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If You're Often Angry or Irritable, You May Be Depressed

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Re: If You're Often Angry or Irritable, You May Be Depressed

#61

Post by gabriel34 »

ganzuul wrote: post #26

I have had to deal with inexplicable anger and irritability for a long time. It is possible this traces back to being misdiagnosed and prescribed 5 antibiotic recipes back-to-back as a child. Long and tedious story short, when I cut milk, gluten/short carbs/whatever pesticide they use for wheat, and excess sugar from e.g. prefabbed food from my diet I gained 10kg and my life basically turned around. Turns out having…

mental health and gut bacteria seem to be heavily correlated. Anecdotally, if I don't eat sugary "reward" food I tend to feel better. That is also why I adopted intermittent fasting. I tend to fell better mentally if I fast 24h once a week.

Re: If You're Often Angry or Irritable, You May Be Depressed

#62

Post by adamnemecek »

avgDev wrote: post #28

The more you know about the world and tech especially, the more you will get depressed, IMO, maybe I'm wrong. Humans in general are pretty shitty, driven mostly by self-interest. I guess there are people driven by doing good but most people are capable of doing terrible things, especially when in a group. I do suffer from existential depression, I'm generally pretty happy, but as I learn more and live longer my outlo…

I used to be a wreck, possibly worse than you. Irritable, depressed, in poor health. Eventually it got to the point where I just couldn’t take it anymore and I quit my job to work on personal projects and read. I would recommend it to anyone. My skills have gotten much better, you’ll get a chance to do the things you always wanted and you’ll be happier.

Say what you will about Jordan Peterson but he’s spot in this interview (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Xc7DN-noAc&t=1h18m22s)

Depression is related to boredom. Are you bored at work? Being busy doesn’t mean you aren’t bored.

Re: If You're Often Angry or Irritable, You May Be Depressed

#63

Post by scruple »

kingsloi wrote: post #52
avgDev wrote: post #28

The more you know about the world and tech especially, the more you will get depressed, IMO, maybe I'm wrong. Humans in general are pretty shitty, driven mostly by self-interest. I guess there are people driven by doing good but most people are capable of doing terrible things, especially when in a group. I do suffer from existential depression, I'm generally pretty happy, but as I learn more and live longer my outlo…

I just made HN account to reply to this, as I feel like I suffer with "existential depression" too. I had never heard of that before, so thanks for commenting. As I get older, the more I read, it just seems to be always doom and gloom. The obviousness that's occurring to things around us. I'm a natural born worrier anyway, but as I get older I think more about "existence". My wife and I plan to have kids, but then I'…

Check out Factfulness by Hans Rosling. It presents a compelling case that many of us (westerners) misjudge the state of the world.

Re: If You're Often Angry or Irritable, You May Be Depressed

#64

Post by tabtab »

smaddox wrote: post #51
JeremyBanks wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with that kind of evolutionary argument is that it requires the product of that creativity to impart a reproductive advantage to the creator and their close relatives. However, creations are often easily copied, producing a broader benefit that negates the evolutionary advantage. It's not impossible, but it's a tricky thing to argue.

A more complete analysis requires taking into account that epigenetics can allow such traits to be deactivated in most individuals and that humans are an extremely social species. These details combine to make natural selection of such complex traits both possible and beneficial to the social group.

That's pretty much what I was going to reply: Being beneficial to an individual and being beneficial to a particular gene are not always the same thing. Having a particular gene in a population may be a net benefit to the group (and gene) even if it could hinder a specific individual under certain gene combinations or societal conditions.

As an example, an individual who likes tinkering with weapons instead of socializing may come up with a novel weapon modification. That individual may die earlier than average due to lack-luster social skills, but the improved weapon makes the tribe thrive and grow, spreading the gene that made the weapon-obsessed individual, which was probably already in the population.

Re: If You're Often Angry or Irritable, You May Be Depressed

#65

Post by ganzuul »

OldFatCactus wrote: post #54
ganzuul wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had pain everywhere. I thought it was normal.

Wow I'm happy for you that you were able to find relief via dietary changes

It's something of a last resort. Wheat and milk are so cheap that they put it as an additive in everything, so when I buy groceries it's like I'm weeding through isles and isles of poison.

It's like I have returned to a hunter-gatherer way of life, where eating the wrong berries can be a disaster.

Re: If You're Often Angry or Irritable, You May Be Depressed

#67

Post by tomp »

avgDev wrote: post #28

The more you know about the world and tech especially, the more you will get depressed, IMO, maybe I'm wrong. Humans in general are pretty shitty, driven mostly by self-interest. I guess there are people driven by doing good but most people are capable of doing terrible things, especially when in a group. I do suffer from existential depression, I'm generally pretty happy, but as I learn more and live longer my outlo…

Wow, I rarely so deeply profoundly and strongly disagree with a statement.

I'm fascinated by both how far humans have come, and how peaceful we've become. We haven't had a major war for decades, despite having more and better weapons. Capitalism has unleashed a revolution in technology and society. We're improving lives more rapidly and profoundly than ever, despite there being more and more of us. There are long-term visions and movements springing up all across the world (ecological, environmental, etc) and they seem to be gaining steam. We're reaching for the stars, and it seems like we might actually get there eventually. It's really remarkable of what humans are capable of, both on the micro level (every time I'm driving I'm surprised there's not more accidents, given how slow human reaction times are and how fast and near each other cars are moving), and on the macro level (a society with 7 billion souls, each driven by its own mostly-selfish desires (survival, reproduction, power), making progress and deals and working on causes, together).

Re: If You're Often Angry or Irritable, You May Be Depressed

#69

Post by LinuxBender »

I am not depressed, but I am often annoyed by the idiots that won't stop staring at their phones when getting onto or off of the elevator. I can be annoyed without being depressed. I am not related to these ding-dongs, so it's only their progeny that should be depressed.

Re: If You're Often Angry or Irritable, You May Be Depressed

#70

Post by ergl »

avgDev wrote: post #28

The more you know about the world and tech especially, the more you will get depressed, IMO, maybe I'm wrong. Humans in general are pretty shitty, driven mostly by self-interest. I guess there are people driven by doing good but most people are capable of doing terrible things, especially when in a group. I do suffer from existential depression, I'm generally pretty happy, but as I learn more and live longer my outlo…

Your tl;dr is alarmingly defeatist. If you're in tech and feeling angry all the time, the answer is not to try meds, the answer is to get politically involved and change the moral bankrupty of our industry.

If you're US based, check your nearest TWC (https://techworkerscoalition.org/) chapter.

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