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Anybody overcome depression? Went through CBT?

Maxtro

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I've come to the conclusion that nothing has a more negative effect on attracting women and having a fulfilling social life than being depressed. In fact I believe that having serious trouble with women is actually a symptom of depression.

The most important thing when attracting women is your confidence and self-esteem. When one is depressed those traits are usually very low thus making it hard to attract anybody. An often said expression is, "How can somebody love you if you don't love yourself?" Obviously if you are depressed, hate your life and possibly contemplate suicide, you don't love yourself. Also with depression, motivation is almost non-existent.

I would not be surprised if there are several people on this board who have been diagnosed as depressed and possibly many more who are depressed but they don't know it as such.

I know I have been depressed for most of my adult life. I believe I may have had dysthymia since I was 13, possibly younger. I've seen a few counselors and was on Zoloft for a few months several years back. Nothing really helped.

For most of the last school semester I was seeing a university psychologist (intern) which made me feel slightly better being able to really talk to somebody about exactly how I feel without fear of judgment. Unfortunately she was a woman who was actually younger than I am and an intern; I believe those factors contributed to her not being able to really help me.

On our second to last session she gave me a sheet listing cognitive disorders and I think I had 8 out of 10. She recommended that I make an appointment with a case manager that would possibly refer me to an organization that does cognitive behavior therapy. The school counseling was free and if I do get outside therapy it would cost money, how much I don't know. I'm a full-time student and I don't work and the only money I have is a living allowance that I received from my mom who got a lot of money when her father died. I am very lucky to have this money. If need be I can probably ask her for more money to cover the therapy.

One thing I'm worried about is if cognitive behavioral therapy is even worth the time and money. I wholeheartedly believe that my depression is caused by a lack of women in my life and that it will be fixed if I got a girl. Though that just might be a cognitive distortion. I also don't know if it's even possible to get a girl with my current mental state.

Is there anybody out there that has overcome a depression? How was it done? What did it cost? Any general advice?

The psychologist recommend that I read Feeling Good: The new mood therapy by David Burns. The book has definitely helped see that I am depressed and which areas I really suffer in but it has done a terrible in actually job fixing them. What really pisses me off is that 3/4ths of the examples are women. It's got to be a bad sign when I'm getting mad at a book that is supposed to help me. Although several of the tests have been eye opening to the least.
 

wonderbread

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I haven't officially been diagnosed with depression but stuff happened in the past two months that has made me feel real depression for the first time in a long time and I haven't told anyone how I feel. It feels like I'm going to explode soon.
 

Kerpal

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I'm in the process of overcoming serious depression and crippling social anxiety. Depression, schizophrenia, suicide, etc. runs in my family.

I tried a few medications and none helped, but my anxiety was so bad that I couldn't even talk to therapists and they just rubber stamped me so maybe I never tried the right one. If you're really depressed and not just one of those attention *****s, it completely destroys your life. A low point for me was sitting in the dark, having not left my room or talked to anyone in days, holding a pistol to my head and coming very close to killing myself because I felt like I couldn't take it anymore. I was so isolated at this point that had I done it, only a handful a people would have even noticed. I went years without leaving my apartment/house except to go to work or class.

The key is to get out there and do things/interact with people, no matter how painful/awkward it feels. You can't just sit in your room for the rest of your life. What finally spurred me to change things was the feeling of utter despair at how much time I'd wasted missing out on things and being depressed and how far behind in life I was compared to others my age. I can't even think about it too much or I'll slide back into depression and start having nightmares, etc.

I basically didn't have a childhood/teenage years because of this and feel like my life is just beginning in my early 20s. I'm in school and graduating soon, I have a car, I have a girlfriend (first girlfriend at 23 years old), and a small circle of friends. I still get depressed once in a while, but all in all I'm really glad I didn't pull the trigger.
 

Maxtro

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Wonderbread that doesn't sound like something you should keep to yourself.

Kerpal,

Wow you came that close. That's really scary.

I'm glad to see that you got your life on track. So you overcame it by simply doing more things and interacting with people? Would you care to go into more detail?
 

tsmith2334

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Been diagnosed with anxiety disorder, depression, bipolar disorder, and overcame a month long stint in a psych ward (really heavy experience I rarely speak about).

Been on multiple anti-depressants, mood stabilizers, anti-psychotics... the whole nine.

Now I'm 100% healthy and on zero meds. Also college educated, working full time and adored by woman.

It took me SEVERAL years to fully recover from my hardships; however, now I feel confident and proud of myself every day for having beaten my own little worst nightmare.

Arguably, I'm better off because of it.
 

n00bPimp

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I overcame depression, you can read how i over came it here:
http://www.sosuave.net/forum/showthread.php?t=170436

I've been in and out of depression since I finished highschool I'm now 25, so it took about 7 years of my life. I tried antidepressants and they worked but they also made me sleep more. I stopped taking them after a few months because i couldnt afford them and the depression came back not long after that.
 
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