Stop giving a shit what random people think of you if you do. When i moved from my small town to the huge ass city im in now i became self concious as fuck, being around so many people i was always nervous of what they thought of me. Now i just dont give a fuck because i know ill never meet any of them again. Its much easier to hang out and meet friends now.
Also you should seriously look into not giving a fuck for a while. Do shit that makes you happy, go get completely shitfaced. Go smoke shitloads of weed. Just let loose for a while then see how you feel after.
Oh and think about the moto that "you only live once" so you might as well have fun and enjoy the ride.
On November 16 2009 08:17 jimminy_kriket wrote: Stop giving a shit what random people think of you if you do. When i moved from my small town to the huge ass city im in now i became self concious as fuck, being around so many people i was always nervous of what they thought of me. Now i just dont give a fuck because i know ill never meet any of them again. Its much easier to hang out and meet friends now.
Also you should seriously look into not giving a fuck for a while. Do shit that makes you happy, go get completely shitfaced. Go smoke shitloads of weed. Just let loose for a while then see how you feel after.
Oh and think about the moto that "you only live once" so you might as well have fun and enjoy the ride.
Not that I agree with this post or anything, but it reminded me of this.
What I often do when I talk with someone is to see what other people have been getting into (like hobbies, what movies people have watched, what did they do that was particularly interesting).
When you say this to either your friends or attempting to find a girlfriend, really pick up from that and youll be surprised how many things you can learn. Afterwards you can then enjoy hobbies or interests or even going to other events with people.
Basic thing is to just go outside more and socialise with your surroundings. Thats most importnat in a world where communication is ever so expanding (btw your idea to post your troubles here is a good idea to ask for help)
Foucault, I am going to pick on you, only because among all the people in this thread who have posted "stop taking your meds" you explained your reasoning the most.
On November 16 2009 04:48 Foucault wrote: The reason my advice bothers you is because you are most likely clueless on the subject generally speaking. You are of the belief that there is an underlying serotonin deficiency in a depressed person, simple as that. Am I right? Anyways, my point is that the serotonin hypothesis that depression is pretty much a result of low serotonin has proven to be quite wrong. Serotonin plays in but it's far away from that clear-cut; all the transmittors play in, nutrition, EFA (EPA/DHA), exercise, activity, social circle etc.
Actually, the reason your advice bothers me (and perhaps Mora as well) is because you are not a doctor, you do not know OP, yet you advise him to stop taking the meds his doctor prescribed, because you seem to be totally certain that he doesn't need them. You state a lot of opinions and hypothesis (like "depression is not a result of low serotonin") as facts, and you don't really offer any evidence or credentials other than you did some research at university.
SSRI:s don't cure people, they numb you out. I have yet to hear anyone who feels good on their anti-depressant meds in the long run.
SSRI's are an excellent treatment for people who have a serotonin deficiency. They DO treat low serotonin levels and don't necessarily cause feelings of numbness (if that is what you meant). You now know of someone who feels good and is living a normal life on anti-depressants, me. In my case that particular treatment works well.
There has been so many reports and research on SSRI's and fact of the matter is that they are quite bad in terms of efficiency, where they usually score about the same as placebo AND workout/diet- changes.
There has indeed been a lot of research on the effects of SSRI's. In some studies they weren't effective, which suggests that they aren't the right treatment in some cases. On the other hand, other studies indicate they were effective in other cases. There isn't in fact any test given for a suspected serotonin deficiency, so it's not surprising that some of those suspected cases weren't low serotonin at all.
So then tell me why a person should eat a medication with a ton of side-effects, where some REALLY tough ones are erectile dysfunction (ie not having a sexlife) and loosing affect, ie feeling numbed out. Anti-depressants are in some cases causing suicidal thoughts, and the notion that a medicine that has existed for soon 30-40 years would be a cure-all is ridiculous.
Definitely, some people get the side effects you mention (ED, feeling numb, suicidal thoughts) from taking SSRI. Not everyone gets them, I for example don't have any side effects on a particular anti-depressant (others didn't work for me). Nobody in this thread thinks that any medication is a "cure all", it's just a treatment that helps some people.
Mora, no one NEEDS to be on meds. That's just based on your limited view on what depression is.
This is simply wrong. There are plenty of people with mental illness who need medication. Generalizing like this because medication didn't help you or the subjects of a certain study is just stupid. Mora's knowledge of depression is correct as far as I can tell from his posts.
Hell, you might as well eat vitamin B6 in high amounts daily, because it plays a essential role in forming serotonine.
This is partially right-- vitamin B6 is necessary to form serotonin from tryptophan. Taking it will help someone who has a deficiency of B6, but not someone whose serotonin is low for another reason. SSRI's treat the condition where the brain reabsorbs serotonin too quickly, which is a totally different reason for the deficiency.
Alot of the talk about SSRI's stem from medical companies, advertising and their hunt for money. To be frank.
This is quite true, drug companies go way overboard in selling their medicines, even putting advertisements on TV to convince healthy people that they need Zoloft because it makes little dot feel bouncy. It sickens me that pharma companies advertise their drugs like a commodity that you should buy if you have a headache or a blue mood. However...this doesn't make the drugs ineffective for treating the illness they get prescribed for.
If after trying all what you did you still get those bad-ass depressions I would say is not something in your mind, it can be something on your body.
I would suggest you check on your nutrition. I suffer from depressions but they are sporadic and I have found out by myself that it usually coincides with times when I am eating certain types of food or I havent got enough sleep during a certain period of time.
But you know, Doctors spend so much time of their lives to study those things that I highly doubt that going against what the doctor prescribed is going to help you at all, most of them are there to really help people, so dont stop taking the meds. just because some guy here told you to... a guy that you dont even know and that havent even made any check on you either.
I am one of those guys who is really weary of medicaments but I wouldnt say Medicine doesnt help people.
Sleep in, go get some fancy coffee, (or your preferred morning drink), get crazy baked and just enjoy your morning. If you've got a semi-active sex life, go nuts. Spend the whole bloody morning in bed doing whatever the hell you want with whoever you want. If you get bored, try some kinky shit you've never even heard of. What do you enjoy doing? DO IT! Fuck being productive for the day! When you start to lose your buzz, go out for a ridiculously good meal. What's your favorite food? Go out to a nice restaurant and gorge yourself on it. Pick something that looks amazing for desert, but that you'd normally not order cause of cost or diet. Order two of them. Get a massage. Go home and enjoy your hobbies without worrying about what you need to be doing the next few days. You need a break. Rinse and repeat!
Bottom line: Your body is an amusement park. Enjoy yourself!
Start skating! It's a really social, challenging and extremely fun sport. And you don't have to compete against others. It's a big family and is very friendly towards newcomers.
Just don't go in with the "i wanna be the best" attitude. Because it's about having fun thats the most important part. Go to your local skae hall, bring your board and start rolling. Also you should talk with someone. Generally skaters are really open towards eachother. Try talking with the older guys, because younger teens usually have the "I wanna become best, that guy sucks" syndrome which is just really sad.
I see you're finnish too. I dont know why, but finns always extremely talented in extreme spots. So I guess you have a good chance here Good luck!
imo it helps a lot to have a goal in mind. figure out what you really want to do, no matter how big or small the goal. then find ways to work towards it (baby steps helps a lot).
1. List out your values in life. relationships, friends, happiness, sports, spirituality, academics, etc. 2. Under those values list things you want to improve. 3. Focus on what you want to put in priority. 4. Set up a schedule or specific days you want to do things to work towards this priority. 5. Set up milestones along the lines to achieve this goal. 6. Work on tasks you set for yourself. 7. Achieve goal.
U should meditate. Sit for 1 hour straight and relax(at least 30 min). The thing is not to find some hobby or something to do. You should instead focus on why you are depressed. What is the cause and why is it so. Then find a solution for your problems.
First of all, be active. The worst periods of my life happened when I had nothing to accomplish. I work a lot and study at night. It keeps me active, feeling productive and gets me through the day.
Gaming should be obvious enough. I play Starcraft at IC CUP, Heroes of Newerth with my friends, sometimes fire up WoW and level some lowbie toon (hardcore raiding = bad for you!) - sometimes, I even play Solitaire or a single Chess game against the computer... lol. Gaming is great, but that's not news in a site like TL I guess.
I'm a very "party hard" guy, which is great because I live in one of the best places on earth to party - Rio de Janeiro. I can't fathom staying at home during the weekends. I go out, get apeshit drunk and hit on random chicks. It never gets boring if you're hanging out with people you enjoy. I really don't bother looking for a girlfriend right now. For me they are too troublesome, expensive and not worth it. It had to be someone absolutely special in a way I can't even believe it's possible to find. When I'm approaching my 30's I guess I'll think about that again.
In the past I used to read a lot - not so much nowadays because I keep myself busy, but I still think it's one of the best hobbies one can inherit. It depends on your taste for books of course. I started small, with the obvious Lord of the Rings-esque fantasy books, and advanced to more complex readings. Kafka and Bukowski are hands down my favorite writers of all time.
Been a drummer for the last 10 years of my life, too. Not enough free time for a band now (been in 3 bands in the past...), but I still pratice a lot. Once a week I take drumming classes. Musical theory is insanely annoying to most people, but for some reason, I'm absolutely in love with it. I'm a very musical guy who spends a lot of time listening, praticing and thinking of music, and not so much a TV or a movies guy.
As far as sports go, I don't pratice anything but enjoy watching MMA and, obviously, Pro Starcraft. I follow the ProLeague closely and sometimes do bother staying up at night to watch the games live. eSTRO fighting!
On November 15 2009 10:57 JohnColtrane wrote: get a girlfriend
No girl is going to be attracted to a depressed piece of shit. Trust me, I know. He's got to work on making HIMSELF better and work on loving himself and then the girls will follow. If he stays depressed and manages to find a girl, chances are that girl will also be depressed and the two of them will only bring each other down. Your comment is infuriating because if it isn't just being a shitty troll post then it's obvious you have no purpose posting here.
Once again, "getting a girlfriend" can not and will not help him become any less depressed. Relationships are a lot of work and finding the right one can mean going through a lot of wrong ones which in the end will only end up adding to his depression.
My advice is to find the right medication, do not give up! I was struggling with clinical depression for years until I managed to find a med (Celexa) that helped.
Check out The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russell. tis good stuff
"My purpose is to suggest a cure for the ordinary day-to-day unhappiness from which most people in civilized countries suffer, and which is all the more unbearable because, having no obvious external cause, it appears inescapable."
Unfortunately I did not have that much time to read the whole thread so I apologise if I am asking a question that was already answered.
But do you remember any time in your life when you were genuinely happy? If yes, then why?
And you're to turn your back on alcohol, drinking that when you are depressed is a recipe for disaster. I would fall in line with the posts above that suggest that new activities won't address the underlying issues but only at best serve as a kind of palliative treatment.