Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 227 posts

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#141

Post by tobib »

danielvaughn wrote: post #22

I don't felt the need to see a doctor about what I'm experiencing, so I'm not sure if what I have qualifies as depression. But over the past several months, it feels like my entire personality and being is a rug that has been pulled out from underneath me. I'm no longer the driven and interested person that I used to be. I struggle to sit down and work - my brain feels scattered and no matter how much I sleep and res…

This is pretty much exactly how I felt. One day I just went to a walk in clinic and talked to a doctor. From there, everything got better.

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#142

Post by ineedasername »

friendlybus wrote: post #137
ineedasername wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any prior golden age you might care to look at was unevenly distributed. That was the case before the internet took hold in the 90's, during the rapid economic growth of the 50's, in the Renaissance, the heights of the Roman Empire... Yes, that does not mean we shouldn't look back on the things in the past that were good & now are not. But if a wholesale reversion to a past time was possible, we would still find the…

I'm not selling a golden age of wealth for all. I'm selling the right to direct your own life, commit to the good on your own terms and live a life of privacy. You know, freedom. There's more to life than money, we used to kill for these outcomes. The violence stopped not because we improved but because there was no more freedom to be had. Now we just end lives over economic contrivances. I'm a dinosaur, I see the me…

I'm not selling a golden age of wealth for all. I'm selling the right to direct your own life, commit to the good on your own terms and live a life of privacy.

That sounds good to me. To me, and it may have been my own misconception, the tone of your original post seemed to convey a belief it would be great to return to a prior time. If you're actually saying you'd like to choose just certain aspects of those times to bring forward instead of a wholesale return to those times, then I can wholeheartedly agree.

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#143

Post by dang »

thrwn_frthr_awy wrote: post #49

Copying my comment from the straw poll post: — I had severe depression for a few years that became debilitating at the start of 2020 causing me to be unable to socialize or work or do anything but sleep. I was a terrible friend, parent, spouse, and employee. I tried multiple anti-depressants and therapists, but nothing helped. This august I found a psychiatrist that also did ketamine treatment and it was a miracle. L…

Please don't copy/paste comments; it lowers the signal/noise and makes merging threads a pain.

Linking to the previous comment and maybe adding a bit of context is much better. Edit: like https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25098276!

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#144

Post by dang »

tekdude wrote: post #18

Since there's a link to 'unvote' next to the option that I chose, I can only assume that this poll is not anonymous and that my choice is stored with my username somewhere on HN's server. It could also be cookie-based, but something to keep in mind if you have privacy concerns.

Votes on HN aren't anonymous in that sense. I don't think that polls should be treated differently than other kinds of upvotes, which already are very intimate data. We take protecting that data and keeping it private very seriously, but of course there's some risk in any such arrangement, so if you don't want any risk, your best bet is not to vote on HN.

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#145

Post by zamalek »

danielvaughn wrote: post #22

I don't felt the need to see a doctor about what I'm experiencing, so I'm not sure if what I have qualifies as depression. But over the past several months, it feels like my entire personality and being is a rug that has been pulled out from underneath me. I'm no longer the driven and interested person that I used to be. I struggle to sit down and work - my brain feels scattered and no matter how much I sleep and res…

> So is that depression?

Do a depression test.[1] And remember that there is nothing wrong with being depressed. It's just like having the common cold, it's a temporary illness that can pass.

Seriously, just do the test and if you need meds take them. It can save you a huge amount of pointless lost effort. There is nothing wrong with being depressed.

[1]: https://psychcentral.com/quizzes/depression-quiz/

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#146

Post by damnencryption »

ineedasername wrote: post #100
damnencryption wrote: post #36

I am much better than I was in the past 2 years this year. I still suffer from depression but I have found ways to deal with it. I am better at redirecting thoughts and containing them. I was able to finish few books in the last 2 weeks and continue with a morning walk routine. Those books really helped me understood why I was failing at modern life. I cut mainstream social media from my life and reduced screen time.…

Would you mind sharing the titles of the books?

Essentialism, influence, Putin: prisoner of power, no longer human, invisible cities, and how to lie with statistics.

I am currently going through psychology of money (although it doesn't seem that interesting yet) but I can take up a few recommendations if you have any :)

I have been using audible as my primary way to read (listen?) and supplement it with kindle. Reading is too much friction at first but once I get past the first chapter, I am eager to pick up the written book.

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#147

Post by dang »

ineedasername wrote: post #99
Firerouge wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This poll isn't particularly well formed, particularly it lacks an option for chronic depressive symptoms, every day. It seems likely the options are lacking in the lower end of the spectrum as well, there's a big jump between not at all and several days worth of symptoms

Sure, it is not a meaningful diagnostic tool or method to collect a representative sample from HN, but it is sparking meaningful conversation, so I hope Dang does not remove it based on the merits of its survey design.

You put it very well.

It would spark a flamewar about survey design if we ever tried that anyhow. For one thing these are all self-reported.

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#149

Post by danieltillett »

friendlybus wrote: post #135
danieltillett wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was no golden age of the past and the future is what we make it. We can sit around thinking everything is going to shit, or we can get on with making things better. I prefer the later.

The future is predetermined and you aren't thinking.

Most likely yes, but you have to live your life as though it is not. I even wrote a post about this a few years ago [0].

0. https://www.tillett.info/2018/12/21/the-last-word-on-free-wi...

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#150

Post by danieltillett »

damnencryption wrote: post #138
danieltillett wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have certainly experienced many awful things in life, but I have not become depressed. Maybe I am just resilient, but I don’t think I am that unusual. It is interesting that the response to my post has been to vote it down to oblivion. I posted hoping to see if the 2/3rd clinical depressed number is just a self selecting aberration, or HN really has become this bad.

A few members in my distant family died in the last few months. One of whom I was close with (grandparent) but it barely affected me negatively yet I had been forced into shell for months due to otherwise small things in the past. It's not the severity of the outcome. I recovered faster from those. I require medicine when that happens and the triggers are always small non obvious. Please don't judge people based on t…

I guess I am an optimist by nature and I certainly prefer to look at the positive rather than the negative.

I am not sure it is helpful for most people to focus on the negatives in their lives rather than the positive. I have yet to see anyone’s life improved by brooding on what is wrong rather than what is right.

I wasn’t actually judging anyone’s situation, just questioning how we have got to the situation where 2/3rd of the people answering the poll claim to be clinically depressed. If this is correct something is seriously wrong with HC.

Post reply on HN