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

How I Beat Depression

hackerhmb.tumblr.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 152 posts

Re: How I Beat Depression

#121

Post by Evbn »

cdjk wrote: post #22
roflc0ptic wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Medications obviously aren't for everyone, and certainly there's no one size fits all medication, but as someone who tried several medications that interfered with my clarity of mind, finding Wellbutrin has made a real difference for me. It works along a different pathway than other anti-depressants. It's known to increase focus. Rather than feeling like I was experiencing the world through gauze, I feel more... like…

Feeling "more like yourself" is one of the more common descriptions of what it feels like to be on a medication that's working. I'm glad you found something that worked and you're feeling better.

I always feel like myself, and myself is always changing. I just prefer the versions of myself that aren't bleeding profusely or have eye-burning headache or dizziness when I stand up or lower back pain or etc etc

Re: How I Beat Depression

#122

Post by Evbn »

borski wrote: post #18

This is a really important post. Something I've noticed is that more people climb in the Bay Area than anywhere I've ever been before. I wonder if its at all related to the stress and personalities contained there?

It is a trendy hobby. (Nothing wrong with that.) It os socially rewarding to have a popular hobby. Some people run or bike or play basketball.

Re: How I Beat Depression

#123

Post by Evbn »

umphetico wrote: post #92
scottcha wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm the author of the article and I asked myself this question before I wrote it. I posted some data here which came out of that research: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5272763 but it didn't get much traction. When I compared across disciplines in the original dataset (using software programmer as the discipline) there wasn't a strong indication that they were more prone to suicide than other professional jobs…

I think the actual software programmer job working for a company is different than someone working alone erratic hours, building apps, marketing, selling, and breaking even. It's quite challenging in itself to produce good software product let alone selling it and breaking even so it'd be interesting to see some statistics for single founder startups or micro software vendors. I would say the stress is the biggest fo…

Stress (and financial instability) has its own set of health problems, but that's not depression. Depression has more mundane physical and neurological causes, whereas stress disorders are caused by the pressures of difficult lifestyles like running a business on your last nickel or being ultraompetitive in your career or being a soldier at war.

Re: How I Beat Depression

#124

Post by Evbn »

pawnhearts wrote: post #70
ZenoArrow wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry to hear about your predicament pawnhearts. Have you managed to get to a counsellor yet?

Not yet, ZenoArrow. I'm "fear of fear", and I can't be strong enough to face up regular life situations. And I have to find a solution, I have to find the strenght to do something before summer comes. Hot wheter increases depression. At the moment I'm trying to work less and study/read/distract more. I spend great time on the road by car on my own or with my girlfriend, going nowhere and listening to some music I use…

Reach out to someone. If you feel too shy or uncool, find someone even less cool, and look for their special nature under the surface. Volunteer with a group at a soup kitchen, or a litter patrol, or animal rescue. Or just comment on a bug in an open source software package you use. Get busy doing something good for someone who would like to say thanks.

Re: How I Beat Depression

#125

Post by Debugreality »

Having read a lot of the comments here there seems to be two main thoughts. That depression isn't something that can be beaten and that it can be beaten.

Personally I think both camps are right, in many of the cases where people have beaten depression I think there is a common element be it Cognitive Behavior Therapy or psychedelics these practices can change your brain. Meditation can also change your brain significantly and this is how I believe I have 'beaten' depression.

So no you can't beat depression without changing your brain and changing your brain can be a risky business and perhaps when you do change your brain you are no longer the you that was depressed...

Re: How I Beat Depression

#126

Post by Evbn »

Xcelerate wrote: post #5

What if you're depressed because you're afraid of death? (I wouldn't say I'm depressed -- not in the clinical sense anyway; but I do spend what I imagine is an abnormal amount of time thinking about it because of mother's passing away when I was younger).

There is only one guaranteed way to "lose" at life -- and that is to not play. Everythkng else has a chance of winning maybe, so try something.

You don't know everything. No one does. No one ever will. One thing I know is this: if you treat yourself right today, tomorrow will be better for you than if you don't.

Maybe tomorrow you will figure something out, so give yourself the best chance you can: have a good meal (without a lot of sugar or animal fat) , do 20 minutes of moderate to intense cardio exercise, turn off your computer at least 90 minutes before bed, take a shower, write down (on paper) whatever is troubling or busying your mind today, then get a good 8+ hours of sleep, and tomorrow, just pick one item from that paper list and do one little thing to make it a little better.

I promise that tomorrow will be at least a little better than today, and a little better is always better than worse.

Give people a reason to say, "That's XceleratesMom's kid. She sure did a great job with Xcelerate, even though she didn't get as much time as she deserved."

Re: How I Beat Depression

#127

Post by scottcha »

markhall wrote: post #69

Great perspective. Question for the HN community: Why/How is it that small communities like HN have removed the stigma attached with mental health while larger society has not?

Yes, as the author of the article I thought through the stigma associated with this before I posted. Ultimately it came down to leading with my heart and doing what I thought was right regardless of what others thought.

It is great that there has been a quite open and kind discussion as that is what is needed.

Re: How I Beat Depression

#128

Post by davidtanner »

squidsoup wrote: post #94
davidtanner wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've suffered from MDD and tried to kill myself several times, the last attempt was very serious and I almost did die. Now, almost a decade later and I think I can say I have "beaten" depression. The cure? Time, therapy, loving intimate relationships and judicious use of psychedelics.

> judicious use of psychedelics. I'm really please to hear that this worked for you. However, I would caution anyone suffering from depression to consider that this form of self medication could potentially make your symptoms worse. Entheogens/psychedelics have a tendency to amplify our inner state of mind, and if you're unprepared for this or in a bad place, this experience can have an extremely detrimental affect.…

I agree that if you're currently suffering from MDD, psychedelic use is very likely contraindicated.

I wasn't speaking of use while actually depressed.

Re: How I Beat Depression

#129

Post by [deleted] »

j_baker wrote: post #57
dpapathanasiou wrote: post #7

Exercise is incredibly important b/c of all the positive neurochemical effects it produces. But if you're exercising by yourself, it's easy to skip it, especially if you're already feeling down. It's better to take part in some kind of team or class activity where there's a little bit of social pressure to show up. There will be mornings when you think, "I don't want to go, but I don't want to let those guys down," a…

Exercise is almost never a bad idea. However, the evidence that it helps with depression has recently come under question: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120822-does-exercise-help-...

[deleted]

Re: How I Beat Depression

#130

Post by realsuperman »

Everything that makes you happy or sad is in your mind. So I would suggest that it is not about beating depression but achieving a balance of the two. One cannot completely eliminate depression type or extreme joy type feelings from one's life. So it is good to develop a balance that leads to the understanding that shit happens. But this too shall pass.
Post reply on HN