What could cause severe depression when waking up in the morning?

Slow thyroid, exhaustion, disturbed sleep, hormonal fluctuation, all sorts of things. If it passes in a day or two I wouldn’t think twice about it.

Depression. Truly.

When you go about your day, you have distractions, tasks, chores, a job, other people to focus on. So depression isn’t always very visible when we’re busy living our lives. But it’s at night, or in the morning, when things slow down significantly that it can really get a good grip on your mind. When my best friend committed suicide, I remember how bad (for years) the mornings were – even far, far worse than the nights. It was waking up and feeling the weight of the coming day, first thing. How I’d have to prepare myself, to force myself, to just get through a single day. The complete hopelessness was unbearable. It was true dread like I’ve never known before. As the day went on, it would gradually fade, but it was back with a vengeance every single morning.

If you start feeling that way on a regular basis, morning after morning, I suggest that you think about talking to a professional before it has the chance to get out of hand. It could be random, but not if you’ve felt this way consistently. Have you?

I’ve had very mild depression upon awakening for weeks. Nothing like this morning, though.
I have only once felt the need to “talk to a professional.” It was very effective. She had a way of giving me the green light to leave my husband. But , in this case, I think I know what’s causing it. It is so involved, so long term and terrible that I just can’t bring myself to start a very long conversation about it. Let’s just say my older daughter and her son are in all kinds of serious trouble. I think I really need to learn meditation. Just hearing her voice upsets me terribly and I believe that she is the cause of my bleeding ulcers. It is impossible to get the two of them off of my mind. And I am going to my granddaughter’s birthday party tomorrow where everyone will be smiling and laughing the whole time. I actually love watching movies because they get my mind off of this other daughter.

@Aster Sometimes it takes a while to get my motor running in the AM. Maybe you need a change of scenery or in your schedule for a bit.

@Adirondackwannabe that could help. How would anyone enjoy hearing Star Trek from 8am to 8pm seven days a week? I mean, it’s not like I don’t have a car sitting in the garage. I need to get out of this funk. This Star Trek/laundry funk. Then at night the dogs are subjected to a speaker aimed at their pen with wrestling shows going for two hours. I escape that. I go to the bedroom. Almost makes me think my s/o is senile. But if he’s senile, how does he do so great on Jeopardy? Some older men are perfectly content with , well, sitting all day long. It’s hard to adjust because my ex, a sadistic psycho, was extremely active and ambitious. He still is even while needing knee replacements he’s always on the go.

@Aster Talking to a professional, if it can be managed, might be good for you. Not simply because it appears that you are trying to deal with at least some level of depression, but just because it can be a positive thing for even completely mentally healthy people. That said, they could definitely help you out with the feelings you’re experiencing regarding your daughter and grandson. But yes, I think you have good ideas about getting out of the house for a while, even if it’s to enjoy scenery in a park or somewhere else, or even just taking the dogs for a walk. Treat yourself to some things that you enjoy.

Well, I certainly wouldn’t enjoy doing anything in this awful, hot climate. Not outside, anyway. Plus, the older I get the less social I’ve become for some reason. Funny thing: I have a girlfriend who calls me every Saturday morning to mostly complain and philosophize about Life. I actually enjoy it. My other friends have died. She’s had two strokes so I don’t know how long I’ll be talking with her. It is so depressing.

@Aster Actually I was thinking of camping out by a lake, sleeping on the ground in a sleeping bag, then waking at dawn and catching your breakfast from the lake. And frying it up on a fire. Completely avoiding all media.

It’s way too hot to not sleep with air conditioning and we don’t have a tent. I’m not Daniel Boone. lol We have a fishing lot on a lake but have discovered you can’t catch any fish. Besides; it’s half an hour from here and extremely hard to locate plus you can’t spend the night in that neighborhood unless you’ve built a house. Rules. Gated. If I wanted to escape at night I’d prefer a fancy hotel with room service but I’d never leave him here alone like that. God; I can hear him now calling everyone and telling them “Aster has gone off somewhere” or something.

@Aster Wuss. :)What kind of fishing lot doesn’t produce fish? Air conditioning? I worked in the hay mow, that’s hot.

I know it’s odd. I wondered why the agent never would respond when he’d bring up fishing. People just like to live on the lake to look at the water and actually, you can see fish jumping out of the water but to catch any ? Just once. I fried them.
I don’t know what a hay mow is. But I love hay bales. lol
ok; he has Star Trek on so I’ll go to the bedroom now. I can only stand so much.

The hay mow is usually the second floor of the barn. It’s where all the hay gets stored. We would put up 20000 or so bales each year. But the hay you put in there cures, producing heat and humidity. It would get up to 130 degrees and 100 percent humidity. It wasn’t fun.

I like that. Sounds so nice. (; But I’m too old to lift hay. I just like to see hay bales. lol

Well,it could also be work, a crappy boss, annoying coworkers, and an s/o that needs to work at it more.

If it’s for weeks it is something to probably try and figure out, as you are here. Any other physical symptoms? Dry skin? Hair falling out? Irregular periods? Anything?

Any major trauma going on? Moving? Financial trouble? Hate your job? So many possibilities.

Do you drink alcohol regularly? Take any medication? Started a new medication?

Maybe you are coming down with something. When I’m about to get sick or have a lingering illness, I will wake up feeling like doom is upon me. Allergies can make me feel that way too. Then I will remember to take my allergy medication or bone up on some vitamin C and zinc and in a day or a few days (depending if its’ allergies or getting a cold) I will fell like a cloud has lifted. Then I will follow that up with going out and spending a day in sunlight.
Has it been especially cloudy, and humid? Lots of pollen? Low pressure storms? Low pressure storms give me from a mild to bad headaches. I start to feel it, even before the storm hits and they can also effect my mood. Certain smells can also effect mood. Are you washing your sheets with a new detergent or using a new scent?

There was a time that I was so tired and depressed and got really bad headaches. I had bought a bunch of scented candles because I loved the way they smelled. Well at night, with all the windows and doors closed for hours would make the scent through the house stronger. I would wake up in the morning feeling like a truck hit me. After a while I got really bad headaches. I kept eliminating things one by one till it hit me that the candles were something new I purchased. I took them all outside to the porch and I felt like I could breathe and my headache went away, along with my tiredness and depression.
A few years later and I bought one of those plug in freshener that I put right outside my bedroom door. Thinking one plug in wouldn’t hurt. I woke up the next morning feeling like crap and as I went nearer to it, it made me nauseas. I threw it right in the trash.
I can wear perfume because the scents I buy are light. But it seems all those scented candles and plug ins are too strong and I get a bad reaction to them. Even air fresheners aren’t bad because they dissipate after a few minutes.

@JLeslie Any major trauma going on? Yes; as usual.
Moving? No.
Financial trouble? No.
Hate your job? Retired.

Do you drink alcohol regularly? Never. Take any medication? Benedryl, one.
Started a new medication? Iron for ulcers. Began taking it in February.
Better this morning but certainly not happy. Going to a big birthday party with two cakes. Maybe it’ll help, temporarily.

Is your iron still low? I think that affects my mood.

I’m a little considered it’s depression, too. You may not know why, but you just feel depressed. That sounds a little like depression.

@Aster: You mentioned SO who watches Star Trek all day and seems to not do much, from your description. That, in itself, could be depressing. How ever depressed you might be, then you have to have him in the house with TV blaring 24/7, doing little else. Maybe suggest to him that you both get out and take a trip, whether for a weekend, or do little day trips, or take daily walks together with the dogs. It might be helpful to the dogs, too, to not have the TV blaring at them all day and night. It sounds like you both may need something that is a change of pace and a change of scenery. Maybe walks around the neighborhood or walks around the track might help. Exercise has been shown to relieve anxiety. Fresh air can certainly be helpful to you both, and to the dogs.