Depression

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if im 25 and i still dont have a degree in anything i figured i'd be too olde and i'd just hate myself eternally after that

My parents

Your parents have instilled false values in you. If you want to get a degree try to get one. It doesn't matter whether you succeed or not as long as you try and as long as it is what you really want.

Your problem is that you haven't completed the transition to adulthood. The key element is that an adult is independent. You need to become independent and take responsibility for your life. You need to figure out what it is that you want from life. Not what your parents want for you, not what society wants from you. Just imagine you are completely free to do what you want, what would you want to do? Be completely honest with yourself and set achievable targets. Then you can start taking action towards your goals.

It's mild currently (I think) but it's still awful - we live together and it is making both our lives miserable. Plus it feels like I can't help her, I'm starting to blame myself about not doing enough :-(

You aren't a professional, the fact that there are limitations on how you can help her is not your fault, it's just bad luck. Your job isn't to cure her, your job is just to support her and help her get the help she needs. Leave the curing to the professionals and stop blaming yourself, in fact you should be patting yourself on the back for doing what you can and not turning your back on her.

What's worse..

Fake friends, or no friends at all.

No friends at all is worse. Keep them as friends but don't treat them as good friends. Keep some distance, don't open up to them completely. It's hard to make friends when you are completely isolated. Having fake friends keeps your social skills active and it will make it easier to make new friends, so you can use them as a stepping stone. If you are isolated you exhibit behaviour of an isolated person which messes up interactions you have with new people.

Reading a Book over Playing a Video game as a factor of beating depression is quite far fetched.
No it is a factor. Life is about balance. Making music, travelling, socialising, watching tv, playing games, listening to music, reading, dancing, studying, working, eating well, sleeping well etc etc all have value. You need to find a good balance between all the things that you do in your life. It's like climbing a ladder, climbing one rung ain't gonna get you nowhere, but keeping climbing the rungs and eventually you can get to the top of the wall.

Lately I've been trying to think of ways to make my life more interesting, but I'm coming up with no ideas, so what do I do?

One suggestion I would make is don't just think about what you would love to do. Keep an open mind and take the attitude that you are going to try new things, even things that don't capture your initial interest. Playing a guitar, piano, acting, singing, writing, yoga, pilates, cooking, football, cricket, chess, running etc etc. Try out as many things as you can over the next couple of years(and beyond). Try something a few times, if you like it, stick with it, if you don't take whatever positives you can, appreciate whatever you learned and whoever you met and then go and try something else.
 
Your parents have instilled false values in you. If you want to get a degree try to get one. It doesn't matter whether you succeed or not as long as you try and as long as it is what you really want.

i want a fucking degree so i can have a stable career and never talk to my fucking parents again
 
If it only it were that easy. :(

I fucking hate not being smart enough to do engineering or medicine. It's like I'm destined for mediocrity just because I suck at math.

im confident in being smart, i just really hate myself and get really anxious/depressed/manic/every emotion at once whenever i try at anything
 
I fucking hate not being smart enough to do engineering or medicine. It's like I'm destined for mediocrity just because I suck at math.

Achievement is overrated. The best thing is that you do what you really want to do. If money didn't matter what would you want to do as a career?

i want a fucking degree so i can have a stable career and never talk to my fucking parents again
im confident in being smart, i just really hate myself and get really anxious/depressed/manic/every emotion at once whenever i try at anything

A degree and stable career are mutually exclusive. You can build a stable career without a degree, get a job in a company and work your way up. But since you are smart, then getting a degree is just a formality, it just requires application from yourself. So there is no need to worry there, the problem is elsewhere.

Why do you hate your parents?
Why do you hate yourself?
Why do you feel anxious/depressed?
What have you tried so far to make yourself better?
 
If it only it were that easy. :(

I fucking hate not being smart enough to do engineering or medicine. It's like I'm destined for mediocrity just because I suck at math.

You can get better at math. It's generally taught poorly so people don't have a chance to really get it. I taught calculus in college. I had some hopeless students who passed the final exam with ease. You need to learn to think in a slightly different way, but once you develop a sense for mathematical structure, it becomes, well, not easy exactly, but you'll see how to translate problems into mathematical language.

As for math and medicine specifically, you need calculus. That's it. If that's all that's in your way, get a tutor (most colleges offer free math help - they call them "graduate students". :) ), work at it and you can knock off that requirement with ease!
 
i want a fucking degree so i can have a stable career and never talk to my fucking parents again

you and me both. I regret the major i had in college. I wish i did Bio-engineering or Computer Science.

My sister tells me that if i go back to school i should go for my masters instead of another degree, but why the F would I go and try and get a masters degree in computer science if i know next to nothing about it. I am so tired of others running my life. I do not know how to control my own life.
 
If it only it were that easy. :(

I fucking hate not being smart enough to do engineering or medicine. It's like I'm destined for mediocrity just because I suck at math.

Khanacademy is an amazing tool to get introduced to math. It goes completely by your own pace, and Sal is an amazing teacher.
It literally goes step by step from simple arithmetic to more advanced calculus, and everything in between.

And best of all, it's fun to get to fully understand things that were previously impossible for me to comprehend. It has somewhat of an addictive quality even.
If you're serious, just give it a shot.
 
you and me both. I regret the major i had in college. I wish i did Bio-engineering or Computer Science.

My sister tells me that if i go back to school i should go for my masters instead of another degree, but why the F would I go and try and get a masters degree in computer science if i know next to nothing about it. I am so tired of others running my life. I do not know how to control my own life.

I can post more later, bbut if you need advice or jusst want to talk about studying science, math, engineering, or medicine, drop me a PM. Likewise, I'm always willing to talk about psychiatry - my work has mainly been in mood disorders and addiction.

I have a BS in physical chemistry, a year as a geophysics lab technician, a Master's in molecular biophysics, and I'm currently finishing medical school. After that, I will train in psychiatry and continue conducting psychiatric research. I've also taught college calculus and chemistry.

I did all this after struggling for years with severe depression and moderate anxiety. I've been hospitalized for my illness in the past, but here I am, still kicking and with my depression in remission (I'm not sure you're ever "cured" of depression).

I'm definitely here to say there is a lot of hope and I am here to listen and help as much as I can.
 
NAMI National Alliance on Mental Illness

"The Bridge" A documentary inspired by the New Yorker article I linked above. A film maker filmed the Golden Gate bridge for one year and recorded over two dozen people leaping to their death (many others were talked out of jumping). A powerful film about the dramatic effects a suicide has on the people left behind.

4116RI6Ze-L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg


Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide

The best single volume on suicide. The author, Kay Jamison, is a Johns Hopkins professor with bipolar disorder. She has an autobiography, An Unquiet Mind, and a book exploring the relationship between mental illness and the artistic temperament:


41bm0aN7vIL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg


The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression

51%2BWme%2BCnrL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg


Less information about the molecular basis of (some forms of? some part of?) depression than a receptor biologist like myself may want, but just tons of good information.

The author was on the program "Speaking of Faith," on an episode entitled "The Soul in Depression." Very interesting.

Unholy Ghost: Writers on Depression

519MG3%2B7ySL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg


Shrink Rap - three psychiatrists discuss their work. they have a book and a podcast, too.

How to Good-bye Depression: If You Constrict Anus 100 Times Everyday. Malarkey? or Effective Way?

41QqW-DXuhL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg


Not quite as amazing as the title, but still a classic in the field. I'm not sure what field that would be, but whatever it is, this is a classic.


The Antidepressant Era

41d8dbf%2Bo2L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg


Introduction to Neuropsychopharmacology

51x71QOukdL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg


A surprisingly readable, small-ish text about the major neurotransmitters in your brain, what they're doing in there, and how they function in disease and pharmacology. Includes discussions of the major psychiatric disorders including coverage of the main drugs of abuse. A good place to start if you really want to dig in to the topic.

Molecular Psychiatry

mp_cimage.gif


The latest original research into the molecular causes of psychiatric disorders. Look at the blog, the news, and the roundup of the latest articles if you're not too familiar with the scientific literature.
 
A degree and stable career are mutually exclusive. You can build a stable career without a degree, get a job in a company and work your way up. But since you are smart, then getting a degree is just a formality, it just requires application from yourself. So there is no need to worry there, the problem is elsewhere.

Why do you hate your parents?
Why do you hate yourself?
Why do you feel anxious/depressed?
What have you tried so far to make yourself better?

I really just hate my mom, although I'm struggling not to; she let me get raped, abused me heavily and generally makes my life a lot more miserable than it needs to be

I hate myself because I am a failure and I am a failure because I hate myself

I am anxious/depressed because I have Bipolar Disorder and Schizoid Personality Disorder

Lots of medicine, therapy, lived in a group home for a bit, exercise, etc
 
No friends at all is worse. Keep them as friends but don't treat them as good friends. Keep some distance, don't open up to them completely. It's hard to make friends when you are completely isolated. Having fake friends keeps your social skills active and it will make it easier to make new friends, so you can use them as a stepping stone. If you are isolated you exhibit behaviour of an isolated person which messes up interactions you have with new people.

I have to respectfully disagree. Reason is, when I was depressed, the only thing that could make me happy was, myself. Sure, fake friends can keep you company but they can't give you a real happiness that only a true connection can. To the people in this thread without friends, you don't have to work on anything but work on making yourself happy. By that, I mean do what makes YOU happy, whatever that may be. But keep it balanced as heidern said. Work, play, eat, sleep. Talk to people, gain perspective, keep on asking for help when you need it, don't be shy. There are always ears willing to listen, or in gaf's case, eyes to read. Real friendships will naturally grow into place (maybe for a lifetime..), I promise. Just keep on asking yourself, "What makes me happy?". You gotta try to find an answer to that question..
Keep on pushing to make yourself happy, that's the important part.

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-John Lennon

thanks for the advice, that seems really helpful. I'm already playing tennis once a week and there is a music event I'd like to go to soon, so hopefully I can talk to some people there

That's a wonderful start.
You can do it, I believe in you.
 
I don't know what the hell I want out of life. So far, it's been a mixed state for me. I was diagnosed a couple of years ago with Schizoaffective Disorder. Basically, I have auditory hallucinations and when I lose touch of reality, I really lose. I've been in and out of psych wards a multitude of times and I'm just about to hit 23 years old.

Thing is, I haven't done anything with my life. Still don't have a car or my license, really no schooling. Burning to move out, but I just have a small part time job that's minimum wage. I just feel out of the loop and fucking emotionally stunted.

People like me and I have no problems with others. I'm complimented quite a bit, it's just compliments don't mean much to me. I'm getting out more which is good. I just want to be something in life, no matter how small that something is. I need the inspiration and drive really!

My problems aren't too bad, aside from my diagnosis really. And here the thing I want most now just is to get off the fucking meds so I can drink, haha.

I dunno, anyone else start out staggering in life and just find their drive and passion?
 
I don't know what the hell I want out of life. So far, it's been a mixed state for me. I was diagnosed a couple of years ago with Schizoaffective Disorder. Basically, I have auditory hallucinations and when I lose touch of reality, I really lose. I've been in and out of psych wards a multitude of times and I'm just about to hit 23 years old.

Thing is, I haven't done anything with my life. Still don't have a car or my license, really no schooling. Burning to move out, but I just have a small part time job that's minimum wage. I just feel out of the loop and fucking emotionally stunted.

People like me and I have no problems with others. I'm complimented quite a bit, it's just compliments don't mean much to me. I'm getting out more which is good. I just want to be something in life, no matter how small that something is. I need the inspiration and drive really!

My problems aren't too bad, aside from my diagnosis really. And here the thing I want most now just is to get off the fucking meds so I can drink, haha.

I dunno, anyone else start out staggering in life and just find their drive and passion?

you remind me of me =D

lets be frenz
 
I really just hate my mom, although I'm struggling not to; she let me get raped, abused me heavily and generally makes my life a lot more miserable than it needs to be

I hate myself because I am a failure and I am a failure because I hate myself

I am anxious/depressed because I have Bipolar Disorder and Schizoid Personality Disorder

Lots of medicine, therapy, lived in a group home for a bit, exercise, etc

Get the fuck away from your parents.
 
Cried and yelled a little the other day when nobody was around. I haven't done either in a long time as I haven't been able to. Helped a little but not much.

I wish there was somewhere I can go vent and whine. I can't really do it here because either 1) people are simply not going to care, understandably so and 2) I might get judged negatively anyways, called a whiner or wallowing in self pity. But, you guys are pretty much strangers anyways and the same would apply if I posted, say, on Facebook.

I will say I need at least to get out of the house and hang with a friend but that isn't possible due to no money and the only friend I can hang with has a new gf and is probably in his "ho's before bro's" phase.
 
At 27, recovering from heroin addiction (though at multiple years clean), and still pursuing my bachelors, I'm at a point where I'm so fucking fed up with school. I'm not nearly as depressed as I was a few years back, but the stress and anxiety of useless university requirements, when I want to settle down with my wife and start a family are really getting to me. I've got one semester left, but my past fuck ups have really hindered my original plans. But I'm content now with things, more than ever. College just seems so unnecessary to me, especially my degree. I just want to be fucking done.

Keep your heads up people. It will pass.
 
Keep your heads up people. It will pass.

Thats what someone told me 10 years ago
Its not going to happen, and ive literally tried everything and then some
hell last night i was going over to this girls house (ive liked her for a long time) and I just lost interest and went home.
 
Thats what someone told me 10 years ago
Its not going to happen, and ive literally tried everything and then some
hell last night i was going over to this girls house (ive liked her for a long time) and I just lost interest and went home.

Yea, I suppose you're right, it still hasn't fully passed for me. Why do people say that. I should know better. I'm fucking sick of pretense.
 
I think that if it doesn't go away, we at least need to try to live with it. Deal with it. Somehow. I'm trying, but it's been really difficult.
 
Been living with this shit for so long
now im drunk and on edge wondering what to do about it :|

You gotta stop living in the past man, think about your future. Don't dwell on that though, live in the now, the present. Change what you can right now at this moment to make your life better. Go to sleep earlier, eat healthier, exercise daily. You don't have to make leaps and bounds every day but attempt to make small changes. Start with your health, that is key. Take care of your body, you only have one.
 
You gotta stop living in the past man, think about your future. Don't dwell on that though, live in the now, the present. Change what you can right now at this moment to make your life better. Go to sleep earlier, eat healthier, exercise daily. You don't have to make leaps and bounds every day but attempt to make small changes. Start with your health, that is key. Take care of your body, you only have one.

No, you dont understand, and its crazy that you assume this shit
Ive tried everything imaginable
im just incapable of being well
 
No, you dont understand, and its crazy that you assume this shit
Ive tried everything imaginable
im just incapable of being well

If your problem is so deeply rooted, why not get institutional help?
I may not understand, I'm just trying to help man.
At the end of the day only you can help yourself(If you want to be happy), no one can give you a magic formula to make everything better.
But someone can help you if you tell them exactly what your problem is, from your heart, let it out.
Only when you do that, will you get the help you need.
 
I'm really bad at maintaining relationships. If someone ignores me for a day I think of all these paranoid things in my mind that make me think they hate me. I didn't leave the house at all today, gonna go to walmart for a dose of human interaction.
 
I'm really bad at maintaining relationships. If someone ignores me for a day I think of all these paranoid things in my mind that make me think they hate me. I didn't leave the house at all today, gonna go to walmart for a dose of human interaction.

I wish i could even conceive of being in a relationship.
 
If your problem is so deeply rooted, why not get institutional help?
I may not understand, I'm just trying to help man.
At the end of the day only you can help yourself(If you want to be happy), no one can give you a magic formula to make everything better.
But someone can help you if you tell them exactly what your problem is, from your heart, let it out.
Only when you do that, will you get the help you need.

no, ive been through institutions for many years
I wouldnt be pissed at your assumptions if i hadnt
I have social workers visiting me regularly because im a hazard to myself
 
So with the summer coming, and more free time opening up from the end of the semester, I'll make the actual push of having routines. Setting goals at the gym, getting back on Bass, and just actually finding to enjoy.
I pretty much accept now that my depression is due mostly for never having anything going for me. I stopped taking or asking for prescription medication since it's more and more in my head what I really have to do and brace to get out feeling down all the time. I'm just tired of being depressed.

My biggest obstacle is social anxiety, but that may belong in another thread. Guess I gotta keep pushing myself and accept any consequences that may arise. :/
 
NAMI National Alliance on Mental Illness

"The Bridge" A documentary inspired by the New Yorker article I linked above. A film maker filmed the Golden Gate bridge for one year and recorded over two dozen people leaping to their death (many others were talked out of jumping). A powerful film about the dramatic effects a suicide has on the people left behind.

4116RI6Ze-L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg


Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide

The best single volume on suicide. The author, Kay Jamison, is a Johns Hopkins professor with bipolar disorder. She has an autobiography, An Unquiet Mind, and a book exploring the relationship between mental illness and the artistic temperament:


41bm0aN7vIL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg


The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression

51%2BWme%2BCnrL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg


Less information about the molecular basis of (some forms of? some part of?) depression than a receptor biologist like myself may want, but just tons of good information.

The author was on the program "Speaking of Faith," on an episode entitled "The Soul in Depression." Very interesting.

Unholy Ghost: Writers on Depression

519MG3%2B7ySL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg


Shrink Rap - three psychiatrists discuss their work. they have a book and a podcast, too.

How to Good-bye Depression: If You Constrict Anus 100 Times Everyday. Malarkey? or Effective Way?

41QqW-DXuhL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg


Not quite as amazing as the title, but still a classic in the field. I'm not sure what field that would be, but whatever it is, this is a classic.


The Antidepressant Era

41d8dbf%2Bo2L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg


Introduction to Neuropsychopharmacology

51x71QOukdL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg


A surprisingly readable, small-ish text about the major neurotransmitters in your brain, what they're doing in there, and how they function in disease and pharmacology. Includes discussions of the major psychiatric disorders including coverage of the main drugs of abuse. A good place to start if you really want to dig in to the topic.

Molecular Psychiatry

mp_cimage.gif


The latest original research into the molecular causes of psychiatric disorders. Look at the blog, the news, and the roundup of the latest articles if you're not too familiar with the scientific literature.
Thank you for all this. I will read as many as I can.
 
Working out helps a ton. Not just working out aimlessly and probably quitting a few weeks later. But working out with a plan and very specific goals in mind and a plan that will achieve those goals.
 
no, ive been through institutions for many years
I wouldnt be pissed at your assumptions if i hadnt
I have social workers visiting me regularly because im a hazard to myself


Do you mind sharing your story? It can be over PM if you don't want to go in to it here. I certainly can't tell you I'll have some amazing insight or new idea, but we might think of something new you haven't tried. There are some interesting trials - the results with ketamine come to mind - going on with novel approaches.

If nothing else, I know I could learn from your story and it will help me be a better doctor.
 
Working out helps a ton. Not just working out aimlessly and probably quitting a few weeks later. But working out with a plan and very specific goals in mind and a plan that will achieve those goals.

I'm trying that. I'm actually waiting till 7 a.m. when my gym opens.
 
It's really stupid but sometimes I just like to think I can drown my depression in vodka... I also started working out again, felt pretty good after a long break. Doubt I can keep it up though, being depressed really makes me fucking lazy, sigh.
 
Do you mind sharing your story? It can be over PM if you don't want to go in to it here. I certainly can't tell you I'll have some amazing insight or new idea, but we might think of something new you haven't tried. There are some interesting trials - the results with ketamine come to mind - going on with novel approaches.

If nothing else, I know I could learn from your story and it will help me be a better doctor.

just go back a few pages save me the trouble :S

Do you have anyone to talk to? Family, a friend?

A lot of my friends and family live overseas, but we play games online and stuff
 
Bodybuilding lifestyle is the answer fella's.

Do the correct exercises. Eat the correct foods. Push those weights to the max.

Do LOTS of research on everything involving bodybuilding, your life will become so much better, its just takes time and to believe in yourself.

Its hard to get started, but you can do it.
 
Bodybuilding lifestyle is the answer fella's.

Do the correct exercises. Eat the correct foods. Push those weights to the max.

Do LOTS of research on everything involving bodybuilding, your life will become so much better, its just takes time and to believe in yourself.

Its hard to get started, but you can do it.

Although i appreciate the goodwill of such comments (and they very well be useful for a lot of people in this very thread) i doubt simple physical excercise can be a cure for clinical depression, which is a "disease of the brain", so to speak.
I think this is where the frustration of Uchip's comments is coming from, correct me if i'm wrong.
 
Although i appreciate the goodwill of such comments (and they very well be useful for a lot of people in this very thread) i doubt simple physical excercise can be a cure for clinical depression, which is a "disease of the brain", so to speak.
I think this is where the frustration of Uchip's comments is coming from, correct me if i'm wrong.

Well I cant speak for everyone, but it worked for me and I know its helped a lot of other people too.

I spent years of my life secluding myself from the rest of the world, having no friends, every day spent for years playing games or on the internet. Its not easy getting your life on track, I still have work to do, but bodybuilding has helped SO MUCH. I cannot empathize what it has done to me. You get far, far more than just a great body, thats just the tip of the iceberg.

It has given me happiness, a passion, a mindset that I can actually achieve something great and so much more. A year ago I had none of this.
 
Well I cant speak for everyone, but it worked for me and I know its helped a lot of other people too.

I spent years of my life secluding myself from the rest of the world, having no friends, every day spent for years playing games or on the internet. Its not easy getting your life on track, I still have work to do, but bodybuilding has helped SO MUCH. I cannot empathize what it has done to me. You get far, far more than just a great body, thats just the tip of the iceberg.

It has given me happiness, a passion, a mindset that I can actually achieve something great and so much more. A year ago I had none of this.

Yeah, that doesn't really do much for truely ill people
thought of course if you're unfit then you will feel worse so its not a bad idea
 
Well I cant speak for everyone, but it worked for me and I know its helped a lot of other people too.

I spent years of my life secluding myself from the rest of the world, having no friends, every day spent for years playing games or on the internet. Its not easy getting your life on track, I still have work to do, but bodybuilding has helped SO MUCH. I cannot empathize what it has done to me. You get far, far more than just a great body, thats just the tip of the iceberg.

It has given me happiness, a passion, a mindset that I can actually achieve something great and so much more. A year ago I had none of this.

Didn't mean to undermine the power of physical exercise, mind you, but depending on the nature of your depression, it can be rather muted in its effects, is what i was trying to say.. while your post could've been interpreted as a one-size-fits-all solution to the problem. :)
 
Exercise gets tedious and dreadful for me, I find it to be beneficial the first few months and it does help a bit, but after that it gets worse, one thing is that it takes longer for me to get tired from it, another is that it's tedious and boring, it feels like my physical strength got better but my mental health goes downhill everyday, I really need to push myself more to get out there and get through the tediousness of the whole thing, I tried but it didn't really work.

Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but it's like grinding a crappy rpg, maybe I'm just a lazy person in nature, I don't know, but I can't keep up the same routine for long, it's like work, and the boredom just gets to me and depresses/irritates me more.

I do plan to start again though, I'm in the mood for it, but there are times when I feel the opposite and I don't want to do it anymore even when I'm suppose to have gotten used to it.
 
Feeling pretty bad today. I should be doing some college stuff, but I'm absolutely bored and uninspired. And to make things worse I screwed the wheel from my sister's car yesterday. Actually it wasn't my fault, but still... I'm feeling bad for it.

I need a change in my life. =[
 
Although i appreciate the goodwill of such comments (and they very well be useful for a lot of people in this very thread) i doubt simple physical excercise can be a cure for clinical depression, which is a "disease of the brain", so to speak.
I think this is where the frustration of Uchip's comments is coming from, correct me if i'm wrong.

six months of intense exercise (spinning, running, working out for at least half an hour without pauze for a few days a week - 3 to 5, I think-) has been demonstrated to have the same effect on people as anti-depressants.

So as far as scientific support for the idea of exercise and mental health goes, this is probably a sensible idea.

Others would be decreasing stress, heart coherence (increases automatically with exercise) and a steady diet of balanced fats (omega 3, fish fats, and so on), going by Healing without Freud or Prozac.
 
six months of intense exercise (spinning, running, working out for at least half an hour without pauze for a few days a week - 3 to 5, I think-) has been demonstrated to have the same effect on people as anti-depressants.

So as far as scientific support for the idea of exercise and mental health goes, this is probably a sensible idea.

Others would be decreasing stress, heart coherence (increases automatically with exercise) and a steady diet of balanced fats (omega 3, fish fats, and so on), going by Healing without Freud or Prozac.

Again, not saying it's useless, i'm saying it's not a panacea for everyone.
Besides, a lot of people under anti depressant, seem to only keep it (depression) under control (some, barely) so it's a tough call either way.
 
I have some anxiety atm, and it sucks.

So it's close to the end of my freshman year at college and I went undeclared for the entire year to find what major I want to pursue. After consulting with friends and internet forums I've finally decided on a CIS major this weekend and plan to officially declare it during this week.

What I'm anxious/stressed about is that this major constitutes alot of course to take for prep and I'm already a year behind and now it looks like I'm going be running off a 5-year plan instead of 4 and that's optimal not even considering impacted courses and time slots...
 
So as far as scientific support for the idea of exercise and mental health goes, this is probably a sensible idea.

Others would be decreasing stress, heart coherence (increases automatically with exercise) and a steady diet of balanced fats (omega 3, fish fats, and so on), going by Healing without Freud or Prozac.

Exercising is just generally a good idea, and it forces you to get off your butt and stew about depression.

This is entirely anecdotal and not at all a reason to not try, but I've found during bouts of my bad depression, I was spending at least an hour a day on an elliptical and that amount of conditioning, followed by my non-existant appetite brought about by the depression made me lose a dangerous amount of weight in a short time. And I didn't necessarily "feel" good either.

I lost about thirty pounds over the course of a few short months, and was well below my normal target weight, and part of my medication regiment is mirtazapine, which helps increase appetite. This probably isn't the case for everyone though.

I do second the recommendation that when you're feeling miserable and can't manage to get out of bed, if you can force yourself to read a few pages in a book about depression, it's SOMETHING remotely productive. The one that has helped me the most is "Feeling Good" by David Burns. He's one of the doctors that developed the cognitive behavioral therapy method, which has been infinitely more helpful than the other forms of therapy I've had. The chapter on guilt is particularly helpful, although of course not a cureall.

Also worth noting that in Freud's day, his method for dealing with depression was to tell the patient that their self-defeating opinions of worthlessness were "right", because the patient knew themselves better than anyone else. Anyone who has had a bout of major depression (I've been hospitalized for it myself) knows that this is inherently dangerous, and a good way to steer someone closer to suicide between sessions.
 
Even though I haven't worked out in almost a week, I'm fatigued all the time and my muscles are sore, especially my back. My heart rate has been very irregular and I've been sleeping a lot more than I used to.

My friend told me that these might be physical signs of anxiety or depression. What do you guys think?
 
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