Depression • Hacker News Board

Re: Depression

#81

Post by mabbo » Sun, Dec 16, 2018, 10:11 PM UTC

TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #75

mabbo wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I added the vitamin D after spending most of a winter in Edinburgh. Lovely city- but it's 56 degrees north. That city will get less than 7 hours of daylight today.

At the winter solstice, the city I live in, at 41 degrees south, gets 9 hours and 10 minutes of daylight. I spend 10 of those indoors at work. It's not feasible for me to get enough sun light most of the year.

What I learned from my time in Edinburgh was to make time in the winter. Go for a post-lunch walk when possible. And of course take supplement too.

Re: Depression

#82

Post by thonos » Sun, Dec 16, 2018, 11:23 PM UTC

this was a good read. I am currently myself spiraling down into depression and fighting against it. It's very interesting to try to get a grasp of what's going on and in the past year or so I learned more about brain chemistry, receptors, amines, enzymes, etc than I did during my entire school curriculum.

I call myself a self-proclaimed guineapig: I read a lot of papers, talk with my doc about different attempts of medication and things that I don't want to touch such as SSRIs and why, and self-medicate for things that don't need a prescription or are off-label useful for depression. Some things worked, but aren't sustainable because they aren't prescribable where I live.

Yet after a long time of fighting, the feeling of hopelessness is getting more and more stronger. Depression is horrible and I would give so much to turn back the clock to when I didn't feel the way I do now.

Re: Depression

#83

Post by johndubchak » Mon, Dec 17, 2018, 1:19 AM UTC

chongli wrote: post #6

Waterluvian wrote: post #2

From my amateur perspective, i think the history of how people treat others with depression may be deeply rooted in the Human flaw of, "the way I experience the sensations of existence must be how everyone else does." I can't exactly fault the default response to be, "I don't get it. Just get off your butt and go for a jog. I always feel better when I do that." I remember being so ignorant to depression until I exper…

I can't exactly fault the default response to be, "I don't get it. Just get off your butt and go for a jog. I always feel better when I do that." I've been living with depression for almost two decades now. I took up running a few years ago and you're right, it did make me feel good. But there was no way for me to keep it up through the Waterloo winters with mountains of snow, disgusting brown slush, and deadly black…

Hang in there, friend. Heal that ankle properly and start at it again slowly. Add some resistance training, like dumbell weights. I have struggled with depression for almost 30 yrs now and still haven't found a "groove".

You are well on your way having found ways to manage and cope. In addition you have identified the converses, as well - the things you need to watch for.

Re: Depression

#84

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Dec 17, 2018, 5:38 AM UTC

enibundo wrote: post #51

colemickens wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I believe past trauma is the root cause and I doubt people have depression if they haven't had some type of experience they would classify as trauma. Hm, what do you mean by trauma? I strongly disagreed with this statement, but feel less strongly after writing and considering it more. Maybe the influences that I think vageuly underlie or trigger my existential depression is others would call trauma?

Trauma is everything that you have lived as traumatic. Period. It can be parents emotional neglect, physical abuse, verbal abuse, judgement, absent as well as siblings, friends etc. You are the sum of your past experiences.

[deleted]

Re: Depression

#85

Post by vladTheInhaler » Mon, Dec 17, 2018, 3:21 PM UTC

projektir wrote: post #28

mabbo wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the one hand, answers like this always seem to over-simplify. Oh hey just take this vitamin and the soul sucking demon that's been riding on your shoulder for years, decades, will magically go away. On the other, I spent nearly two decades of my life suffering from this horrendous illness, and nothing has helped as much as daily magnesium does. I take a big Magnesium pill, a men's health multivitamin and I add D i…

Iron / Vitamin D / and maybe Magnesium (this one is still new for me and I can't find a good way to get it. What's a good brand for this?) is always my first check for whenever I fall into a slump. If you are depressed/whatever always check your stats if you haven't already (i.e., take a blood test, check your vitamins). Maybe it won't help, but better get that out of the way because those things can make a dramatic…

I asked my GP about testing for hormonal imbalances and she said, and I quote, "Here at $HOSPITAL, we only follow the western medical tradition.". Getting such a condescending, canned response was really disheartening, and I didn't pursue that line any further with her.

Re: Depression

#86

Post by nnd » Mon, Dec 17, 2018, 10:35 PM UTC

datafatmunger wrote: post #63

In this lecture, Sapolsky talks briefly about the genetic component but at a super high level "good/bad" version of a gene. Depression is a genetic disorder. It has some degree of heritability. 50% identical twins, 25% full sibling. So again we have the whole nature-nurture interaction. Have the bad gene (a serotonin one), add in major stressors and uh-oh. A 30 fold increase in the likelihood of depression at the ext…

My guess would be SLC6A15 gene (check for rs1545843 and rs1031681 SNPs). (A;A) is a "bad version".

Re: Depression

#87

Post by masonic » Wed, Dec 19, 2018, 4:30 AM UTC

[deleted] wrote: post #68

[deleted]

Check with local universities to see if any offer a sliding-scale clinic at which you could just pay directly.

In SV, for example, Palo Alto University student therapists do rotations at the Gronowski Clinic in Los Altos.