Ask HN: Having emotional breakdown

You're 21, relax, join a few clubs, most Indian colleges have a IEEE branch where you might find some people who you can get along with. Find Topcoder (or some other community), I spent endless nights solving problems and learning a lot.

Consider college as any other system which is hackable, if you study the right things and get in the good side of some profs it could be a breeze and loads of fun. Most importantly, make friends I never gave networking any weight and apparently its the one of the most important skills you can have in the real world

Now if only elitism caused depression, so people like you would understand just how much it destroys one's life -- its not called a disease for nothing.

Seriously, its people like the above who kept me from becoming a nerd because so many nerds struck me as insensitive, self-absorbed a-holes.

Now go back to Slashdot with the rest of the elitist jerkoffs. Or better yet, I really hope you suffer some horrible tragedy so you get a clue what this guy is going through (or just go listen to Tool's hooker with a penis and remember the guy maynard's talking about is You).

To the OP:

Treat depression like any other scientific problem: There are drugs that will help -- i.e. 5-htp, st. john's wort, for supplements -- for prescription -- Tianeptine (avoid SSRIs like the plague). Moderation and research is The key when using any drugs.

As much as the above guy was a jerkoff in terms of how he said it, he's partially right -- there are 3 different ways of dealing with depression:

1: (recommended) - Do your research, find tools - whether drugs (in moderation), meditiation, exercise, etc. and work (with patience!) on working through your depression.

2: Depend on friends, family

3: Get professional help

Also -- don't worry about being too nice a guy -- i.e. it took me a long time to realize its one of those things that people say in terms of "Do as I say, not as I do" -- I mean, don't become like the guy above, but also don't let people push you around or make you feel worthless -- as in the case of the poster above being a jerk, its probably just insecurity on their part.

One more thing, also partially in reply to the above -- in my experience, 21 and the few years proceeding it were the worst of my life (in my 30s now) -- so it can and will get better, just have patience and work through it.

Its taken me like 5 years to get my confidence slowly back, but it was the most productive 5 years of my life).

Just work through it using reason and patience.

But, if a psychologist or psychiatrist is out of the question, you can try some cognitive behavioural therapy online for free and in private: http://moodgym.anu.edu.au/welcome> The study behind this website actually showed it was more effective than visiting a therapist in person! There's a decent number of CBT exercises to complete, and it seems quite a few people get better simply by using the site without any psychological intervention.

But more importantly: it's sometimes possible to channel your negative emotions to good use. But sometimes it's not, and that's OK. Forget the advice that you should just 'man up' - if you feel the need to reach out here then it's a sign that what you have may be more than just a low attitude. It's OK to ask for help, it's OK to get it, and regardless of whether there's a stigma attached to mental ill health, it's OK to get professional help. There's nothing 'wrong' with you, but you can get help for everything you've mentioned if you feel you need it.

While I appreciate that there's a chance that the OP does have a serious case of depression, I feel that it's a lot more likely that he just needs to get out there and enjoy himself. In either case, there are plenty of replies here catering to that possibility, so I don't think this reply is out of place here.

Seriously, though, it might be worth the OP's time to go light on classes, and look for some programming task that's fun. Find something cool. I've been really enjoying node.js, for example, because the community feels like a city full of still-under-construction buildings, with oddly dressed people smiling and lurching around spasmodically, occasionally making something amazing.

If you optimize for fun, you'll learn a lot faster than you would in most regular classes.