Tips for Depression... as compiled from DJ Discussion.

[jakeyboy]

hey guys... finally gonna compile stuff and tips i've learnt from my other thread started on the DJ Discussion. gonna share mine and other DJs two cents on depression.

firstly, let me define "depression" for you.

Depression
A psychiatric disorder characterized by an inability to concentrate, insomnia, loss of appetite, anhedonia, feelings of extreme sadness, guilt, helplessness and hopelessness, and thoughts of death. Also called clinical depression.

now... if you are at the stage where you are feeling almost suicidal and are getting ready to jump off a building.. stop reading this thread and go to get professional help!!!

Originally posted by ohdiesel
Dude,

You should seriously try some anti-depressant IF the depression is longer than 6 months (in my case, it was).

I've been on effexor for a year and half now and I feel pretty good. I have ambition like I've never had it and the depression is seldom.

I workout, bike and am hyper-energetic. Doing well in school and almost done my final year of University.

If depression is a common occurence, you should really try anti-depressants. I would not recommend them if this depression is just a fluke.

A GOOD side-effect of effexor (for me) was that I couldn't ejaculate at all when I was having sex with a woman. We would go for 5 hours and she would orgasm like 4 times. Me, on the other hand, would not. The only time would be if I smoked pot before the session.

BONUS!

see... anti depressants help... for those of you who really cannot stand these feelings of anxiety... oh and beware. no alcohol for you if you start on anti depressants

Originally posted by mahon83050
I am on Zoloft for anxiety and depression problems. It has been two months and I am finally starting to feel better. The only real bad thing is- NO ALCOHOL. Alcohol makes the depression worse. I went to the bar tonight with my friend and ended up drinking non-alcoholic beer.

maybe anti depressants are the way to go... but do read on...

QUOTE]Originally posted by MrBond_Age
Im studying psychology as my major and I am very opposed to the use of anti-depressant unless the person taking them cant function anymore in society.

Anti-depressants do not cure the problem. [/QUOTE]

this is very true. anti depressants should only be taken as a very last resort!

QUOTE]Originally posted by ohdiesel
Yo,

I know how bad anti-depressants are. I've tried to quit them slowly and they are pretty bad.

But, if you have an anxiety problem like me, being on them makes life tolerable.

OD [/QUOTE]

for this dude's case... he was probably suffering from extreme depression. and those drugs made life tolerable for him... but as the man said... they are pretty bad once you get hooked on them. we shouldnt be dependant on anything in life. but they do however make life bearable for those who have lost all hope...

and now, if you aren't in the dumps of depression just yet.. these are things suggested by various people to alleviate depression... choose the one that works the best for you... and use it to try and overcome your bout of depression.. or at least try to understand it... some of these posts are highly specific to my case of depression...thoughts of my old oneitis flooding me every time i tried to sleep or study for a major exam! just excuse the bits about the women if it doesn't apply to you guys.

Originally posted by b's nuts
change that depression over to anger, and use the energy from that anger to work out. see if that helps, forget seeing a doctor, they will just med you up and you will forget what its like to be without them. you don't need that, you need to build yourself up. if i ever feel that way, i try to remember that deep down every woman is a slut, so treat them all the way you would treat a slut, then you won't worry about their interest level and you will trully not give a fvck.

personally this relates to me cos chanelling all that anger and hurt into beefing up does help somehow, at the end of your workout you just feel so beat that you aint got time to be depressed anymore.

Originally posted by MrBond_Age
My studies are made in french so bare with the bad technical translations:

Depending on the different school of thoughts, you would have many different reasons to tell why you feel anxiety.

The people working with the biological aspects are more prone to give you medicine.

The psychanalists(sp?) would say you got a power struggle goin on between your "that","me" and "myself" (translate to something like this). Anxiety is a form of guilt. You fear the possibility that something bad might happen to you because you could betray your own rules.

Behaviorists would say your anxiety is learned. You assosciated your anxiety with a situation or an object. It would also be possible for you to "unlearn" this anxiety with conditionning (like Pavlov`s dog).

Example of someone afraid of dogs:

Its really simple but it is a working process. Watch the "mechanical orange"(or something like that.Im translating from french, rememer) for a good idea of how it works.


dog---------->fear
dog+relaxation------------>pleasure(eventually)(repeat and rinse for a long time)
dog------------->pleasure

this post was useful, helped me understand the basis of anxiety and the roots of feelings of depression and fear... a good read.

Originally posted by Crank_It_Up
You are the cure. Only you can control your attitude, nobody can change it except you. You feel how you choose to feel, period.

When you were a little kid and didn't get the toy you wanted for christmas or your birthday did you cry and pout a lot?

Hopefully you've grown up enough to overcome life's disappointments, but perhaps not.

No matter how much of a crybaby, ugly, idiot you are, some girls somewhere will be attracted to you.

That's not the problem, the real judge is yourself, if you don't like yourself, you'll never be happy. Change the things you don't like about yourself and learn to accept the things you can't.

It's very simple if you have the desire to be happy.

wow. this was one of the best posts i've ever read. imspirational. hope you feel better just by reading it. it did for me.

Originally posted by Alpine
If you were really depressed would you be asking for help here?
Probably just one of life's blips

It could be anxiety though, check it out.

Here's some ideas anyway.

Watch a comedy DVD, fookin have a laugh

Think of 10 things you're grateful for

Do ten star jumps, stand up straight and look up, how do you feel?

Take action on something that's been bothering you.

Stroke a pet

Read an inspiring book

Stop buying things and start doing things

Well that's what I do anyway. Hope that helps.

this is one dude's personal opinion about depression and i think depression hasn't gotten so serious for most of us out there. he's kinda right when he says its just one of life's blips.

 

[jakeyboy]

Originally posted by 00Kevin
I play my guitar and improvise the blues, jazz, rock, metal, what ever I feel like.... Playing a musical instrument is amazing for the mind.

You also can't be expected to be happy all the time. Just like you can't be expected to be nice all the time. Being depressed every now and then is a natural part of life. It takes man to keep moving on and not to give up.

Write your thoughts out. Sometimes your unconscious mind is trying to make sense of something too complex. Snaping out of the cycle often just requires a conscious effort to solve the problem.

In general, the key to being happy is ......

GRATITUDE

Imagine if you had everything taken away from you and you felt like your life was completely worthless and completely shattered.
You would have to first draw some conclusions about your life, be patient for things to get better, pick yourself up, and then brush yourself off. When you did get up I'm sure you find that simple things in life made you happy. After that, maybe that morning coffee would be all you needed to put a smile on your face.

If you always make life complicated you will be complicated!

Women are actually simple not complicated as most would have you belive. You are just confused about them.

"if you always make things complicated,, you will be complicated"! i thought this was a damn cool line. and its true in a way. for example, sometimes we go out and we meet this chick, and somehow we start overanalyzing her every move and hanging on to her every word(making things complicated) things will get complicated for us as we tense up in front of her just because her previous action supposedly indicated low interest. and trust me, she'll realize something's amiss. why wouldn't you just sit back and let things flow... enjoy yourself without complicating things?
this can be applied to depression too. if you stop analyzing things, strat relaxing and taking whatever comes your way, depression, my friends, will never be an issue for you.

Originally posted by 00Kevin
oh.. and a nice 40 oz of JW black goes a long way. Buying that bottle can put a smile on a mans face.

got that right.

Originally posted by Abbott
Do you have any hobbies?

I don't know what kind of financial situation you have, but most people can afford at least some kind of hobby. It'll help you quit thinking about whether or not a certain woman likes you or not.

Also, look at everything around you and everything in your life. Is there anything that is making things worse for you?

I was in high school once, like most people. In those days I never did my hair, so it looked shaggy and messy. My clothing style was non-existent. I worked at this terrible sh!t-job (I worked at a fast-food joint for longer than I would care to admit), and I was letting the fact that some social mistakes I made during the freshman year of high school get to me.

Near the end of my four years there, I started doing my hair. I paid more attention to what I wore, and I quit that job that I utterly hated so much. I also did my best to evaluate what kind of things I was doing wrong socially so I wouldn't do those things anymore.

Lo and behold, I felt SO much better about myself after I started doing those things. The last year of high school I barely managed to scrap by, getting many D's and still hating myself. Chances are, I probably would've done better if I had tried to do those things before starting high school.

I don't if the high school example is very helpful. But what I do know is that sometimes things around you are hurting you, and you need to fix them. I had issues that I fixed, and I'm so glad I did, I can't believe I didn't try to do that sooner.

Oh yeah...stay far away from anti-depressants. You don't need the side effects. People DO get better without them. I did, and so can you.

Ben

now this dude knows what he's doing man. try to find out what issues are hurting you and bringing you down and try to fix them if possible or at least alleviate the situational pain. great story he shared!

 

[jakeyboy]

Originally posted by squirrels
If you're anything like me, you're depressed because you're worrying too much about whether women like you.

Contrary to the beliefs of many people on this forum, you don't NEED sex. YOu may want it, you may want it BAD, you may be DYING for it, but you don't NEED it.

You're working on a spender-saver mentality. You come on forums like this and you absorb all of these techniques and tricks and crap and SAVE them all up until one day you SPEND them all on some p00n in exchange. You may get it, you may not. The thing is that you're constantly worried about whether the exchange is legitimate, if you're REALLY getting what you wanted for what you've spent. If all the time, energy, etc you've put in is giving you what you expected in return.

You're also trying to stack up what you have in the way of time, money, energy, love, etc against where you THINK you "want to be" in life, what you want to have. You treat your experiences like furniture in the house that is your life.

I fell into the same thing just before my 25th. I started thinking to myself, "By this time, I wanted a steady hot girlfriend, should be thinking about marriage, should have more financial success, a bigger house, more friends, etc etc"

It's all BULLSH!T.

Start thinking as an investor instead of a saver/consumer. Take your energy and your love and your "DJ skills" and INVEST them in people. Take some risks in your life and give your time and energy to people who you think are worthwhile investments. Let them grow and in return they'll pay you back dividends which you can re-invest in someone else.

Instead of approaching women and looking at it like, "OK, I'm going to give her the "Box of Crayons" pattern followed by some ****y-funny and some kino", think about INVESTING some of your natural energy in her.

Even if you've got only very little to give, don't horde it for yourself thinking that you "won't have enough to sustain yourself". Because you can ALWAYS generate more love, more energy, more time as long as you're alive.

The nature of human life is to be spent. Let your energy burn off, let that light that you give off cause others to grow and give light back to you. This is how we ALL grow.

The past is gone. It doesn't matter. It doesn't EXIST. The future doesn't exist EITHER. All that matters is what you do RIGHT NOW. Take each moment as its own baby step.

By the way, you can CHANGE the way you respond to your world. A newborn child comes out not knowing a damned thing about how to move...it just kicks and wails. But slowly over time it can learn to control those random muscle spasms, it learns to crawl, then to walk, then to run.

In a similar way, when we come into the world, our thoughts are just a jumbled mess of survival impulses. But over time, we learn how to create words, how to communicate, how to think logically, how to solve problems...we learn to control the way we speak.

What most people don't know is we can ALSO control the way we FEEL, the way we interpret the stimuli we encounter. Our attitudes toward life. You can train yourself to be happier, freer, more ALIVE. Some people do it behaviorally (acting "as if" until their spirit starts following suit). Some people can cognitively think their way to a better attitude. Some people need therapy...but actually a lot fewer than you'd think. The hardest thing to do is to actually ACCEPT that your universe is largely shaped by your interpretation of it...and your interpretation is FULLY within your control.

You may not be able to control your heart, but you certainly can control your soul.

Think of that last scene in the Matrix. When those bullets come streaming in, in your mind, hold your hand up and say, "No." And let them drop away powerless. See the whole world in raw code and understand that you HAVE the power to re-write it in any way you see fit. Not by using the socially accepted interface, but by using your mind and your soul and your hands to imprint some of yourself on the code of the universe. Something that will change others, that will set THEM free and allow THEM to give back to you in return.

wow. -claps- best post goes to squirrels! nuff said. the post speaks for itself.

 

[jakeyboy]

Originally posted by Austin Allegro
Some great advice here.

Bottom line is unless you are seriously depressed, ie suicidal, you don't really need a doctor, a counsellor or medication.

You need sleep (regular hours, go to bed and get up at the same time every day, don't have naps), good diet (balanced with the right vitamins) cut down on the booze and take plenty of exercise, even just brisk walking is good.

Then you have to be aware of your own cognitive processes and how these lead to depression. Start off by watching comedy films, listening to comedy broadcasts, upbeat music etc. Get into the habit of saying to yourself 'I'm not going to think about this right now' when depressing thoughts enter your head, and concentrate on something you have recently achieved/felt good about.

However, if you have SPECIFIC, solvable problems, ie you are feeling down because your flat looks crap, then DO something about it. If you're just generally feeling sorry for yourself, ***** slap that out immediately.

sleep is definitely required on your road to relieving depression. if you cant get to sleep listen to a little upbeat music, and do a little of that positive meditation... works for some people.. see if it does for you.

Originally posted by Alpine
Some people have predisposition toward depression and there are also medical resons why someone may have depressive tendencies.

The danger is though people assume that's the case with them and feel it's a hopeless/helpless situation, feel even worse and do nothing.

In the main most people are not in the category of 'born a depressive' and it certainly doesn't mean you can't have a meaningful life.

Winston Churchill had very bad depression, where he was totally consumed by it. His 'black dog' as he called it. Yet he was one of Britains greatest Priministers and was a great leader during the war.

great analogy. Alpine.. you're one of the best posters who really know their stuff.

Originally posted by Blue Phoenix
I read a lot about psychology. And for what I´ve been reading/studying, depression sometimes is caused by "genetical" factors.

Its caused by an inbalance in your body. So, all of the blue you get depressed. Not always is something caused by "negative thinking", but due to your "genetic type".

You can do exams and take a blood test so you can see if there´s anything "wrong" with your body. If not, then it may be a psychological and not a physiological depression!

Take a look here: http://www.healthyplace.com/Communities/Depression/index.asp

It´s a very good web site, it may help you to find the answers you´re looking for!

if you prefer a scientific analysis and are looking for some answers, take up this guy's advice and visit the page

Originally posted by zerocelcius
Wow a lot of people on this one, and some amazingly stupid answers and some really great ones. I hope you aren't fallowing them all. Youll be a bit sidewase if you did.

Ok Depresstion is very serious!!!!! Understand that know it!!!

Depresstion at it's best will rob you of your natural life.
Depresstion at worst will make you take it.

Some very serious contributers are chemicals. Stay off the alcy, drugs, cig's, and soap opras!

Find somthing you love to do and when you feel underlined or depressed force yourself to get away from the place you are started that feeling and focus on somthing you love to do. Also they are saying that stimulants can help if you don't go overboard on them.... so sun, coffee, aromas, running, anything that will raise your awareness, and heartrate, and DON"T EVER GIVE IN TO IT.

I have lost a lot of friends and familey to this CRAP and if you don't think anybody cares your wrong. I do honostly care! You Matter and YOU are Worth investing your time and happyness into.

Somthing that can help is social interaction. Go somwhere social and don't be afraid to say hello to people. WHen you are feeling blue go cheer sombody else up it works like majic.

basically most of the posts here are somewhat similar and they all state that being healthy is the way to go... no drugs. however if you're really suicidal then i guess its an exception.

Originally posted by Trance
I had a depression, due to a rejection -» AFC mode, and due to bad college ratings.

I went to the doctor, and i started to take some anti-depressing pills. The morning one no problem, but the lunch one would put me almost to sleep.

Instead of sleeping the problem i started to fight it. I searched the internet about depressions and about women. I only took the pills for 2 months. My cure was:

- Started to go to the gym. Gotta be fit
- Learn a new activity - breakdance / hiphop
- Started to take better care of myself. Started to renew my wardrobe, keeping me busy and feeling more stylish and confident.
- Started to understand women better with the past experiences
- Started to go out 3 times a week with my friends, after all, i was a single guy who could go clubing fullthrottle.

So girls started to come, college improved, now i walk with a smile of confidence and hapiness.

now this guy really inspired me.. the way he fought off his anxiety himself. thanks for sharing your own great story of recovery mate. inspirational.

Originally posted by TurboOverCubicInches
Depression sucks. I can tell you first hand. I am in the process of attempting to reclaim myself. Although I'm not a doctor, theres prolly a few things I can tell you that might help. You have to remember almost everyone's depression is caused by an outside factor. Mine was that I grew up and continue to live in a religiously oppressive family that does not accept anything out of their lines of thinking. It also lead to some anxiety too. But heres what I can tell you from MY experience:

1) Anti-depressants treat the SYMPTOMS, not the CAUSE. They are still not well understood by the medical community and are notorious for their adverse side effects in alot of people. Sexual dysfunction, anxiety, agitation, nausea, are some of the more common effects. In my opinion, avoid them, because the real kicker is, when you stop them, depression recurs in a HUGE number of patients, over 50% if im not mistaken (though I may be). Because you are treating the symptoms and not the problem.

2) If you go to the doctor, they most likely will prescribe you a medication. You don't have to accept it, and do alot of research before you take it.

3) Examine your life. SOMETHING in your life is leading to it. You need to identify those causes.

4) Once you recognize the culprit, you need to begin "treatment".
The first thing you need to do is seek some talk therapy, also known as Cognitive Behavior Therapy. There you will talk to a qualfied person about your problems, and they will help you better understand whats going on and what you can do to help it.

5) Go to your bookstore and read up on nautral ways of alleviating depression. this does not mean necessarily using herbs and such. There are hundreds of ways to treat it. The first thiing you're going to want to do though is:

a) take your vitamins (read up on them and talk to your dr)
b) enhance your sleep pattern if its outta whack
c) be physically active

6) Finalize your treatment and go through with it.

Keep in mind that most doctors you see are going to prescribe medicine. Remember, you want to treat the problem. Now if you're to the point where you CANNOT FUNCTION, (ie, suicidal, sleep all day, etc) then you may need some temporarty medical intervention. But most people's depression are curable through behavior therapy and self-help. I hope this helps. Theres numerous good sources out in the bookstores to help you understand your problem. The more you understand it, the easier it will be to fight.

now this is the latest post so far... its a great one summarising almost everything associated with depression. thank god i didnt decide to compile all the stuff up till today.

that's it i guess.. may not be much, but i hope it has helped anyone suffering from depression to pick themselves up and say "i can go on living"

thanks to all the posters from the other thread... your contributions have meant the world to me... Peace out.


cheers
Jake..

 

[AFK Protector]

Yeah this thread totally changed my life for the better.

BUMP!

 

[Blue Phoenix]

Good work.

It´ll help a lot of people here.

In the past, doctors believed that depression was the result of thoughts or emotions that were troubling for a person. More recently, experts realize that there can be several factors working together that will lead a person to become depressed. The three most important of these are biological, genetic, and environmental factors.

From: http://www.healthyplace.com/Communities/Depression/causes.asp

 

[Bonhomme]

Environmental factors, for certain

I had severe, sucidal depression due to food allergies and chronic infections (Candida albicans "yeast" infection -- yes, it happens to men, too, in a different way -- and worse yet, systemic hemolytic (blood destroying) E. coli bacterial infection).

The infections were caused -- or worsened -- by antibiotics that were mis-prescribed when I had mono. What they did was wipe out the good bacteria in my guts, leaving things wide open for the 'bad bugs" to take over. This, in turn resulted in gut damage, which in turn led to malabsorption of the food, which resulted in the allergies. The immune system attacks undigested proteins.

The best test for food allergies is a blood antibody test, such as the ELISA test. Skin tests often do not pick up food allergies, becuase the type of reaction is so much different.

Anyhow, I cleared up the infections, re-implanted the good bacteria, got the food allergies diagnosed, cut the offending foods out of my diet, and the depression was GONE.

No drugs, no psychotherapy.

I do take supplements, though, mainly for general health optrimization. Supplements can help with some forms of depression, especially when underproduction of certain neurotransmitters is involved.

 

[Stackthestyles]

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[zerocelcius]

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[SharinganUser]

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