Overcoming listlessness: causes, symptoms, and solutions

It is often difficult to be active and full of energy, especially in the dark season. Here you can find out what you can do about listlessness!

Winter – a time of listlessness

Surely you also know those days when you just can’t get going. Especially now in the cold and dark season, many people often feel sluggish and tired. This is perfectly normal now and then. If your body demands rest breaks every now and then or if you just want to stay in bed on a cold, wet day, then treat yourself to it!

Sufficient and regular rest is important in order to recharge your batteries. You should be alert if you notice a prolonged listlessness. Do you find it difficult to get up in the morning for several days in a row? Don’t you get anything really done and you don’t really know what you’re after? Then it’s time to get to the bottom of the cause.

Typical symptoms of listlessness

The symptoms of listlessness are varied, and each person manifests itself in different ways. Nevertheless, there are quite typical signs that you should pay attention to:

• despite getting enough sleep, difficulty getting up in the morning
• high need for sleep, even during the day
• Difficulty concentrating
• Listlessness and general indolence
• Weakness and dejection
• weakened immune system

Listlessness and depression – it is essential to distinguish

Does your lack of drive slow you down in your everyday life? Then you should get to the bottom of the causes. First and foremost, it’s important to distinguish temporary listlessness from real depression. Because even if some symptoms may overlap, depression is a serious illness that requires psychological treatment.

Does your lack of drive go away even over a longer period of time, although you have already done various things about it? Then it is imperative that you clarify whether this could be caused by depression. In this case, it is worthwhile to introduce yourself to both your family doctor and a psychotherapist. The former can rule out physical causes and treat them if necessary, while the latter takes care of your mental health. In the case of depression, in particular, the body and mind play closely together and must therefore be treated well on both sides.

Tip: On the website of the German depression aid you will get a list of contacts whom you can confidently turn to for advice. Even if you are not sure whether you really have depression, do not hesitate to seek advice!

Possible causes of listlessness

There can be many causes behind a temporary or intermittent listlessness. First, see your doctor to determine whether physical causes are the trigger. These can often be discovered quickly and, in many cases, treated well.

Physical causes:

• Iron deficiency
• Vitamin D-Defect
• Vitamin B12-Defect
• Hypothyroidism

It is often enough to request a complete blood count from your family doctor to discover a nutritional deficiency or hypofunction. There are good and simple therapies for all of the above causes.

Other causes:

If physical causes could be ruled out, your current living conditions may play a role. Especially in routine everyday life, it sometimes takes a little longer to notice that something is wrong. It may be your job, a troubled relationship or family problems that trigger a lack of drive in you.

Listen to yourself and try to find out what is bothering you. And even if many things unfortunately cannot be solved in a jiffy, just becoming aware of them is often a first step towards change. But the same applies here: If your worries and problems are too big to be dealt with by yourself, please don’t be afraid to seek professional help!

Overcome listlessness

There are a number of things you can do about a temporary listlessness. The good news: the best tricks are completely free.

daylight

Nothing works better than fresh air and a walk. Even on cloudy winter days you are exposed to a light intensity of a good 7,000 lux outside. That is 14 times more than in artificially lit rooms (500 lux). Daylight stimulates the body’s own vitamin D production and increases your serotonin level. You should therefore definitely plan for regular walks or exercise in the open air. If you just can’t manage to catch the bright hours of the day in time, use one Daylight lamp. Their light intensity comes very close to that of natural daylight. Today, daylight lamps are used in northern Scandinavia, for example, to prevent upset feelings during the long darkness in winter.

Which daylight lamps are recommended?

At the moment (December 2018) there are unfortunately no very up-to-date tests by consumer organizations such as Stiftung Warentest on daylight lamps or daylight lamps. A common manufacturer that has often been recommended in the past is the Beurer brand**. It currently offers 5 different models (all lamps from Beurer brand** at Amazon.)

There are also daylight lamps from Aourow** (1 model), TaoTronics** (1 model), Duronic** (1 model), Medisana** (3 models) or from Klarstein** (4 models).

Three models with a good price-performance ratio are:

• Beurer TL 30: This daylight lamp is about the size of a tablet (approx. 20 x 15 cm), has a stand and is therefore suitable for the desk or the office, for example. With 10,000 lux, it is bright enough to have a mood-enhancing effect. The lamp costs around 40 euros and is available in electronics stores or online ** for example at Saturn or Otto or Amazon.
• The daylight lamp Summershine Slim from Klarstein also looks like a tablet. Since the lamp, which also has 10,000 lux, is very thin, it is ideal to take with you. At around 45 euros, it also offers a good price-performance ratio (to buy ** online at Amazon or in well-equipped electronics markets).

Reduce the time spent on the smartphone

Studies have shown that spending a lot of time on smartphones, tablets or laptops Mood lower and weaken the drive. Nowadays it is often difficult to avoid a screen due to work. So take enough breaks or at least put your electronic devices down at the end of the day.

Yoga and meditation

It is also very important that you take time out regularly! Make it your own: go for walks with friends, spend time with your dog or treat yourself to a warm one bath. Maybe you can also take regular yoga classes or Meditations to incorporate into your everyday life. yoga and meditation are wonderfully suited to temporarily calm down in a stressful everyday life, to organize your thoughts and to recharge your batteries. Try it!

Read more on Utopia:

• 7 ways out of the winter depression
• Light therapy: this is how daylight lamps work
• Autumn depression: How to be happier through the colorful season