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Ask HN: Are you happy, well-rounded? (dealing w/ depression/lack of motivation)

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Re: Ask HN: Are you happy, well-rounded? (dealing w/ depression/lack of motivation)

#51

Post by bballant »

peregrine wrote: post #50
bballant wrote: post #48

There are a lot of good suggestions here. Reading religion and philosophy definitely helps. A good way to get into that is to find a writer you like (can be anyone) then find out who their influences were. I've enjoyed reading Joseph Campbell and Alan Watts. Exercise is a great thing as well. It's surprising to me how extremely positive a force daily exercise is in my life. Writing, therapy... all really good things…

Can you suggest some good reading? Watts has a ton of stuff out there..

The Way of Zen is great. The paradoxes of Zen are fun if you're a programmer-type.

Re: Ask HN: Are you happy, well-rounded? (dealing w/ depression/lack of motivation)

#52

Post by rlt »

If it helps, you're definitely not alone.

I'm 25. By all accounts my life is pretty good. I've got a fairly promising startup going. And yet I feel like I haven't matured at all since midway through college. I don't feel like I imagined I would at 25.

Re: Ask HN: Are you happy, well-rounded? (dealing w/ depression/lack of motivation)

#53

Post by natrius »

3eye wrote: post #47

Try Ayahuasca. Its legal 100%, you can get components on ebay.com. Motivation guaranteed. Watch The Blueprint by Real Social Dynamics - how to get girls. Listen to some good trance music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkITM2UIYoU Read Tim Ferris book "Four Hour Work Week"

WARNING: According to the Wikipedia article, this concoction contains monoamine oxidase inhibitors. Pretty much every commercial I've seen for an antidepressant says to be talk to your doctor if you're on any MAO inhibitors. Don't mess with this stuff if you're taking an antidepressant without doing further research.

Re: Ask HN: Are you happy, well-rounded? (dealing w/ depression/lack of motivation)

#54

Post by figured »

"I am going to make an appointment with a psychologist"

Make the appointment tomorrow morning! The people here not advocating seeking professional help, are the same people who have never received help. Trust me, seeing a psychologist is the single best thing you can do. If you had a physical illness, this type of question would not even be asked, mental health problems are just as serious and should be treated that way.

Also if it doesn't work out with the first psychologist, don't get discouraged. Just make another appointment, and find one that fits your style. Dude, lots of people have been in your position, but the ones that are happy today are the ones who treated it as seriously as they treat all other aspects of their health.

Good luck,

Edit: as much as it is good to talk about this with friends and family, they really don't have the tools to help you overcome this. People think you just need to cheer up, or pat you on the back. Happiness is journey, for some its easy and for some it takes time and effort.

Re: Ask HN: Are you happy, well-rounded? (dealing w/ depression/lack of motivation)

#55

Post by stretchwithme »

Maintain commitments to others that place demands upon you on a regular basis.

One strives to simplify, to avoid conflict and to eliminate dependencies and if successful, we can create a bubble we live in where we don't have to do anything or satisfy anyone but ourselves.

But we are not wired to live that way!

Just as a muscle shrinks and weakens without demands, our brains shrivel up too!

Re: Ask HN: Are you happy, well-rounded? (dealing w/ depression/lack of motivation)

#56

Post by tokenadult »

raganwald wrote: post #23

Well, if you're feeling depressed, I can only tell you about something that helped me: Dr. Martin Seligman's book "Learned Optimism." I wrote a little about my perspective on it about a year ago: http://github.com/raganwald/homoiconic/blob/master/2009-05-0... I'm sorry that isn't a grand, unified answer to everything, but if it helps you even a little I would be delighted.

Dr. Martin Seligman's book "Learned Optimism."

Very useful, a suggestion well worth following up on.

Re: Ask HN: Are you happy, well-rounded? (dealing w/ depression/lack of motivation)

#57

Post by philwelch »

figured wrote: post #54

"I am going to make an appointment with a psychologist" Make the appointment tomorrow morning! The people here not advocating seeking professional help, are the same people who have never received help. Trust me, seeing a psychologist is the single best thing you can do. If you had a physical illness, this type of question would not even be asked, mental health problems are just as serious and should be treated that…

I have received professional help myself. I would not necessarily recommend it--I've been in a similar situation and it did next to nothing for me. I wouldn't necessarily recommend against it, either--I'm just not "advocating" it, in your words.

Re: Ask HN: Are you happy, well-rounded? (dealing w/ depression/lack of motivation)

#58

Post by blizkreeg »

>> Some people say this is what entering adulthood's like, but everyone around me seems to be perfectly fine.

Your foray into adulthood does not have to be like everyone else's and around the same time. Some of your friends may mature and go through this later in life. Some will face a stronger mid-life crisis, having never gone through something like this.

Here's the transition all males have to make, at one point or another in their life. Boy => Guy => Man.

What you feel now will certainly pass, and you will be all the more stronger, and a man with purpose because of these (20s) formative experiences.

Re: Ask HN: Are you happy, well-rounded? (dealing w/ depression/lack of motivation)

#60

Post by tokenadult »

natrius wrote: post #53
3eye wrote: post #47

Try Ayahuasca. Its legal 100%, you can get components on ebay.com. Motivation guaranteed. Watch The Blueprint by Real Social Dynamics - how to get girls. Listen to some good trance music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkITM2UIYoU Read Tim Ferris book "Four Hour Work Week"

WARNING: According to the Wikipedia article, this concoction contains monoamine oxidase inhibitors. Pretty much every commercial I've seen for an antidepressant says to be talk to your doctor if you're on any MAO inhibitors. Don't mess with this stuff if you're taking an antidepressant without doing further research.

MAO inhibitors can have LETHAL side effects with other medicines and even with common foods from some cuisines

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/drug-information/DR602071/D...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoamine_oxidase_inhibitor#Dan...

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