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I built an app to fix my depression

blog.elifiner.com

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Re: I built an app to fix my depression

#41

Post by searchableguy »

cgriswald wrote: post #38
tuatoru wrote: post #14

If you managed to finish the app, you weren't very depressed. Depression acts primarily on willpower. The bad feelings come as a consequence of not being able to get anything done.

When I was (very) depressed I could get plenty done. I just couldn’t feel any reward for getting anything done. Of course, I couldn’t feel any reward for slacking off either. So I had the choice to either live in a world of ash or live in a world of ash and do something. Either way I felt (or more accurately didn’t feel) the same way. So it was an easy choice and no willpower was required to actually do stuff.

That's important to learn. When given the choice to feel nothing about either, you should choose something productive to do. People are much more likely to help you if you have a good past record and can maintain some benefits for them. It's an investment to help a depressed person for society and if you get stuck in the hole for longer, you are that unlikely to get any help.

Re: I built an app to fix my depression

#42

Post by nxpnsv »

tuatoru wrote: post #34
nxpnsv wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like many conditions depression expresses it self in diverse ways. It certainly is not the same for everyone. Furthermore, you should avoid diagnosing the severity of psychological conditions by reading their blog posts.

I couldn't read the blog post. I was summarising my own experience (20 years and counting), that of people I have observed with diagnoses of depression, and my reading in the subject.

I don't think your observation is off in general. But applied to a particular person to judge their condition it is not helpful. More so when we don't know circumstances of the depressed developer.

Re: I built an app to fix my depression

#43

Post by GordonS »

jdsalaro wrote: post #19
tuatoru wrote: post #14

If you managed to finish the app, you weren't very depressed. Depression acts primarily on willpower. The bad feelings come as a consequence of not being able to get anything done.

> If you managed to finish the app, you weren't very depressed. I disagree, as someone with experience in the matter. I think is fine to question whether OP's depression was a real major depressive episode or to what extent they were really depressed. However, the succinctness of your comment leads me to believe that it's more simplistic than anything and thus counterproductive while discussing depression. It's not a…

> Depression acts on everything and shouldn't be characterized so easily

^^ This. I've battled with depression since I was something like 7-10 years old, and it's just not as simple as the GP implies.

Depression affects different people to different degrees, and has different impacts - human beings are afterall very complex beasts.

Being depressed also doesn't necessarily mean that you feel that low all the time - or at least that those feelings aren't in the foreground. Some days, weeks or months are worse that others. It's absolutely always there, but sometimes I can have a streak of weeks where I feel like I'm winning, and it's only in the background.

I'd also add that people with depression cn be very good at hiding it, to the point where they can even be hiding it from themselves. Barring occasional random on the internet, like now, I haven't told a single real person about it for the 30-year (and counting term) of my depression. Despite growing up with a parent with manic depression, somehow I didn't even recognise the way I felt as depression until I was in my 20's.

Re: I built an app to fix my depression

#44

Post by GordonS »

Ardren wrote: post #23

I don't want to disparage anyone, and I will take a look at the app when it's back up, but I'm not even sure what depression is anymore. Mild flu symptoms is not a phrase I'd used. It's great that more people are talking about their mental health, and that it's becoming more acceptable to seek help. But the word "depression" has become so murky to me, I rarely know what people mean when they use it. Maybe I just don'…

Mental health is very complex, but I think it's a spectrum, with low-grade symptoms at one end, and manic episodes at the extreme other end.

I'm sure it varies a lot from person-to-person, but for me, I have a constant and profound feeling of sadness and futility, I often feel like crying, and occasionally consider ending my life (I almost fantacise about it, because I wouldn't have to feel this way any more).

One of my parents has manic depression, and a sibling also has clinical depression - I presume there is a genetic factor at play; I was brought up in a middle-class household with parents that loved me, and I seldom wanted for anything. Now, I'm a successful software architect with a wife, kids and side-business. I own my own home, I have 2 nice cars, and I have a high income. Yet I still feel that sadness, and often just don't see the point of living, or life at all, really.

Except for randoms on the internet, I've never told anyone about this. I've come close many times, but I guess the longer you keep a secret, the harder it is to let it out.

If anyone else is reading this, I'd enourage them not to be me, and to seek medical help. If you don't think you can speak to a doctor, I'd also recommend trying 5-HTP - I started 200mg 2x a day a few years back, and the change was incredible. It may have saved my life.

Re: I built an app to fix my depression

#45

Post by 867-5309 »

grecht wrote: post #6

I like the idea! However, I don't know much about psychology, so I'd personally be hesitant to create such a product. Certainly "releasing emotions" without a therapist could be somewhat dangerous for some people. And perhaps what actually helped him isn't using the app, but a new sense of purpose or meaning in his life due his discovery of the book and developing the app. It'd probably be wise to consult an expert o…

agreed. in most cases it is a lifelong battle. what worked for them will not work for all. I do like the idea of the more holistic, self-led approach though

Re: I built an app to fix my depression

#46

Post by waihtis »

tennineeight wrote: post #35
melvinroest wrote: post #24

To me it seems the strategies and tools we're able to build for ourselves often hit the mark much more often than any mainstream advice could give us. In part, this seems to be because we know our idiosyncratic nature much better, but also because we have skin in the game and are therefore willing to be way more creative in solving our own problems. I've built apps for similar(ish) reasons solely for myself in order…

>skin in the game Thank you so much! I have long felt outside help as lacking in understanding but this just flipped the switch in my brain. This opens many more opportunities to explore.

If you haven't, read Nassim Taleb's Skin in the Game (and heavy recommendation on his other literature too.)

Re: I built an app to fix my depression

#49

Post by scollet »

lmedinas wrote: post #3
fock wrote: post #2

mild, flu-like symptoms. Just describes how I feel since february and I'm not sure, whether it's for a hidden Covid (business travelled to Spain, when they found their first case, around 2 weeks, before they closed down...) or the depressive mood-swings I had in the past.

That sounds not good, you should look for help. Maybe writing an App would help you drive the negative mood way ?

> Maybe writing an App would help you drive the negative mood way ?

Hmmmm.....

Re: I built an app to fix my depression

#50

Post by teekert »

Very nice. I did run into a lot of useless scrollbars though (on Firefox desktop), this was discussed earlier here on HN: [0]. I guess you are an Apple Safari user ;)

Oh and I may be dumb but it took me I while before I realized I had to check all the boxes, because I though: Yeah I'm in a quiet space, so I don't need my headphones.

Other than that, very nice job, worked for me, impressive. Will bookmark.

[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24293421

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