Action Before Emotion: A CBT and Torah Perspective

We all have those days when we just don’t want to do, well, anything. Perhaps you had a busy week, didn’t get much sleep the night before, or feel like you need a vacation. Every so often, taking the time to recharge and reset, can actually give you the boost that you need for the next while. 

However, there may be times when everything just feels like too much, and this feeling lasts for a while. Maybe you are struggling with depression or maybe you’ve just had a rough few weeks. Either way, feeling pulled to stay in bed all day, although it makes sense, isn’t actually effective in helping you feel better. 

One of the core principles in CBT is understanding the interplay between thoughts, feelings and behaviors. By changing your actions, both your thoughts and feelings are impacted. One prime example of this is called behavioral activation. Instead of staying withdrawn and unengaged, behavioral activation tells you to activate yourself and do things even when your emotions may be telling you otherwise. This can look like going against your action urges and participate in rewarding meaningful activities. 

You may be wondering how behavioral activation works. Here’s the thing, when someone is depressed, they very often keep the same routine that they’ve been doing for a while. Instead of looking at their current situation and feelings and saying “something isn’t working, and therefore something must change,” they usually tend to stay stuck. Using behavioral activation and going against your action urges shakes up your previous routine and can add a break into the depressive cycle. 

This is easier said than done, and the longer you’ve remained withdrawn, the harder it will be to start breaking this pattern. However, very soon after you start using behavioral activation, you’ll very likely start to feel less stuck. 

The first step is to understand what your current routine looks like and how you feel. For a few days, pay attention to your daily activities — 

Notice when you avoid doing something and when you participate in activities. Then, track your general mood throughout the day. Writing it down is a great way to remember exactly what your day looked like and the feelings you felt. Perhaps you’ll notice some patterns. Maybe when you got out of bed you felt a small boost of energy, even for just a few minutes. Doing a tracking like this will help you pinpoint where the best place to start is.

The next step is identifying activities which are doable. This can be any sort of action which you have been avoiding. They may be activities which are pleasurable to you, or activities which leave you with a sense of accomplishment, or just regular tasks. This can range from brushing your teeth in the morning, to cooking your favorite dinner at night, to going on a jog, to hanging out with friends. Think back to a time when you felt motivation and engagement in your daily life. What activities did you enjoy doing, and did you have any goals that you were working towards. Rank these activities in order of how doable they feel to you at this moment. 

Finally, schedule in time each day to participate in these activities. Start with the ones on the list which feel the easiest to do, and work your ways towards the more difficult ones. The goal here isn’t to feel excited or motivated before doing the activities. It’s actually the inverse — once I get myself up and running, then I will start to feel better. 

Judaism is centered around action. We are given 613 mitzvos to perform as ways of connecting to Hashem. This isn’t just a highly effective psychological tool, its principles are actually rooted in Judaism. One pretty well known concept is אחרי הפעולות נמשכים הלבבות. This means that first we do the actions (mitzvos) and as a result the emotion happens. By doing what Hashem asks of us, we are able to cultivate a meaningful connection with Him.

We are about to celebrate the chag of Shavuos. We joined together as one nation, and Hashem delivered His Torah to us. When presented with the choice of accepting the Torah, we immediately said נעשה ונשמע, we will fist DO and then we will understand. From the beginning of our role as the “Jewish People,” we became a nation of action. As we prepare to celebrate the anniversary of this special day, let’s remind ourselves that change and connection begin with action. Whether you are hoping to work on your daily routine, overall functioning, or achieve something spiritually, the first step toward change is choosing to DO.