Slipping into depression

Don’t have depression but when I’m feeling off it always helps me to get outside for a bit. I like to go for a walk, run, hike, something like that. I feel better after exercising, like I accomplished something. Hope this helps brotha

Just had a brief 2-day episode myself. Just my opinion on what helps me to get through it as quickly as possible:

Even though you feel like garbage mentally, treat yourself physically well, i.e. don’t make things worse by eating garbage, doing abnormal (for you) amounts of alcohol/drugs, and if you exercise don’t stop while you’re depressed. Whatever healthy routines you already have, keep them going. Most importantly, keep your regular sleep patterns if you can. This helps me get out of it much faster. When I’m going through an episode (especially on a particularly bad day like yours having), these things can feel like they take every ounce of strength I have, but they ARE helping, even if it doesn’t feel like it at the moment.

A lot of people are in the same boat emotionally, or they have been at one point. Do you have a close friend or family member that you can talk with about it?

quote:

---

I'm just going over friends Instagram's. Which doesn't help

---

Yep, classic FOMO. You’re seeing a carefully manicured version of people’s lives online. Every person’s life, when viewed in its entirety, is a mixture of some success, some failure, and a whole lot in between.

Comparison is the killer of joy. Focus on the good things in your life. Get sun, exercise. Not happy with something, work to change it. If nothing works seek professional help. Seeing a counselor once a month worked wonders for me. Sometimes it’s very constructive to just say things out loud to someone with zero bias. GL and never give up on yourself!

Go see a therapist. If you can pinpoint your anxiety or depression, then that is normal. It’s when people are depressed and anxious for reasons unknown that it becomes a problem. Even then a therapist can bring to light those problems to resolve.

A lot of people have depression because their expectations don’t match their reality. I personally Had been in a rut because every day I failed at something I was trying to do for about a year, but what I didn’t realize then is that those attempts were actually pushing me and preparing me to be successful, but it’s a beat down for that to happen every day.

My advice is to give yourself some compassion, and time for the situation to go away.

YouTube link of Stanford biologist lecture on depression.
Robert Sapolsky work is great, Behave, and why zebras don’t get ulcers. it’s a biologist take on psychology, so it’s a lot of anatomy. He shows how we have much less control and influence on our lives than we think.

Example of cognitive behavior therapy CBT
CBT is about core beliefs, most peoples depression and anxiety comes from a core belief, a lot of times it’s a belief that they are broken, or not worthy. Once you get your core belief you reverse examine your life and for most people be shown it’s not true.

Books that have attributed to my growth.
Eckhart tolle a new earth
Bruce perry what happened to you
Gabor mate hold on to your kids
You can get the gist of their messages from YouTube also.

I don’t suffer from depression, but I had a pretty bad few days recently. Work was bothering me because of a promotion I was supposed to get fell through, my daughter is only weeks away from being born and for some reason this whole Delta variant really made my anxiety shoot up. Last year’s surge did not do that to me. Everything sort of just weighed down on me, and I felt like I was in a hole. It was very weird. I went do a hard and heavy workout, and that helped. Then when I got home, I ate dinner and just laid in bed with my wife, and just had my hand on her belly. I could feel the baby moving which helped me think it was going to be alright.

Yes, especially since our government is retarded and I doubt the average person cares. But exercise definitely helps.

Mind, body, soul. I try to hit all 3 everyday. That has helped me tremendously.

This is a great thread, we don't focus on mental health enough but our brain is very complex. Consider taking a break from social media if it continues, along with the other recommendations. You got this bro

I don't know if I'd call it depression, but I recently had about a week where it felt like it. All of life's normal responsibilities and tasks felt like they weighed 1000x what they normally do. Employee, husband, father, my own aspirations and goals.. I wanted nothing to do with any of it. All I wanted was to lay in bed and play video games. I didn't do that, but it's all I wanted to do.

How'd I deal with it? IDK, probably in the least healthy way possible - just fricking ignore it, have a drink or two and grind through, and vent to my wife and brother, until I feel better. I've always been someone who just pushes emotions off to the side and ignores them until I can't, and then I have some time where I feel like shite like that. Had a lot going on in my personal life so I guess I was just not processing those things going on.