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Life can change a lot over the course of three months. Up until Janaury of this year everything was going great. I was getting fit, training for the Chicago marathon, doing well at work and generally finding life more interesting and heading out more to experience it. Now I've been diagnosed with depression and require antidepressants to keep myself functioning.
Gaming has provided stress relief for me in the past, but I have a feeling if I drown myself in Starcraft I will regress. It seems so easy to just head back to what used to make me happy. While I don't want to dive into any details, have people here suffered anything similar?
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Damn. I myself haven't had any problem with depression, but have close family who had. I honestly think that spending time with friends and family is the best way to combat depression, not any amount of medication / psychiatric help. I know that helped my relative alot and now they're much better than they were couple of years ago.
I don't know your situation, but I hope you can beat it anyway. gl man.
EDIT: The closest ive came to that was in a situation where I was on top of the world for a month, dating, going out regularly, gaming, and then boom one stupid thing ruins it all and you get annoyed. A wise (wo?)man once said "If you were eternally happy, you wouldn't know if it was good or not, take the bad as well and the good seems so much better".
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Stay away from the computer and try and go out and be with friends / family as much as possible. A short burst of depression is very common, but its very important to not let it give you bad habits and lifestyle which can lead to a longer term issue.
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Best meet some people to simply sit and have a beer with.
Gaming is one of the many ways out, but SC isn't exactly the most social game out there. Try games that require you to interact with others (MMO's for example).
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Life is all ups and downs for me..
Sometimes I feel like Buddha and have everything figured out, nothing can touch me
Others, I fall into slumps of hell but I always tell myself that I am strong enough to overcome it.
I've come close to going to a doctor before, and I've had some mental breakdowns.. but usually the release of all the bad feelings helps the next day
Just keep your head up because it sounds selfish to our own personal situations, but someone always has it worse
Don't be afraid to cry, honestly, some "men" might say that crying is weakness, but it's a natural release.. think about it.. what are tears? Where do they come from and why?
You can also cry from tears of joy, which is a release of an overflow of good feelings
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Italy12246 Posts
My girlfriend left me after 2 years. I still love her dearly and she wants to be just friends, which i accepted because im a goddamn moron.
Yeah life in 3 months can change a lot. The most important thing when you go through a shit period is to keep doing stuff, never ever ever be idle. The instant you stop doing something is when shit hits the fan.
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Stay on the antid-depressant till you need to not stay on it. Most of them work as artificial uppers, and have been shown to not outdo the null hypothesis, but that doesn't mean shit if it helps you function. You will come out of this, I know you will, and really thats all that matters, do not worry, stick to life, keep it up, live la vida loca. Use gaming to releave stress, not relive stress! Do not get addicted to a game, get addicted to a hobby that is good for you, like art. Also i suggest getting a gf as they are AMAZING for releaving stress if its a healthy relationship. Though if it ends it may not help you as much .
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I've had depression for years. People always have and always will give shitty advice, and that goes for some of the people in this thread, too. They make too many assumptions that will, in turn, hurt somebody with their advice. I generally give people the benefit of the doubt and not take offense to bad advice, but if any of you want to give decent advice, you really ought to learn how.
My depression involves crippling social anxiety. When somebody says "Just go out and meet some friends" they don't realize that certain individuals don't have the willpower to endure social situations when depressed. By telling them to do something they feel they can't accomplish, it only serves to demotivate or depress them further. This is especially true when somebody says "cheer up-" as if it's as easy as flipping a light switch. It only acts to suggest that somebody is depressed by choice, that they could flip a switch and everything would be better. They can't, and therefore, "cheer up" is completely worthless.
People don't realize that "being depressed" is different than "clinical depression." Everybody in this world gets depressed at one time or the other, but only a few require medications and/or therapy to overcome it. There is no simple answer to depression- "eat better," "hang out with friends," "get a girlfriend," "cheer up," whatever. It's all bad advice because they rely on the assumption that those actions are not only possible (both physically and mentally,) but better for them. "Get off the computer and go outside" is terrible advice for somebody like me who finds the majority of their hobbies online, let alone any anxiety that might prohibit me from going out and spending time with other people.
Good advice should come in the form of suggestions instead of certainties. "Hey, have you ever tried this?" or (in the case of IRL friends) "Want to see a movie?" Pick your words in a way that doesn't make somebody with a broken mind seem like a failure if they don't follow them. Share personal stories to help give them insight. Listen to them when they need to be listened to. Find ways to encourage them or make them feel good about themselves. Most importantly, don't assume that just because you can do something that somebody with a clinical disability can, too.
edit: As for the OP, antidepressants are a good step. Either they'll work or they won't and your psychiatrist can try some new ones. My psychiatrist always told me they weren't an exact science and that while they can make some educated guesses, most people will end up trying at least 3 (or more, in my case) different medications with different dosages. It's a shitty process, I know, but it will help eventually if you can keep up with it.
Some people may be recommending therapy to you. I hated it when they said that and resisted for a long time, I know how it is. If you're up to it, you can always try therapy, but in my case, I knew therapy would only serve to create more anxiety at a certain stage in my depression. Eventually, my mind told me that I needed it, and only then did the therapy really help. If you're comfortable enough without it for the time being, don't let the peer pressure tear you in half. You'll know better than anybody else if you think therapy will truly help you.
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Thanks a lot for your support guys, I know it sounds stupid seeking comfort from random people on the internet, but strangely enough it does help. So thank you. I should really stay away from single player games in the meanwhile and get to my support network of friends and family as much as possible.
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Looking online for comfort from randoms isn't stupid at all. How else can you find a lot of people whose opinion you don't have to care about if they're negative? With people you know personally, there's a risk that one person's poor opinion of you will change how someone you care about sees you.
Nokarot's post is very insightful.
I think a small step to gain a more positive outlook is, whenever you catch yourself saying that something you're doing is dumb, think about all the reasons you have for doing it, and think about why it makes sense to do it. Ask yourself, why is this dumb? What makes it dumb? Are people wrong for saying this is dumb?
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Hi, I will give my experience with depression and what I learnt from it. So when I was 16, I randomly got depressed. And everything was going swimmingly. I remember it feeling almost like a headache, something chemical in my head steering me towards dark thoughts. It lasted for a few months until I decided that was it. Every time I caught myself thinking depressive things for no reason I would force myself to stop doing it, conciously and with great effort. These bouts went from constant to less often. I ultimately believe this is the only way to deal with depression without medication (and its side effects). You have to be very vigilant. Hope it helps and you bounce out of it soon. The rest of the advice given here also looks helpful.
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Little things that help me.
1- Running. Its easy, free, and is guaranteed endorphins. I am not in good shape, but it still makes me feel better 90% of the time.
2- Clean house/apt. Can make a world of difference.
3- Good food/beer. Making and eating something tasty is nice.
4- Talking with family/friends etc. A phone call is easy to make.
5- Lots and lots and lots of pot.
These are all short term, but sometimes you just need to get through the day.
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On April 18 2012 05:29 Nokarot wrote: People don't realize that "being depressed" is different than "clinical depression." Everybody in this world gets depressed at one time or the other, but only a few require medications and/or therapy to overcome it. There is no simple answer to depression- "eat better," "hang out with friends," "get a girlfriend," "cheer up," whatever. It's all bad advice because they rely on the assumption that those actions are not only possible (both physically and mentally,) but better for them. "Get off the computer and go outside" is terrible advice for somebody like me who finds the majority of their hobbies online, let alone any anxiety that might prohibit me from going out and spending time with other people.
I myself is struggling with clincal depperssion right a this moment. Thank you Nokarot for sharing this, somewhow i felt a little bit better
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On April 17 2012 22:36 OpticalShot wrote: Best meet some people to simply sit and have a beer with.
Gaming is one of the many ways out, but SC isn't exactly the most social game out there. Try games that require you to interact with others (MMO's for example).
I would recommend a first person shooter like CS.
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Fuck what society wants you to be and doing things you're supposed to do at your age. I've spent the last year doing all the shit I'm supposed to be doing at my age (blew my entire summer pay at the bars, I go to the gym religiously, I've stopped playing games, I work all the fucking time, etc etc) It's fun, but it isn't me. I feel much more hollow and I hate my life more than I have in years. I'm looking forward to this winter when I can just tell society to fuck off and play games all day. It's not what I'm supposed to be doing according to societal norms, but I don't give a fuck, it's what I like to do and makes me happy.
I guess what I'm trying to say is do what you want. As long as you don't shut everyone off and can function in society who cares what you spend the majority of your time on. Do what you want, fuck the police.
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:/
I've fallen into ruts like that before (though nothing to the level where I HAD to see a psychiatrist). What helped me was just interacting with my friends more, because they were awesome and understanding, and dealing with my issues head-on while avoiding...irritating or unhelpful people and their inputs.
Honestly that hardest part for me was trying to get at the root of the issues, but a social support net is extremely helpful for this. Friends, family, significant others, whoever you can connect with and get advice from. Even if it has to be a shrink, use that resource.
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I can fairly safely say I have recovered. It took a lot of support and hard work, but I'm glad I made it through. Thanks for the support you guys offered, it meant a lot.
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