How do you fight depression? - Let's help each other

[Maurice Caine]

Identify the cause and attempt to curb it. Although I feel like these days most of those causes are beyond the average man's control.

 

[Whatisgoingon]

I identify how hopeless everything is, I drink heavily, and then try to forget it for the rest of my time working.. Just like pretty much everyone else in all of history, from what I can tell.

 

[Feefee81093]

Have multiple hobbies so you can cycle through activities without becoming bored helps distract the mind.

 

[devjo]

I think quialified therapist cold help to solve any issues faster. Some time ago I found info about family therapy here https://www.australiacounselling.com.au/family-therapy/. Hope it will be useful for someone too. I'm glad that I found therapists in Sydney with competitive prices. They offer a safe place to discuss what’s troubling me and they helped me in the hard times.

 

[JimJams1998]

I do shrooms and watch hours of unfiltered addblock off jimmy kimmel live clips on youtube. After enough dystopic embrace the bad feels go away.

 

[Sealbaby]

read the whole post

This is a really good post. Emphasises the self-reinforcing/vicious cycle nature of depression, and also that it has characteristic physiological symptoms (such as really early waking & no appetite.)

also - normie advice for depression: take a bath and read a book, go for a walk, fix your diet, look after your pet, etc.

So what if:

- You can't have a bath because you live in a moldy shithole with 4 other randoms constantly making noise and hogging the bathroom
- You lack time to cook healthy because the randoms you live with hog the kitchen
- It's unappealing go for a walk or exercise outside because you're surrounded by ugly polluted car-centric sprawl
- You can't have a pet because your landlord says no pets

Get money. Some way. Almost any way. I'm not saying break the law but I'm saying get money any way you can. Mindfully, carefully use that money to get yourself ASAP into a clean, dry, house with natural light, a bath, a decent kitchen, and privacy (live alone, or max 2 other randos. No more than 3.) The house must be in an area with close access to green space and a supermarket.

Bootstrap from that to fixing your diet, cutting down on drinking, stopping smoking, getting a pet.

 

[Star Platinum]

there's nothing you can really do to "fight" it. actual depression (as opposed to being upset about external circumstances like grief) has a crazy high rate of recurrence. diet and exercise are good just because it's better to be unwell while physically feeling good than unwell while physically feeling like shit. same goes for having your life in order financially, etc., but the underlying problem is still there.

 

[Sealbaby]

Repent for your choices

Hmm

In India, many people think their ailments and random misfortunes are karmic punishments for their misdeeds, so they don't complain about them (or confess their misdeeds, because they tell themselves they're already being sufficiently punished for them.)

Similarly we in the West believe it's hypocritical to seek help with something vulnerable (like being depressed) if your conscience is not clean about something else. Whereas if your conscience is clean on the whole, you're considered more justified to complain and seek help.

It pisses a guilty person off, and/or makes them anxious, to see someone innocent complaining about a hurt that the guilty person also suffers (in silence, because they are guilty.) So they may lash out at the complainer/sympathy-seeker.

Generally speaking, people who have an ethos of independence/rugged individualism over interdependence are the ones who punish people for seeking sympathy or support, and who conflate sickness with immorality (e.g. calling people who do immoral things 'sick' in a wholly pejorative way). They lose sympathy and social support, but gain power to act without social consequences.

TL;DR: people don't like other people openly seeking help with misfortune (like the things making you depressed) because they are treating their secret pain as 'permission' to do scuzzy shit. See the common scenario of the husband not telling his wife about something bad that's happened to him because that something bad (say, going broke) involved him DOING something bad (say, spending his life savings on NFTS.)

But I think it's not up to you to decide what the appropriate punishment is for your own bullshit. Generally speaking, it's better to confess your misdeeds and seek help with your misfortunes.

 

[Akashic Retard]

Try an anti-inflammatory diet like keto or carnivore. Seriously, just try it for a couple weeks and see how you feel. I think you'll be surprised.

 

[Little oak tree]

You don't, you embrace it and discover your life is fake and empty of meaning.
And then perhaps you can give it some meaning.

 

[Juan But Not Forgotten]

Ok, most of those were posted here, but still, speaking from my own experience.

• Physical activity sure helps, but do not overtrain, you will burn your psyche and fall into depression. In my experience cardio helps more than lifting, but in the end it works best when you do both in reasonable amounts. I also noticed that keeping heart rate at about 70% from max is better than doing cardio till you fall.
• Sun exposure is crucial, too bad I didn't realize this until recently. If you can't sunbathe or don't like it like I do, then walk around with enough skin exposed. When it's cold, take vitamin D or eat products that are rich with it.
• Do not consume too much sugar and of course do not try to silence depression with it, it only makes things worse.
• Chocolate on the other hand helps, but do not stuff your face with it. A square of a dark chocolate in the morning for a good start and no more.
• Biorhythms. If you feel tired - go to sleep, instead of staying online. The good rest is a must.
• On the other hand, depression is a cycle, you need to learn to break it. If bad thoughts are pushing you to the ground, say "fuck it" and take a walk or go clean your place, whatever, just do not let it corrode you. One trick that also helps me is to cut sleeping hours a little for a day, the next day it gives a boost of energy and good sleep afterwards.
• Create. Doesn't matter what - cook, draw, code, shitpost with more effort, just do it. Then look at it and think that it is good you did it.
• Read "Man in search of meaning" and "Say 'yes' to life: In spite of everything" by Victor Frankel. If this man was able to find the will to live in the concentration camp, you can too. It's not gonna change your life automatically, but it will give you enough food for thought.

Thanks to everyone who shared their advices here. Take care, people!

 

[aquietta]

I don't think I saw this posted previously, and might sound pretty out there, but it's worth considering allergy testing. Allergies can manifest as symptoms really similar to those experienced with depression. Environmental/food allergies can also pop up later in life. If formal testing (which honestly isn't very good for food allergies) isn't very attainable for you, can always give removing one of the most allergenic foods (wheat, dairy, eggs) from your diet for like week and see if it helps. You can also get allergy AC filters which are pretty inexpensive and easy to find.

 

[sharkfist]

It's a tricky subject. I've had three major episodes of depression in my life and pretty sure I managed to prevent the fourth one by identifying it early and doing everything I could about it early enough.

Here's some things that work for me:

• Socialize, but don't oversocialize
  • Humans are pack animals, social interactions are a basic need (despite how introverted you claim to be) which will show symptoms if not fulfilled
  • "Oversocialization" is just being around people so you don't have to be alone. We all know that one partyanimal who uses it as a method of escapism. What a sad life it must be on those lonely moments.
• Keep your body fit
• Eat right, cooking is preferred
• Be productive
• Pay off debts or make plans for paying them off, take that situation under control
• Steer away from alcohol, drugs, anything that fucks with your mind
• Get enough sleep
• Stop reading the news/social media/ragewatching/anything that tries to bait you to feel bad
• Plan ahead
• Keep the promises you make to yourself. If you break these promises you make to yourself, you break your morale. You become untrustworthy in your own mind, kinda obvious how this fucks you up.
• Stop spewing negative shit to the people around you, try to catch yourself doing it and stop it as soon as possible

Pretty much all the people who are chronically depressed around me do the opposite of my list and wonder why they're depressed.

 

[FrigginWeeb]

I go into crowded spaces like conventions and rip ass.

 

[Manul Otocolobus]

For anyone who wants to try a pharma solution, a "novel" antidepressant came out just recently named Auvelity. It works on a completely different mechanism than any other oral anti-depressant out there. It works on the same system as ketamine, it just needs to be dosed every day rather than once a month, and you just take it as a pill, and not as an infusion or a nose spray. It is also rapid acting, typically a significant change will be seen within 14 days.

I don't actually recommend anyone take the brand name, it's a total rip-off. You can do the exact same thing with generic bupropion and OTC dextromethorphan IR typically labeled as Dextromethorphan HBr usually listed as 8 hours dosing. You DO NOT want the extended release dextromethorphan, commonly labeled at Dextromethorphan Polistirex, that is labeled for 12 hours dosing. Make sure to get just dextromethorphan HBr, and avoid Guaifenesin. It can be harder to find, but you don't really want to take Guaifenesin if you don't need to.

Following the formulation of the brand name medication it would be 100 mg of bupropion SR (this is the sustained release formulation, not the IR [Immediate Release] type, and not the XL [Extended Release] type) with 45 mg of dextromethorphan every 12 hours (so twice a day).

If you have trouble falling asleep you can try knocking the second dose of the dextromethorphan down to 30 mg, so it would be 100 mg of bupropion SR with 45 mg of dextromethorphan in the AM and 100 mg of bupropion SR with 30 mg of dextromethorphan 12 hours later. If you still have trouble with sleep you can drop the second dose of dextromethorphan to 15 mg, so it would be 100 mg of bupropion SR with 45 mg of dextromethorphan in the AM and 100 mg of bupropion SR with 15 mg of dextromethorphan 12 hours later.

If you find the dosage is generally too high, you can switch to 30 mg of dextromethorphan, so it would be 100 mg of bupropion SR with 30 mg of dextromethorphan in the AM and 100 mg of bupropion SR with 30 mg of dextromethorphan

There is also an alternative dosing approach which may work for you. That is 300 mg of bupropion xl with 45 mg of dextromethorphan in the AM and 45 mg of dextromethorphan by itself 12 hours later. If you still have trouble with sleep you can drop the second dose of dextromethorphan to 30 mg, so that would be 300 mg of bupropion xl with 45 mg of dextromethorphan in the AM and just 30 mg of dextromethorphan by itself 12 hours later, so that would be 300 mg of bupropion xl with 45 mg of dextromethorphan in the AM and just 15 mg of dextromethorphan by itself 12 hours later.

If you find the dosage is generally too high, you can switch to 30 mg of dextromethorphan, so the dosing would be 300 mg of bupropion xl with 30 mg of dextromethorphan in the AM and just 30 mg of dextromethorphan by itself 12 hours later.

How can you tell if the dosage is too high? You will find you have trouble with recall. Things that normally you would easily be able to pull from your memory stay right on the tip of your tongue and they will come to you, but it could take a good 20-30 seconds. Another way to tell the dosage is too high is that you have problem with executive function. This will manifest as you have to remember a short alphanumeric string (such as a phone number, for example) for a short period of time and you will find when you go to transfer that information (write it down, for example) that it is just gone when you have never had this trouble before. These are both good signs that the dosage is too high. You don't need to adjust the bupropion, but you do need to adjust the dosage of the dextromethorphan.

While this antidepressant can work for anyone, there is a subgroup it works particularly well for. If you're the type of depressive where you have constant thoughts involving all the depressing shit in your life and you can't not think about it, especially when trying to sleep, this antidepressant has a chance to work really well for you because of its mechanism of action (which is through the glutamatergic system/NMDA modulation).

The brand name, as I mentioned is a rip-off. Without insurance it is ~$1200 a month. Using generic bupropion, without insurance it is $15.00, and OTC dextromethorphan, $24.00. So, ~$40 a month. Not bad if you haven't been able to get your depression under control any other way.

 

[DetachedDreamer97]

Cold showers, high doses of vitamin D, and living alone, plus a lot of projects.

Also, you are what you eat.

Religion and spirituality helps too.

 

[Stoneheart]

I run... get high by pushing your body.

 

[Mr Bubbless]

drugs

 

[The Ugly One]

I just remember that I'm white.

 

[Spiny Rumples]

I just remember that I'm white.

Meatballs are a good way to lift one's spirits.