Mental Health |OT| Depression & Co.

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Greetings. I think I would rather be dead and I have no esteem for myself or concept of self worth. However, these feelings come and go (2-3 times per week for a couple days at a time). When they're not there things are mediocre unless I'm very distracted, during which I feel ok on the surface.

That said, how do I decide between talk therapy and medicating? I've been to a psychiatrist but was nervous because I wasn't sure if a chronic condition warranted medication. My biggest anxiety right now is that I don't know which avenue to pursue or how long to try one before the other.

I want to echo all of the other voices in here - you can (and often should) do both. They're synergistic.

For me, having the medication in place was what got me into a mental place to do therapy. I finish my ten days of intensive therapy on Tuesday (which is scary as shit) and I'll continue with a therapist for one-on-one sessions after that. I'll still be seeing my psychiatrist, too. Not only is he going to help me find a therapist (there are different forms of therapy, and I really want something a lot like what I'm doing now [Interpersonal Social Rhythm Therapy - IPSRT. I've done CBT a few times, too], but the med has been a great success for me and I just want to check in with him about it.
 
Been having terrible episodes of depression lately, friends help somewhat but when left to myself I just drown in it. Lost most of my appetite and haven't eaten much but coffee and snacks here and there. Tonight has been a bummer.

Caught my parents ordering personal pan pizzas/wings for everyone in the house except for me, they didn't even come to knock on my door to ask. The only reason I know is that the printer is in my room, and their order confirmation for online ordering printed out. They don't know I know.

I just wanted a slice of pizza to cheer me up tonight...
 
Im almost the most miserable at the end of a night out when i start to sober up and start looking around me at all the attractive happy people and couples. Im so lonely. Ive been trying to put myself out there. I go to new places with people from work. Its literally just impossible for me to attract girls. I have a good enough time with friends though. But after attempts for 10 years ever since i turned 20 and stopped trying to overdose nothings worked. Gonna turn 30 in a couple of days and my 20s were a total waste. I'm so fucked. I'm sick and tired of everyone telling me 'oh you'll find someone dont be silly'. Horseshit lies.

I'm not an expert, but I've always felt that once you take care of yourself and your personal growth, career, future, dreams, responsibilities, adventureness collide it will all fall into place, and romantic love with come as a natural side effect without you even trying.
 
I'm not an expert, but I've always felt that once you take care of yourself and your personal growth, career, future, dreams, responsibilities, adventureness collide it will all fall into place, and romantic love with come as a natural side effect without you even trying.
This is good advice. Looking for love doesn't always work. I've been hearing a lot of success stories about dating sites recently, though.

Been having terrible episodes of depression lately, friends help somewhat but when left to myself I just drown in it. Lost most of my appetite and haven't eaten much but coffee and snacks here and there. Tonight has been a bummer.

Caught my parents ordering personal pan pizzas/wings for everyone in the house except for me, they didn't even come to knock on my door to ask. The only reason I know is that the printer is in my room, and their order confirmation for online ordering printed out. They don't know I know.

I just wanted a slice of pizza to cheer me up tonight...
This sucks, sorry to hear that. We're here! Here's some e-pizza:

pepperoni-pizza-slice-1.jpg
 
Im almost the most miserable at the end of a night out when i start to sober up and start looking around me at all the attractive happy people and couples. Im so lonely. Ive been trying to put myself out there. I go to new places with people from work. Its literally just impossible for me to attract girls. I have a good enough time with friends though. But after attempts for 10 years ever since i turned 20 and stopped trying to overdose nothings worked. Gonna turn 30 in a couple of days and my 20s were a total waste. I'm so fucked. I'm sick and tired of everyone telling me 'oh you'll find someone dont be silly'. Horseshit lies.

I feel like that and I turn 27 in two months.

I'm 28. I also feel I wasted my 20s. My teens were an even bigger waste. My whole life feels like a waste. The way I see it though is that I should always continue to work to improve myself and improve my situation no matter how dire things seem and hope that eventually things will fall into place. There is still plenty of time to grow as a person. To learn new things. Meet new people. Have new experiences.

Does it haunt me? Do I think about it a lot? Do I feel like a failure? Yes. I'm going to try to remain positive though and try to set things right.
 
I just wanted a slice of pizza to cheer me up tonight...
It could be worse, try having lactose intolerance and not being able to eat pizza ever. And I loved pizza... more than any woman (or person in general).

OK not really, but do yourself a favor and buy your own pizza and eat it all in front of them. For me.
 
So I turned 29 yesterday. Tried inviting some of my closest friends over for drinks and boardgames tonight and been getting cancellations from everyone today. Though I really shouldn't have expected anything as no one showed up last year either.

Could have used some support though this time around as I'm also dealing with my mother dying of cancer (currently has only weeks to go). Then again there barely was anyone to support me when my gf of 6 years left me over a year ago.

I've tried my best to find new local friends this past year (going as far as crashing a random party on my own at new years eve) but haven't been having alot of succes locating people with similar interests and personalities.

Being unemployed (and thus short on random social interactions or collegea's) doesn't really help and makes me feel even more worthless and lonely.
 
Im almost the most miserable at the end of a night out when i start to sober up and start looking around me at all the attractive happy people and couples. Im so lonely. Ive been trying to put myself out there. I go to new places with people from work. Its literally just impossible for me to attract girls. I have a good enough time with friends though. But after attempts for 10 years ever since i turned 20 and stopped trying to overdose nothings worked. Gonna turn 30 in a couple of days and my 20s were a total waste. I'm so fucked. I'm sick and tired of everyone telling me 'oh you'll find someone dont be silly'. Horseshit lies.

Oh kinggi. I hope you realize one day that you need to be happy by your self first. You'd be a much better catch if you try to take control of the misery too. ;)
 
So we missed the 1 year anniversary of our mental health GAF IRC channel basically because of Prax being a bad person. She set up the channel on January 8th last year and forgot about it at some point, so Swedish heartthrob and super nice tech-guy Swecide took it over.

As Swecide himself remembers it, chat wasn't really even a big thing until he came along (and he would remember, right?), so we've decided to go ahead and celebrate on February 1 with SweDay (and also IRC). We don't know what we'll do, but it will be great.

The channel became less active when many of regulars moved to the voice chat server (now run by FillerB, but the original was hosted by Swecide, also), but it's picking back up!

The IRC channel had a huge role in the development of this community. We brainstormed all of the OP and the new direction for the community in the IRC channel. It became a big place for people who were waiting on GAF accounts or did not want to share their struggles with the rest of GAF. There are a lot of friendships in this community that formed in the IRC channel.

Many of us are now more active on twitter, mumble, tumblr, steam, whatever, but IRC is still alive and well. I'm trying to hang out there more, as it has its own vibe, which I always liked, you can read back to catch up, and you can more easily wade into and out of the conversation as it goes on. It's a neat place. Check it out!

It's amazing for me to look at where I was when IRC started and where I am now; or where the community was and where it is now. There will probably be a lot more of that junk for SweDay*, alongside all of the Prax-shaming.


*I don't want to promise a recording of Swecide reading something pornographic, but I'm going to go ahead and promise it anyway.
 
It could be worse, try having lactose intolerance and not being able to eat pizza ever. And I loved pizza... more than any woman (or person in general).

OK not really, but do yourself a favor and buy your own pizza and eat it all in front of them. For me.
You could do like me and not put cheese on it. I suppose though if you want a substitute, tofu works quite well.
 
I'm not an expert, but I've always felt that once you take care of yourself and your personal growth, career, future, dreams, responsibilities, adventureness collide it will all fall into place, and romantic love with come as a natural side effect without you even trying.

See people have always said this too, but its a bit of BS. I take care of myself. Eat healthy. Went to the gym for 2 years and got in shape and lost all my weight. Built some muscle. Dress better. Have a job. Am completely independent. Have my own place. Adopted some upscale tastes like wines and craft beers and try to go out socially when offered the chance.

Shit simply doesn't work for some people cause at the end of the day you need the special thing nobody can put their finger on to attract people. You use the word adventureness which is really just a giant generic void of meaning anything, cause really there is no advice you can give some people that will work for them.
 
I am sorry guys. I am too busy arguing inconsequential things on tumblr and oggling yaois of my own doing these days. :(((((

I am also working too hard. lol having a full-time job makes it difficult to find energy to socialize on a real-time level! (i thought this would only be a temporary 4 month thing, but seems like they like me and want me to stay working nights with as many hours as I please~).

In a couple of weeks I decided to reduce my work hours slightly though so maybe I'll finally be around more!
 
I am sorry guys. I am too busy arguing inconsequential things on tumblr and oggling yaois of my own doing these days. :(((((

I am also working too hard. lol having a full-time job makes it difficult to find energy to socialize on a real-time level! (i thought this would only be a temporary 4 month thing, but seems like they like me and want me to stay working nights with as many hours as I please~).

In a couple of weeks I decided to reduce my work hours slightly though so maybe I'll finally be around more!

Do you have internet again at least?

But congratz on the job! :)
 
I'm 28. I also feel I wasted my 20s. My teens were an even bigger waste. My whole life feels like a waste. The way I see it though is that I should always continue to work to improve myself and improve my situation no matter how dire things seem and hope that eventually things will fall into place. There is still plenty of time to grow as a person. To learn new things. Meet new people. Have new experiences.

Does it haunt me? Do I think about it a lot? Do I feel like a failure? Yes. I'm going to try to remain positive though and try to set things right.

Same, I'm 22 years old and I'm wasting my time as we speak. I wish I could've done something differently when I was 17 at least. I feel useless right now because I'm a lazy ass bum.
 
I'm 27 in a few months and have pretty much wasted my 20s with very little to show for it. I try and think positive, plan out steps to try and make things better, but sometimes it's hard. Where I am now is not where I envisaged I would be 10 years ago.
 
Im getting 32 this year.

The last year i have been thinking alot about my life so far and how its been.
Id like to share some snippets from my life, and maby it can help others or give a perspective that you can relate to.

I have come to the conclusion that videogames helped me trough many tough years when i was little. My parents decided to divorce during this time, and i had two homes to live in with bad economy. Videogames also helped me many years later when my father passed away. I have analyzed that during my early and mid 20:s i used videogames to cure all the sadness i had inside me after my father passed away. "Cure" is not a fitting word when i think of it, i would instead say that i used videogames to not truly and fully confront and deal with the death of my father.

During my age of 18-26 i also drank a lot of alcohol every weekend and had extremely low self confidence. I ended up in the hospital two times with panic attacks and very high anxiety. After that i went to a psycatrist and therapy around 10 times witch helped. Still in present time i sometimes get those feelings that the heart is gonna rush fast again, but it never happens.

From the age of 18-26 I was also very unsure if i was gay/bisexual or straight, cause i could simply NOT attract women in my life. Since i haven´t had a father figure around i think that might have something to do with it. I always felt i had more feminine energy within me compared to masculine.

This whole spectrum changed once i came in contact with the pick up community around the age of 26. After that i have consumed a lot of material, and my life and development with women have changed in ways i could never imagine. Somewhere at the end of the day i know that its all cause and effect, combined with knowing psycology on a deep level. I had my crash and burns with women since then, but now im over 2 years into a relationship with a very beautiful woman that i love and would like to build a future with.

I also noticed during the last years that many of my "closest" friends have tried to put me back in that spot as a insecure feminine male, that couldn´t attract women. This might sound wierd but i also noticed that my mom and my older sister have acted in ways that tells me they dont want me to become THAT REAL MAN that i was supposed to become much earlier in my life. I feel i more and more have distanced myself from my previous friends, cause i dont get anything good out with hanging with them anymore. This has been kinda hard cause many of them i have known for about 15-20 years.

Carrer and job wise i didnt know what i wanted to do after i was finished with high scool. My father had so much drive and wanted so much for me, but he passed away a few months before i graduated. Around the age of 22 i decided to try working in sales. My first 3-4 years was very tough, and i was very close to giving up several times. I also had some sort of aura around me within my closest friends and family members that i simply was not "meant" to work as a salesman.

During all my life i always felt friends and family members had so freaking much to say about what i should do and what i should not do. Fast forward to present time and im still in sales. I earn more than average, have less loan than average, and have more money saved than average. Iv done things carrer and business wise that i think very few people with similar background have been able to do.

I feel my life these days is quite good, yet i have a hard time dealing with the fact that i cannot enjoy videogames as much as i used to do. I think im not the primary target group anymore for the companies, so very few games seems to suit me these days. I feel this create a hole inside me, that im trying to fill with "something". Reading books seems to work at one level, but its not the same thing as being absorbed and clicking with Dark Souls for example.

I been trying to analyze if that ties in with me being mature and a developed real man now. Im not the insecure guy who run away from things anymore. I face things, and i deal with them directly as they come. With that said i dont have the need anymore, to fill my life with videogames to escape a reality i can´t or dare to face (witch i did in my previous life). I think my relationship with videogames will evolve to me being even more selective what i buy and put my time on.
 
Please, can somebody tell me why everything is boring now? I want to connect with people through common interests but it's so difficult because everything is boring? Why does everything feel boring?
 
Im almost the most miserable at the end of a night out when i start to sober up and start looking around me at all the attractive happy people and couples. Im so lonely. Ive been trying to put myself out there. I go to new places with people from work. Its literally just impossible for me to attract girls. I have a good enough time with friends though. But after attempts for 10 years ever since i turned 20 and stopped trying to overdose nothings worked. Gonna turn 30 in a couple of days and my 20s were a total waste. I'm so fucked. I'm sick and tired of everyone telling me 'oh you'll find someone dont be silly'. Horseshit lies.

I feel like that and I turn 27 in two months.

I'm 28. I also feel I wasted my 20s. My teens were an even bigger waste. My whole life feels like a waste. The way I see it though is that I should always continue to work to improve myself and improve my situation no matter how dire things seem and hope that eventually things will fall into place. There is still plenty of time to grow as a person. To learn new things. Meet new people. Have new experiences.

Does it haunt me? Do I think about it a lot? Do I feel like a failure? Yes. I'm going to try to remain positive though and try to set things right.

28 now and feeling much the same. Your 20's go so fast - difference is I missed out on all the fun whilst everyone else will have these cool experiences to look back on. I've never done anything exciting. Never dated, had sex or had a girlfriend. Never travelled. I just feel so empty, and it feels too late to change anything. I think about the future a lot - what, if anything, will it bring?

I've spent the last 5 years thinking of killing myself. So I guess I've never been planning for a future anyway. I've wasted so much valuable time.

I'm not an expert, but I've always felt that once you take care of yourself and your personal growth, career, future, dreams, responsibilities, adventureness collide it will all fall into place, and romantic love with come as a natural side effect without you even trying.

Bollocks. I know you mean well, but there is no 'magical' formula that will make love happen. You can ignore the fact you've not got a girlfriend - and occupy your time with other things, and perhaps someone will come along. But doing those things isn't going to bring somebody into your life. Unless you're already doing bugger all and sitting indoors all the time - you could then argue that going out and doing things brought somebody into your life.

Being alone is only reasonable for a certain amount of time, but it weighs so heavily on you at a certain age that it's hard to ignore. Why is it that others just walk into relationships and sex so easily? Why aren't women interested in me?

What sucks the most is not getting to enjoy sex and relationships whilst I've been young and fit. Now I am about to hit 30 and feel that the 'best' years of my life are over. From here I am just going to get fatter and less attractive. If I couldn't get laid in my 20's, how am I going to do it in my 30's?
 
Can I just ask what the fuck a "real man" is?

I guess that will differ from person to person.
Can a real man be calm, cool and soft?, not trying to push others down or take up every space like a cold alpha male, who many would associate with "yeah thats a man".

For me as i stated previously a lot of my issues where tied into not being able to attract women in my life, and having people close to me who tried to push me down every time i made any progress or showed a bit more masculinity.

There is some great material out there that helped me grow a lot in this area. This is NOT any type of quick-fix-pick-up-lines. This material is heavy and deep psycology, and it will turn and fuck with many of the things society and close people implement in each of us from our early birth.

- David DeAngelo On Being A Man: Who Naturally Attracts Women
- David DeAngelo: Deep Inner Game
- David Deida: The way of the superior man
 
Shit simply doesn't work for some people cause at the end of the day you need the special thing nobody can put their finger on to attract people

I saw a post on another board where someone labelled this as "social effectiveness." People that have it do find relationships, sex etc come to them very easily. There are also other circumstances (such as anxiety, depression, lack of money and so on) which can sometimes combine with a lack of this "something" to make the chances of dating etc even more difficult.
 
^ lol sorry for that. I am using his computer right now and forgot this was his login. XD

Do you have internet again at least?

But congratz on the job! :)

Haha, I've had the full-time hours for a few months now, but now it's more permanent. Still working in grocery stocking shelves and organizing them.. but it's actually kind of fun? lol.. I know it's not for most people, but it's low stress and slightly above minimum wage and has decent benefits (plus a discount on buying groceries). Sometimes I wonder if I'm wasting potential (because of the oh so many expectations I and others had for me in life), but other times, it feels like the flexibility and lack of stress so I can focus on hobbies is worth it.

AND YEAHH~~ MY INTERNET IS REALLY FAST (and expensive?) NOW TOO!
250mbps download/20mbps upload!! And for some reason, unlimited bandwidth right now!
In a couple of weeks I'll be trying to rescan all my old artwork and sketchbooks in like crazy so I feel I have accomplished and archived my true achievements in life: poorly drawn furry and fanart. lol

28 now and feeling much the same. Your 20's go so fast - difference is I missed out on all the fun whilst everyone else will have these cool experiences to look back on. I've never done anything exciting. Never dated, had sex or had a girlfriend. Never travelled. I just feel so empty, and it feels too late to change anything. I think about the future a lot - what, if anything, will it bring?

I've spent the last 5 years thinking of killing myself. So I guess I've never been planning for a future anyway. I've wasted so much valuable time.



Bollocks. I know you mean well, but there is no 'magical' formula that will make love happen. You can ignore the fact you've not got a girlfriend - and occupy your time with other things, and perhaps someone will come along. But doing those things isn't going to bring somebody into your life. Unless you're already doing bugger all and sitting indoors all the time - you could then argue that going out and doing things brought somebody into your life.

Being alone is only reasonable for a certain amount of time, but it weighs so heavily on you at a certain age that it's hard to ignore. Why is it that others just walk into relationships and sex so easily? Why aren't women interested in me?

What sucks the most is not getting to enjoy sex and relationships whilst I've been young and fit. Now I am about to hit 30 and feel that the 'best' years of my life are over. From here I am just going to get fatter and less attractive. If I couldn't get laid in my 20's, how am I going to do it in my 30's?
Well, I'm going to be turning 30 this year and I have definitely been spinning my wheels a whole bunch, but without feeling the depression and looking back, there's not so much judgment, but a whole.. neutral acceptance about it. I don't care about other people having fun and having great experiences as long as I feel like I did the things that brought me enjoyment (most of it being attached to the internet, videogames, and drawing and world-building creative stuff).

The Comedy Channel has a catchphrase that I really like "Time well-wasted.".

I think for a lot of us, we feel like we're not maximizing our time and energy and skills. We're just "wasting" it, wasting resources, wasting space, etc. But at some point, that's all life is: many different opportunities to SPEND your time. So it's important to have good feelings about spending your time. Even if others may categorize it as wasting, you need to judge for yourself if you enjoyed it. If you got something out of it. Did it help you relax? Did it help you cope? Were you busy struggling to survive and voila, you managed to and you're still here. If so, then it's time well-wasted.

And it's never too late to change and go and do what you feel like, what you want to, to enjoy the time and opportunity to waste it in the best of ways. It's your life after all. I don't exactly want to encourage it, but if sex is such a big thing, then go have some fun with it. Order a sex toy, engage in sexy role-play with other online curious people, even hire an escort or prostitute (not sure about the legalities in your area, but they are legal in Canada at least). If you're not hurting anyone, including yourself, then doing things for the experience and to get a feel for them is pretty okay in my book,

You don't need to spend you time thinking about ways to end you life when you can just focus on enjoying it on your own terms. I know it's difficult to shake off expectations from others or yourself that chain you down unnecessarily. Anything new is kind of scary, but scaring yourself a little sometimes is okay.

As for finding and attracting a person, well it's probably true that not everyone will find their true love or deep fulfilling relationship, as that may just be statistics. But even so, I think working on your own life and being a better person in every other area tends to make you more attractive.

And perhaps you need practice or to network with others to get more chances of creating intimate relationships. Go out and flirt, try online dating sites, build social capital and goodwill. The more lives you touch, the more likely people will touch you back. I am not sure about the pick-up artist stuff, but a lot of it has to do with building confidence and looking forward to positive results and nurturing some inner charisma and cheerleading for yourself. I consider those things magnetic traits that draws the goodwill of others to you. So maybe it's worth a look if it helps you change your mindset.
 
I saw a post on another board where someone labelled this as "social effectiveness." People that have it do find relationships, sex etc come to them very easily. There are also other circumstances (such as anxiety, depression, lack of money and so on) which can sometimes combine with a lack of this "something" to make the chances of dating etc even more difficult.

There is certain social skills you can pick off, that can be improved upon. But there is certain things like charm and charisma that seem to come to you naturally, or not at all. And it affects a lot more than potential relationships. Friends, acquaintances, strangers, basically any dealings with other people. Sometimes, I feel like I'm handling a social scenario alright, but don't pick up much in the way of positive feedback on the other end. In some cases, I've seen someone give the exact same information as I have previously, only executed better, and turned a better result. Feels like I can nitpick, and improve individual areas all I want, but I will never be able to have that "missing something" that almost seems to be a requirement for any success.
 
Hey all - checking in with a status update.

So now, after 16 days I've continued to notice more side effects. Still have not had an anxiety attacks, no mood swings, and things like stress seem relatively as annoying as having an itch that goes away when you scratch.

One of the differences I've taken note is that before the holiday break, myself and other members of "The Cage" at my school were updating all of the campus computers with 2014 versions of Autodesk, Adobe, etc. software. Sometimes we need to input a serial, product ID, and the server address that we forward serial validation to and then gets sent to Microsoft or whichever company. It took me 6 or 7 times to enter a serial, ID, and address until I didn't have to constantly read it from the paper. Well... on Friday my boss asked someone to cover my shift so we could install Revit on about 35 machines. I had not seen this serial or product ID before, but after I input the information on one system, I moved over to the second. Then I left the paper there, and knocked out 20 systems or so afterwards, never having to go back to the paper. I even laughed about it with him and told him my memory is starting to behave like it used to when I was a little kid and getting A in every class was a piece of cake. I even recited the numbers to him while he noted I was nowhere near the paper and had to confirm it on his own sheet.

Second, I've continued to lose weight and have indeed begun to very slightly change my diet because instead of giant scoops of rice and all that, it has became possible to eat less and enjoy it... more? Basically, my appetite seems under control. So much so that I'm also been turning down candy and soda left and right. So, how much have I lost? Well, 16 days ago I was 325.2 lbs - possibly the heaviest I've been since my initial ballooning with depakote and other anti-depressants 3 years ago. As of today, however, I just weighed myself at 309.6 lbs. I'm essentially losing weight at the same rate as I was (or faster) when I was going to the gym every weekend and certain days that I wasn't at SCEA Foster City until late at night.

After sharing my experience with the oil (and my grandfather confirming with my friends) others have begun trying it, including other members of my family who have come to me with big eyes baffled and overjoyed that even during their monthly cycle they didn't feel bloated or moody and they too noticed they were able to go to the bathroom much quicker.

Even two of my closest friends, one who has such intense anxiety and stress that he is diagnosed as "learning disabled" tried it once (after initially being confused and thinking the food syringe was a needle) and the next day this guy sent me the most well-worded correctly-spelled messages he has ever sent me, saying "NOTHING STRESSING ME OUT AT ALL TODAY I'M SO HAPPY DUDE THANK YOU".

This was awesome, and made me feel really good that he found something that could potentially help him from always walking around muttering and shaking in place from being anxious. My other buddy tried it last night, after I helped him acquire some cannabis to smoke because he was entering a depressive phase and said he only knew how to treat it with smoke to help him sleep otherwise he could end up in the hospital yet again from insomnia and he is even more poor than I. Just remember, what I'm taking every night is 100% hemp oil extract - literally less than a grain of rice a night, has no high (although it very well can if you take a lot and people with cancer need more than me I'm sure), and seems like magic because it has allowed me to get to a place where I've reached this impossible-for-me-to-once-believe of feeling... normal. Now I feel like I can actually do all those things that I've been told my whole life were "so simple" to deal with my issues yet I failed to ever accomplish. Of course, it's not magic. It's just nature doing it's thing.

If anyone is still curious about this, please - feel free to PM me as a few people already have and I don't mind private conversations if you're uncomfortable talking in this thread. I'll keep you all posted.
 
I guess that will differ from person to person.
Can a real man be calm, cool and soft?, not trying to push others down or take up every space like a cold alpha male, who many would associate with "yeah thats a man".

For me as i stated previously a lot of my issues where tied into not being able to attract women in my life, and having people close to me who tried to push me down every time i made any progress or showed a bit more masculinity.

There is some great material out there that helped me grow a lot in this area. This is NOT any type of quick-fix-pick-up-lines. This material is heavy and deep psycology, and it will turn and fuck with many of the things society and close people implement in each of us from our early birth.

- David DeAngelo On Being A Man: Who Naturally Attracts Women
- David DeAngelo: Deep Inner Game
- David Deida: The way of the superior man


I find this all really weird. Just to be a tad flippant, I'd imagine any deep understanding of psychology would begin with being able to spell the word correctly.

The basic principle at work in all of this pick up stuff seems to be confidence. There's a lot to that. Confidence is just a super attractive quality in people. We're all insecure on some level - it's an uncertain world and we'll rarely (never) get the answers to the questions we really want answered. It can be hard enough to get even simple questions definitely answered.

For people in relationships, there's the incredibly common experience of way more people showing interest AFTER you've already found someone. That was certainly my experience. I was the last of my friends in high school to date, the last to kiss someone, all that stuff. I know I reeked of desperation much of the time, especially as even my fellow nerdy dudes found SOs. And then, after gaining a bit of confidence and meeting someone, and having that go really well, after I completely stopped looking, that's when other girls started to express interest. That was a frustrating lesson.

It works with friends, too. Being more confident and comfortable with myself, being more assertive, I've made more and better friends.

So, sure, learning to be more confident is great. But looking at the stuff you linked, I have to laugh. To me, the REAL MAN (why is it always in all caps?) is the dude who just does not care what people think. That's the essence of being "cool," regardless of gender, right? The issue with this REAL MAN crap is that it's so proscriptive. Instead of being who you are and thinking for yourself, it gives you this cookie-cutter view of how to be a caricature of a REAL MAN. So REAL MEN act in a certain way, and they don't have time for "feminine" stuff. From your posts, the impression I get is that your entire life is about being attractive to women. I hope you have more going on than that (and I'll bet you do, but it does NOT read like that). If not, I'm sorry, but that is pathetic. What is (REAL) MANLY about basing your personality on what other people think? You say you're in a great relationship, yet you're STILL obsessed with being a guy who attracts women. It seems really toxic. Look at what you posted - you can't decide how you feel about YOUR OWN HOBBIES because they don't fit the way REAL MEN are supposed to be. To me, that is incredibly weak. Is there any there there? Are you you, or some caricature of a 1950s man? At the same time, there's this strange assumption that all women are looking for the same thing. It's not a philosophy that's particularly kind to, you know, actual people.

All the stuff about "strong male role models" is a bit concerning, too. It's a continuation of the discredited theory that an "overly feminine" (whatever that means) upbringing makes you gay. You alluded to a bit of that yourself. The idea that you thought you might be gay because you weren't attracting women is particularly bizarre. That is not how sexuality works. "Man, all these gay dudes love me. I guess I must be gay?"

I'm not exactly the most traditionally REAL MAN man out there (ability to grow a beard aside), and I think I'm a pretty good guy all the same. You can be confident and happy and a real man without being a REAL MAN, you know?

Call me crazy, but I resist "inauthenticity" as the answer to how to be the best person you can.

I haven't had a first date in 15 years, though, so what would I know?
 
Past junk about IPSRT
1
2


k8fkGeg.jpg


So there is my basic plan for the week. I need to type my times in from the paper sheets. Ugh.

I changed things up from that chart, actually. General thoughts first:

1) I kept to my schedule pretty well this week, and it did help keep my mood up. I was at a 0 or +1 all week. I'm struggling with poor sleep and daytime drowsiness because of my meds, but I'm powering through it (I can split the meds across the day, too. The drowsiness comes as a late effect). I do a bit better with a bedtime around midnight, actually. It's important or me to go to bed tired. Going too early is bad news.

2) I do better when my weeks are pretty regimented. Having things be CONCRETE is big - having a block of mixed hobby/work/kiddo time is no good for me. I'll never get to the work part.

3) I need deadlines.

4) thinking really, really hard about your life is exhausting.

The big thing I noticed was that I was sick on Tuesday, and had to stay home. I had a day more like what thing were before therapy. I was up early, but I just bummed around the house. I felt worse, but the bigger thing was that I realized it affected my entire family. The kiddo was a nightmare to take care of, I lost my cool, my wife was feeling lousy...

I had a huge contrast with the very next day. Wednesday, despite not feeling well, I made it to therapy, stuck to my schedule and we all had a great day. It helped to not multitask, too. I have a lot of things to do and people to talk to, so I tend to do 10 things at once. Usually, watching the kiddo means the two of us sitting at my desk doing things in parallel. He plays, I write. On Wednesday, I instead took an hour to be fully engaged with him. I had a good time, he loved it, everyone just did better. He even put himself to bed!

Yesterday, I gave myself more of a free day. I wanted to catch up with folks. It was very hard, as many people are so down. Then I was on IRC, mumble, the thread, getting texts...it was all overwhelming. I felt really distracted and I managed to piss off some people. It just did NOT work. Again, it's better to be mindful and present and focus on one thing at a time. I wasn't terribly diplomatic about trying to get everyone into one stupid program to talk to me, but I at least recognized that it's impossible to be REALLY engaged and present in 5 different individual conversations.

It's an issue going forward. My time is getting more structured, and everyone from family to friends is used to me being around all the time, on every device I have. That has to change. Even before I'm back at school or work, I need structure and focus. I can't answer every text or have the thread open in a window all day. I HATE saying "okay, it's social time at 11:00 tomorrow" or "let me pencil you in to my 4:30 time slot for some light banter on Tuesday..." And it doesn't have to be THAT, but I'm only going to get busier from here on out. This community and the friends I've made here are definitely anchors for me, so I need a little time with people each day. On top of that, I've become this crazy extrovert these past 9 months or so. It's still VERY weird to me (NO ONE believes me when I talk about how shy I've always been, and how I still think of myself that way), but I recognize what a charge I get out of other people. Finding a healthy way to do my own stuff and be with people is something I'm working on.

I still need to write about mindfulness, which I a huge deal for me. Next time!

More thoughts on social rhythms to come, too.
 
Been doing pretty well with the ol' depression the last year but have been feeling very amotivated and lonely this week. My friends all graduated Uni last summer and for various reasons I haven't made many new ones. There's a couple of people I've been hanging out with but we don't really have a lot in common so conversation is usually pretty forced and superficial. I just really wish I had people to talk to when I feel like this but trouble is my problems are things you share with a therapist about not your friends, and I've spent so much time and money on therapists the last 6 years with very little to show for it that I am reluctant to go down that road again.
 
Past junk about IPSRT
1
2


k8fkGeg.jpg


So there is my basic plan for the week. I need to type my times in from the paper sheets. Ugh.

I changed things up from that chart, actually. General thoughts first:

1) I kept to my schedule pretty well this week, and it did help keep my mood up. I was at a 0 or +1 all week. I'm struggling with poor sleep and daytime drowsiness because of my meds, but I'm powering through it (I can split the meds across the day, too. The drowsiness comes as a late effect). I do a bit better with a bedtime around midnight, actually. It's important or me to go to bed tired. Going too early is bad news.

2) I do better when my weeks are pretty regimented. Having things be CONCRETE is big - having a block of mixed hobby/work/kiddo time is no good for me. I'll never get to the work part.

3) I need deadlines.

4) thinking really, really hard about your life is exhausting.


Yesterday, I gave myself more of a free day. I wanted to catch up with folks. It was very hard, as many people are so down. Then I was on IRC, mumble, the thread, getting texts...it was all overwhelming. I felt really distracted and I managed to piss off some people. It just did NOT work. Again, it's better to be mindful and present and focus on one thing at a time. I wasn't terribly diplomatic about trying to get everyone into one stupid program to talk to me, but I at least recognized that it's impossible to be REALLY engaged and present in 5 different individual conversations.

Could you elaborate on this part? I have a friend who is going through an episode of depression and tells me this exact thing. She feels pressured by keeping up a social life with her friends and just doesn't respond to texts sometimes. The first couple of times this happened, I was a little frustrated. Once she told me I became more accepting of it, but I still do not understand it. I guess the main questions I have are:

1) Why wouldn't she want to talk if she is feeling isolated because of her depression?

2) When she is isolating herself, is it advisable for me to make the first step and ask/pressure her to talk about her feelings or just leave her alone completely? I don't want to leave her alone completely because well, if it is truly the depression making her say that and I just leave it.. That seems to be the opposite thing to do. The idea of her just sitting alone and feeling that she can't talk to me is terrible.
 
Hey GAF. I wonder if anyone here has experience with taking St. Johns Wort for depression? I've always had depression, but have been able to manage it fairly well on my own. However, I've had a lot of social problems, intense homesickness and bad financial problems pop up over the past few months, and has led to me being pretty much at/past my threshold. I've been taking SJW off and on for the past few weeks, and it seems to work when I stick with it, but I just wanted to know of others' experiences.
 
Could you elaborate on this part? I have a friend who is going through an episode of depression and tells me this exact thing. She feels pressured by keeping up a social life with her friends and just doesn't respond to texts sometimes. The first couple of times this happened, I was a little frustrated. Once she told me I became more accepting of it, but I still do not understand it. I guess the main questions I have are:

1) Why wouldn't she want to talk if she is feeling isolated because of her depression?

2) When she is isolating herself, is it advisable for me to make the first step and ask/pressure her to talk about her feelings or just leave her alone completely? I don't want to leave her alone completely because well, if it is truly the depression making her say that and I just leave it.. That seems to be the opposite thing to do. The idea of her just sitting alone and feeling that she can't talk to me is terrible.

Sure. I guess I didn't explain that well.

I've been off doing this therapy thing and I told my friends I wouldn't be around much while it was going on. I haven't actually been a depressed state lately. Doing a full-time therapy program is just exhausting.

It was really nice to get a few messages this week from people saying they missed me, and would I be around to catch up this weekend. So I set aside most of Saturday to just chat with people. As son as a few people came into voice chat, and that started going more, I started getting all these texts, and PMs and people were on IRC...I wanted to catch up with a lot of people, but it's hard to have multiple conversations going on at once. It was all too much for me. And then people did not like that I wasn't holding up my end of every conversation, so...Yeah. People weren't crazy happy with me.

It's not like I feel pressure to keep up my social life. I just wanted to reconnect with friends and they wanted to talk to me and it all kind of happened at once.

As to your questions...

1.) The usual answer is "I don't want to bring other people down."

On top of that, avoidance and isolation are parts of depression. There's a real desire to just kind of disappear from the world. Add in any social anxiety, and the very thought of socializing, even answering a text, can just be exhausting and terrifying.

2.) I struggle with this, too. Sometimes people need space. Other times they need to be chased after a bit. It's hard to tell what the right response is every time.

You can talk to her about this when she's doing a bit better. The other thing is to think less of "pressuring" her to talk to you and just being supportive. Ask her what you can do to help. Can you get her food? Are there little things you can do to help? and you can always offer to talk to her.
 
Weekly schedule? I think i need that.
I mean, for fucks sake, i'm awake at 4AM once again.
I need a reason to wake up early so that i can go sleep earlier..
 
Sure. I guess I didn't explain that well.

I've been off doing this therapy thing and I told my friends I wouldn't be around much while it was going on. I haven't actually been a depressed state lately. Doing a full-time therapy program is just exhausting.

It was really nice to get a few messages this week from people saying they missed me, and would I be around to catch up this weekend. So I set aside most of Saturday to just chat with people. As son as a few people came into voice chat, and that started going more, I started getting all these texts, and PMs and people were on IRC...I wanted to catch up with a lot of people, but it's hard to have multiple conversations going on at once. It was all too much for me. And then people did not like that I wasn't holding up my end of every conversation, so...Yeah. People weren't crazy happy with me.

It's not like I feel pressure to keep up my social life. I just wanted to reconnect with friends and they wanted to talk to me and it all kind of happened at once.

As to your questions...

1.) The usual answer is "I don't want to bring other people down."

On top of that, avoidance and isolation are parts of depression. There's a real desire to just kind of disappear from the world. Add in any social anxiety, and the very thought of socializing, even answering a text, can just be exhausting and terrifying.

2.) I struggle with this, too. Sometimes people need space. Other times they need to be chased after a bit. It's hard to tell what the right response is every time.

You can talk to her about this when she's doing a bit better. The other thing is to think less of "pressuring" her to talk to you and just being supportive. Ask her what you can do to help. Can you get her food? Are there little things you can do to help? and you can always offer to talk to her.

She says "I don't want to bring other people down" to me... I tell her that she isn't being a burden on me and that I want to help. Of course, most of the time she doesn't accept it and chooses to spend time alone or go to bed. I guess I should just keep doing that then.

I talked to her yesterday (after all of this has been going on for a month) and told her I think it would be a very good idea to go see a professional. She agreed and something is going to be set up. I have one other question if you wouldn't mind.

I asked her how she was doing on her medication. She said she isn't taking all of the pills she is prescribed. Should I just keep encouraging her to take her full dosage every day? Is that the best thing I can do?
 
I realized now that sometimes people from your way past is sometimes not a good idea to visit them again....There's a reason you left....
 
This is tough for me to post, but I would like some help. I've lived a very terrible life, I don't have much power, much anything. I've had everything taken away from me multiple times, and a few months ago, about 3-4, I ended up becoming "numb" so to speak. I lost a lot of care for things, even the hobbies I enjoy I can't actually feel the enjoyment for them. I can't even feel hatred or anger really, my body may be able to go through the motions, but the care and feeling is gone.

Is there anything I can do to get back who I use to be? I use to be very caring, energetic and passionate. I can't even force it out right now.
 
This is tough for me to post, but I would like some help. I've lived a very terrible life, I don't have much power, much anything. I've had everything taken away from me multiple times, and a few months ago, about 3-4, I ended up becoming "numb" so to speak. I lost a lot of care for things, even the hobbies I enjoy I can't actually feel the enjoyment for them. I can't even feel hatred or anger really, my body may be able to go through the motions, but the care and feeling is gone.

Is there anything I can do to get back who I use to be? I use to be very caring, energetic and passionate. I can't even force it out right now.

Thanks for sharing. have you tried seeking a doctor/councellor about this? They'll probably be best able to help you.
 
Thanks for sharing. have you tried seeking a doctor/councellor about this? They'll probably be best able to help you.

I've been trying to save up money to see one but I'm still confused on how to find one. I really lack a lot of knowledge about this kind of thing. I saw psychologist cost about 200$ per session, is that my only option?
 
Hey GAF. I wonder if anyone here has experience with taking St. Johns Wort for depression? I've always had depression, but have been able to manage it fairly well on my own. However, I've had a lot of social problems, intense homesickness and bad financial problems pop up over the past few months, and has led to me being pretty much at/past my threshold. I've been taking SJW off and on for the past few weeks, and it seems to work when I stick with it, but I just wanted to know of others' experiences.
It's an herbal supplement, so it's part unregulated industry. I would advise against using such products. It's ineffective for depression.

http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/DSH/stjohn.html

Go see a mental health professional and get evaluated.
 
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