Hi there,
I don't know if it belongs here. You can move it to off-topic, if you want to.
I've seen a lot of people posting about their feelings of (entrepreneurial) depression. I've been dealing with depression for about 20 years now. I tried over 10 medications. I'm not depressed anymore - and I don't take any meds at all. First of all: I'm not a medical professional. I have some professional experience in mental health as an art therapist in psychiatry. All advice I give is purely from personal experience, anecdotal evidence by other people with depression, and backed by some science.
These are my tips on how to deal with depression.
1 - THE DRUGS DON'T WORK
You know what you can make a lot of money with? With the laziness of people. My example of a product that shouldn't exist but does is pre-cut salad in a plastic bag. Just compare the price. And all it does is taking away the inconvenience of taking a knife into your hand.
Antidepressants are the product of human laziness applied to their mental hygiene. And the difference between the pre-cut salad and antidepressants is that pre-cut salad actually feeds you, while antidepressants rarely do something against your depression, but come with a long list of well-known side effects: Gaining weight, impotence, killed off libido, heart problems, addiction (SSRI, for example, can cause severe withdrawal), oversleeping...the list literally fills pages.
A lot of research suggests that they barely have an effect above placebo on the condition they claim to treat. That's hardly a good tradeoff.
2 - STATISTICALLY, STAYING PHYSICALLY ACTIVE IS THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO
Doesn't matter whether it's jogging or weight training. Just do SOMETHING, do it REGULARLY. Science really says that it is the most effective known way to treat depression. It's kinda hard to convince someone to go running who can't even get out of bed anymore: This is the point where drugs actually have a purpose.
3 - WATCH YOUR DIET
I get depressed when I eat fast food. This makes people laugh whenever I say it. But it's true. I pay for a Big Mac with a few ruined days. The link is not clear, yet, but some research suggests that depression and the health of your bowels are connected. Whether it's the microbiome or inflammation or both and which way it goes is not yet determined. But eating healthy hasn't killed anyone, yet.
4 - HAVE A REGULAR SLEEP PATTERN
This goes for every mental health issue. Too little sleep, too much, both are detrimental. Sleep should be uninterrupted and regular.
5 - ACCEPT THAT IT'S PRETTY NORMAL TO BE UNHAPPY FROM TIME TO TIME OR EVEN LONGER PERIODS OF TIME
You know what? You're actually not meant to be happy all the time. People create such a fuss about "being happy", "the pursuit of happiness" and other bullshit. You're not designed to be happy all the time. You're not a failure at life if you're not happy all the time. You can feel sad, frustrated, anything negative and it doesn't actually mean that something is wrong with you. It's part of the human experience. There's a reason why we have more facial muscles than those to express a resting bitch face and a smile.
If you think an LED lighted "wellness shower" in the morning is going to put you in a good mood, be my guest and pay those 200$. Modern society got "happiness" all wrong if you ask me. The last man to show great reason about it was Bertrand Russell with "The Conquest of Happiness", and I strongly suggest you read it if you think something is wrong with you because you're not as happy as the people around you seem.
6 - STAY CONNECTED TO PEOPLE, CUT TOXIC CONTACTS
I didn't think that loneliness can actually become a problem in a society at large. But it can, and it does. I made the personal experience when I realized that making friends after 30 becomes much harder after you move, and all your friends get married and have kids and retreat into their family life.
The worst thing you can do with depression is to stay alone with your head. Because your head lies and monkey mind will create its very own movie if left uninterrupted.
But some people will contribute to your depression. If your wife is constantly nagging, or someone is always expressing his negative feelings towards you and thwarts any kind of enthusiasm or motivation you have (which will be hard enough to have with depression), you'll have to make these people change their behavior (which is hard) or simply have to cut them from your life (which can be easier or harder). Because you'll internalize their narrative. Being depressed makes you very prone to do so.
7 - KILL YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media does NOT connect you to people. If you use Facebook as something else than an entertaining address book, it's highly likely to have a negative impact on your mood. And that's proven. I think everyone has seen a listicle or two about this issue with social media.
SOME PERSONAL TIPS
8 - APPLY COLDNESS
Wim Hof will swear it can cure your depression. There's little research backing it. Personally, I take a swim in a cold lake every morning somewhere between 5AM and 6AM and finish my showers cold as well. Does it really have an impact on my mood? I don't know. But it sure as hell makes more alert than coffee will ever be able to. It does have some cool (haha) side effects, though. You'll rarely freeze, anymore.
9 - SPEND TIME IN NATURE
A lot of people will swear that this will help. I spend a lot of time in the woods. When suddenly a lot of stupid articles about "Forest Bathing" popped up, I just thought to myself: "Oh no. The city dwellers figured out that spending time in their natural habitat instead of concrete castles has a positive impact on your health. No shit, Sherlock. The good days are over. Soon, there'll be life coaches all over my beautiful woods, letting their customers in on the "secret" that nature is beautiful. And then, all over Amazon, someone will sell needle oil supplements which bring ALL DEM BENEFITS without actually HAVING TO GO TO THE WOODS!"
Cities make people sick in the head for a lot of reasons. This has been documented in sociology and psychology from the beginning of urbanization. Period.
10 - SOME DRUGS DO WORK
This is going to be highly controversial, but I don't care. To cure your depression, you'll have to change the way you live. But what allowed me to make these changes? I'll be honest. Magic Mushrooms and LSD. Mostly LSD. I could go on for hours about this topic. The research on depression treatment with psychedelics is there, and it is promising. I'm not a fan of the micro-dosing fad. Take doses below the psychedelic threshold to be more "productive"? Oh, come on. For me, it was 200 micrograms every two weeks for a while. I even found a way to procure it legally. LSD isn't nearly as heavy a drug as is commonly believed. And also, the side-effects are extremely exaggerated. You can't get addicted, it's just not physiologically possible.
11 - GET A DOG
A dog is a great companion. He'll get you out of bed in the morning, he'll force you to be physically active at least three times a day. Dogs are great. Period.
12 - TRAIN YOUR FOCUS
Depression will reinforce itself through your cognitive apparatus. You're in a bad mood - you'll pay attention to negative things. Every day, write down three good things that happened. At first, you won't be able to see them. But after a while, you will. Even if you say "The food was great" or "Yes, I got to that bus in time", doesn't matter. After a while, it'll change how you'll perceive daily life.
I don't know if it belongs here. You can move it to off-topic, if you want to.
I've seen a lot of people posting about their feelings of (entrepreneurial) depression. I've been dealing with depression for about 20 years now. I tried over 10 medications. I'm not depressed anymore - and I don't take any meds at all. First of all: I'm not a medical professional. I have some professional experience in mental health as an art therapist in psychiatry. All advice I give is purely from personal experience, anecdotal evidence by other people with depression, and backed by some science.
These are my tips on how to deal with depression.
1 - THE DRUGS DON'T WORK
You know what you can make a lot of money with? With the laziness of people. My example of a product that shouldn't exist but does is pre-cut salad in a plastic bag. Just compare the price. And all it does is taking away the inconvenience of taking a knife into your hand.
Antidepressants are the product of human laziness applied to their mental hygiene. And the difference between the pre-cut salad and antidepressants is that pre-cut salad actually feeds you, while antidepressants rarely do something against your depression, but come with a long list of well-known side effects: Gaining weight, impotence, killed off libido, heart problems, addiction (SSRI, for example, can cause severe withdrawal), oversleeping...the list literally fills pages.
A lot of research suggests that they barely have an effect above placebo on the condition they claim to treat. That's hardly a good tradeoff.
2 - STATISTICALLY, STAYING PHYSICALLY ACTIVE IS THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO
Doesn't matter whether it's jogging or weight training. Just do SOMETHING, do it REGULARLY. Science really says that it is the most effective known way to treat depression. It's kinda hard to convince someone to go running who can't even get out of bed anymore: This is the point where drugs actually have a purpose.
3 - WATCH YOUR DIET
I get depressed when I eat fast food. This makes people laugh whenever I say it. But it's true. I pay for a Big Mac with a few ruined days. The link is not clear, yet, but some research suggests that depression and the health of your bowels are connected. Whether it's the microbiome or inflammation or both and which way it goes is not yet determined. But eating healthy hasn't killed anyone, yet.
4 - HAVE A REGULAR SLEEP PATTERN
This goes for every mental health issue. Too little sleep, too much, both are detrimental. Sleep should be uninterrupted and regular.
5 - ACCEPT THAT IT'S PRETTY NORMAL TO BE UNHAPPY FROM TIME TO TIME OR EVEN LONGER PERIODS OF TIME
You know what? You're actually not meant to be happy all the time. People create such a fuss about "being happy", "the pursuit of happiness" and other bullshit. You're not designed to be happy all the time. You're not a failure at life if you're not happy all the time. You can feel sad, frustrated, anything negative and it doesn't actually mean that something is wrong with you. It's part of the human experience. There's a reason why we have more facial muscles than those to express a resting bitch face and a smile.
If you think an LED lighted "wellness shower" in the morning is going to put you in a good mood, be my guest and pay those 200$. Modern society got "happiness" all wrong if you ask me. The last man to show great reason about it was Bertrand Russell with "The Conquest of Happiness", and I strongly suggest you read it if you think something is wrong with you because you're not as happy as the people around you seem.
6 - STAY CONNECTED TO PEOPLE, CUT TOXIC CONTACTS
I didn't think that loneliness can actually become a problem in a society at large. But it can, and it does. I made the personal experience when I realized that making friends after 30 becomes much harder after you move, and all your friends get married and have kids and retreat into their family life.
The worst thing you can do with depression is to stay alone with your head. Because your head lies and monkey mind will create its very own movie if left uninterrupted.
But some people will contribute to your depression. If your wife is constantly nagging, or someone is always expressing his negative feelings towards you and thwarts any kind of enthusiasm or motivation you have (which will be hard enough to have with depression), you'll have to make these people change their behavior (which is hard) or simply have to cut them from your life (which can be easier or harder). Because you'll internalize their narrative. Being depressed makes you very prone to do so.
7 - KILL YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media does NOT connect you to people. If you use Facebook as something else than an entertaining address book, it's highly likely to have a negative impact on your mood. And that's proven. I think everyone has seen a listicle or two about this issue with social media.
SOME PERSONAL TIPS
8 - APPLY COLDNESS
Wim Hof will swear it can cure your depression. There's little research backing it. Personally, I take a swim in a cold lake every morning somewhere between 5AM and 6AM and finish my showers cold as well. Does it really have an impact on my mood? I don't know. But it sure as hell makes more alert than coffee will ever be able to. It does have some cool (haha) side effects, though. You'll rarely freeze, anymore.
9 - SPEND TIME IN NATURE
A lot of people will swear that this will help. I spend a lot of time in the woods. When suddenly a lot of stupid articles about "Forest Bathing" popped up, I just thought to myself: "Oh no. The city dwellers figured out that spending time in their natural habitat instead of concrete castles has a positive impact on your health. No shit, Sherlock. The good days are over. Soon, there'll be life coaches all over my beautiful woods, letting their customers in on the "secret" that nature is beautiful. And then, all over Amazon, someone will sell needle oil supplements which bring ALL DEM BENEFITS without actually HAVING TO GO TO THE WOODS!"
Cities make people sick in the head for a lot of reasons. This has been documented in sociology and psychology from the beginning of urbanization. Period.
10 - SOME DRUGS DO WORK
This is going to be highly controversial, but I don't care. To cure your depression, you'll have to change the way you live. But what allowed me to make these changes? I'll be honest. Magic Mushrooms and LSD. Mostly LSD. I could go on for hours about this topic. The research on depression treatment with psychedelics is there, and it is promising. I'm not a fan of the micro-dosing fad. Take doses below the psychedelic threshold to be more "productive"? Oh, come on. For me, it was 200 micrograms every two weeks for a while. I even found a way to procure it legally. LSD isn't nearly as heavy a drug as is commonly believed. And also, the side-effects are extremely exaggerated. You can't get addicted, it's just not physiologically possible.
11 - GET A DOG
A dog is a great companion. He'll get you out of bed in the morning, he'll force you to be physically active at least three times a day. Dogs are great. Period.
12 - TRAIN YOUR FOCUS
Depression will reinforce itself through your cognitive apparatus. You're in a bad mood - you'll pay attention to negative things. Every day, write down three good things that happened. At first, you won't be able to see them. But after a while, you will. Even if you say "The food was great" or "Yes, I got to that bus in time", doesn't matter. After a while, it'll change how you'll perceive daily life.
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