Recovering from Depression. Suggestions?

Off Topic
21

Everyone here is giving awesome advice! I suffer from depression as well and am on meds and have a hard time with motivation. I make all these grand plans and than BAM! Nothing. :expressionless:

My point is don’t think about tomorrow or the next day or the next week or the next month. Just think about today. Today I have to go to the gym. Today I have to eat like this. And then tomorrow do the same thing (just don’t think about that today). I have found that this thinking has taken a LOT of stress away from me.

22

[quote]Magicpunch wrote:
I hope, hope, hope that DPCooper doesn’t reply to this thread. His advice, for once, would be completely off kilter.

To OP - I can’t help you with specific advice, but I wish you the best. See the professionals. We pseudo-psyches will probably end up giving you bad advice.[/quote]

Holy fucking shit. Although I wasn’t before I read this post, I am now extremely tempted to recommend the OP blow his fucking brains out and do himself, his family and everyone here a huge favor. For ONCE my advice would be off-kilter? It’s almost always off-kilter pal.

No, in all seriousness I’ve dealt with depression issues in the past as well, especially in the first 6-12 months of my sobriety. Since I was trying to get and stay sober and therefore avoiding pretty much any type of drug outside of coffee, clinical pharmaceuticals were not an option for me. That and I couldn’t afford to see a psychiatrist who would prescribe anything to me anyways.

I’m not sure I can say I dealt with it successfully since I still go thru some dark times, but I can deal with them better than I used to. Someone on here suggested something along the lines of maintaining a routine, and for me that worked. My depression tended (tends) to get a little ugly if I’m not really doing anything. If I don’t have something to do, I very easily slip into a pattern of apathy where I just sit on the couch all day watching a bunch of bullshit on the TV and that makes things get a little ugly inside my head. I have to have something going on, whether it be something like a planned hike for the day, a trip to the shooting range (guns are a great anti-depressant, they really are), a bike ride or something as mundane as cleaning the kitchen.

I am currently single, but when there is a woman in my life, I pound the shit out of her. This helps. Although it is not good for my ego and/or humility, since I have a good body it makes me feel very good about myself when a woman is telling me how sexy I am when I’m giving her the old in-out, in-out. Seriously, woman are great for fighting depression. They’re the most amazing animal species on the planet and getting naked with them and having some fun is possibly the single best anti-depressant out there. If you don’t have a girlfriend just find some random chick at a club.

What I do to single out the ones who are into no-strings-attached sex but aren’t complete sluts is this: I go up to the hottest ones I can find and simply say “Hi, I’m DBCooper. Listen, I’m X years old and I’m too old to beat around the bush anymore so I’m just gonna get right to it. I think you are an amazingly beautiful woman and I would love to make love to you.” Some of them don’t come home, some do, but almost none are just completely offended. It works.

Also, since I am also involved in a 12-step program I will spend more time with fellow recovering addicts/alcoholics when I get down. I don’t necessarily share the fact that I’m down with them, but for me being around people who have successfully dealt with drug/alcohol addiction like myself is uplifting. I don’t know if substance abuse is an issue for you (the OP) but if it is, well that’s a whole 'nother thread. If it isn’t, then some pharmaceuticals would probably help but I’m no expert in that field by any means. But for me, just staying active in any way, shape or form seems to help a lot. Sometimes I have to force myself, and since I am my own motivating force in this respect I am not always successful, but things are manageable for me now.

And MagicPunch…why don’t you go MagicPunch yourself in the fucking throat and collapse your goddamn trachea?

23

[quote]attydeb2005 wrote:
Serious responses…there is hope for T-Nation yet![/quote]

we are not that bad round here, especially since the OP is serious.

24

Eat clean, it’ll force you to focus on your diet more and thus keep your mind off of other things.

Also, don’t ease into it… Go crazy in the gym. Make yourself an animal for the hour you’re there. Blast music, tone the world out, and beat the piss outa yourself. Go out to a bar, and hit on girls you know you could bag easily for a self esteem boost, go home and get a GOOD nights sleep.

I’m not the dude thats worked in medical healthcare clinics or w/e, but I suffered from ‘depression’ two times in my life. Both times these ways snapped me out of it. Keep yourself busy and focus your energies elsewhere. Hope this helps, Good luck buddy.

25

One word: St. Johns Wort.

26

I remember hearing that excercise alone was more effective for treating depression than excercise and medication together.

That may have been for mild depression.

27

Allright, since everyone else is chiming in i will give my free advice earned through experience.

  • Stop drinking alcohol, it is a depressant. Additionally, if you are taking wellbutrin or other SSRI, it increases your chance for stroke. Furthermore, your liver is taking a beating from alcohol, it will have a more difficult time breaking down the medicine into its active metabolites.
  • AA is a good program if you need to quit, but I stopped and am fine after leaving AA. There is no higher power. However, there are a great number of people in many organizations like AA, or churches that provide a community that you can draw strength from. You may not feel like going to a meeting or a church service, but make yourself go, then talk to people that smile and are willing to talk to you. Social isolation is prevalent in depressives and this will help drag you out of it into a supportive setting.
  • Medication is a bridge, it will keep you from committing suicide if you are that bad, allows the therapy to take hold and for you to form new, constructive habits. Medication alone and therapy alone are not as successful as when combined.
  • Medication is an individual thing. Some work for some people some work for others. All will eventually stop working(over long periods of time), and you will have to switch to something similar, or off-label use, or combination therapy if you are chronic or have dysthymia (chronic depression, me).
  • Exercise control over the things you can. This includes getting enough sleep, eating nutritious food, and regular exercise. Get out of the all or nothing mentality, “if I can’t get my whole 90min plus cardio workout in, then screw it”… wrong. walk for 30min, the endorphins and increased circulation will help you tremendously. Depressives tend to neglect themselves through inactivity, poor sleep, diet etc. and still expect to perform well, set PRs, and work 12 hour days. not going to happen.
  • Keep a routine. Force yourself to get up and go to bed at regular times, meals at set times, workouts at set times. Successfully executing your routine will provide you a sense of satisfaction and mastery at completion. Make a list with those simple things on it and cross it off. Over time, you can add more things to the list as you feel better.
  • Instead of feeling overwhelmed at all of life’s problems, like one big pile of shit, break it down into little problems that are surmountable. In 10 years is it really going to matter that you stepped in dog poo on the way to work that morning? right… so don’t lose your temper about it and dont let it ruin the whole day.
  • Think and act ahead. Don’t self-sabotage yourself. Pack your gym bag and leave it by the door the night before. pack your supplements/protein into little baggies with a shaker cup. pack your food too. Lay out your clothes for work or school. try to put everything in its place. Start with the kitchen. clean up the dishes and put them away. then a tabletop or desktop. It is mentally unhealthy to be confronted by massive clutter and disorganization. Pick a spot for your keys/wallet/cellphone and put them there. dont just come in the door and toss them somewhere and jam yourself when you are trying to leave for work and cannot find them. I think you get the idea here.
  • Perspective/Cognitive therapy. Reframe your paradym. Think you have it bad? what about a marine that lost both his legs, came home, his wife left him, and he was processed out on medical discharge with no civilian job? Someone somewhere ALWAYS has it worse than you. like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Do you have food? shelter? Clothing? Check. then move on from there. life really isnt so bad. Illigitimi non-carborundum. Don’t let the bastards grind you down.
  • Prevent Automatic thoughts. count to 10 instead of instantaneously ramping from 0-60 in 2seconds. you can only hold one thought in your conscious mind at a time, positive or negative, and you get to decide what that thought is. take a step back before you speak or act.
  • Staying busy. Although having a routine can be great, don’t let it be exhausting. If you are working 2 jobs, cut back on hours. give yourself a break. busy work for busyness sake can backfire and create more stress than it is worth. Example: you don’t have to wash your sheets every week, do it every other week, reasonably look at your expectations for yourself.
  • Habits. read somewhere it takes 21 days to break/form a habit. If you have some bad ones, a good way to eliminate it is to substitute it for something else. Example: if you used to come home from work and go to a bar, change it so that you are coming home from work and exercising or going for a walk or doing something constructive like taking a class during the same time frame, and pretty soon you won’t be missing the old activity.
  • Diet has been mentioned above. take a multivitamin and multi mineral. I got great results from adding a B complex, which means I was deficient. Fish oil, etc. Do not combine St John’s Wort with SSRIs, they have a similar method of action and could lead to overdose. If you are not on any meds, I have used St John’s
    Wort with great success but you need to take about 1500mg a day. GNC made a really good one I used to take about 9 years ago.
  • More diet. cut out most of your refined carbs/simple sugars. They may make you feel good by elevating serotonin levels, but when you “crash” they cause cravings and desires to get that same level of energy you just had. not a good cycle. meat and veggies with oats, yams, rice, you can’t go wrong with food items that only have 1 ingredient. eliminate massive amounts of caffeine for the same reason, with a half life of 6 hours that late afternoon pickmeup will still be in your system close to bedtime and possibly interefere with your sleep cycle.
  • If you have been depressed before, you are becoming familiar with the feelings and getting “good” at being depressed. not good. This is a therapist issue.
    Some books that may help:
    Mind over mood workbook
    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0898621283/mindovermood-20
    Undoing Depression by Richard O’Connor
    http://www.amazon.com/Undoing-Depression-Therapy-Doesnt-Medication/dp/0316043419/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278910181&sr=1-1

That’s a lot to digest for now, hope it helps, PM me if you want to talk.
Chris

28

I just had a grand mal seizure reading b12sblue’s post. Am I the only one?

29

How old are you? Have a full hormone profile done.

30

Hope you’re well. Looking forward to an update on things!

31

I had some depression about a year ago. It was brought on by my finances or lack there. Total helplessness feeling and I couldnt get motivated to do much. It was like those tv commercials for the depression meds - forcing your way through your day, trying to appear happy, on the verge of tears all the time.

It’s tough but get in there. Lift the weights. Let go of what ever it is that is making you depressed and just lift. Dont think about that other stuff. Kind of think of the gym as your place where none of that other stuff can touch you.

32

Last episode I had largely took me out of the gym for 4 months. I was sporadic in that first month and then nothing. I lost 35lbs and hundreds off of my big three.

With the help of my current med cocktail I’m able to maintain my motivation and am working back into it. I have certain goals - different ones than before - and I’m charting my progress. Just taking PRs from May forwards and reminding myself that it will all add back up.

Eating is difficult. Without daily structure I get screwed up and undereat. I set reminders for my meals on unstructured days and just focus on eating what feels right.

EDIT: When you have problems getting calories, just drink milk. No effort calories.

33

Setting a schedule/checklist for EVERYTHING I could think of really helped me out when I was going through my worst(injured, broke, lonely, felt like everything was coming down on me all at once). Think of them as short term goals(as frivolous as some may be) and you will be pretty amazed at how actually doing what you were supposed to can become a small reward through your daily process.

The feeling of progressing at anything(applying to jobs, going to meet friends, eating your meals, getting to the gym, even escapist things like reading a book or playing a game; although you want to keep escapism to a minimum because it can be another trap that depressive behavior leads you to).

34

There is a lot of good advice in b12sblue’s post, I would take the time to read it through. I would strongly recommend his suggestion of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). I have been prescribed SSRIs, but they did not address the patterns of thoughts and behaviour that were the root cause.

I would not suggest that medication is not a useful tool in combatting depression, indeed for some people it is the only way to lead a normal life, but it is not a complete solution.

An example of depressive thinking: you arrange to meet some friends, and they’re running late, and you start to wonder if they aren’t coming, maybe they don’t want to meet you at all because they don’t like you… You have to learn to spot irrational thoughts like this, and control them. It’s not about suppressing thoughts that trigger depression, but dealing with them. CBT is a very useful tool for doing that.

35

I really strongly appreciate EVERYBODYS care and advice. I am taking a lot of time to read this thread through to pick up every last bit of advice I can use for the present and the future.

AttyDeb asked me to come and let you guys all know how I have been doing. I am doing much better now, although still facing many of lifes difficulties, sometimes old problems, sometimes new, but I guess that’s just life.

I have been doing my very best at keeping my life structured and progressive. It meant giving up old habits, but it was for the best. I no longer take my medication, which was a personal choice, but I have been okay without it.

Everyone here has given me great information, and I have used much of it to keep myself positive and to keep myself out of that dark hole, or atleast use it to climb out when I’m feeling down. Depression/stress/anxiety are indeed ongoing illnesses IMO, as I have been fighting them since my younger days of high school. They had progressively gotten worse but I now hold the advice and knowledge to do everything in my power to hold myself together, whether I have help or whether I have to do it alone.

I wasn’t sure if I could turn here for the care and advice that I recieved, but you have all definitely changed my mind for the better, and I won’t hesitate to ask for help again when I find myself in trouble, and I definitely won’t hesitate to help the next person who comes along looking for somebody. You don’t know how hard it can be until you really truly find yourself with your face in the dirt and nobody to help pick you up, but there’s always a group of people somewhere who care.

Howie

36

Thank you so much for updating us. There are serious people on here even though it might not seem like it. For the most part you got some serious answers by people who have been there, done that. It’s hard to see someone going through what you’ve gone through or in a similar situation and the best thing to do is give examples of how you got over it so that adds to the person’s arsenal of knowledge of how to deal with the situation. It means a lot more coming from someone who’s been through the same thing, rather than a clinical therapist (though they do and can help).

37

One step at a time if all I can tell you.

38

Ride Choppers. Bang Strippers.

39

any advice on getting going in the morning and overcoming fatigue?

even when i go to sleep at a normal time (11pm-midnight) ill end up sleeping in late even if i wake up normally like at 8am, ill just lie in bed for a few hours, eat and then do nothing until i leave for class at 3pm, hit the gym after so im home like at 8pm and then im too tired to do anything and thats my day…

grades are slipping and im really getting overwhelmed with the amount of shit i have to do and its my last year of school and i really need to get my shit together
i usually just get over these bouts but ive been a mess since i got mono in november