You can't just treat depression with games etc, for people that are depressed and fall into depression it goes way deeper than you think. Whenever, I have into depression I block all the negative news, I watch funny ideas, comedy , hanging out with friends, family, my little nephew and my dog. Also, coding and doing math helps me a lot. However, hanging out with my little nephew give me back that purpose to continue and work hard so I can make his life better
Ask HN: How can I help people defeat depression?
11–20 of 57 posts
Re: Ask HN: How can I help people defeat depression?
#12Get them active outdoors (high-intensity exercise creates BDNF [1], which is like miracle-grow for the brain [2]), get them writing (provides an outlet for trapped thoughts cycling around in their head), get them to make something (among other things, it shifts their focus from the past to a future they are actively involved in shaping) [3], and get them physically involved with helping others who are less fortunate…
For a "get them writing" idea, I'd personally love a secure, cross-platform (including different mobile and desktop platforms, though I'd be happy with iOS/Mac OS for starters), journaling app that syncs without using a service that's proprietary to the app. I like Day One (http://dayoneapp.com), but hate that it's not properly encrypted and that it uses their proprietary service. What I think I want is the functionality of Day One with the sync options and security of 1Password. That would give me the confidence to pour my head into a daily journal. And, as far as I know, it doesn't exist.
Edit: Hm. I googled a little after posting and realized that my comment about Day One not being "properly encrypted" might be incorrect. It was based upon my experience with v1 of Day One. It looks like v2 added encryption and it was further improved with v2.1--though I can't speak to the strength of their implementation and can't find anyone who claims to have audited it. And they still only appear to support their own sync service.
Re: Ask HN: How can I help people defeat depression?
#13I too had someone very close lose a battle with depression. I've been working on ideas on my own to try and come up with something useful. This is my most recent attempt: http://www.zerotoaction.com
I'd love to team up or discuss ideas with you and anyone interested. It's a topic that's very important to me. This is my first post/comment, please forgive me if I broke protocol in any way. Critiques and suggestions are welcome.
Re: Ask HN: How can I help people defeat depression?
#14Can help: Medication (SSRIs, SSNRIs), therapy, meditation, exercise, close relationships Can hurt: lack of sleep, alcohol, stress, traumatic/emotional events
Drugs have a very dark side and can definitely hurt, I would not think it's a balanced, modern, medical perspective recommend these without serious consideration!
Re: Ask HN: How can I help people defeat depression?
#15Learn about LSD
Re: Ask HN: How can I help people defeat depression?
#16I have to admit that I don't really know what a depression is. I cannot relate to people who suffer because negative things happen in their lives. However I suffer from some depression-like symptoms (poor sleep quality, disinterest in life and any activities) plus many more (mental brain fog is the most profound, low muscle endurance, stuffed nose, fatigue from sitting in front of computer monitor) and it is a 10+ year journey. It took me a few years to discover the link some food types, which for some time can lift my symptoms. Only recently I have found out about methylation and was happy to find out foods that helped were rich in the nutrients required to lower homocysteine levels. If I was to find a best treatment strategy for people with problems like mine - it would require finding the underlying cause. That is - discovering accurate (and cheap!) ways of identifying deficiencies of various micro-elements (esp. zinc, folates (but not folic acid) and other B-complex vitamins) and determining effective methods of supplementation.
Also - there has to be some link between posture and fatigue. My nose feels much cleaner and I am breathing easier after doing exercises for my neck kyphosis. It also helps with digestion and overall feeling of well-being.
Re: Ask HN: How can I help people defeat depression?
#17You can't just treat depression with games etc, for people that are depressed and fall into depression it goes way deeper than you think. Whenever, I have into depression I block all the negative news, I watch funny ideas, comedy , hanging out with friends, family, my little nephew and my dog. Also, coding and doing math helps me a lot. However, hanging out with my little nephew give me back that purpose to continue…
> can't just treat depression with games etc
*ie: those with the energy to stick with it, and an interest in travel
Re: Ask HN: How can I help people defeat depression?
#18Get them active outdoors (high-intensity exercise creates BDNF [1], which is like miracle-grow for the brain [2]), get them writing (provides an outlet for trapped thoughts cycling around in their head), get them to make something (among other things, it shifts their focus from the past to a future they are actively involved in shaping) [3], and get them physically involved with helping others who are less fortunate…
For a "get them writing" idea, I'd personally love a secure, cross-platform (including different mobile and desktop platforms, though I'd be happy with iOS/Mac OS for starters), journaling app that syncs without using a service that's proprietary to the app. I like Day One ( http://dayoneapp.com ), but hate that it's not properly encrypted and that it uses their proprietary service. What I think I want is the functio…
I'd like to plug https://syncthing.net for this; it syncs between your computers without copying things into The Cloud™.
As for the notes…maybe nvAlt? http://brettterpstra.com/projects/nvalt/
Re: Ask HN: How can I help people defeat depression?
#19Medical researchers (who mostly lack the skills) have problems and data sets in this field that could very effectively be worked with the newer statistical analysis and machine learning techniques. For example this is a project that I almost got involved with: http://www.diamond.unimelb.edu.au/research/projects.html#dia....
In more general terms, we all need to look after each other better! I hope you feel you did the best you could for your friend. But from my experience, it's amazing how people just fall away when you get seriously depressed.
Re: Ask HN: How can I help people defeat depression?
#20Get them active outdoors (high-intensity exercise creates BDNF [1], which is like miracle-grow for the brain [2]), get them writing (provides an outlet for trapped thoughts cycling around in their head), get them to make something (among other things, it shifts their focus from the past to a future they are actively involved in shaping) [3], and get them physically involved with helping others who are less fortunate…
For a "get them writing" idea, I'd personally love a secure, cross-platform (including different mobile and desktop platforms, though I'd be happy with iOS/Mac OS for starters), journaling app that syncs without using a service that's proprietary to the app. I like Day One ( http://dayoneapp.com ), but hate that it's not properly encrypted and that it uses their proprietary service. What I think I want is the functio…
Or for simplicity (and somewhat for warantless search protection...) a diary?