i've dealt with a fair amount of depression in my life, and because of that i've found many ways to get rid of or at least help depression. so i'm going to list what helps me, and please if anyone else has any hints share them. #0 Music. this is huge at least for me. the right type of music can really make a huge impact on how i feel. you have to find what type works for you personally. #1 take a 5 minute walk. if you find yourself sitting their feeling depressed and not knowing what to do, or knowing what you need to do and just not having the motivation, just go take a quick walk. it gets you moving, and gives you a change in scenery, and often helps give ideas. #2 go do something. it doesn't matter what. do something you need to do for work or school, or clean the house, or literally anything. it doesn't even necessarily have to be productive just go and do something. #3 exercise. this will help so much, but it's also something you have to do regularly to see the most benefits. it doesn't have to be a lot of exercise, and it can be something fun like a sport. as long as you get your blood pumping. of course the more the better. #4 eat healthier. you will just feel better in general if you eat healthy. #5 cold showers. take cold showers instead of hot. this not only has lots of health benefits, such as healthier skin, stronger immune system, and other things, but a nice cold shower stimulates the "blue spot" in your brain, which produces a chemical that helps control depression. you also just feel refreshed after. #6 stop procrastinating (if you do). this one is tricky if you have a bad habit of it like i do. one good trick to this is work for just 10 minutes. anyone can work on something for 10 minutes. no matter how much you might dislike it. once you force yourself to start it's often surprisingly easy to keep going. if not then quit after 10 minutes give yourself a little break and go back at it for another 10 minutes until you can finish it. #7 St. Johns Wort. i have never tried this, and if you do decide to try this i recommend doing research on it before taking it, as it can cause problems with other medication especially antidepressants, and i don't recommend anyone try to replace antidepressants with it. however if your depression is not sever and you are not on antidepressants already, and you've done some research, then St. John's wort can possibly help you a lot. #8 socialize. i know this is difficult for a lot of people, but almost everyone has someone they can talk to. a friend, a sibling, a parent. start somewhere, talk to someone. also i find that i often don't talk to people because i just assume they have something better to do, or some irrational line of thinking like that. i also find that i am usually completely wrong, and those people are often thinking the same thing. think of the feeling you get when someone you weren't expecting contacts you out of the blue. most other people are just as glad to be hearing from you as you are from them. so just go talk to someone. #9 keep your living area clean. a cluttered house is a cluttered mind. if you are constantly coming home to a bunch of garbage everywhere and a huge mess you probably wont feel too good about where you are living, and if you don't feel too good about where you are living you probably wont feel too good in general. #10 get a hobby. something you enjoy that you can do every day. gardening is a great hobby, even if you live somewhere without a yard, even a small windowsill garden can be nice. as well as being a great hobby look at #13 for another bonus. #11 change your look. a new haircut, or some new clothes can often make you feel better. changing your look also often makes it easier to initiate other changes in your life. #12 good hygiene. just like coming home to a dirty house can make you feel down, if you are dirty it can make you feel down. feeling clean and fresh is generally a good feeling. #13 get into nature. "A bacteria found in soil called Mycobacterium has been found to effect the same neurons as Prozac, offering people a natural lift in mood. This is just one more great reason to get out in the garden and grow your own foods. Not a green thumb? Just spending time in areas with rich soil will allow you to breath in these great benefits." #14 keep learning. an active brain is a happy brain. you will most likely feel good about your stuff, learning new information and it's something positive to do with your free time. find something that interests you. this could be as simple as just picking up a book you enjoy, or you could find some free online college courses and learn. just keep your brain active. #15 5-HTP. sort of like St. John's Wort this is another over the counter supplement that you can take that is supposed to help a lot with depression. again i advise doing some research before taking this, make sure it will not interact with any drugs you are currently taking, and make sure it safe for you. i will continually edit the first post so to include other peoples ideas as well as my own. please give a brief description or reason as to why you think something might help.
good post. repped. i'd recommend keeping your living area clean. a cluttered house is a cluttered mind. also socializing and having good relationships is also key. studies show this is one of the most important aspects of happiness have a hobby, something that makes life worth living, and do it everyday
Take fish oil and vitamin b complex. Go to the gym atleast 4 times a week. Get some new clothes and a haircut.
music is a COMPLETE must. also, stop caring what people think. you will feel soooo good. take care of your health, get in shape. you got to love yourself if you want others to like you. nobody wants to be around the quiet sad guy. but yeah good music good weed good people. and get active. if you arent doing anything with your life your doing somethin wrong.
lol i meant to put music at the top of my list and somehow forgot to add it at all. good tips everyone. i'll continually edit the first post to keep adding things. keep them coming guys i'm hoping this thread can help some people. also if you could add a brief description of why these things might help, like the fish oil and stuff. i have no doubt help, but i don't know why. it would be nice to know how it may help.
Shower daily don't let yourself lack good hygiene the number 1 way to feel good is to look good. Bacteria in dirt out in nature is its own anti depressant that works in the brain the same way as Prozac! Read this article! I don't know where its from, I just have it in wordpad.
about the dirt thing i've often wondered if theres something about nature that changes your brain functions, in a positive way i've had anxiety attacks before and one thing that ALWAYS cured it was going out into nature. curious eh?
We need nature to survive, we basically live because of nature, were even so much alike to plants in nature that nitrogen is necessary for growth in humans. So to cut ones self off from nature is doing the same as cutting them self off from life. Just another reason to say nature provides us with everything we need to live, just like keeping us not depressed, it just does it naturally! Cuz nature is natural.
you could add 5-htp to that list. tons of people on this site claim it works wonders, although i've been using it for like 2 weeks now and honestly i havent noticed it doing anything. also i hate upbeat or happy music when i'm feeling really depressed. it's like i don't deserve to listen to happy music at that point in time. it just makes me feel weird, and more sad because its like that's how i should feel, but i couldn't feel more opposite.
also i dont know about the bacteria in the soil thing, but i will say last summer i got more active with gardening and always felt great after being outside with the plants for awhile. but i didnt even get started until the middle of the season, so this year i plan on doing a lot more than last year.
i would recommend reading books on philosophy, particularly eastern philosophy such as the Tao Te Ching and books on Buddhism. Also read up on scientific topics like biology and astronomy and watch shows about nature and animals. I recommend these things because they can give you a different perspective on life. I've experienced my fair share of depression and i've found that reading books and watching films on these various subjects really help to put your problems in more realistic terms. Often times we get caught up on trivial things which in the grander scheme of existence are relatively insignificant.
this is very true. engages dat dere frontal regions of the brain, responsible for long term thinking and logic too bad its easier and takes less energy to use the primitive parts of the brain, the limbic system
^basically any kind of learning is good. i fucking love learning. i'm not sure what kind of career i'm going to end up with but i wish i could just learn things for a living. it's like the thing i'm best at lol, i soak up info like a sponge and remember it forever. but yeah differing perspectives are important. i forgot what it's called but there's a branch of science that specifically focusing on viewing the world from different cultural viewpoints. any kind of documentary is good; PBS has tons of free videos on their website, any episode of NOVA is always interesting and enlightening, but they aren't updated often so i've already seen like all of them.
great stuff, i did some of those things today. I was down in the dumps for unknown reasons the past few days, i somehow snapped out of it today. Hopefully for good, as im usually stable. anyways, knock on wood. haha
ive been meaning to get into nature. when i get some weed im going to start smoking a joint while i ride my bike to the park down the road. not only will i get into nature (while high too) but ill also get some exercise which i desperately need because i know the reason im so depressed and have such bad social anxiety is because im over weight. but i wont do it unless im high because of the social anxiety lol...
bike riding is the shit man. low impact and even someone with no stamina at all (like me) can do it for hours without really getting that tired. and you can travel pretty far and see many sights.