I don't see any way out :(
One Road Out of Depression
101–110 of 165 posts
Re: One Road Out of Depression
#102Author here. Thanks for all the comments, I'm surprised to see so much interest here on Hacker News. I figured this would be one of my posts that collected dust. For the record, my way out of this happened to be psychological, but that doesn't mean I'm against medication. It just didn't happen to be my experience, so I can't comment on it. I try to avoid topics I don't know anything about.
Reading through the suggestions here, I would suggest, if you're in a really deep hole, combine as much as you can from "all of the above".
Agreed. At this point, I use meditation, exercise, omega 3 supplementation, and therapy all in addition to the mental attitudes I discussed.
Re: One Road Out of Depression
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wait, so are you saying it is or is not a chemical imbalance?
I think depression is a beast with many intersecting roads. The chemical imbalance seems like it could be more the result of something than the root cause.
I'm just one person, but it really doesn't seem like that to me. There was no awful situation or experience that brought on my depression or continues to make me depressed. I call that situational depression. You aren't clinically depressed. You're just feeling really crappy because your situation is really crappy. Remove the crappy situation or improve it in some meaningful way and the depression goes away too. With clinical depression there is no trigger or "something" that makes you depressed. You could be in a great situation with nothing bad happening and you're still depressed.
Right now I'm in a situation that really weighs heavily on me. Yet I'm not depressed.
Re: One Road Out of Depression
#104I experienced some depression, as a teenager, and remember eventually finding a kind of 'logical' (or perhaps 'philosophical') way out of it. A key part of this was that, for me, depression is linked to lack of purpose. So there was this question hanging over me, 'what is the purpose of it all'. Well the answer to that question was then essentially 'why are you asking?'. Putting it less glibly, if you are unhappy abo…
I just want to add a cautionary note, which is that sometimes introspection isn't the solution, but the problem itself. Especially in the case of a combination of depression and anxiety, it may be that introspection drops you further down the rabbit hole, when the way out is to do not think.
Re: One Road Out of Depression
#105When I got Depressed (capital D, though I was only 4 on a 10 point scale) the hardest part for me was accepting that I needed to take medication, that I couldn't WILL myself better (not for want of trying I can tell you). Maybe some people can think themselves better, but if you are properly depressed, and your doctor is suggesting medication, it's not failing/losing/lessening to take the drugs to correct a chemical…
I don't know what I was on the scale, but at some point the only thing keeping me aluve was the fear of inflicting a traumatic experience on my 8 years younger sister. Making an 8 year old discover her dead brother would be just a shitty thing to do. The obly thing that finally helped, even after meds (I think) didn't do much, was a very solid "Fuck this, I don't want this anymore" and willing myself out of it by for…
In a way, I think your doctor was correct. The meds change the way you see life - supposedly - even if you didn't actually feel better. My unprofessional opinion is that LSD and other hallucinogens function about the same way - gets you out of your mindset enough so that your perspective is different when you get back in.
Re: One Road Out of Depression
#106I used to replay the same negative thoughts as well. Here's how I broke free: Reframe all your negative thoughts. I used to obsess about past mistakes. Thought: "I wish I didn't do that." Reframe: "If I didn't do that, I wouldn't have learned that lesson to be the person I am today. Or in the position I am today." Stop worrying about problems that haven't even materialized yet and very likely never will. We waste ton…
This is the basis of CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy).
Rewrite the negative loops of thought with constructive ones.
Re: One Road Out of Depression
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've taken this path of distraction for most of my life... It's presently as bad as it's ever been... I'm currently of the mind that the only way to cure it is to stop running and face it head on. Rip out everything that triggers it, rip out every source that adds to it. I understand that there is an element of brain chemistry that is presently considered the root cause of depression. I'm of the mind that this chemic…
Try starting with something simple, like 15 pushups a day.
On days when it literally takes everything you can muster to drag yourself out of bed and into the shower, 15 pushups just aren't happening.
On other days it seems like a walk in the park to blast through 100... so I hear what you're saying. It's just that it's not always just as easy as getting through 15 pushups a day.
Re: One Road Out of Depression
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
> that I couldn't WILL myself better (not for want of trying I can tell you). Trying to will myself better didn't work for me either. But medication made things so much worse. I was emotionally numb for a decade because I bought into the thinking that the medication was helping. It allowed me to get back to work, but I lost 10 years in the prime of my life that I'll never get back. Ironically, having so many regrets…
What did the people who told you to take the medication tell you about the issue of feeling numb?
I went through a period of a few years where my medication was definitely helping a lot with the depression, but at the same time I no motivation or desire to do anything (I remember a few times wishing I had the desire to sit down and watch a TV show; I couldn't even bring myself to sit on the couch and stare at the TV) and I really couldn't feel emotions other than sadness and anger. The medication wasn't at fault because if I wasn't taking it, life was just non-stop intense sadness and still no desire to do anything.
My doctors sucked ass, but at least when I told them about my lack of desire they tried a bunch of different things to try and help. Lithium actually seemed to work quite well for me the first time I was on it (the second time, it didn't seem to have an effect and I can't remember why I stopped taking it the first time). It was me that eventually suggested trying anti-psychotics and I eventually suggested the one that has worked wonders for my depression and complete apathy, but they generally were willing to try anything I thought might work better than my current treatments.
It really felt like the doctors (the clinic I was at went through so many doctors. I think I had 6 in about 4 years) were just prescription writing machines and I was the one in charge of my well-being. It was up to me to do research and find things that might help me out and it kind of makes sense because how much do you think your doctor thinks about you in a month? They probably only think about your situation for the duration of your appointment and maybe a few minutes before the appointment, so maybe 45 minutes each month (if you see the doctor monthly). On the other hand, I'm thinking about my situation almost non-stop. I'm desperate for relief so I was spending multiple hours a day, maybe hundreds of hours each month, researching how I can get better. So it's no wonder that it was me that eventually figured out what medication to try that eventually made me mostly better.
Re: One Road Out of Depression
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
Reading through the suggestions here, I would suggest, if you're in a really deep hole, combine as much as you can from "all of the above".
Agreed. At this point, I use meditation, exercise, omega 3 supplementation, and therapy all in addition to the mental attitudes I discussed.
I've an odd question for you: How did you wind up sticking with meditation? What made you notice that it helped and how long did that take?
I generally quit after 2-3 months. At first it is kind of nice, but as time goes, I become a bit frustrated and bored. I don't notice a difference in myself, and I always wonder if it isn't just that I don't know what I should be looking for.
I'm mostly asking to get your personal perspective on it, in the hopes that I might identify with it.
Re: One Road Out of Depression
#110I am going to suggest something that is not usually suggested. But I have seen it work wonders. Find a place where it is legal, and grow marijuana. If it suits you, smoke it, but ultimately start a garden and grow the plant. People refer to the medicinal values of marijuana, but the one fact that is scientifically proven that is often left out is that having a garden and working in a garden is good for your mental he…
I tried marijuana legally (Colorado) twice (each time was a couple of months) in a desperate bid to help out my anxiety. I had read good things about it treating PTSD and people in general use marijuana to relax right? So, I thought it had a chance of helping.
For me I found it didn't really help with anxiety and I didn't like the feeling of a slight loss of control. I gave it a good go and then even tried it a second time thinking maybe I just hadn't used the right strains, but it just isn't for me.