Tips for the depressed

I know what you mean. I've been there.

And yet, from my own experience and the little I have read, the bigger problem is that there is no anticipation of fun. Thinking of fun activities does not bring me joy when depressed. Doing them brings lesser joy, but there is still joy, however little.

2 cents: Get off / moderate your social media, news media, TV show service intake - stop giving in to the comparison game that you can never win. When you play this game, you are living vicariously through the lives of others instead of realizing the incredible opportunity you have in each moment to maximize your own potential and be the best version of yourself.

For a long time a source of my discontent in life came from comparing my small steps towards big goals to the empires and platforms of the top performers in the same field. It made me feel irrelevant and like my efforts were pointless. I got out of that trap by taking extreme ownership of my actions and what I create, and I started viewing my progress solely relative to who I was yesterday, rather than to external benchmarks. I forget the exact quote, but it's similar to something like: "the best way to improve something is to start measuring it." and this really crystallized for me when I read a blog post by James Clear: "The Domino Effect." Momentum is important in our behavior - harnessing it to your own benefit becomes like a super power once you can appreciate how useful it is.

Is there anything else where you do see a purpose that needs doing? Maybe folding laundry, cleaning the kitchen, etc. That usually makes you feel more comfortable at home.

Whatever it is, you can start small. Fold one pair of socks. Clean one dish. Vacuum one room.

I think a lot of people don't see any purpose in making a bed.

I have interpreted it, and some similar comments, as a way to lessen the pain of expectations and feeling like you're falling short of your own life.

The emotional distance between "perfectly healthy and wonderful" is much much further than "I really could end it and it wouldn't be much difference".

At the worst points, looking at it from the bottom of the hole to just that little bit up, makes it bearable enough to eventually start something, and slowly work back up toward okay.

> I’ve done a lot of research and I think psychiatry is pseudoscience and antidepressants are largely placebo.

Please don't spread anti-psychiatry misinformation online. I'm sorry that it didn't work for you, but please don't dissuade others from seeking proper treatment.

Playing devil's advocate: Even if SSRIs are just placebo (they're definitely not, and we have decades of science to explain why that's a false statement), what would be wrong with that? Placebo is remarkably effective, and even placebo is even getting stronger with time: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/straight-talk/201803...

This is where people are mistaken when they conclude SSRIs are placebo. SSRIs still diverge from placebo, but placebo is so incredibly powerful in short depression studies that it's hard for SSRIs' superiority to reach a numerically large statistical significance.

> I’m really on the mindfulness bandwagon

Mindfulness is a common therapy technique within professional treatment. I think you'd find that a lot of the mainstream self-care practices are mirrored in professionally-guided therapy. However, some people just can't/won't trust professional institutions, so at least we have mainstream pushes for mindfulness and self-care to slip these techniques in the back door.