When you're depressed find something you are truly enjoying. Sometimes it can be a hobby like it was in the author's case. Depression is often caused by forcing ourselves into doing something that we don't like. Up to the point where we start forgetting what we like at all. Question "what do I like?" stops having not just clear answer -- any answer at all! That's why strong and stubborn people can be more susceptible to depression -- they can be exceptionally good at doing something they don't enjoy. If you find yourself depressed -- find something that you enjoy. Honestly, truly and deeply.
When You Are Depressed, Make Something
341–350 of 370 posts
Re: When You Are Depressed, Make Something
#342Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is the kind of thinking that has, in the past, led me to being depressed. It promotes an unhealthy fixation with the future that sends me into a nihilistic, self-perpetuating spiral of inaction. My answer has been something closer to Buddhist thinking than western religions. It's an intense effort to focus on the current moment. The past is done and cannot be changed. The future will happen, but it's largely bey…
Depression is a chemical or structural issue in the brain. Having existential thoughts did not change the structure of your brain or alter its chemistry. Suggesting you can "lead yourself" to depression by simply thinking is just as wrong as suggesting those with real depression can just "snap out of it."
I don't really see what's controversial about saying that thinking can lead you to real clinical depression.
It's something that happens over time it's not like a switch.
Re: When You Are Depressed, Make Something
#343When 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…
I completely disagree with you. I believe you are describing solutions to problems that can make someone sad or frustrated, which is a fine thing. I'm all about being real about your life situation and doing something about it. However, depression is a disease independent of external factors. I had it when I had arguably one of the coolest jobs in my life up until that point. I treated it with medication, got out of…
It's likely not wise to have a one size fits all approach. I've been in depression in a really bad work/life situation before, definitely beyond the "sadness" you describe. My immune system was compromised, I had an autoimmune flare, I quit work, and slowly became better both physically and mentally.
Then again I think I was very fortunate to have an externally driven depression that I could distance myself from (if I were broke and didn't have parents to support me, who knows if I could have had the courage to quit).
Re: When You Are Depressed, Make Something
#344Earlier quoted context omitted.
You weren't gaslighted. That's not what that word means. And everyone here knows how to use google. The problem here is that you said "Depression is the feeling you get from brain inflammation" instead of "there's a theory that depression is sometimes linked to brain inflammation". The former is far from factual, and it's dead wrong to claim it matter-of-factly. Totally not surprisingly, when you google brain inflamm…
> You weren't gaslighted. That's not what that word means. Gaslighting is a form of personal attack that's designed to make someone doubt the validity of their own senses or personal experience. The reason I took yellowapple's comment as gaslighting is that he was calling into question the existence of a large body of research that shows up with even the most trivial Google search. If you don't buy into the cytokine…
No one's questioning the claim that research shows there's a connection. You're being rejected because you claimed it was a 100%, if-and-only-if connection. Even if depression is frequently caused by brain inflammation, it is definitely not the case that current science shows depression is always (or always minus epsilon) caused by brain inflammation, so what you said is still wrong.
No one's trying to make you question the validity of your senses. You just need to make claims that are corroborated by reality, at least approximately. It's fine to say there's a connection. It's not fine to say that depression is always caused by brain inflammation, and if you try to do that you'll be downvoted and ignored unless you make an extremely compelling argument (which you didn't).
Based on the research I've perused from google / your references, if you matter-of-factly claimed that some depression is caused by inflammation (or causes brain inflammation? how to tell?) you'd be fine. But to claim depression as a whole -- all of it -- is caused by inflammation? that's still wildly unscientific.
Re: When You Are Depressed, Make Something
#345Earlier quoted context omitted.
To do that, you actually have to both be actually able to find and take a different job plus have the clarity to know that such a thing will improve your situation. And with depression (or anxiety), this isn't so easy. It gets difficult to see opportunities and easier to blame yourself, thinking, "I'm lucky to have this crappy job and that they put up with me". It can make your job seem crappy, even when it isn't. I…
>before the darkness sets in and messes with your sensors I like this language, "messes with your sensors." Depression is a disease within the brain, and naturally it's difficult to observe a system from within that system - especially when those observational tools are affected by the system itself. So it's really hard to know you have depression and take the steps to treat it, when you have depression.
It is a marvelously true expression. _Whatever_ the cause, a real black-dog depression robs a person of all sense of effective agency. The leg is broken and needs a cast, and for many the drugs do work (personal experience). But then the person needs to learn to walk again. It may be a disease (there is a genetic component) but we don't know whether the observed neurotransmitter problems are cause or effect.
Freud said that the purpose of therapy was to replace neurotic misery with ordinary human unhappiness. Some Californians find that a bit of a downer, but it's true, and we can do something about unhappiness.
Re: When You Are Depressed, Make Something
#346Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is unfair. It's more like: 1986 - I feel sad. Well that's life. Kills self six weeks later In other words, it's not that people today are getting treatment for things that people in the past just knew how to live with; people today are getting treatment for things that people in the past died from. People drank themselves to death, or ODed on drugs, or put a rope around their neck, all because they couldn't calm…
What bullshit (the "I feel sad. Well that's life. Kills.. " triggered me :)) Feeling sad is part of life. Dealing with it requires practice. I think people did it a lot better before our age of needing to be happy all the time or worry something was wrong with us.
Precisely, developing coping mechanisms to deal with sadness is crucial from childhood on without suppressing it with pills and/or stimulants (and yes modern day Internet + Social media is just that). No wonder there's more people "depressed" then ever.
Re: When You Are Depressed, Make Something
#347The 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…
Maybe you spend too much time on the Internet checking out what others are doing. Spend enough time and you will find someone who's doing it 10x or 100x better than you.
I can guarantee though that if you keep doing it with focus & dedication, ultimately it's going to work out.
Re: When You Are Depressed, Make Something
#348I wonder how much depression is mislabeled. When you are sad, it's a natural state. It's not something that you're supposed to medicate. What you need is healthy human relationships and a sense of meaning and importance.
I see a strong incentive to mislabel sadness as depression, as it releases the society and the individuals living in that society from the responsibility of actually taking care of people who aren't doing so well socially.
Re: When You Are Depressed, Make Something
#349When 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…
Renowned clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson said that if someone tell him that he is depressed he always ask them 5 questions:
1.Do you have a job?
2.Do you have a friend?
3.Do you have a romantic partner?
4.Do you have a serious physical illness?
5.Do you have a addiction?
and if you answer on 3 of 5 with yes he can't help you because something of that problems will always again bring you down so first you should solve that problems. So external factors really matter a lot. Here is related video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c3m0tt5KcE&t=44m44s
Re: When You Are Depressed, Make Something
#350What about being depressed that you can never be with any of the most beautiful women, whose model photos consume you when you open Instagram