When You Are Depressed, Make Something • Hacker News Board

Re: When You Are Depressed, Make Something

#131

Post by lobotryas » Tue, Jan 10, 2017, 6:02 PM UTC

sixo wrote: post #80

When you are depressed, see if there's a serious problem in your life that is causing you to be depressed and devote as much time and energy as you can muster towards exploring solutions to that problem, even if they entail dramatic life-changing decisions, because that's the kind of problem we're dealing with here. Examples of such problems: you hate your graduate program. You have no friends in your city and no ide…

Excellent post and list. I would only add to that: "Am I with a partner that I want to be with?" or just "Am I overall happy with my partner?".

If the answer is more "No" than "Yes" then you need to figure out the specifics of why that is and either have a long conversation with your partner or find a new one.

Remember: you can't change your partner, but if your requests are reasonable and they truly care about you, then they can change themselves.

Re: When You Are Depressed, Make Something

#132

Post by mileycyrusXOXO » Tue, Jan 10, 2017, 6:04 PM UTC

EGreg wrote: post #101

sixo wrote: post #80

When you are depressed, see if there's a serious problem in your life that is causing you to be depressed and devote as much time and energy as you can muster towards exploring solutions to that problem, even if they entail dramatic life-changing decisions, because that's the kind of problem we're dealing with here. Examples of such problems: you hate your graduate program. You have no friends in your city and no ide…

What do you guys think is the point of all our activities if people eventually die? Most mainstream Judaeo-Christian postulates the immortality of the soul. But it seems to come up against mainstream history and science. Hasn't anyone here felt these existential questions? Even if you accomplish so much, in the end you can't even answer basic questions about the meaning of it all. You can consile yourself with the id…

I had this realization years ago. Yet somehow, I was fine with it - my mentality was, "When I'm dead I'll be too busy being dead to care that I'm dead."

Then six or so months ago this realization struck me again. Every day since, I wrestle through the same exact thoughts that you posted.

I just want to be content.

Re: When You Are Depressed, Make Something

#133

Post by HillaryBriss » Tue, Jan 10, 2017, 6:06 PM UTC

> Talk to your loved ones. Don’t be afraid of judgment. You’ve already encountered the worst of it: your own self-criticisms.

so true man, so true

Re: When You Are Depressed, Make Something

#134

Post by revskill » Tue, Jan 10, 2017, 6:06 PM UTC

Or we can just automate more. The more automation, the more time to explore our inner self. I must say, we work hard to avoid all kind of depression, not to suffer from it.

Re: When You Are Depressed, Make Something

#135

Post by Question1101 » Tue, Jan 10, 2017, 6:07 PM UTC

To me it seems like depression is a mindset issue.

After all if depression was caused by external factors only wouldn't all poor people, ugly people, disabled people be depressed? Didn't the majority of the world always live in poverty? How would we have come so far if most people were depressed?

So the question is how can you truly adopt a positive mindset once you got a negative one? Doesn't that feel like self-deception?

Re: When You Are Depressed, Make Something

#136

Post by jimbokun » Tue, Jan 10, 2017, 6:07 PM UTC

tetraodonpuffer wrote: post #48

paulpauper wrote: post #14

The problem with trying to create something is once you begin to work hard at it, you realize that you're not very good and others have done it far better than you. I have notice this a lot with math.I will work on a problem and then a Google search later reveals that the problem is not only completely solved but in a way that is far better than I could have ever conceived. Another problem is when you run out of idea…

I think the implication is that you should try to create something away from the internet , note how the poster goes to a class and creates a beat and is getting positive reinforcement from people at the class If he had created a beat on his own, posted it on soundcloud/youtube and posted, say, on reddit, he would've likely gotten trolled or put down or compared to any number of amazing beatmakers and it would have a…

"I don't think we are equipped to deal with the fact that there is somebody younger than us better at anything we can think of than we could ever be"

This is the plot to Amadeus:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086879/

Re: When You Are Depressed, Make Something

#137

Post by g00gler » Tue, Jan 10, 2017, 6:07 PM UTC

IME, it's hard to do anything when you're depressed. When I was seriously depressed, I couldn't write code :(

Its my favorite hobby, I love creating things, but I often couldn't bring myself to open the text editor or even open my laptop. When I did, I was constantly distracted.

Honestly, I still love to code but I'm yet to find the same gusto even still, when I'm markedly better but not feeling as secure as I was before.

I don't know how writers and other creatives can pull it off when they're depressed, I know I'm much better at it when I'm feeling stable.

Ask HN: how have ya'll delt with depression, other than psychoactive drugs?

Re: When You Are Depressed, Make Something

#138

Post by metaphorm » Tue, Jan 10, 2017, 6:07 PM UTC

md224 wrote: post #87

A lot of people have pointed out how real depression makes it difficult to do the very things that would help alleviate it. In some cases, medication can be the crucial tool that helps you escape this cycle. At the same time, I have mixed feelings about psychiatry. The field has done a lot of good, but I also can't help but feel that modern antidepressants are seriously lacking. They help some people, but they don't…

> modern antidepressants are seriously lacking

repeating for emphasis

Re: When You Are Depressed, Make Something

#139

Post by mmirate » Tue, Jan 10, 2017, 6:08 PM UTC

throwaway729 wrote: post #119

asciimo wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like this idea of a gift-effort balance. Everyone requires a different mix to shine. But effort seems more important, as I see hard-working "average" people excel more often than lazy geniuses.

Yes. But, I think the key realization is that whenever the incentives are strong enough, a lot of hard-working geniuses will be fighting for the prize. Hard-working geniuses are really hard to compete against, and if you don't realize that natural variation is a real thing , you can get discouraged pretty quickly.

> don't realize that natural variation is a real thing

Google shows me nothing but out-of-context biology-textbook material, so I'll ask: what is the relevance here of "natural variation"?

Re: When You Are Depressed, Make Something

#140

Post by yellowapple » Tue, Jan 10, 2017, 6:08 PM UTC

To me, this comes across equivalently to "If you're depressed, start being happy and productive". It ain't like there's an on/off switch in my brain labelled "start being a productive member of society".

I'm not sure if I'd call what I experience "depression" (a doubt that makes me suspect it might very well be actual depression, but I know better than to pull a Freud and try a self-diagnosis), but whatever it is, it boils down to a finite state machine where the only transitions are "feel worthless for being unproductive" and "be unproductive because you're worthless". There ain't any breaking out of that sort of loop, at least not easily.