Comment by cowpewter | Hacker News Reader

Comment by cowpewter | Hacker News Reader

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* Drugs - you may have to try a few to find what works for you. Cymbalta worked for me for a while, but then I slipped back hard. Now I have Abilify in addition to the Cymbalta and I'm doing much better.

* Sunlight. Get outside. I have seasonal affective disorder on top of major depression, and if I don't get enough light, the suicidal ideation comes back. I have a lightbox but its not as good as the real thing.

* Exercise. I know. This one sucks. This might not be possible until the meds bring you back up to a baseline-functional. Try to get a walking buddy, and just take a short walk once a day. Walk outside to get extra sunlight as a bonus. You don't have to do a major workout, even just a 15 minute walk is better than nothing. Try to get a friend to walk with you. Not only does having someone to talk to make the walk go quicker, but it also gives you someone you have to be accountable to about walking. Or if you can't get a walking buddy, find a favorite podcast or something that you only listen to on walks. Make it something to look forward to.

* See a doctor and take care of anything else that's also going on. Get your thyroid checked. Get your blood sugar checked. Hypothyroidism or diabetes will make depression worse.

* Good sleep is vital. Maybe ask your doctor about a sleep study too, if you snore. You might have sleep apnea, and not getting good sleep will make your depression worse.

* Try to eat better. This one is hard too, and like exercise, might not be possible right away. "Better" is pretty subjective and nutrition is a volatile subject, so I'm not going advise a specific diet, but if you're eating pizza and fast food every day because you don't have the energy to cook, changing that will help.

On the subject of depression meals— pre-prepped salads are a great way to combat this. They're cheap, easy to make when you're having a good day, and you can make a few days worth in advance. When you're feeling down all you have to do is put it in a bowl, and you have a healthy meal.

I hate repeat meals. Are there any configurations of this that avoid that challenge or keep for a long enough time that I could spread the salads out more?

That's a solid list but what I found most important part is rarely shown.

Positive human contact. Hugs, cuddles, and conversation can make a huge difference. We are social animals and it really does make a difference.

Right on. I don't suffer from depression but my partner does. Because I don't have much experience with it myself, at first I was completely clueless about how to be helpful and supportive. Eventually I realised that just being around, ramping up my own affection and gregariousness just a bit, and not obsessing about the depressive state is already noticeably helpful.

Hugs and cuddles are not things you can do yourself. Not everybody has the privilege of having those options so you might as well list things like winning the lottery. If you do have money though, I have found that massage can be at least a partially acceptable surrogate for other types of human contact and social interaction, if you are in a location where that’s an option.

There have been studies that suggest getting less sleep can help depression: https://newatlas.com/sleep-deprivation-depression/51407/

My suggestion was more about sleep quality than quantity. If you have undiagnosed sleep apnea, you are probably not getting sufficient sleep no matter how long you're in the bed.

I've always heard from neuropsychs that an all nighter is a good reset, especially for people who may build up imbalances of one kind or another. I always thought it was because it got the body to actually sleep and detox etc. the next time it got the opportunity. Then again, I may be a bit manic/depressive so it is also something that makes riding out the waves less unbearable.

While that's true the studies I've reviewed talked more about a debilitating amount of sleep (like 16-20 hrs/day) vs. a consistent amount (8-10) and a regular schedule.

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