What you do, or do not do, can affect how you feel. For instance, when you listen to something sad after a trying day, you find yourself sinking deeper into those heavy emotions. Or, when you avoid phone calls or cancel plans when you feel too drained – it might give you temporary relief, but only makes you feel isolated even more.
As women, we fulfill multiple roles – each demanding perfection to a point that we are only left gasping for breath at the end of the day. If you recognize yourself in these patterns, then please read on. We are going to explore something known as “behavioral activation,” an established cognitive behavioral technique to treat depression, but something you can incorporate into your self-care as well.
What is Behavioral Activation?
Behavioral activation, or BA, is a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) technique. One of the positive things about CBT is that it teaches you to be your own therapist, and BA becomes crucial to this.
BA allows you to understand how your behavior impacts your emotions – how some behaviors can activate positive emotions and how some others can activate negative emotions.
Psychotherapists mainly use BA to treat depressive symptoms, as it makes it difficult for a person to engage in meaningful or pleasurable activities. This further makes them feel worse, which only further perpetuates the vicious cycle of persistent sadness, emptiness, and worthlessness.
How Behavioral Activation Works?
Behavioral activation is based on the principle that inactivity perpetuates depression and other negative emotions. For individuals in sober living programs, BA provides structured, meaningful activities that directly improve mood and reduce relapse risk.
Therefore, it seeks to use actionable behaviors to directly improve and uplift your mood.
This is what BA looks like:
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- You begin by understanding your downward spiral of negativity, or depression.
- You note down and keep a track of your daily activities.
- You identify your principles and goals.
- You will develop an upward spiral that will be based on pleasure and mastery.
- You will actively schedule activities that are enjoyable and fulfilling.
- You will remove the barriers to these activities by engaging in problem-solving.
- You will collaborate with your therapist to ensure there is systematic and sustained change.
- You will use the in-between sessions to practice the BA techniques you learn in therapy to reinforce these skills.
Key Principles of Behavioral Activation
Here are the core principles on which behavioral activation is based:
Downward Spiral – When you feel low, depressed, or even anxious, you begin to withdraw from the world around you. While this can seem like a natural thing to want to curl up in your blanket to feel better, slowly you will begin to miss out on those things that gave you joy and purpose.
With fewer experiences, your mood worsens; this, in turn, will reduce your motivation to act and engage in those experiences, leading to a vicious, downward spiral.
Action Precedes Emotion – Negative feelings, such as anxiety and depression, often flow from your brain that seeks to protect you by avoiding or isolating. This can provide temporary relief, but in the long run, it can be even more detrimental to your mental health.
So, when you activate your brain with pleasurable activities, it releases feel-good chemicals that can uplift your mood and enhance your well-being.
Behavior-Emotion Link – What you do influences how you feel; what you feel influences what you do. When you take proactive steps to change your behavior, even by a little, it will begin to impact how you feel for the better.
Benefits of Behavioral Activation
Some of the benefits of behavioral activation in your life are:
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- Enhanced pleasure and meaning – as BA enables you to take proactive steps to cultivate joy and meaning in your life.
- Behavioral Activation (BA) helps replace unhelpful behaviors with healthier, more productive ones. Each positive step encourages your mind and body to respond favorably, supporting recovery from harmful habits such as substance use and reducing the risk of a downward spiral
- BA enhances your interpersonal relationships. Whereas negativity and avoidance can make you feel isolated, BA allows you to engage in enriching activities that, in turn, enable enriching relationships.
- When you engage in activities that align with your principles and goals, you see that you find your roles as a daughter, partner, mother, professional, and member of the society become more meaningful and fulfilling.
- You experience an increased sense of control and empowerment as you move from passivity and avoidance to action.
Getting Started with Behavioral Activation
To begin with behavioral activation in your everyday life, you can:
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- Begin by noticing how your behavior impacts your emotions. Perhaps, you can keep a track of it in a journal or a diary.
- Identify what behaviors you can increase – those that bring you joy and uplift you as a person. Practice them more often.
- Reduce unhelpful behaviors. When you take note of your daily activities, you find behavioral patterns that lead you toward a downward spiral. Reduce these patterns.
- Keep a track of your progress. It is crucial to monitor how your behaviors affect your emotions, even after you have started engaging in BA. Keep track and build on your progress.
When to Seek Professional Support?
The fast-paced life of the modern woman, the many responsibilities and expectations – they can bog you down along the way. But the good news is that you do not have to do it on your own.
When negativity and depressive symptoms become so severe that they impede your daily life, relationships, and functioning – it is time to seek professional support.
You can reach out to licensed and experienced mental health specialists who offer therapy and counseling that can help you in your journey toward a healthier, brighter tomorrow.
Final Reflections
For many women struggling with negative emotions, feeling stuck, or depression, behavioral activation offers a proactive path forward.
When you shift the downward spiral to an upward spiral, you begin to remove barriers to your joy and personal growth. But remember, reaching out for support when things get overwhelming is not a sign of weakness; it is integral to your journey toward healing. You deserve a life that is shaped by your principles, and it must not have to be a struggle at all.
