Worry about the medication first. Don't try to overwhelm yourself with other solutions right now.
Ask HN: How to cope with depression
31–40 of 123 posts
Re: Ask HN: How to cope with depression
#32Here's what my favorite blogger has to say about it: http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/06/16/things-that-sometimes-h...
He's a psychiatrist but I judge him based off of his blogging not on his medical skills. I wouldn't have seen this had he been a great doctor but a poor blogger.
Re: Ask HN: How to cope with depression
#33Been suffering with depression for most of my life. Exercise does help (for me, it's walking or hiking). I took medication for a year and I hated it. I meditate a lot (I'm a Christian) and I spend a lot of time introspecting my issues. Much of my depression comes from having a crappy childhood so I often have to address them in creative ways.
There have been times work has made me depressed so I take some time off. I also have done a good job of not associating things with my identity, so work is work and if I lose my job, then it's my job I lost. I tend to segment things in my mind so that when I underperform at work, I feel bad but not to the point that I want to kill myself over it. Learning to value yourself can be difficult but it's not impossible.
Re: Ask HN: How to cope with depression
#34As everyone else is saying, take the meds. But be sure to work thoroughly with your psychiatrist to monitor the effects of the medication, and stop anything that's going awry. Don't make the decision on your own to quit a med, either - make an appointment.
Don't self-medicate with alcohol, "drugs" (the non-prescription kind), promiscuity, video games, or other things that numb you. As the psych meds take hold, you'll be able to get up, but you'll be dragged back down as well.
Be very conscious of suicidal ideas as you heal. The real danger point for depression-driven suicide isn't when things are so black you can't even get out of bed. It gets dangerous when you start feeling energetic again. Then you have enough energy to hurt yourself. Have a support group or friends who understand, and check in all the time.
Consider getting a new job now. It might help you to have a fresh thing to care about, and getting fired from your existing job will only hurt you.
Re: Ask HN: How to cope with depression
#3530 minutes of Exercise + 10 minutes Meditation every morning did wonders for me. Finding the motivation to get started will be a constant struggle, but once you establish the habit for a few weeks it gets much easier. Start small if you have to, but do it every day -- building the habit is the key. If this doesn't work, or you can't muster the motivation to do it, then the meds are probably worth a try.
I dropped exercise for the past year, worst mistake I've made. Everything changed, my productivity, my happiness, my stress increased, etc. Now I'm forcefully pushing it back upon myself and as a result I feel better, I'm getting things done at an amplified level at work and at home. Once you get in that rhythm of having it you don't realize how important it really is.
Re: Ask HN: How to cope with depression
#36Please, I urge you to speak to a professional:
Re: Ask HN: How to cope with depression
#37[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: How to cope with depression
#38Among other things, I recall the following to have worked for me:
* 12-step work (Al-Anon / CODA)
* Intense enough exercise. You want to get a strong endorphin high going. Anaerobic exercise can be a very powerful mood- and motivation-builder. A bodyweight/kettlebells mix taught locally as "combat conditioning" works very well for me. Kinda social enough but still good for "loners". Competitive only towards oneself. Motivation starts rearing its head strongly when body picks up on the endorphin high. I find it very hard to get motivated for straight-up weight training. Rock climbing has been very therapeutic to me as well. (The body is a subtle pillar. Living life in a strong, supple body and a trained endorphin reward system makes every single thing more enjoyable. Just walking feels good.
* Meditation. Any meditation is good. "Dark" / tantric meditation is invaluable as an aspect. Headspace.com works well. Meditation does really open the mind towards enlightenment, I have found. I have experienced brief glimpses of full serenity in everyday moments through meditation. Not during meditation but in the life that is lived around it.
* This unbearably beautiful Nietzche quote: "Reife des Mannes: das heisst den Ernst wiedergefunden haben, den man als Kind hatte, beim Spiel." ("Maturity: To have finally rediscovered the seriousness one had as a child at play.") Apply it to exercise, meditation, the discovery of life and living it.
* Offroad motorcycling. It cannot be adequately stated in words how transcendental, intense, and meditative the experience is.
* Edit: Giving up smoking!!! Nicotine is such a subtle poison. It's an illusion that it is hard to stop, but the illusion is tricky to break, but still it is easy. Very subtle and tricky. Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking worked for me.
Re: Ask HN: How to cope with depression
#39It can seem strange that medication might help a psychological condition, but definitely take the medical advice.
A friend of mine was found in his dorm room with blood on the walls; he wasn't taking his meds. After a lot of battling (with a number of issues), he finally got around to it. He got back to finishing his degree, and got over his problems, getting a phd in the process.
Don't let it define you as a person that you happen to be ill.
Re: Ask HN: How to cope with depression
#40You need a goal and objective to keep you motivated outside of work.
What inspires you? What are your ambitions? Do you like to travel? Build? Music? Gardening? Swimming?