Ask HN: How to cope with depression • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How to cope with depression

#11

Post by TheMakeA » Mon, May 04, 2015, 7:48 PM UTC

> they haven't really offered any strategies I can implement

I think I made two mistakes the first time I sought help:

* I stayed on the first medication I tried for far too long

* I stayed with my first therapist/psychiatrist for far too long

My new doctors are far more helpful and push me further than my old team ever did. If it's not clicking, don't give up, but maybe see if there's someone else that might be better for you.

Re: Ask HN: How to cope with depression

#12

Post by emersonrsantos » Mon, May 04, 2015, 7:49 PM UTC

Don't seek medical advice online, it's too generalized. Listen to and discuss these problems with your doctors and family.

Re: Ask HN: How to cope with depression

#13

Post by [deleted] » Mon, May 04, 2015, 7:50 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How to cope with depression

#14

Post by jklinger410 » Mon, May 04, 2015, 7:52 PM UTC

Take some hallucinogenic drugs (look them up on erowid first). Write some poetry. Make some art. Stay up late. Get drunk. Purge your demons. Call your parents, call your best friend, vent. If you like to be alone be alone. If you like people go find some people.

Watch some art films. Chain smoke cigarettes. Go for a walk. Play hooky from work. Go thrift shopping and buy yourself a new outfit. Plot and scheme on things that you actually want.

Don't listen to any of this advice. Do something drastic.

Re: Ask HN: How to cope with depression

#15

Post by stefek99 » Mon, May 04, 2015, 7:52 PM UTC

* Seek specialist

* Medication helps

* Logical - go for a run - blood circulation, oxygen, endorphins - cannot go wrong with that!

* Slightly related - http://www.startupsanonymo.us/

Re: Ask HN: How to cope with depression

#16

Post by goshx » Mon, May 04, 2015, 7:53 PM UTC

Take the meds. Don't worry about focus at this point... meds are your way out of this situation. It is hard to see light at the end of the tunnel before you start taking them, but once you do, try to find hobbies that relax you and make you happy. Keep working with your therapist and psychiatrist to find the root cause... sometimes it is hard to find it when you simply can't talk about certain subjects because of the way you feel. Don't give up. You can overcome this and you will.

Re: Ask HN: How to cope with depression

#17

Post by Tech1 » Mon, May 04, 2015, 7:53 PM UTC

I'm an Army veteran that was diagnosed with PTSD in 2010 after a particularly shit deployment to Afghanistan. I've also battled with depression my entire life. Name an anti-depressant or anti-anxiety pill and I've probably been on it at one point in my life. They definitely help you. Conversely a good therapist is also extremely helpful. They can help you find directions that are away from the meds. I've currently been off meds for about 1.5 years and it's been great, but it takes a lot of focus and quite literally years of therapy to get there.

TLDR: stay on the meds; do what the therapist says to do, no matter how dumb or inconsequential it may seem; exercise.

Re: Ask HN: How to cope with depression

#18

Post by silent-h » Mon, May 04, 2015, 7:54 PM UTC

Take the meds. That's what helped me to stabilize. Expect that you need to try multiple anti depressants before you find one that helps you. Therapy comes after that. For me what you call logical advice didn't work until the medication kicked in.

Re: Ask HN: How to cope with depression

#19

Post by mjallday » Mon, May 04, 2015, 7:54 PM UTC

If you don't exercise then now would be a great time to start. Endorphins feel great and sometimes the intensity of physical activity is a good way to hit the reset switch on your brain.

Re: Ask HN: How to cope with depression

#20

Post by tunesmith » Mon, May 04, 2015, 7:55 PM UTC

You don't have to see the medications as a permanent thing from the outset. You may have to take the meds to give yourself the focus/ability to start changing your other habits. After that point, you might be able to build up enough momentum that you'll be able to work on yourself in other ways and eventually not need the meds anymore. But depressed people often need that initial boost to help move them out of the cycle.

Also, not to argue against "depression" or meds or anything, but... sometimes, especially for people in the first decade of their working career, we might be trying to convince ourselves we "should" be enjoying our career circumstances even if we just don't. Those shoulds can certainly exacerbate depression. I'm just saying that your underperformance might also be an indication that you don't like your job, which is totally ok.

Finally, one of the simplest harmless things you can do to start, that you might be able to motivate yourself for, is drink a lot more water, and take a B vitamin every day.

But yeah, main thrust - take the meds, trusting that you may find it easier to motivate yourself to take other healthy steps in the future.