“Behavioral activation” is a therapeutic intervention that involves scheduling or incorporating pleasant activities into daily life. It is effective for treating depression as a stand-alone treatment. However, multiple other psychotherapies (such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) also incorporate a focus on increasing pleasant events.

The concept intuitively makes sense–do fun things and you will start to feel a little better. But in practice, it isn’t always easy to engage in pleasant activities when you are already feeling down. Chronic low mood often leads to withdrawal. Withdrawal, in turn, leads to a sense of isolation and even lower mood. Furthermore, anhedonia–a lack of interest or enjoyment from life's experiences–is a common symptom of depression and can make activities that used to be appealing no longer seem so. After a while, it can be hard to remember what types of things used to be fun.

Scheduling pleasant activities (rather than waiting until you spontaneously want to do them) can really help to improve mood–and even reduce anhedonia. Consider planning one per day for the next week, and track your mood before and after each activity. If your mood goes up, add that activity into your regular rotation. A 2023 study of US adults suggests that engaging in a greater variety of pleasant activities is associated with lower levels of depression. So even if you already have a few hobbies that help you feel better, there may be value in broadening and diversifying your favorites. If you can’t think of what to start with, here is a list of 101 ideas:

References

Alsayednasser, B., Widnall, E., O'Mahen, H., Wright, K., Warren, F., Ladwa, A., Khazanov, G. K., Byford, S., Kuyken, W., Watkins, E., Ekers, D., Reed, N., Fletcher, E., McMillan, D., Farrand, P., Richards, D., & Dunn, B. D. (2022). How well do Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Behavioural Activation for depression repair anhedonia? A secondary analysis of the COBRA randomized controlled trial. Behaviour research and therapy, 159, 104185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2022.104185

Ong, A. D., & Lee, S. (2023). Variety in pleasant activities is associated with improved mental health: Evidence from two national samples of u.S. Adults. Affective Science. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42761-023-00225-x

Richards, D. A., Rhodes, S., Ekers, D., McMillan, D., Taylor, R. S., Byford, S., Barrett, B., Finning, K., Ganguli, P., Warren, F., Farrand, P., Gilbody, S., Kuyken, W., O'Mahen, H., Watkins, E., Wright, K., Reed, N., Fletcher, E., Hollon, S. D., Moore, L., … Woodhouse, R. (2017). Cost and Outcome of BehaviouRal Activation (COBRA): a randomised controlled trial of behavioural activation versus cognitive-behavioural therapy for depression. Health technology assessment (Winchester, England), 21(46), 1–366. https://doi.org/10.3310/hta21460