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Ask HN: How do you deal with hobbies, etc., when you have diagnosed depression?

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Ask HN: How do you deal with hobbies, etc., when you have diagnosed depression?

#1

Post by _yigw »

I have depression all of my life, i believe since 13, now i'm in my early 20s and i've been diagnosed by my ex-therapist with severe depression and anxiety. I started anti-depression meds over the last week but haven't seen any changes for the better.

Currently i'm living a very dark chapter of my life, and i can't do anything. Essentially i have anhedonia but also feeling guilty that i don't do anything. I want to do something like read a book, watch a movie, study for my degree, search for work, but my thoughts go directly to "It's pointless", "how reading a book will get you out of this mess, that's partly your fault?" (I appreciate that my depression doesn't put all the blame on me hahaha), "you will 100% fail", "you are broken and not like the others", "you can't defend yourself if someone is trying to abuse your rights." etc.

The only thing i do every day is go out and try to be surrounded by others in social settings all the time. It kinda relaxes me. Wake up -> staying in bed for hours browsing mindless things on SM -> go out and return early the next morning -> sleep. Repeat.

The difficult part is that my feelings enforce my thoughts and vice versa.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with hobbies, etc., when you have diagnosed depression?

#2

Post by billylo »

My experience:

1) scared of taking meds (this was very hard to overcome, but a doctor friend's reassurance helped me make that leap) 2) continuing to take them even when they don't seem to help much in first few weeks. (this was hard too) 3) the improvements were gradual, but the darkness ended for me about 4 weeks in. 4) kept regular touch with my doctor to see if adjustment was needed 5) 10 years on, darkness rarely return.

Hope this helps.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with hobbies, etc., when you have diagnosed depression?

#3

Post by newbamboo »

Sleep schedule is important as is sleep hygiene. Going to bed late and staying in bed is not good. I understand the biological reality of depression makes getting out of bed difficult but force yourself up. Sunlight early in the day is good. Go for walks. Exercise is helpful. Avoid bad habits. You know what they are. It takes time for meds to work; give it a month at least. Good luck.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with hobbies, etc., when you have diagnosed depression?

#4

Post by PaulHoule »

Some advice about anti-depressants.

It takes a few weeks for anti-depressants to work. Also, you will probably need to vary the dose or try a few different meds. You should check in with your doc maybe three or four weeks in and increase the dose if it isn't working. The general effect that anti-depressants have is similar in most people but people experience different side effects so "best practice" involves keeping in touch with your doc and trying a few things until you find a good fit. This one works better than most others

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venlafaxine

but I can't tolerate it because it makes my blood pressure go to 200/130. After a few years my doc suggested I stopped taking them, and tapered gradually. Depression and anxiety haven't dominated my life since then but I certainly did have some incidents like the day I couldn't stand the mess in the house, yelled at everyone in the family, and I got 40,000 steps cleaning without leaving the house. And that time I read a Robert Greene book, broke my gym bag hauling home most of the references home from the library, put it into practice, and got into some real misadventures.

Physical exercise, particularly cardio, is great by itself or as an adjunct to other treatment. When I was suffering from depression and unemployed I was doing two hours of cardio most days and it helped me get through. That's the kind of workload people do when they are training for a marathon and it might be too much for most people. Around 45 min to 1 hour you get a burst of endorphins which is powerful.

Some people find socializing with people is more satisfying than doing solitary things. I'm the other way, but instead of pushing yourself to do solitary things you should try to do more things with other people if that works for you.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with hobbies, etc., when you have diagnosed depression?

#5

Post by Flankk »

Do you lift bro? Every time I look in the mirror, which is a lot, I'm blown away by how good I look. It's literally impossible to be depressed. If you have some spaghetti-ass arms and a nerd neck it's only gonna get worse bro. You'll probably look like Quasimodo in a few years.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with hobbies, etc., when you have diagnosed depression?

#6

Post by _yigw »

billylo wrote: post #2

My experience: 1) scared of taking meds (this was very hard to overcome, but a doctor friend's reassurance helped me make that leap) 2) continuing to take them even when they don't seem to help much in first few weeks. (this was hard too) 3) the improvements were gradual, but the darkness ended for me about 4 weeks in. 4) kept regular touch with my doctor to see if adjustment was needed 5) 10 years on, darkness rarel…

When i started to take medication before my med doctor changed them to the current one, i was terrified about side-effects and i pushed and pushed my desire to start them. But then one day i said "Enough. I can't continue living like this. I prefer the side-effects over this shit" and i started taking them, but sadly they didn't work.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with hobbies, etc., when you have diagnosed depression?

#7

Post by _yigw »

PaulHoule wrote: post #4

Some advice about anti-depressants. It takes a few weeks for anti-depressants to work. Also, you will probably need to vary the dose or try a few different meds. You should check in with your doc maybe three or four weeks in and increase the dose if it isn't working. The general effect that anti-depressants have is similar in most people but people experience different side effects so "best practice" involves keeping…

Actually my med doctor changed my meds from Escitalopram to Venlafaxine.

My problem is i can't convince myself to do anything other than stay in bed and rot, besides going out. In terms of activities i'm 95% outside and 5% inside. For example i found that i like studying around others, but when i'm attempting to do just that my brain starts the same routine "This is pointless. You won't go far", etc, etc. Even when i have to do activities with others my brain tries to convince me to go home (or stay home if i'm already there) and stay in bed.

I used to run, and i like running (paradoxically enough) but like everything else i can't convince my self to make it a habit even when i want to.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with hobbies, etc., when you have diagnosed depression?

#9

Post by happy-go-lucky »

Being a night owl has its downsides. See if you have to sleep in tune with your natural circadian rhythms.

Look for work that doesn't stress you out, lets you have a schedule that you can stick to over time, and still provides you with some kind of income. Studying for your degree should be your long-term goal.

Stay away from social settings that may give you an initial boost but have after-effects and leave you feeling anxious, down, or depressed.

Engage in some physical activity that could help you regain your mental health. Looks like you can overcome your problems through sheer willpower alone.

Sorry I must dash away now!

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