Health Have you ever been severely depressed before?

Have you ever been severely depressed before?

  • Yes, several times in my life.

    Votes: 28 44.4%
  • Yes, a handful of times.

    Votes: 18 28.6%
  • Yes, one time.

    Votes: 6 9.5%
  • No, never.

    Votes: 11 17.5%

  • Total voters
    63
Only one writer captures the reality of depression

View attachment 1125822

Lmao bro didn’t even kill himself, what a poser.

Read some David Foster Wallace writing on depression.

From Infinite Jest
“The so-called ‘psychotically depressed’ person who tries to kill herself doesn’t do so out of quote ‘hopelessness’ or any abstract conviction that life’s assets and debits do not square. And surely not because death seems suddenly appealing. The person in whom Its invisible agony reaches a certain unendurable level will kill herself the same way a trapped person will eventually jump from the window of a burning high-rise. Make no mistake about people who leap from burning windows. Their terror of falling from a great height is still just as great as it would be for you or me standing speculatively at the same window just checking out the view; i.e. the fear of falling remains a constant. The variable here is the other terror, the fire’s flames: when the flames get close enough, falling to death becomes the slightly less terrible of two terrors. It’s not desiring the fall; it’s terror of the flames. And yet nobody down on the sidewalk, looking up and yelling ‘Don’t!’ and ‘Hang on!’, can understand the jump. Not really. You’d have to have personally been trapped and felt flames to really understand a terror way beyond falling.”

Or his Harper’s Magazine story. https://harpers.org/wp-content/uploads/HarpersMagazine-1998-01-0059425.pdf
 
I think much of this is biological.

I find my mood is horrible when I have nothing to look forward to, am physically tired, around people that pull out my energy, and am inactive. I can tell my base mood changes a lot based on dopamine from looking forward to something, taking dopamine upregulating supplements, or supplements or nicotine to upregulate acetylcholine. I have found that SSRI's help but just drifted off of those when I was getting busy working on things. Most depressions, I think is the result of having nothing interesting to do or look forward to. You got to either fix that or find something to do that chemically.
 
Lmao bro didn’t even kill himself, what a poser.

Read some David Foster Wallace writing on depression.

From Infinite Jest
“The so-called ‘psychotically depressed’ person who tries to kill herself doesn’t do so out of quote ‘hopelessness’ or any abstract conviction that life’s assets and debits do not square. And surely not because death seems suddenly appealing. The person in whom Its invisible agony reaches a certain unendurable level will kill herself the same way a trapped person will eventually jump from the window of a burning high-rise. Make no mistake about people who leap from burning windows. Their terror of falling from a great height is still just as great as it would be for you or me standing speculatively at the same window just checking out the view; i.e. the fear of falling remains a constant. The variable here is the other terror, the fire’s flames: when the flames get close enough, falling to death becomes the slightly less terrible of two terrors. It’s not desiring the fall; it’s terror of the flames. And yet nobody down on the sidewalk, looking up and yelling ‘Don’t!’ and ‘Hang on!’, can understand the jump. Not really. You’d have to have personally been trapped and felt flames to really understand a terror way beyond falling.”

Or his Harper’s Magazine story. https://harpers.org/wp-content/uploads/HarpersMagazine-1998-01-0059425.pdf
🤣you’re one dark dude. I prefer a more concise version .
 
Lmao bro didn’t even kill himself, what a poser.

Read some David Foster Wallace writing on depression.

From Infinite Jest
“The so-called ‘psychotically depressed’ person who tries to kill herself doesn’t do so out of quote ‘hopelessness’ or any abstract conviction that life’s assets and debits do not square. And surely not because death seems suddenly appealing. The person in whom Its invisible agony reaches a certain unendurable level will kill herself the same way a trapped person will eventually jump from the window of a burning high-rise. Make no mistake about people who leap from burning windows. Their terror of falling from a great height is still just as great as it would be for you or me standing speculatively at the same window just checking out the view; i.e. the fear of falling remains a constant. The variable here is the other terror, the fire’s flames: when the flames get close enough, falling to death becomes the slightly less terrible of two terrors. It’s not desiring the fall; it’s terror of the flames. And yet nobody down on the sidewalk, looking up and yelling ‘Don’t!’ and ‘Hang on!’, can understand the jump. Not really. You’d have to have personally been trapped and felt flames to really understand a terror way beyond falling.”

Or his Harper’s Magazine story. https://harpers.org/wp-content/uploads/HarpersMagazine-1998-01-0059425.pdf
Suffice to say that is a depressing read. That’s infinite jest crossed off my to read list.
 
Suffice to say that is a depressing read. That’s infinite jest crossed off my to read list.

It's a great book, most of it is very entertaining and funny, and he made a lot of correct predictions about todays society. The guy was brilliant.
 
ive been severely depressed for most of my adult life. Basically the only things that help are playing music and going out with friends.

I sat on my couch for 4 hours today just staring at the wall. lots of suicidal thoughts and spiraling despair and self-pity/hatred
 
It's a great book, most of it is very entertaining and funny, and he made a lot of correct predictions about todays society. The guy was brilliant.
Tbh I read it again and hes a remarkable writer. Is the rest of the book as impressive and insightful as this?
 
ive been severely depressed for most of my adult life. Basically the only things that help are playing music and going out with friends.

I sat on my couch for 4 hours today just staring at the wall. lots of suicidal thoughts and spiraling despair and self-pity/hatred
Sorry to read that.

If you care to share - What do you think it stems from?
 
Sorry to read that.

If you care to share - What do you think it stems from?
i have no idea. depression has always been a problem. I tried to suicide when i was 12. They tried to get me on medication but i always refused to take that shit. I started smoking weed at 13 and that helps. playing music helps. exercise/training helps. sex helps. friends help. But my baseline state is definitely pretty bad. I think it runs in my family. My dad got diagnosed a long time ago. maybe a chemical imbalance or just a pessimistic world view idk.
 
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i have no idea. depression has always been a problem. I tried to suicide when i was 12. They tried to get me on medication but i always refused to take that shit. I started smoking weed at 13 and that helps. playing music helps. exercise/training helps. sex helps. friends help. But my baseline state is definitely pretty bad. I think it runs in my family. My dad got diagnosed a long time ago. maybe a chemical imbalance or just a pessimistic world view idk.
Yea my uncle committed suicide and it definitely runs in our family. I think for me and my brothers staying active is key. Idle time and all that. Always work towards goals. Small goals and big.
 
Tbh I read it again and hes a remarkable writer. Is the rest of the book as impressive and insightful as this?

Yes, he has an amazing ability to capture human thoughts and emotion. It’s 1000+ pages with zero lazy writing. His prose is very conversational, and his knowledge and vocabulary are encyclopedic. The book is notoriously “difficult” to read because he uses footnotes and endnotes a lot, but it’s just part of the experience of the book and adds a lot to the story. It’s designed to demand your attention and make you take an active role in reading it, as somewhat of a critique on peoples endless passive consumption of media entertainment, which is even more prevalent now than when it was written.

In short, it’s about people’s drive for achievement, success, and pleasure, through either the pursuit of sports, entertainment, or drugs. It’s a hilarious book that is very deep.
 
Yes. When they added MFA to the sheepdog authentication, and again when they added CAPTCHA, making every page take forever to load.
 
Yes, he has an amazing ability to capture human thoughts and emotion. It’s 1000+ pages with zero lazy writing. His prose is very conversational, and his knowledge and vocabulary are encyclopedic. The book is notoriously “difficult” to read because he uses footnotes and endnotes a lot, but it’s just part of the experience of the book and adds a lot to the story. It’s designed to demand your attention and make you take an active role in reading it, as somewhat of a critique on peoples endless passive consumption of media entertainment, which is even more prevalent now than when it was written.

In short, it’s about people’s drive for achievement, success, and pleasure, through either the pursuit of sports, entertainment, or drugs. It’s a hilarious book that is very deep.
Added to the wishlist . Thanks.
 
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Where you are virtually bedridden, have no motivation and just feel utterly worthless.

Ever had that severity of depression before?

I personally have had a handful of times in my life, mostly in my 20s and early 30s.

Not much anymore. (knock on wood)

I realized life isn't bad as you think it is at that moment. You are just not mentally rational to think clearly and your perception of what's going on is way off.

You just have to ride out that despair and hopefully come out of the dark tunnel into the other side.

It also helps I take medication to stabilize my mood and I'm more equipped to handle the oncoming tsunami of despair and just ride it out like a severe storm.

And you have nothing to lose, you have one life supposedly, so why not make the best of it regardless.

I'm currently on antidepressants tbh, been on a huge burnout and depersonalization unfortunately.
 
I wouldn't be still alive if I wasn't such a coward.

I've always been able to keep my feet moving though. I didn't want to make things worse by being unemployed, without money and having to live on the street.
 
Not so much depression, been majorly fucked up with anxiety though.
 
I have several times, including very recently. It's a problem when I'm not running my routines to an acceptable level. If I screw off on video games, alcohol, and shitty food, and allowing my thoughts to drift into negativity then I slip into depression. If I'm thinking and acting positively I don't. Eating healthier. Exercising. Meditating. Using my calendar and task list to stay on top of things and progress. Affirmations. Gratitude and Blessing others. Prayer. If I'm doing enough of even half of these then depression is impossible.
 
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