Depression! And solutions

[King_Be_Us]

Hey guys. I know I haven't posted here in a while, and rarely, but I need y'all's advice.
I've been trying to get over depression for a year now, and I want a skill. I wanted to stay away from medications, because I've had some bad experiences. Mindfulness has seemed to be the best option, but I need a hobby (or what y'all can honestly recommend).

So far, I was thinking about working as a delivery driver, playing guitar (the kicker that I want to be in my life), hardcore exercise (which I used to have second hand), and shopping, including massages and shit.

I am already seeing a psychologist, but will go to my doctor for medication recommendations. I will clarify in saying that my psychiatrist was not very sympathetic towards my sorrows. I want to try Xanax...

Thoughts?

 

[OrLevitate]

Change your perspective and/or circumstances.

 

[TheManBeyond]

I'm sad too, my gf left me and she's been cruel with words, i can't understand how one person who is so close to you for so long is able to reject and dislike you so quickly, in a matter of weeks. It hurts.
Solution? hate and revenge.
The problem is how you take revenge on someone who doesn't care anymore?. I have some strategies here and there but they are way too inmature to execute. Probably it won't work so i shall wait.

I started going to the gym, i bought the last of us (kinda boring game tho), i have thought of buying a new guitar. I wanted to test my english to get the B2 or C1 certificate saddly i don't have enought money to pay for the examn.
I'm going to do a trip probably in a few weeks, i started checking prices for hotels and flies to japan for the next summer.
Talk to friends and specially cute girls, see some asses shaking, if you can, touch them, in order to do so go out at night, try to stay healthy and looking good, don't let sadness turn you into some hermit.

 

[JansenDowel]

Please do take this suggestion seriously. I know it sounds like spiritual hogwash, but its not.
Meditation! It will take about a week for you to start noticing any changes. Meditation helped me out of my depression. It works by focusing your thoughts and relieving stress (which is a big part of depression). Once the stress is gone, you will start to feel euphoric.

 

[King_Be_Us]

You know, that was a huge kick in the butt that you just reminded me. Usually I've been trying to deal with it outside of meditation (due to bad experiences?? with meditation from the last year).

I'm gonna get back into serious meditation. I used to take it with my whole brain and heart and body, and although I didn't have the things I wanted, I did do something about it.

What foot do you place under first?

 

[JansenDowel]

Oh really? What happened?

 

[StevenM]

Xanax, in the long term, has a certain potential to completely mess up your central nervous system.

 

[ddspada]

Approach meditation it with respect -- it's not a panacea because it requires a fair bit of self-acceptance not all folks have. It grows onto you.



As for a hobby, I have a few suggestions that have helped me in the past:

Spoiler

> Buy Isaac Asimov's books. Foundation; the Complete Stories; and I, Robot are (imo) fascinating books to kill plenty of time with (not to say they're simple or brain candy; quite the opposite).

> If you're already learning a language, try translating music albums from and to the language you're learning. Use dictionaries, Google Translate, ask friends for help, learn the lyrics. Try listening to a song for the very first time on YouTube, pause every few seconds, and write down as much as you understand; then compare what you did understand with the lyrics themselves.

> If you're not already learning a language, give it a serious try.

> Build a senbazuru -- 1000 paper origami cranes. The story behind it as a japanese cultural symbol is very pretty and inspiring. Folding the cranes themselves is calming, and you can see how a large project comes closer to completion bit by bit, crane by crane. Completed senbazuru are stunning visually. At a not-too-strenuous pace, the whole thing can be completed in six months. No need for origami paper, either -- manually (but carefully) ripping A4 paper into 4 or 8 squares works every bit as well, and it's a lot cheaper.

> Prepare for a marathon, half marathon, or 10k -- whatever you feel comfortable with and your health allows.

> Try tea or coffee as a pleasure (not as a caffeine source). Get good coffee/tea, enjoy brewing it, enjoy drinking it, write about it, keep a journal, compare different kinds. Many people also approach cigars in this manner, but I would not particularly recommend that.

> Keep an audio journal. Record yourself on your computer or phone. Lie down, close your eyes, and just talk for an hour. Make up a story, explain a theory you like or have constructed, recall what your day was like, make a brief account of every teacher you've had since high school. Just talk to yourself, and, if you want, listen to yourself later.

> Draw.
With fine markers or Stabilo fineliners, try pointillism. Trace a picture you'd like to do, then fill in layers of tiny dots distributed as necessary starting with the lightest colors.
Also works with circle stencils -- either filling the circles in (no layering, of course) or not.

> Learn to play chess. See if there's a chess club nearby. Follow the sport, watch lessons and solve puzzles online.

> Buy some videogames you may have missed out on. I find plenty of fourth-gen games (PS2, Xbox, GCN) which are pretty fun to play but never got to know about. And they're much less expensive, as well.

Here's hoping your situation improves in the most benign way possible.

 

[Grayman]

I am not a doctor but IMO:

Meditation does not cure depression. It does not lessen it. What meditation does is train the mind to not obssessivly hold onto a thought. To let them go adn be what they are. Essentially you lessen the emotional connection to thinking, the judging part of the tought process, but not necessarily the enjoyment of it. A situation is not good or bad it just is. What is left is not happiness or sadness but just contentedness.

A person who obsesses over negative thoughts would benefit greatly from meditation. Suchh a person has trouble setting aside their negative thoughts to persue new and postivive thoughts. This prohibits them from changing their perspective or changing their life. They are stuck. The meditation excersise done daily enables their minds to know what to do with those negative thoughts. Let them go. They find more peace in everday life and find new ways to change their life.

Meditation is just a small part. The largest part is the acceptance. No one wants to really believe the statement that their struggles are not as bad as they make them out to be. Such a naive statement indeed... The truth is that it is not about being bad or not bad. It just is what it is and there is so much more in teh world you don't see when you spend to much time staring at the past or the problem. You have to look past the problem to move foward.


But this is just useful for a negative thinker... A certain type of depression caused by stress, fear, axiety. Life is given the blame and bitterness takes over.

What about the emptieness? What about the the deperession that is the absense of all emotion. The great void of nothing that exists within you and all energy and meaning in the world is gone. It is a silent depression. One where you pretend everything is okay but deep inside something warns you that something is wrong. In this depression even pain seems like a welcome friend because at least then you would feel something. You believe you could die and it would not matter, but you don't feel like putting in the effort to do it. What good does meditation do for this person?

This person would likely be better getting medication. This person lacks drive and purpose. The medication would help them to get up and get moving so that they can make a change in their life.

Essentially the meditation and the medication are just the first step in preparing you for a change. Where people really fail is in fidning the courage to change and to accept that things are not as bad 'as they need to be'.

 

[Grayman]

To clarify...

The emptiness is not removed by acceptance.


It is removed by finding purpose, being constructive, and spending time with people who make your lfie more meaningful.

 

[paradoxparadigm7]

I am not a doctor but IMO:

Meditation does not cure depression. It does not lessen it. What meditation does is train the mind to not obssessivly hold onto a thought. To let them go adn be what they are. Essentially you lessen the emotional connection to thinking, the judging part of the tought process, but not necessarily the enjoyment of it. A situation is not good or bad it just is. What is left is not happiness or sadness but just contentedness.

A person who obsesses over negative thoughts would benefit greatly from meditation. Suchh a person has trouble setting aside their negative thoughts to persue new and postivive thoughts. This prohibits them from changing their perspective or changing their life. They are stuck. The meditation excersise done daily enables their minds to know what to do with those negative thoughts. Let them go. They find more peace in everday life and find new ways to change their life.

Meditation is just a small part. The largest part is the acceptance. No one wants to really believe the statement that their struggles are not as bad as they make them out to be. Such a naive statement indeed... The truth is that it is not about being bad or not bad. It just is what it is and there is so much more in teh world you don't see when you spend to much time staring at the past or the problem. You have to look past the problem to move foward.


But this is just useful for a negative thinker... A certain type of depression caused by stress, fear, axiety. Life is given the blame and bitterness takes over.

What about the emptieness? What about the the deperession that is the absense of all emotion. The great void of nothing that exists within you and all energy and meaning in the world is gone. It is a silent depression. One where you pretend everything is okay but deep inside something warns you that something is wrong. In this depression even pain seems like a welcome friend because at least then you would feel something. You believe you could die and it would not matter, but you don't feel like putting in the effort to do it. What good does meditation do for this person?

This person would likely be better getting medication. This person lacks drive and purpose. The medication would help them to get up and get moving so that they can make a change in their life.

Essentially the meditation and the medication are just the first step in preparing you for a change. Where people really fail is in fidning the courage to change and to accept that things are not as bad 'as they need to be'.

Very well put and useful!