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The Depression Thing

zachholman.com

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Re: The Depression Thing

#181

Post by Sir_Cmpwn »

pure_ambition wrote: post #84

People: PLEASE STOP recommending depressed people to take psychedelics. There is no such thing as "psychedelic therapy." Psychedelics can easily make people with mental health issues MUCH WORSE. Nobody needs a full blown existential crisis on top of major depression. I get it if you like the idea of doing psychedelics, but they are mind-altering in significant and poorly understood ways, and can easily cause others h…

I think it's important to point a critical eye at any treatment you consider. The pharma industry is not exactly someone I'd trust, either.

Re: The Depression Thing

#182

Post by thebluehawk »

nitrogen wrote: post #26
salqadri wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd add one more to that list: * Meditation / Prayer

Just note that prayer can be a cause of depression if you find yourself in a religion that turns out not to work for you, so maybe try stopping praying, too.

Yep, for me personally religion was one of the major causes of my depression. And I've been happier as I cut it out of my life. Others find happiness in religion. Everyone is different, find what makes you happy.

Re: The Depression Thing

#183

Post by taurath »

ElatedOwl wrote: post #61
taurath wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All along, or after 10 years of physiological/mental changes from your 20s? Just because it takes when you're 30 doesn't mean it would have taken in your 20s.

It's a fair point, and I can't really know how much of it was just me maturing as a person. I can say, though, that making these changes at any point in my life would have been a vast improvement. Sleep and nutrition help me view life in a much better lens and exercise gives me a structured, constructive outlet and scheduled time for reflection.

That’s one of those things that enables a lot of empathy I find - given the people I was around and what my life was like before my 20s, I certainly found it near impossible to actually make healthier life choices. Wanting to make the choices doesn’t matter as much as having the skill set and self knowledge to put yourself in a position to do them - powering through as a rule for me just leads to burnout, and ends up being incredibly unkind to myself which leads to worse habits.

Re: The Depression Thing

#184

Post by CuriouslyC »

pure_ambition wrote: post #84

People: PLEASE STOP recommending depressed people to take psychedelics. There is no such thing as "psychedelic therapy." Psychedelics can easily make people with mental health issues MUCH WORSE. Nobody needs a full blown existential crisis on top of major depression. I get it if you like the idea of doing psychedelics, but they are mind-altering in significant and poorly understood ways, and can easily cause others h…

As a counterpoint, ayahausca is a big part of the reason I'm alive today. In a few trips I achieved more than in a lifetime of therapy and antidepressants. I say, if you're on the verge of suicide, what have you got to lose?

Re: The Depression Thing

#185

Post by miguelmota »

Anti-depressants have done wonders for me (sertraline) and also for people I know with depression. On the flip side, I've read stories that they make people more suicidal. You won't know till you try different treatments. Some things work better than others for different people.

Re: The Depression Thing

#186

Post by taco_emoji »

gt_ wrote: post #87

Just some mellow "Brain Shock" side effects and he was on his way. Terrifying.

Yeah it's not as bad as it sounds. Hard to describe, but it's sorta like if somebody flashed a light in your face, you'd probably wince and kinda lose your train of thought. It's like that but without any obvious stimulus (and obviously without the retinal damage). And (at least for me) only happened when I was sort of sitting "idle" - not while I was standing or walking or actively programming, more just when I was half-heartedly reading some boring news article or whatever.

Re: The Depression Thing

#187

Post by rrix2 »

projektir wrote: post #167
pgeorgi wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you shouldn't need a therapist to figure this one out. A reasonable amount of exercise is good for pretty much everyone. People with clinical depression aren't those who _can_ easily hit the gym for that dopamine rush. "Some sport is usually not a bad idea" is not the hard part, getting to the point where it can be implemented is. And if that is the problem, and none of the pep talks on hacker news over the last fe…

> People with clinical depression aren't those who _can_ easily hit the gym for that dopamine rush. This is not accurate, depression is just not clear cut like that. A depressed person can be fully high-functioning from the outside, even... Quite a few people don't exercise for other reasons (time, aversion), in fact, I'd say those are all much more likely reasons than depression, but may also lead to depression.

It's almost like there's not a single good answer like saying "all ya gotta do is go out there and buck up and excercise!!".

Like any sickness, you talk to a health professional and figure out what treatments work. Going your own sucks and is a bad time regardless of how highly-functioning you are.

Re: The Depression Thing

#188

Post by miguelmota »

lqdc13 wrote: post #42

Please be advised that taking SSRIs can have negative side effects that you might not be aware of. When people I'm close with start taking them, they are less interested in being intimate and stop "loving"/being affectionate. In my experience, having a schedule, exercising and making sure you are around other people help a lot more while preserving your personality.

I remember when I was on SSRIs I felt pretty "numb" and sluggish, but that's a small trade off for remaining alive.

Re: The Depression Thing

#189

Post by rrix2 »

PantaloonFlames wrote: post #164
jlg23 wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I fail to see the connection between ~"don't see exercising as a golden bullet against depression" and what you claim I've said.

you said "[exercise] might be good for a lot of depressive people, but definitely not for all." Which is dead wrong. Exercise is good for humans, depressed or not. You also said, "Before I turned twenty I met two people my age who took your advice and exercised until ambulances had to pick them up (literally). " ...apparently as a warning that exercise is dangerous. But as you can see, it's a ridiculous statement. Su…

i read it as "might be good enough", which is entirely closer to the meaning that parent was trying to get at, I think.
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