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Ask HN: 36 months of unemployment and depression. How to go back?

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Re: Ask HN: 36 months of unemployment and depression. How to go back?

#11

Post by jmalicki »

1attice wrote: post #8

I'd do technical writing. Maybe instead of aiming for FT, aim for a few bits of contract work. Then use those to burnish your portfolio (or start one.) Advantages of technical writing: 1. You get to spend your time playing with things, asking questions, talking to engineers, and, therefore, learning. 2. Depending on what you're writing, you may get to do some coding along the way. 3. You make a valuable, urgently-nee…

> I know this feels like being given a teaspoon and told to excavate a cavern --- your mental health struggle sounds like it has its roots in life challenges that are genuinely stressful, rather than the putative 'chemical imbalance' sort of anxiety/depression. And a pen is no magic wand -- it cannot erase your debts, or restore your sense of ease.

Good habits, antidepressants, etc. may not fix the underlying problems, but they may turn the teaspoon into a tablespoon into a shovel.

Re: Ask HN: 36 months of unemployment and depression. How to go back?

#12

Post by bentt »

instead of looking for a job, recalibrate your view around “looking for opportunities to help”.

this is more proactively aligned around your current value and interests.

it also includes volunteer, nonprofit, consulting, teaching. just really get aligned around service and helping and even if you dont land a job out of it directly, your confidence will benefit.

Re: Ask HN: 36 months of unemployment and depression. How to go back?

#13

Post by akeck »

boredemployee wrote: post #4

Believe in me, I've been in your shoes before, it seems like an endless problem! But the cure starts with the basics that we often neglect: 1) Go out for some exercise (45min of moderate walking) 2) Get some sunlight 3) Check your Vitamin D levels 4) Drink about 2 liters of water 5) Eat healthily 6) After all this, start thinking about your employability again Never forget that when one opportunity closes, others ope…

Also try lifting weights. Done carefully to avoid injury, it can produce fairly quick body fitness changes that usually help during job interviews. Having usually done long distance rowing, I was surprised how fast my muscles tightened up and grew with one lifting session a week.

Re: Ask HN: 36 months of unemployment and depression. How to go back?

#14

Post by earthling8118 »

akeck wrote: post #13
boredemployee wrote: post #4

Believe in me, I've been in your shoes before, it seems like an endless problem! But the cure starts with the basics that we often neglect: 1) Go out for some exercise (45min of moderate walking) 2) Get some sunlight 3) Check your Vitamin D levels 4) Drink about 2 liters of water 5) Eat healthily 6) After all this, start thinking about your employability again Never forget that when one opportunity closes, others ope…

Also try lifting weights. Done carefully to avoid injury, it can produce fairly quick body fitness changes that usually help during job interviews. Having usually done long distance rowing, I was surprised how fast my muscles tightened up and grew with one lifting session a week.

And if you do these things and it doesn't solve your problems, don't feel bad about it. People really hype up the effects of working out but for some of us it doesn't change anything.

Re: Ask HN: 36 months of unemployment and depression. How to go back?

#15

Post by reactordev »

earthling8118 wrote: post #14
akeck wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also try lifting weights. Done carefully to avoid injury, it can produce fairly quick body fitness changes that usually help during job interviews. Having usually done long distance rowing, I was surprised how fast my muscles tightened up and grew with one lifting session a week.

And if you do these things and it doesn't solve your problems, don't feel bad about it. People really hype up the effects of working out but for some of us it doesn't change anything.

The effects are quite measurable

Re: Ask HN: 36 months of unemployment and depression. How to go back?

#16

Post by intended »

First step is asking for help.

Depression is very hard to deal with alone. For physical wounds, we have very well developed mechanisms to tell us how to rest the wounded body part.

Things that mess with our perceptions are a whole different beast.

As others have said - First self care.

Things that help with depression the most consistently without going to a therapist is regular exercise.

Dont stress if you cant do it every day. You wouldnt push yourself to run on a busted ankle.

Small moves here, open up smaller spaces elsewhere, and so on and so forth.

No joke though, getting back on top is work.

Also - motivation and drive are major attributes for being recruited. Why do you think that was less important than your programming skills?

Re: Ask HN: 36 months of unemployment and depression. How to go back?

#18

Post by aurareturn »

akeck wrote: post #13
boredemployee wrote: post #4

Believe in me, I've been in your shoes before, it seems like an endless problem! But the cure starts with the basics that we often neglect: 1) Go out for some exercise (45min of moderate walking) 2) Get some sunlight 3) Check your Vitamin D levels 4) Drink about 2 liters of water 5) Eat healthily 6) After all this, start thinking about your employability again Never forget that when one opportunity closes, others ope…

Also try lifting weights. Done carefully to avoid injury, it can produce fairly quick body fitness changes that usually help during job interviews. Having usually done long distance rowing, I was surprised how fast my muscles tightened up and grew with one lifting session a week.

> Also try lifting weights.

100% on this. Exercising, especially lifting weights, feels like you're improving yourself after every single session. You will literally see the difference in the mirror.

It's something that you can control. You can't always control how lucky or successful you are in your career. But you can always control your exercising. Once you improve the way you look, you start to feel better and people will also see you as more confident. Slowly, you'll get more opportunities.

Tldr; control what you can first which is your body, and the things you can't control will slowly get better.

Re: Ask HN: 36 months of unemployment and depression. How to go back?

#19

Post by vundercind »

1attice wrote: post #8

I'd do technical writing. Maybe instead of aiming for FT, aim for a few bits of contract work. Then use those to burnish your portfolio (or start one.) Advantages of technical writing: 1. You get to spend your time playing with things, asking questions, talking to engineers, and, therefore, learning. 2. Depending on what you're writing, you may get to do some coding along the way. 3. You make a valuable, urgently-nee…

Seconding contract work. Getting a small gig doing a few hours of work or regular part-time is very achievable if you’re familiar with Python and are looking more for the work than the money—so won’t balk at pay in the two-digits per hour—maybe even the low half of that range—like a lot of programmers will. Though, beware, low paying clients are often also very unpleasant or unreasonable bosses in other ways. Take your time and find a good fit.

Doing anything might help with self-confidence, might knock the rust off any skills and provide exposure to new stuff, plus networking. And the money doesn’t hurt.

Maybe ETL stuff at mid-sized companies. That crap’s everywhere, is always bad anyway so who cares if you fuck it up (I… half-jest) and often uses Python. Most of it’s very simple if you get over the hurdle of fancier-sounding-than-it-is terminology.

(I have no specific advice on the broader mental health front aside from emphatically echoing “talk to a professional”—but if you’re feeling ready to work and the lack of it’s making things worse, the above’s what I’d suggest)

Re: Ask HN: 36 months of unemployment and depression. How to go back?

#20

Post by aurareturn »

earthling8118 wrote: post #14
akeck wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also try lifting weights. Done carefully to avoid injury, it can produce fairly quick body fitness changes that usually help during job interviews. Having usually done long distance rowing, I was surprised how fast my muscles tightened up and grew with one lifting session a week.

And if you do these things and it doesn't solve your problems, don't feel bad about it. People really hype up the effects of working out but for some of us it doesn't change anything.

>And if you do these things and it doesn't solve your problems, don't feel bad about it. People really hype up the effects of working out but for some of us it doesn't change anything.

Worth trying in my opinion. It has certainly made me feel better about myself. Seeing myself improve every single day in the mirror gives me hope and makes me more motivated in life. It makes me want to do the same for my career too, improve one day at a time.

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