I don't feel like leaving the house: what to do, in 6 useful tips

It is completely natural that at times in our lives we do not feel like leaving home, and we prefer to stay doing some activity that we like in our privacy.

"I don't feel like leaving the house" can become a frequent response to any invitation made to us. There is nothing out of the ordinary with this, as long as it doesn't become intense and recurring behavior. Otherwise, we could even stop fulfilling our obligations by staying in our home irrationally, as if it were a voluntary exile.

In this article we are going to see how this situation could occur and some ways to prevent it and overcome it in case we already find ourselves presenting this behavior of social isolation volunteer.

• Related article: "I don't feel like doing anything: tips to regain motivation"

Why don't I feel like leaving the house?

Not wanting to leave home It can respond to various factors, all of them of a very personal nature.. Each person could have their reasons according to their perception of their current situation, and these reasons can be real or fictitious.

For example, if we feel that at school or at the university we are the reason for constant ridicule and that everyone is always gossiping about us, this perception of things could be a reason for not wanting to go to the place of study, or for not wanting to leave home, in general.

In fact, one of the main causes of social isolation behavior in people is the perception that they themselves have about their daily life.

At first it might not seem like something too important to go from leaving home to avoid annoying situations, but if we do not have the ability to deal with such situations of our life, avoidance behavior and social isolation could be intensified.

There is even a risk that it could become a significant problem in the person's life, affected various areas of your daily life, such as personal, work, academic, and social.

What are the most common causes?

In the next few lines we are going to see some of the most common reasons why a person might not feel like leaving home.

1. depressive states

Depressive states in a person, motivated by some negative experience that has been had, real or imagined, can cause people to avoid leaving the house for fear of finding themselves in uncomfortable situations again.

In the major depressionIn fact, the problem is more profound: the person does not feel like anything.

2. anxious states

Anxiety usually accompanies depression, but it may also occur alone, when the person has the idea that the things he should do outside the home will go wrong.

It is an accelerated and catastrophic thought pattern where the subject assumes that something unpleasant will happen to her if she leaves her home, and therefore avoids doing so.

3. mourning processes

The loss of a loved one, or of some significant object for us, can be a trigger for isolation behavior at home, all motivated by sadness.

The subject who is going through a grieving process isolates himself from reality, because it seems adverse to him and he would like to be able to change it in some way. Seeing as he can't do it, he decides to get away, usually staying at home for extended periods of time.

4. radical thought

People with radical thinking are little tolerant of the frustration that things are not as they think; and if something goes in the opposite way to what they would like, they tend to behave disproportionately, including spending whole days at home.

5. Unhealthy and strenuous lifestyle

Working hours that are too hard or maintaining a lifestyle in which there is little sleep and a poor diet it also encourages people to believe "I don't feel like leaving the house" when what really happens is that they don't feel like it because they cannot spend more energy to move.

What to do to overcome it?

Isolating behavior at home can be largely prevented if we are able to see things as they are really happening and not irrationally. Let's see how we can achieve it.

1. Check how long ago you presented the behavior

Realizing how long we have not wanted to leave the house makes us aware of what is wrong. starting from there we can start working on solving the problem, preventing it from lasting longer.

2. Identify what may have motivated the behavior

If we can determine what could have happened to us so that we don't want to leave our house, it will be much easier to start working on solving the conflict.

Once you have specified it, you must evaluate the cause in an objective way without letting your emotions generate biases.

Reality is as it is, not as you would like it to be.. If you really do have a hectic lifestyle, for example, wishing you had the strength to go through with it all won't change the fact that you need to rest.

3. Think about how not leaving home affects you

This exercise is useful to understand that isolation behavior does not benefit us at all; instead it prevents us from facing the real situation and keeps us exactly where we don't want to be. We must internalize this reality and look for the best ways to deal with the problem.

4. set schedules

Schedules are a very important support to establish habits that lead us to improve ourselves ourselves, and in this sense they help a lot to adopt a more active lifestyle and less sedentary. Print it and keep it in sight, having filled it with stimulating activities that lead you to socialize outside the home and move in open spaces to keep fit, will act as an incentive and a constant reminder what you should do throughout the day.

5. Establish outdoor aerobic exercise routines

Activities such as going for a run or cycling are stimulating from the first session, given that they are not very complex and provide clear and simple objectives. In addition, this type of activity is beneficial for anxiety and mood disorders.

6. If all else fails, go to psychological therapy

Therapy is a great help for people looking to leave confinement at home. The psychotherapist can help you to evaluate the situations that led you to that point and together it will be easier to find adaptive coping methods to overcome the conflict.

Bibliographic references:

• Hopko, D.R.; Robertson, S.M.C. & Lejuez, C.W. (2006). Behavioral Activation for Anxiety Disorders. The Behavior Analyst Today, 7(2), 212–224
• Iliardi, S. (2009). "Social Isolation: A Modern Plague". PsychologyToday.
• Jacobson, N.S.; Dobson, K.S.; Truax, P.A.; Addis, M.E.; Koerner, K.; Gollan, J.K.; Gortner, E. & Prince, S.E. (nineteen ninety six). "A component analysis of cognitive-behavioral treatment for depression". Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 64 (2): 295 - 304.
• Svenson, C. (2005). Social Isolation: The need to turn to one another. Meeting the Challenges Quarterly.