Depression

Have you ever been severely depressed? How did you cope with it?

I'm currently slightly depressed and I cant find joy in anything. I dont feel like going out, play videogames, watch movies/series, read a book, nothing. Its driving me insane. Only meditation has been helping me out but only a little. The emotional rollercoaster is getting tiresome.

Any sugestions besides waiting for time to heal my mind?

couple of things that are always recommendable:

force your silly brain to be more happy by doing stuff that creates natural highs, such as physical exercise

your brain is silly, a remnant of lizards, it's important that you understand this, so you won't put up with its irrational bullshit

also try to avoid negative stuff, like the news, it makes you feel misanthropic and fatalistic

take command of the ship that is you, sir, and be stubborn about it

get counseling/therapy

Apathy is easily the worst part of depression. Any sadness or pain you feel is only made worse when you are unable to do things you enjoy to offset them. But recognition of this is the first step to getting better. The next time you want to do something but feel unmotivated, remember that this apathy is why, and try your best to will yourself into doing whatever it was you wanted to do. Once you do this a few times, get back into the normal groove of your life, and find enjoyment in things, then it gets a whole lot easier. This isn't always easy, but being conscious of a subconscious illness makes dealing with unexplainable symptoms all the easier. One reason why people with symptoms of depression should never keep it to themselves.

I was pretty depressed a little over a year ago when things with my ex fell apart. After a lengthy 5 year relationship and living together for a year, it's hard not to feel depressed about. What's hard about being depressed is bringing about a productive state of mind. If you're depressed, it's easy for a year or two to pass in your life without making significant progress towards your goals. One of the most depressing things about depression is the feeling that you don't have the ability to bring about the changes in your life to make yourself happy. It's a good time to think about changes you can make in your life that would make you happy. Analyze your problems deeply. It's probably also time to set new goals. Start with baby-steps, trying to introduce the change you might need into your life.

it's been like 6 years since first i was clinically diagnosed with depression and have been on citalopram and haloperidol ever since. from my personal experience the worst thing i have to deal with on a regular basis is my lack of motivation. like, i have to keep pushing myself and set short term goals for every freakin' simple task i do in my day. and that citalopram kills my sex drive. i think depression has pretty much ruined my best years of life and turned me into a dull person while i could've been a relatively good artist on different circumstances. then again, life is full of wasted talents. nothing really unusual has happened here.

@SaintLeonidas: Perhaps the nicest, most helpful comment I've read from you. I like it =)

Not for any amount of time. When I was single, I had my family and relatives to fall back on. Nowadays, if I ever feel depressed, I have my own family, the in-laws, and family/relatives to fall back on for support.

I can't recall being depressed since I got married....now that I think about it.

doctor

Watch out, the powers that be might not like it.

Take the initiative. Recognize the vast amount of opportunities available to you in life and set a long term goal. Start with one and grow from there. Then, set short term goals to reach your long term goals with deadlines. Prioritize your time by minimizing distractions. A lot of times, I read about people who seek pleasure as their end goal or they follow the theory of hedonism. In reality, that is a sure way to not be happy. Rather than seeking happiness in and of itself, let it come naturally by seeking other goals.

I do not think I have ever been depressed, but this might help.

Yes I have. I have also met those with much more serious mood disorders. Its not a fun way to live. This is why I take mental health seriously. Psychiatric hospitals needs to be more abundant and mental health should be covered more.

I'm not entirely sure what I went through could be considered full on depression (much less a severe type). When I was 15/16 I found myself stuck in a group of friends of quite frankly pretty manipulative people, of the type that really know how to make you feel miserable if they want you to that particular day. The same type that make you feel like you really are the problem whenever something happens. It also made me feel pretty apathetic, as there was a sense of hopelessness to the entire situation (At that moment they really were the only people I could be with, seeing as I didn't have any special affection for my classmates and no other easy source of new people to meet). So I felt like that for about a year until I got out of it by changing schools at the end of the course, meeting different people and putting behind pretty much everything that made me feel miserable.

I think there were a few factors that helped me get past it all though: first, being young and about to start my last two years of highschool, it wasn't hard for me to change my surroundings once that school year ended, and second, I had someone who sat me down and very clearly told me what was going on, which made me see the problem wasn't me, but my surroundings.

Actually looking back I'd say yes, it could be called a depression. I felt pretty shitty daily for the better part of 10 months.

Find the joy in life. Look for it in things where you wouldn't expect it. Find enjoyment from small things. Help others, it might distract you from what is causing you to hurt. It's amazing how much selflessness can lift the weight from your life.

Being sad, isn't the same thing as chronic depression.

I suffer from depression but with medication I can cope and do the things I like doing.

@Vatusus: Be with friends, talk about it and maybe go to an proffesionall as not everyone have the same kind of depression.
Just remember you're not alone in this so don't be ashamed to ask for help!

@Vatusus:

3 things you can do right away:

Buy 1000 - 1200 MG Fish Oil burp-less liquid gels by Nature Made, take 1 a day after breakfast with water.

Buy 1000 iu Vitamin D Liquid Gels (not tablets) from Nature Made, take 1 a day after a meal that has fat.

And buy a multivitamin.

That's the start with an inbalance. And those will address prevention of heart disease and certain cancers.

Do this before starting anti-depressants with all their side effects. The omega 3's in Fish Oil are good for those with ADD as well.

I've been struggling with it almost all of my life; therapy and antidepressants are what keep me in control dare I ever try to make a questionable and irreversible choice.

Seek a professional instead of getting tips on a Forum.

I think my niece had depression due to my sis and her husband separating. I believe they all went to some sort of counseling and it helped her. Everyone is different with different situations so there isn't one solution. I think recognizing you have a problem and searching for answers whether it's on online forums is a pretty good start. You finding ways to help yourself is a good thing. I think they have many online groups and support for many issues but I think talking to someone you know and telling them is a better option.

Consult some therapy, that helped me in the past.

@Vatusus: I'm not gonna lie to you. Depression is a tough tough thing. I've been on zoloft for 15 years for depression. I'm not gonna say it works tbh. But I'm not gonna say it doesn't work either. How long have you had depression?? Maybe there is a problem you can't resolve?? So is gets kinda in the back burner and then it bothers you?? Sometimes depression has no reason. Sometimes it's experienced (negative ones) that cause it.

But sometimes, some people get over it with time. Other times it never goes away.

See depression is only manageable in my view. Sort of it comes and goes away. Many here have recommended exercise. I find this a good suggestion. It almost always works.

Good luck and hang in there.

Sources: me.

I spent a good 18 months in a deep depression and what made it worse was when I thought I'd overcome it, I told my mum and she got so mad that I didn't tell her that she didn't talk to me for two weeks. That set me back a lot.

I coped by changing a few things in my life and surrounding myself with people I trusted and loved deeply. I was prescribed anti-depressants but never went to get them.

I don't understand why people get all depressed?!.. it's life, you work and you pay bills, we live and we die, it's not fun all the time... what more do you want?!... a million dollars to make you happy?!

Typical ignorant post of someone that doesnt realise depression is a serious biological condition.

See this video and educate yourself

Anyway,

The worst fase has passed (I think). I dont feel as bad now. Through meditation and forcing myself to be occupied (even if I dont feel like to) has helped me a lot.

Thanks to everyone for your support

@Vatusus: Sorry to hear that you are depressed. The best way to deal with depression, for me anyway, was to surround myself with people, friends & family. Being alone worsened it. good luck!! xoxo

Try therapy with a focus on CBT. If that fails then try it in conjunction with an SSRI.

we all do from time to time. i find music to help. whatever genre you like. rap helps cause its mostly about bragging about how good you are lol.

There's a huge difference between feeling down and clinical depression.

Not trying to sound like an a-hole, but I'm tired of reading posts on the OT about people being depressed. This isn't a forum about personal mental health states and I'd like to see people refrain from treating it like such.

Huh. This is the first thread I've seen that's purely about depression. In your case, why waste time posting here when there are so many other threads around?

I've seen a few threads like this lately and yeah, I could have just made my own thread to moan about people moaning about depression, but I didn't cuz I said F*ck It, posting this here.

There are no reason to get depressed about... unless a person being, oh, suddenly looks really ugly out off thin air from being good looking. or some weird crap like that.

Stop this depressing nonsense.... change your lifestyle, like, drink more water instead of freaking soda, that's one of them will help.

Oh great, more drugs, more pills for depression... I'm not gonna read all of that.

Be all depressing all you want... I'm drinking some beer, and watching Dead Rising movie, and having 3-day weekend... bye.

Exercise on schedule, specifically running.

Simple, free and acts as an anti-depressant.

...

Yes, you clearly don't understand.

I get depressed after withdrawing from prescription steroids(like prednisone) since it's part of my chemo regimen. I hate it since I don't have a whole lot of energy and sometimes playing games while you're in pain but being depressed makes video games boring as ****. Nothing is exciting.

I wait it out, sleep a lot, and try to distract myself as much as I can so I don't lose my sanity. Just adding background noise helps. Sometimes I'll up my dose on some cannabis oil to makes things more enjoyable but it's temporary.

@Treflis Sometimes reading personal experiences from other guys that you can releate with (in this case, i'm betting than most of us are gamers) is really helpfull...that plus seeking professional help, that's a must indeed.

@Vatusus Sad to hear you are depressed man, i'm pretty sad right now due to a hearthbreaking rupture with a girl, and it feels awful...i'm not traying to say that we are suffering the same kind of depression, but right now i feel slightly depressed as well, you just don't want to do anything you usually enjoy, so my advice is that little by little...do something...even if you have to force yourself to do it, yesterday i force myself to play some Street Fighter 4 even if it was only to pass the time...today i was willing to play some more and i didn't have to force myself, also i went with my mom in the morning to our religious celebrations and even if i was still thinking most of the time in what happened i managed to distract myself a little, when i got home i watched Kung Fu Panda (one of my favorite movies that couldn't force myself yesterday to watch it).

Also, just...talk, whether it is with your family or a friend, that always works, most of the time they don't know you are feeling that way...and i bet they are willing to listen to you...anyway, like i said just do something, force yourself to do it if you have to...maybe force yourself to read a chapter from a book everyday...walk to the park...then walk back and say hello to a random person...you know...little things everyday.

Hope we are able to help you man, and of course you should seek professional help.

Oh I understand how it can help. I just took notice off the last line on the tips on how to get over depression from the TC and thought it was better that he got the tip to seek professional help, rather then some unserious tip like " Drink a glass with four cracked eggs in it and a spoon of sugar and you'll be bright as a daisy" that someone might consider writing on a forum as a joke to a serious issue.

@Treflis: I'm agree...but luckly there have been some really nice answers from a lot of people on this thread that are willing to help.

Nope. In your case you should see a doctor....not OT....to get your meds adjusted.