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Ask HN: Are you depressed?

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411–420 of 512 posts

Re: Ask HN: Are you depressed?

#411

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody knows me on here, so I'll have to keep it that way after I post this. Get professional help. A combination of COVID-19, a high paying/high stress consulting job, and a history OCD related stress & paranoia pushed me into a VERY bad place. I was considering suicide. I didn't go outside for weeks if I could avoid it. I'd go 3-4 days w/o a shower (out of character for me). I started subconsciously punishing mysel…

Is drinking water to not feel hungry an eating disorder thing? I've used that for years when I feel like I've eaten too much.

Here’s a quick litmus test to determine if you have an eating disorder. Are you an unhealthy weight? If the answer is yes then you should take a hard look at your eating and exercise habits. An unhealthy weight is the primary effect of (virtually) all eating disorders.

Re: Ask HN: Are you depressed?

#412
post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depression is an illness (well technically I think it’s called a disorder).

I guess this is a case of arguing by definition. Depression is an illness in as much sleepiness is an illness.

That's completely incorrect.

Depression is a harmful state that the body may not be able to correct on its own.

Sleepiness is part of the natural circadian rhythm.

Re: Ask HN: Are you depressed?

#413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you not say the same thing about men? "Laws" like this are overly simplistic. There are some nasty people in the world, but not everyone is like that.

No, cause woman is not a gatekeeper of relationship, men is (at least should be).

It takes two willing people to form a relationship. There is no single gender being a "gatekeeper" - all people are different and enter relationships for different reasons.

Re: Ask HN: Are you depressed?

#414
I'm depressed and I really can't do much about it.

I need to find a job to work part-time during my studies so I can afford rent, I need to do my degree so I can stay legal in this country and not have to go back to where it would be unsafe for me, I need to find a full-time job with visa sponsorship so I can stay after my degree is done to be able to stay.

I need to contribute at least a day or two worth of time every few weeks to my hobby to keep it alive and me - sane.

I need to cook for myself to save money.

I've no luck finding any jobs one way or another despite applying for loads I don't know if it's just me being a graduate with little work experience or the economy, probably a bit of both.

It's hard to do my hobby good when I feel like there are more pressing important responsibilities around. It's hard to give a heck about university when it's all online-only because of COVID.

Cooking for myself requires going outside to buy groceries. Anxiety intensified by the other things makes that difficult.

Things were looking up for me in September, graduating, being accepted to a new degree but now it's all just like an illusion fading away. Every time I wake up, I'm crushed by the pressure of all those things and just choose to scroll the internet for 12 hours a day and go to bed as soon as possible.

Re: Ask HN: Are you depressed?

#415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that Reddit sucks the joy out of my day. There's just something about that site.

I noticed the same a few years back. Now I only interact with Reddit through Apollo (iOS app) which allows me to add heavy filters, removing most subreddits and removing posts containing certain keywords. Anytime I see any FUD content on a subreddit I block it, which includes all political subreddits and almost all big subreddits. In addition I have a time limit set on my phone to avoid looking at it too frequently,…

This is a very common response when someone talks about reddit being unenjoyable. I tried a similar approach. I think almost everybody in tech either doesn’t use reddit or uses it through a similar approach. This response and behavior is so common I think reddit specifically encourages such highly customized behavior, because things people customize and create have a higher stickiness factor.

Re: Ask HN: Are you depressed?

#417

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't doubt your experience, and I have no reason to. I only asked because I was curious. Please don't take it was me trying to invalidate you.

None invalidation taken:) It's a strange experience to go through - hard to describe. This strange loop where I didn't feel hungry and didn't feel that I should eat "because I was supposed to".

And don’t underestimate the potential seriousness of this. My sister died in August from an eating disorder. She was 53. She did not exhibit any outward signs of depression. She seemed happy. But she weighed only 70 lbs when she died.

Re: Ask HN: Are you depressed?

#418
post #408

It seems surprising that a lot of people from the developed world have so much to complain, not that I am insinuating their complains but I am looking at just how hard it is to live in a country like mine (Nigeria), despite the horrendous living conditions we are very much resilient in facing day to day life challenges and depression is uncommon among us especially the youths.

There's been a lot of layoffs in tech and elsewhere recently, so that could be skewing the responses in here. I know nothing about your daily life, but as a curiosity--could it be that you face less (perceived) uncertainty on a day-to-day basis?

Re: Ask HN: Are you depressed?

#419
Well yeah. At the start of covid, I was dealing with ptsd from a difficult childhood.. and after some time with a good therapist (for once) I've managed to work past a lot of issues, and finally built up the courage to come out as transgender.

Now I'm working with an endocrinologist on transitioning to female with hormone replacement therapy. Now I've been queer in intolerant environments before, but I have been pretty shocked with the way people have been treating me in the conservative area where I live. Basically I'm afraid of my own neighbours and have to drive an hour round trip into the city just to get groceries without being called a fag..

So, life is rough.. but getting a lot better. Thankfully my employer is being super supportive, as are all of my co-workers. Not speaking with my family though, I would have done this 10 years ago if it weren't for them actually :/

Re: Ask HN: Are you depressed?

#420

Nowhere else to post this so here it goes. I lost my job in January. From January - March I started looking for a job and then COVID hits at the height of my search, now suddenly no one is hiring and all the businesses are slowing down. My girlfriend of 13 years left me the day after my birthday in June before I had a chance to propose to her, I had to return the ring, she had no idea and I never told her about it. I…

I find that Reddit sucks the joy out of my day. There's just something about that site.

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