[seesaw]

I'm just curious amongst those of us who have depression here...

How often do you shower?

How often do you brush your teeth?

Wash your hair?

Shave your legs?

I shower every day (except on weekends). I brush my teeth once a day. I only wash my hair once a week if I can get away with it because drying my hair takes too much energy. I shave every day but only because I have to wear skirts at work. My work place is super conservative so I wear skirt suits every day.

Maybe this seems like a silly set of questions, but I feel like self care is so hard for those of us with depression, would be nice to know I'm not alone in struggling to do these basic things.

Seesaw

[Marla500]

I keep up with most of it pretty well, but there have been a number of times I have left the house without combing my hair and not having a comb in my purse. I'm not even too embarrassed but I know I should be.

[qwerty68]

Self-care is hard. I wish I knew why.

If I have to go somewhere besides the grocery store I will remember to shower.Otherwise I try to force myself to shower no less than every other day, I usually fail. I think 8 days is my record. Now that the weather is getting better, I take brisk walks which force me into the shower way more often.

I don't shave my legs But shaving my face, I hate getting long whiskers but my hatred for looking into the mirror usually wins out so I go three to five days. In fact, I bought a wet/dry electric shaver today so I can shave more often and not have to stand in front of the sink. I might buy some cloth to cover all my mirrors, that might be a better solution.

I have serious dental obsessions so I brush 3 times a day, floss about 100 and oil pull to make my gums feel better after wrecking my gums with all that flossing.

If I could work, I think I would keep up on things better.

[Finniky]

How often do you shower?
Every other day. I have very dry skin and hair, which is irritated by too much hot water. and I don't sweat much as I am always in cool environments as much as possible.

How often do you brush your teeth?
1 or 2 times a day.

Wash your hair?
Every other day. Sometimes I wash it after four days due to dryness.

Shave your legs?
I have an unknown genetic problem (doctors could not figure out the cause, I had all kinds of tests when I was a child) that causes very thick body hair all over. Luckily I have no facial hair but my upper lip. (And gnarly eyebrows, but I pluck religiously). I shave my arms every couple days without problems. I can only shave my legs once a week or the follicles will bleed and be inflamed for over a week. I usually only shave my legs every two weeks or so in the summer and not at all in the winter.

[dexter]

Mine is odd. I can't survive without a shower in the morning. But when I'm depressed I stay in bed all day. However, when I'm depressed, I wake every morning, shower and dress, and make my bed, then immediately go back to sleep on top of the sheets.

At night I'll get out, take off my clothes, pull the sheets down and climb in for the night.

They say when you are depressed and unmotivated you should force yourself to shower, with me it is a given no matter how unmotivated I am, yet it doesn't do a lick toward helping me with my day.

Funniest thing is, the part I can't stand is to have my hair unwashed. It just gives me the willies. But now I have very little hair left. But I still have to get up and shampoo my scalp every day. LOL

When I'm depressed I do neglect brushing my teeth.

[MtnTime2896]

Mine tends to be really poor. As messed up as this is, I have some of my most severe flashbacks in the shower. General upkeep otherwise is a joke. I brush my teeth infrequently, brush my hair every other day and shave even less. Really, the only upkeep I do for myself frequently is clipping my nails and that's just a hardcore habit I kept from basketball and JROTC back in high school. I really don't care for myself that well at all and I'm pretty sure that's not helping my situation with depression.

How often do you shower?
If I'm not going anywhere I don't tend to bother showering, so it varies anywhere from daily to weekly.. I used to have a routine of showering every other day regardless but that seems to have disappeared.

How often do you brush your teeth?
I try to makes sure I brush every morning although that doesn't always happen. I hardly ever brush at night though.

Wash your hair?
Everytime I shower

Shave your legs?
Just whenever I feel like it. Sometimes not for months, other times I do it whenever I shower.

self care is hard for me, because i have no one to see, no where to go, and no one coming to visit- so it's like, why.. why bother looking like i just left a beauty salon when all i'm actually going to do is post on here and sit in front of the tv watching reruns.. you get my drift, i just don't see the need- especially when their's no one here who actually cares.

i could look like a lion who has just been dragged through a bush, but because i live alone that's okay..

saying that though, the 1 thing i do have to do every day is brush my teeth in the mornings. i hate food getting stuck in your teeth, their is nothing worse

showers give you an oppotunity to think and be alone with your thoughts, but i always put it off... i'll shower tonight, tonight will come round- i'll do it tomorrow, and so on and so on- i'm trying to get better at it though.

but they make me feel angry and upset most of the time... i guess for the reasons stated above. why am i bothering if it's all for nothing?

1 thing i like about showers though. if the water is a nice tempriture, it can feel really nice on your skin

[PsychNitrous]

I have to shower every night, otherwise I feel gross getting in bed. I don't do very good with other stuff, though. I maybe brush my teeth once or twice a week, and I do nothing with my hair other than washing it in the shower. When I wake up, I brush it and put it up in a bun. After I shower, same thing. I never wear it down anymore, and rarely style it any other way.

I've gone months without shaving, except for under my arms, for some reason. I have to keep them shaved, so I do it about every other week. For anywhere else, I leave it until I feel bothered, no matter how long it's been.

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Originally Posted by seesaw

I'm just curious amongst those of us who have depression here...

How often do you shower?

How often do you brush your teeth?

Wash your hair?

Shave your legs?

I shower every day (except on weekends). I brush my teeth once a day. I only wash my hair once a week if I can get away with it because drying my hair takes too much energy. I shave every day but only because I have to wear skirts at work. My work place is super conservative so I wear skirt suits every day.

Maybe this seems like a silly set of questions, but I feel like self care is so hard for those of us with depression, would be nice to know I'm not alone in struggling to do these basic things.

Seesaw

Hi Seesaw,

I am in a worse condition than you. I am not working. I try to take shower once every day though I find it difficult and at times cant manage, brush once every day(though I know that I should be doing it twice),wash my hair max once every wk even though it gets oily, and I have not shaved my legs for a long time.

[guiltier65]

i shower 1or 2 times a week and wash my hair every couple of days because of oiliness. tooth brushing and leg shaving are very often neglected for a few days at a time. I know that sounds gross, but it is just too much effort. I also don't like to see my body in the shower. it's gross.

[Prism Bunny]

How often do you shower?
I would say around every other day when not in pain and depressed. If I am in a worse condition; about five days. Which I know seems a bit extreme but there are reasons outside of my MIs where the physical pain is unbearable. Oh, and on occasion, I take a bath after I clean the tub. Nothing feels better than a bubble bath and salts with music playing in the background.

How often do you brush your teeth?
Once every night.

Wash your hair?
Every other day. Apparently it is healthier for the scalp if one washes it that way, but if you sweat a lot that may be tricky.

Shave your legs?
Only during spring, summer, and early fall. Otherwise, I let it grow out because no one is going to see my legs in the cold.

How often do you shower?
I've been trying to get back into the habit of showering once a day, in the evenings on weekdays. Else i can go weeks without showering despite working a full-time desk job in IT. Sometimes, I probably smell over the weekend.

How often do you brush your teeth?
I'm trying to brush once a day, after my shower in the evenings. Else, again, I can go without for weeks.

I don't floss.

Wash your hair?
Once every two weeks or less. I find it takes a lot of energy. I try to rinse my hair once in a while as my scalp is horribly dry and flaky and I've thick wavy hair, which leads to a disgusting combination of dry flakes at work if I run my fingers through my hair. Which I do a lot due to anxiety. I'm gross.

Shave your legs?
Never. I wear long pants all the time at work despite how all the other women wear skirts or dresses.

I'm a slob despite my job.

[Woodchuck]

How often do you shower?
Every other day when I am working. Otherwise, probably once a week.

How often do you brush your teeth?
Sadly, not every day. And I don't floss. Haven't been to the dentist in 5+ years (no dental insurance).

Wash your hair?
Whenever I shower. I chopped most of my hair off so it's NBD if I skip a wash, it always looks messy.

Shave your legs?
LOL not since college (went to women's college, stopped caring about body hair).

The one thing that can motivate me is using a nice treat in the shower, like a new body wash (I love Caress Original) or shampoo. I also have a lot of facial hair for a woman so I have to shave my moustache and goatee at least every other day when I am working.

I shower and wash my hair every day. I went from last Thursday to Tuesday not showering because I had a procedure done on my face. During that time I washed myself with cloths from the neck down. It was a real drag for me at that time. Now I can shower and it feels great.

I brush my teeth twice daily. I have never shaved my legs.

[Ceara1010]

I've become so bad at self care that I'm embarrassed to share specifically where I am with this. (Much worse than anybody who has posted on this so far.) I have pretty much let everything go. Like a few of you, part of this is that I don't go anywhere much, and when I do, it's just with family and I don't care how I look with them. But mostly I'm too depressed to care. And of course, being so non-functional makes me even more depressed, it's a loop.

But it's nice to hear that others struggle with this.

--Ceara1010

[MobiusPsyche]

I shower and wash my hair two or three times a week.

I brush my teeth every morning but that's because I have to do so after I use my asthma medication. I am trying to brush every night but so far I'm not doing so great on that front.

I don't have to shave anymore because I had laser hair removal a couple of years ago. Love that!

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[with or without you]

Originally Posted by seesaw

I'm just curious amongst those of us who have depression here...


How often do you shower?


How often do you brush your teeth?


Wash your hair?


Shave your legs?


I shower every day (except on weekends). I brush my teeth once a day. I only wash my hair once a week if I can get away with it because drying my hair takes too much energy. I shave every day but only because I have to wear skirts at work. My work place is super conservative so I wear skirt suits every day.


Maybe this seems like a silly set of questions, but I feel like self care is so hard for those of us with depression, would be nice to know I'm not alone in struggling to do these basic things.


Seesaw

It's not a silly question at all. This stuff is real and can go by the wayside very quickly.

Shower - every day

Brushing teeth - this has been the most neglected part of my hygiene and I am paying dearly for it now (both physically and in the wallet). My T has told me to focus on how much better I feel after doing it - everything is cleaned out, etc. I am getting better at this after getting blindsided by a massive infection that resulted in the tooth getting pulled.

Wash hair - every day, personal preference. I sweat a lot so I don't like skipping days. I also don't feel good if I don't. Yes, I know all of the articles out there on scalp concerns and many people don't do this daily.

Legs - not as often in the winter. I tend to wear pants year round anyway, but I definitely shave more in the summer.

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[Smileonmyface]

shower - whenever i feel gross enough, which is more in the summer if i'm outside and wearing sunblock

brush teeth - twice a day unless going somewhere early in the morning, then i usually skip it to get out the door

wash hair - twice a week but sometimes rinse it in between

legs - once a week if that.

good questions btw definitely something that takes more thought and effort with depression.

[apatheticblues]

I shower every day or I feel even less human than my depression makes me feel. I wash my hair everyday at the same time. I also brush my teeth at least once a day no matter how I feel. Shaving is more up in the air as to whether it gets done or not. I tend to shave every other day in warmer weather but over winter not for weeks at a time. I do have to force myself to do body maintenance when I am depressed but I tend to feel better for having done it.