Comment by matznerd | Hacker News Reader

Comment by matznerd | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

Depression is a hard feeling to cope with, in the moment it seems like it will never go away, but the truth is, that it always does. One of the things that helps me in the short-term whenever I get down as an entrepreneur is watching videos of successful entrepreneurs because you see that even they have their dark days. Elon Musk, for example, was at his wit's end, almost bankrupt from tesla and space x and could not get further investment and had to literally borrow money from friends to pay his rent. http://www.bloomberg.com/video/73460184-elon-musk-profiled-b... I also like watching ted videos on happiness http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy.h... (that one has a good point about how nearly everything is based on comparisons and nothing effects us beyond 3 months). In terms of daily inspiration, definitely check mixergy, that will always inspire you as well. http://mixergy.com/homepage/

I have to run out now, but I have a lot more to tell you. Exercise is key, whenever I am in a bad mood I realize that it has been too long since I've exercised. Your body will actually generate new neurons while you are exercising and your brain will release endorphins and other neurotransmitters that increase mood. I know it seems hard to get there if you haven't been in a while, but for a longterm goal and short term boosts of energy, definitely do it. You can try to start with a yoga class or something like that, because at the end of the day yoga is mostly meditation and focus on breath. Meditating is also extremely important in welfare for everyone, especially entrepreneurs and founders. The daily stress of running a startup can not only get you down, but also lead to feeling lost.

I don't know what drugs you are on, but I can recommend some supplements and nootropics that will definitely elevate mood. Try tyrosine.

Not everyone's depression is the same. For some people depression is episodic and goes away. For others, a great many others, severe depression is a constant companion. Every minute of every day of every year of your life, and it's the episodes of not being depressed which are temporary and go away.

That said, exercise has been shown to be helpful for depression of every sort (generally at least as effective as drugs, on average).

I did not mean to lump all depression into one boat, and while I personally do not know that kind of deep long-term depression, I do know the kind of that effects entrepreneurs. There are so many ups-and-downs that it can be hard to weather a deep trough if you are not prepared. I do not know your company or work situation, but I know it can be an extremely lonely and long road working on company. The only thing I know that benefits everyone is exercise. It is a good thing to focus on because even if everything else in your life is going in a direction you can't control, it is one thing you can control and constantly improve upon. And the benefits are long lasting felt in every area of life.

I went through a solid year and a half of depression after a cheating girlfriend and rough, isolating startup lifestyle. For me, watching videos of successful entrepreneurs would be horrible advice. In fact, HN, social media on the whole are very biased mediums and not at all representative of real life.

Exercise is great, go and do that. If it doesn't work, at least you'll put on some muscle when you do get out of it.

I am definitely against any sort of drugs, and I dont think labeling things is particularly helpful, but my suggestion is to get over it. Recognise you can take a beating and survive.

The best advice I can give: change. Change something. Change jobs, hobbies, places. Go looking for new things to excite you again. I'm about to take my own advice and go on a cycle tour - I'm starting with Holland, then may try the west coast of the US. (It took me a year and a half to get to the point where I even bothered setting goals like that, but it's something good to try and do)

I think stories of entrepreneurs can seem biased, because those are all success stories on the whole, but if you dial down deep into all of those stories you can hear from the entrepreneurs of the years that they struggled and the years they thought they were at rock bottom. That is what I think he, and anyone else, should take away from the videos, the fact that those entrepreneurs struggled in obscurity before finding success.

I am pretty anti-pharamcetuicals, but I am very pro-supplement and nutrients. Simply not getting enough of certain amino acids can cause depression or other things. An example is dopamine, which is built from tyrosine in the body. is the neurotransmitter dopamine. The evidence is that it has to do with motivation and not pleasure. I recently wrote an article about that change here ( http://matznerd.com/dopamine-is-not-about-pleasure-anymore-a... ) but the main takeaway is that if you lack the nutrients in your body to make dopamine it can result in depression...

I have to say, I think asking someone as deeply depressed as the OP to find the perspective to hear the stories of struggle amid the trumpeting of success is asking an awful lot. That's tough for anyone to do, never mind someone who is struggling from a severe lack of perspective in the first place.

As a sufferer of clinical anxiety and depression, some of the things said here don't resonate at all. By the same token, some of them do.

> "in the moment it seems like it will never go away, but the truth is, that it always does."

The truth is, it always does for you. I'm not the same person pre- and post-diagnosis, and even when I'm not feeling down, I never feel quite as 'up' as I used to be. To that end, I don't feel like it's gone away. It's by no means as bad as some other people have it, but I feel like I'm stuck with it now.

Exercise, though, is definitely a good idea, and is a piece of advice I've been given from other depressed friends, my counsellor, and my GP. At the very least, doing a bit of it takes your mind off things, and has the benefit of keeping you in decent shape too.

Personally I don't think someone who is either depressed or feeling blue and is a member here should try and remedy those feelings by immersing themselves in even more startup doom and gloom, or success stories. Take your head out of the job, because it means fuck all compared to your own happiness and wellbeing.

And as has been said, consider change. A change of scenery could offer you some peace of mind.

Depression being only episodic? I think not I'm afraid. Many times it is, but there are people with the disease whom never 'recover' in the real sense of the word and require essentially lifetime intervention with therapy, drugs or other treatment. It's a difficult thing to live with and I think part of the problem of understanding is those of us on the outside simply can't understand what it is to be depressed 'all the time', and not necessarily for any particular reason.

I am running out the door with my family, but I will try and post more later, sorry if there are any grammatical errors in there as well...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com