[LoganDark]

> Meditate, exercise, do anything it takes to force yourself into whatever structure fits your life. I'm talking to-do lists for your to-do lists and scheduling your daily time down to brushing your teeth. You have to force structure onto your life to contain your attention and energy. You have to make some truly profound changes in your life.

This doesn't help when I try to get out of bed in the morning and my body does not move. Does not move. I can't do it.

Happens with basically everything.

[rolenthedeep]

I understand, and I empathize.

I'm not going to tell you that happy thoughts and a motivational poster will fix you. I will say that once you get past the stage you're in and have the ability to make those big life changes, this part will happen less often and you'll find it easier to break through. When you're generally healthy, it's easier to recover when you're sick. Applies just the same to mental illness as it does to an infection.

Unfortunately, you're in the hardest part. Or at least it feels that way in the moment. I don't have any good advice other than to seek help and do whatever gets you to the next day. Try your best to make small improvements when you can. It is okay to not make progress every day, but you also have to not let that be an excuse. You really have to push yourself. It might be the hardest thing you'll ever do, but you aren't the first to have done it.

Sorry all I have is the same pithy nonsense you get on Facebook. At the core, it's good advice, but you have to know the limits. There are some battles you can't fight. Sometimes you are in a truly impossible situation. No internet comment can help you with that, but you can find help if you can bring yourself to ask for it.

Good luck

[LoganDark]

> I don't have any good advice other than to seek help and do whatever gets you to the next day.

Well... I did seek help, and ended up on dextroamphetamine, which helps me more than any routine possibly could. It's just that my tolerance got bad enough in just 3 months that now I can't take it more than once every few days, or else it completely stops working.

I can't take more because my body already requires a dangerously high dose (30mg/day) and raising it any further causes heart issues. (I tried)

[TechBro8615]

I'm also on dextroamphetamine and have been for ~10 years now, with some breaks. When I get off it, I always make sure to taper down the dose. Otherwise I'll be miserable for no reason. I also skip doses on the weekends, which gives me body a chance to reset and keeps the tolerance cliff from growing higher every week. It does come with the tradeoff of sleeping most of the weekend, but if my body needs it, then who am I to say no?

Regarding inability to get out of bed: I empathize completely and have been there, even while on medication. There's not really a magic solution, but if you are getting off medication, you just need to give it time and eventually (could be months) your dopamine levels will return to normal.

Also, I think it's important to recognize the difference between motivation and willpower. If you have ADHD, I'm probably preaching to the choir here. But for me, "motivation" is a long term drive more akin to ambition, whereas willpower is a short term muscle that I have trouble exercising. That's what makes ADHD so frustrating: I have an abundance of ambition and motivation, but a dearth of willpower. I know what I should be doing, but I just can't do it. This is a distinction that someone suffering from ADHD will recognize immediately, but a neurotypical person can only understand in the abstract, if at all.

Getting out of bed is about willpower, but it can also be about motivation - it's worth examining your life trajectory to see if you're moving in a direction you're happy with, because if the cause is lack of motivation, then pills will hardly help (other than a desire to take them driving you to get out of bed). Pills can fix a lack of willpower, but no pharmaceutical can give you motivation. That's a long term drive that you need to seek for yourself.