Why Do I Want To Stay In Bed All day?

This blog will answer the question, “Why do I just want to stay in bed all day?” and cover topics like what does wanting to stay in bed signifies, underlying issues, how it affects your mental health, tips to deal with it, and how to manage and work through it in your day-to-day life.

Why Do I Want to Stay in Bed All day? (It might not just be laziness)

If you feel like you just want to stay in bed and you cannot get out of it, there can be various reasons that might be making you feel as if you don’t have enough motivation, energy, or even willingness to get out of bed and rather just stay in the bed. 

Lack of sleep, stress, depression, fatigue, etc., are often seen as major reasons why people find it difficult to get out of bed in the morning and want to stay in the bed. 

Everyone often struggles with getting up from their beds every now and then but if you have a really hard time and struggle when the alarm goes off every morning, you might have something that is known as Dysania.

What is Dysania?

Dysania refers to a chronic feeling of not being able to get out of bed in the morning. Although, Dysania is not a medically recognized condition or even an official diagnosis but if you face this on a daily basis then it can be a serious issue.  

Dysania vs Tiredness

The basic difference between Dysania and Tiredness is that when you feel tiresome and frustrated getting up in the morning, it is laziness but when you feel the unwillingness to get out of bed, getting out of bed is stressful and overwhelming, you might be suffering from Dysania. 

It is not tiredness or laziness, it is basically a chronic inability to get out of bed and feel extremely fatigued and sleepy even after long hours of sleep. 

It is also called “clinomania” which comes from the Greek word ‘clino’ which means bed and ‘mania’ which means addiction, so literally ‘addiction to bed’. 

People who have dysania are very unlikely to suffer from only this condition and it is often related to some other underlying mental health-related issues like anxiety, depression, stress, etc. 

Dysania: Symptom of Another Condition

Dysania is often a symptom or sign of an underlying physical or mental health condition, we are discussing the major ones below:-

• Depression – Depression is a mood-related disorder and is often characterized by loss of energy, fatigue, sadness, sleeping too much/sleeping too little, etc.
• Sleep apnea – Sleep apnea is a condition in which breathing is interrupted by something while sleeping and leads to low energy and sleepiness during the day.
• Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) – People suffering from CFS have episodes of tiredness that usually last for a longer period of time. It doesn’t get better with rest and people with CFS often don’t want to get out of their beds.
• Anemia – A condition in which a person lacks enough red blood cells (RBCs) to carry adequate levels of oxygen to the tissues in the body. Lack of healthy RBCs can lead to low energy levels and fatigue. 
• Fibromyalgia – It is a condition in which there is widespread pain, memory-related issues, changes in the mood which can make a person feel exhausted.
• Sleep disorders – There are certain sleep disorders like narcolepsy or insomnia which can make a person want to stay in bed and not wake up or get out of bed.
• Thyroid-related problems – People who have any condition that is related to their thyroid gland often report feelings of sluggishness. 

How to manage to get out of bed if you have Dysania or trouble getting out of bed?

Let us take a look at some basic tips and ways to power through and get out of bed. Even though getting to the root of the problem and treating the underlying cause can be extremely helpful but it takes time and for that time being, one should try to manage their symptoms by following tips and tricks:-

• Try to follow a schedule when it comes to sleeping and getting up at a specific time every day
• Try to cut back on alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine which could help with the disruption in sleep
• Try to take shorter naps in the afternoon rather than long naps as this helps you fall asleep easily at night and consequently wake up on time.
• Try to make your room conducive for sleep by limiting the amount of light and noise that often makes it difficult to fall asleep. You can use shades, drapes, and shutters to keep out excessive light, use a white noise machine, and keep your room temperature on a little cooler side as that is ideal for sleep. 
• Cut back on screentime around bedtime by ditching all devices and social media at least half an hour before you go to bed. Using electronic devices and scrolling through social media can mess up your body’s clock and create disruption in sleep. 

Depression and wanting to stay in bed all-day

Depression is a mental health disorder that is called Major depressive disorder and Clinical depression in clinical terms. It is a mental health condition that impacts a person’s feelings, thoughts, and actions. It causes the person to feel sad, lose interest in things that were once enjoyed by the person, and lead to various physical and emotional problems. It can also decrease one’s ability to function well in their homes as well as their work. 

Signs and Symptoms of depression:-

• Loss of interest and pleasure in the things once enjoyed by the person
• Changes in appetite
• Feelings of sadness, depressed mood
• Fatigue
• Slowed movements or speech
• Feelings of guilt and worthlessness
• Suicidal ideation or even suicidal tendencies
• Trouble in sleeping or sleeping excessively

It is very important to note that the reason a person with depression cannot get out of bed is not necessarily an under commitment to their goals but rather due to the reason that they are too much committed to the goals that they are not able to achieve and they wind up staying in bed. 

People with depression often feel demotivated to get out of bed and carry out their daily chores, duties, and responsibilities. 

If you are someone who has been struggling with depression, then it is very natural for you to want to stay in bed and not carry out even basic tasks like taking a shower, getting dressed, eating your breakfast, etc.

Tips to help you get out of bed and take care of your mental health

Let us now look at a few tips that can be helpful to get you out of the bed and also for you to take care of your mental health:-

• Create a routine for yourself 
• Start slowly by just sitting up and moving forward to make your bed
• Think about what you want to have for breakfast
• Try using an alarm to get up on time and put it far away from your bed so that you don’t go back to sleep
• Try to keep a small journal or notebook to note down how you plan to spend your day, things you are grateful for in your life, and help you with a better start to your day
• Seek support from your pet or furry friend. Pets are a bundle of joy and provide you with enough motivation to get out of bed.
• Reach out to your friends, family, and loved ones to be able to share your feelings and what you go through and seek their love and support
• You can also reach out to a mental health professional to help you deal with your condition better and work through it.
• Get out of bed and soak in some sun and Vitamin D for better emotional regulation.
• Keep yourself hydrated throughout the day.
• Take a day off to do things that you love like read a book, cook your favourite meal, go out with friends, spend your time with your family.
• Be gentle to yourself, don’t beat yourself up for your bad days and try to work through them by seeking support from your loved ones.

Conclusion 

This blog post answered the question, “Why do I just want to stay in bed all day?” and also cover topics like what does wanting to stay in bed signifies, underlying issues and conditions like Dysania, Depression, etc. We also looked at tips to deal with it, and how to manage and work through it in our day-to-day life while also keeping good care of your mental health

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Why Do I Want to Stay in Bed all day? (It might not just be laziness)

What is it called when you want to stay in bed all day?

When you want to stay in bed all day, it is called dysania or clinomania which roughly means a desire to stay in bed all day and not do anything else.

What is a Dysania?

Dysania is not a medically recognized condition and it’s not just the laziness that a person feels every once in a while. It is a chronic inability to get out of bed and people who suffer from it often stay in bed and experience anxiousness even at the thought of getting out of bed. 

Why do depressed people lie in bed?

It isn’t due to the fact they just want to snuggle under the blankets. It’s because people who are depressed find it difficult to get out of bed. Almost every activity or task becomes excruciatingly painful; even ordinary day-to-day activities become extremely difficult to perform on a regular basis. 

Even someone who is completely capable of getting out of bed is unable to do it.

First, we must take a trip to modern evolutionary psychology, which claims that moods serve a variety of purposes:

• Moods assist us in achieving our objectives.

• We can chase rewards more fiercely when we are in a good mood.

• When we’re in a bad mood, it’s a sign that we’re not making progress toward our goals. Low moods frequently emerge when we’ve encountered a setback or when a significant objective is jeopardised.

How can I work when I am depressed and just want to stay in bed?

When you are under depression or feeling depressed, it is difficult to concentrate on work, finish your tasks, and you also face problems in taking care of yourself.

In order to function better, you should go and consult with a psychotherapist who could help you navigate through depression.

In order to cope with your daily life, you can start your day by getting up from your bed and doing meditation for at least 15-20 minutes on the bed itself by practicing deep breathing and focusing on that moment itself, and not worrying about the rest of the day. 

After meditation, you can try to write 5 things you are grateful for in a little notebook or journal, etc. Go out in the sun and soak in some Vitamin C and take a walk in the fresh air and then start with your daily chores and work responsibilities. 

If you’re facing this, it may be a good idea to seek the help of a therapist or other mental health professional. You can find a therapist at BetterHelp who can help you learn how to cope and address it.

How do I stop wanting to stay in bed?

You can try to stop wanting to stay in bed by using the following tips:-

• Seek support
• Take smaller steps
• Practice Mindfulness
• Listen to music
• Go out for walks
• Focus on small wins
• Play with your pet

Why do I not want to get out of bed?

Almost everyone has days when they don’t want to get out of bed or accomplish anything else. Stress, anxiety, and feeling poorly are all possible causes. The feeling usually disappears immediately or lasts for a day or two before the person is able to resume normal activities.

References

Fletcher J. (2019). What to do if you feel you cannot get out of bed. Medical News Today. Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325712

Elmer J. (2019). How to Get Out of bed when depression is keeping you down. Healthline. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/depression-get-out-of-bed

Marks J. (2021). How to recognize and manage dysania. WebMD. Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/what-is-dysania