On Getting Out of Bed

“The most intense time in just wanting to shut down was after my husband was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and we were heading toward divorce. And waking up, you forget the reality. And then you just want to go back to sleep because that reality is a little too hard to face head on. I had the severe mercy of having eight and ten year old children I had to get to school. And then as a single mom, I didn't have someone else I could rely on to pick up any of the slack. So, just the mere need to keep my children alive was a big help. I didn't wanna lose them too, so I had to function at some level.”

Wendy Alsup is a math professor and the author of I Forgive You and Companions in Suffering. IVP is invested in advocating for mental health through the publications of books like On Getting Out of Bed by Alan Noble, and Companions in Suffering by Wendy Alsup. IVP provides Christian resources for both individuals and professionals. Find all of IVP’s mental health resources at ivpress.com/mentalhealth. 

Learn more about the On Getting Out of Bed podcast here.

SPECIAL OFFER | Use the code IVPOD25 at ivpress.com for 25% off all IVP resources mentioned in this episode.

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

“One day I was feeling really down, and I said: Okay, if I focus on myself today, I can't get out of bed. So what are three things you can do? Three people that you can prioritize. I can't control my day. What are three people that I can control theirs? I can do something actively to make them have a better day. I made a list on my way into work. I stopped and I got flowers for a coworker who I'd noticed had been staying late at work. And I just put it in her office with a little card that said, ‘I see you.’ I had a conversation with a student. I can't remember what the third thing was, but at the end of the day as I was driving home, I felt better. I knew that even in my circumstances, even in my brokenness, even in my depression at that moment, I was still capable of making somebody else's day a little bit more livable, and that's how I was able to keep going.”

Heather Thompson Day is an Associate Professor of Communication at Andrews University, the host of the podcast Viral Jesus, and the author of It’s Not Your Turn, and I’ll See You Tomorrow. IVP is invested in advocating for mental health through the publications of books like On Getting Out of Bed by Alan Noble, and It’s Not Your Turn by Heather Thompson Day. IVP provides Christian resources for both individuals and professionals. Find all of IVP’s mental health resources at ivpress.com/mentalhealth. 

Learn more about the On Getting Out of Bed podcast here.

SPECIAL OFFER | Use the code IVPOD25 at ivpress.com for 25% off all IVP resources mentioned in this episode.

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

There are times when I get up and I know I need to write. And I don't feel it. There’s no inspiration, and I am exhausted. I feel really dry, spiritually or creatively. It's this insurmountable task. Sometimes the right thing to do is to just press in and keep going. And sometimes the right thing to do is to listen to that sense of resistance and stop. And there's no discernible difference. There's no light on the dashboard. There's nothing that tells me one over the other. So it's so hard for me to discern.”

Tish Harrison Warren is a priest in the Anglican Church in North America, a regular columnist for the New York Times, and the author of Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work, or Watch, or Weep. IVP is invested in advocating for mental health through the publications of books like On Getting Out of Bed by Alan Noble, and Prayer in the Night by Tish Harrison Warren. IVP provides Christian resources for both individuals and professionals. Find all of IVP’s mental health resources at ivpress.com/mentalhealth. 

Learn more about the On Getting Out of Bed podcast here.

SPECIAL OFFER | Use the code IVPOD25 at ivpress.com for 25% off all IVP resources mentioned in this episode.

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

“Shame has me cowering. I'm straight jacketed alone in my isolation. If I've done something for which I feel shame, I will not come to find you. The very notion of me, imagining you, seeing me, see you? It's too nauseating. It's too painful for me. And you're saying, ‘Curt, let's, let's get coffee again.’ I'm like, no, I can't. And it's going to be hard for me to look at you. And I am going to have to take the risk of allowing myself to be seen by you in the very moment that shame is in the room in order for me to have a physical and embodied experience of watching it be disregarded in your eyes. Only now can I really see myself. Because I see you seeing me.”

Curt Thompson is a psychiatrist, speaker, and the author of The Soul of Shame. IVP is invested in advocating for mental health through the publications of books like On Getting Out of Bed by Alan Noble, and The Soul of Shame by Curt Thompson. IVP provides Christian resources for both individuals and professionals. Find all of IVP’s mental health resources at ivpress.com/mentalhealth.

Learn more about the On Getting Out of Bed podcast here.

SPECIAL OFFER | Use the code IVPOD25 at ivpress.com for 25% off all IVP resources mentioned in this episode.

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

We aren't always honest about how difficult normal human life is. In this four-episode podcast as part of Mental Health Month, Alan Noble delves into the everyday struggles of modern life, discussing how the simple act of getting out of bed can be a powerful testament to the goodness of life and God. In each episode Alan Noble, author of the book by the same name, invites a special guest on to share their own experiences struggling to get out of bed. Offering wisdom and compassion, each episode offers hope and support to those who struggle with sorrow, despair, anxiety, and mental illness.

Learn more about the On Getting Out of Bed podcast here.

SPECIAL OFFER | Use the code IVPOD25 at ivpress.com for 25% off all IVP resources mentioned in this episode.

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.