the mornings. I'm just posting what he said - I'm not stapling my ego to this one and claiming miracle cure - its just what I've found ...

I forget the author, but the idea goes that dreams are a kind of release valve for all the unfulfilled emotions or epectations that half-flitted into conscioussness and needed to be dealt with but werent. The guy thinks that because we are depressed, we have a hundred times more bad thoughts that need to be processed and acted upon (either by talking it through with someone or doing something) but that can only be worried about and perhaps shoved to the back of the mind. So the theroy goes that we use REM sleep to tie up those loose ends - and in depression, cos we have so many, REM sleep expands to fill far too much of the night, displacing the regenerative and restorative deep sleep phases.

REM sleep apparently burns up way more energy than deep sleep, until you get to the point where brain cant take anymore. This, he says, is the reason we wake up early in the morning and cant get back to sleep as our brain is waving a white flag.

So we arent being rested and restored and we're burning mental calories on this stuff - so we wake up wiped out and depressed with a wired brain running on adrenaline.

Not sure how proveable all this is or how accurate, but its the only half-plausible theory I've read on why this happens. If its true that talking about it is the same as taking some action, then I'm experimenting with allowing all my negative thoughts space in my head to be talked through - so if something gets me angry or down, I'm gonna allow a conversation to happen in my head as if I'm talking about it with someone. I tried it this afternoon - allowing myself to ***** and complain about others and myself as if talking to another person. Theres a weird sense of relief after doing this - I will see if it leads to better sleep and feeling good in the mornings and let you know.

EDIT TO ADD: I just found some 'critical commentary' on this guys work and seems that theres quite a few reasons to doubt much of his organisations work (Human Givens) .. however I'll try anything once. 

Ross


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## Andrew White (Aug 18, 2007)

sometimes I can wake up feeling mildly depressed even if I felt great the night before. I would plan something to do the next day, like visit a certain place and then when I wake up just know it is not going to happen.

Last night I was on a high from doing a painting that is going very well (my moods are almost directly related to my art) and I looked at it, felt great and went to bed. Woke up dreading the idea of having to continue work on it. These down morning periods do tend to go away quite quickly, which is lucky.


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## winduptoy (Jun 21, 2005)

I'm the exact same way. I sort of feel hopeless in the morning, but my mood improves later.


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## styler5 (Oct 7, 2006)

I'm quite the opposite. I feel so depressed at night....


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## ardrum (May 13, 2007)

This feeling has been lifted since I originally opened this thread. Now, I might just feel a bit tired, but that's about it. I have a "neutral to positive" mood now in the mornings. This has persisted for at least a few weeks now.


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## yeah_yeah_yeah (Mar 27, 2007)

Your depression is lifting, you are feeling better!! Hurray!

I have got an appointment to have my hormones checked cos my morning crappiness isnt getting better ... or my daytime crappiness!! Overall I feel happier but my energy is still screwed.

How are you ardrum? Did you disappear for a bit? 

Sorry to be conversational in a thread, Im feeling talkative today. Bless me.

Ross


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## ardrum (May 13, 2007)

yeah_yeah_yeah said:


> Your depression is lifting, you are feeling better!! Hurray!
> 
> I have got an appointment to have my hormones checked cos my morning crappiness isnt getting better ... or my daytime crappiness!! Overall I feel happier but my energy is still screwed.
> 
> ...


I took a week off from SAS. I think it was quite a beneficial break. It also allowed me to do some reading that I had wanted to do.


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