/lit/ - Literature

why you typed dePPression twice?
that's pretty offensive for a clinically depressed person

>>11906403
Because english is not my first language, I'm sorry. The last english class I had was like 5 years ago and I'm trying to get better by reading some stuff too.

the letters of phillip stanhope lord chesterfield to his son helped me power through depressive episodes and melancholy

i'm a tough love sorta guy

>>11906394

"Happines is a choice" by Barry Neil Kaufman

>>11906394
I thought Levin’s story in Anna Karenina was extremely helpful for me. Sort of - we’re all going to make it.

I don’t really believe in these crank books that profess to have a cure for depression. I don’t know what causes it, or what, really, it is - all I know is I find great comfort in reading, more so when I am depressed, or negative thoughts start swirling in my head. Most Russian literature is helpful for this since, well, it’s a depressing place and they seem to understand it a lot better than other writers.

I don’t know if this answered your question, or if this is bait, but things do get better if you work hard enough I think. There’ll be days you’ll be sad - maybe weeks - but the happy moments in life you’ll be able to cherish a lot more through throwing yourself headfirst into literature in general and gaining the understanding good books bring to you.

The leaflet in the back of the bottle of prozac

Why is it that depressed people claim to be suicidal but never do any high risk activities? But a hayabusa and go 200mph on the freeways or go BASE jumping

I was very skeptical of The Power Of Now, but it actually did a lot for me. So did the Tao Te Ching and Victorian poetry.

Consider that there is no way to out-think clinical depression. Like a lot of life's troubles, it has to be answered with vitality - diet, exercise, medication, nutrient supplementation.

I've had good luck with NSI-189 and Semax, as well as some periodic F-Phenibut. All things in moderation, though.

You'll beat this. I completely changed the course of my life after attempting suicide, despite the severity of my symptoms (it was pretty bad). Best of luck.

>>11906611
Care to tell us more? I’m interested

Try finding some literature on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). It is shown in studies to be extremely effective at helping with anxiety/depression, and you don't need to go to a therapist to learn to do it provided that you have the tools and willingness to actually help yourself out. You don't even really need books, there are websites and even phone apps dedicated to this sort of therapy.

One frequently recommended book for treating depression is Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, by David Burns. The Worry Cure: Seven Steps to Stop Worry from Stopping You is another typically recommended book; it is more focused on anxiety contains some CBT techniques.

>>11906615
Well, I attempted suicide when I was twenty-four. No living family, so no worry about leaving turmoil behind me. I was egged on by constant feelings of guilt and shame about a crime I'd committed (involved mismanaging some money and trying to hide it). I'd been depressed since puberty, and it gradually worsened from the time I was a Freshman in college onward. I used a large dose of Nembutal and an anti-emetic, which is considered the least painful suicide method.

A short while after ingesting the medication, my survival instinct kicked in. I walked out into the hallway of my apartment building and ran into my landlady, who called EMS. They charcoaled my stomach (extremely unpleasant) to extract the medication and put me under mandatory observation after I "came to."

The cocktail of emotions in the psychiatric unit was weird - relief, embarrassment, surprise, desperation, self-loathing, self-forgiveness. I decided that, if my best thinking had brought me to taking what didn't belong to me and then attempting suicide, I'd have to trust something other than my own judgement.

I spent the next couple of years doing anything and everything to correct my brain chemistry and my perspective - I made amends for every wrong thing I had done, and for everything I had failed to do. I studied pharmacology so I could figure out what worked and what didn't. I met with a lot of professionals, and had my brain scanned a bunch of times. New friends, new hobbies, new everything.

Current year - I'm on a strict diet I never break, exercise intensely every day, take a huge cocktail of prescribed medications, meditate and pray, etc. I'm not going to tell you things are "better" because they aren't - they're the way they always were, but with a regimented approach and a good safety net.

In my case, change required complete surrender - an abandoning of toxic habits, beliefs, and perspectives, as well as an acknowledgement that I'm not "in control" a good part of the time. I am better for having gone through all of this, and I hope that my life may yet have some value to the people around me. All the best to anyone in a similar situation.

Learned Optmism. It shows how depression influences your way of viewing and explaining events, and how to control such influences. Also, I know this is going to sound stupid, but a dating book called Models helped me too, since most of it is about self improvement and letting yourself be vulnerable, something I realized was my greatest fear in life.

Don’t forget to exercise, anon. Your mind will thank you, and fit-lit is by far the patrician choice.

>>11906594
Because depression gives you a low mood.

Not all depression is the same. For most people, it's a combination of life circumstances, attitude and diet/exercise.
If your life is generally fine, then working on your attitude, being aware of how your thoughts and beliefs influence your emotions and changing your shitty habits will do wonders for you.
But, if your life is generally shit, you're better off fixing whatever it is that's troubling you than guzzling jew pills or grinding CBT questionnaires.
Instead of looking for "How to cure depression" look for "How to solve problem X, Y and Z"

>b-but my depression is chemical

It's more likely that you're stuck in a learned dysfunctional thought pattern and hold irrational beliefs.
There's like 20-30% of people that don't have inner speech, or at least, they're not aware of it.
They're usually the ones that are most clueless about why they feel the way they feel, emotions seem to come out of nowhere for them.

The mind is always filled with thoughts, but you need to practice mindfulness in order to be fully aware of them.
Once you're aware of a particular thought or belief that's disturbing you, it's only a matter of disproving it and replacing it with more helpful thinking.

>>11906394
What unironically helped me the most were studies showing that people are superficial and judge others largely by looks, which are for the most part outside of your control. That won't help you though if your depression is not mainly related to social anxiety. It might also make it worse if you find that kind of lack of control depressing or if you're really ugly.

with sources: https://pastebin.com/raw/m4CHHRb9
>Attractive children and adults are judged, treated more positively, and exhibit more positive behaviors and traits than unattractive children and adults, even by those who know them.
>Differences in facial shape alone between candidates can predict who wins or loses in an election.
>Both self-rated attractiveness and attractiveness rated by other persons predict endorsement of belief in a just world and have a relationship with participant's level of life satisfaction.
>The physical attractiveness of the producer influences the attractiveness of humour.
>Facially unattractive males receive a more negative response in terms of perceived characteristics from violating social norms than facially attractive males.
>Facial attractiveness is assessed rapidly (13 ms) and from small silvers of visual information.
>University instructors who are viewed as better looking receive higher instructional ratings.
>Facial physical attractiveness significantly predicted a measure of individuals' development stability (the ability of an organism to buffer its development against random perturbations).
>Attractiveness appears to be ingrained in our biology. Face preferences affect a diverse range of critical social outcomes, from mate choices and decisions about platonic relationships to hiring decisions and decisions about social exchange.
>Perceivers attributed more desirable interpersonal traits to physically attractive targets. People desire to form and maintain close social bonds with attractive targets and then project these motivations onto those targets.

>>11906931
(cont.)
>People were able to identify left-wing or right-wing political attitudes from looks alone. The closer the ratings of our participants came to the politician's actual political score, the higher the likelihood of being reelected to the new parliament.
>We rapidly and spontaneously draw inferences about other people's personality characteristics from their appearances and these inferences can impact our decisions in a variety of important domains.
>For males, rated face and body attractiveness, respectively, accounted for 52% and 24% of the variance in overall attractiveness.
>The preference for attractive faces by infants that has previously been observed for human faces can also be observed for domestic cat faces.
>Like adults, close relationships between facial trustworthiness and attractiveness judgments exist during childhood, especially for girls.
>People seem to believe that physical attractiveness implies positive personality traits ('beauty is good effect'), but the effects of attractiveness seem to be greater for male targets. The stereotypes about gender personality seem to be largely shared among men and women.
>Cuteness not only compels us to care for cute things but also prepares us to do so via its effects on behavioral carefulness.
>People do judge a book by its cover, but a beautiful cover prompts a closer reading, leading more physically attractive people to be seen both more positively and more accurately.
>For both males and females, physical attractiveness was related to positive self-concepts and high resistance to peer influences. In addition, for males, this association was related to a sense of responsibility (internal control) for one's own behavior.
>Teachers judge attractive children as more sociable, more popular, academically brighter, more confident, and more likely to be leaders than unattractive children.
>Physical attractiveness influences self-concept (core self-evaluations), income, and financial well-being (financial strain).

>>11906594
>I'm horribly depressed and I have no motivation, energy, or interest in my life
>DUDE THAT MEANS YOU CAN GO SKYDIVING LMAO!

>>11906594
>but never do any high risk activities
I show complete disregard for my own safety and well being if that is what you mean.

>>11906394
>I'm at a really bad point in my life and I would like to know if any books have helped you to get through deppression

Literally just go for long runs. Try it. It worked for me. Maybe it'll work for you too!
https://www.runnersworld.com/health-injuries/a18807336/running-anxiety-depression/

>>11906594
>never do any high risk activities
Ever heard of drug addiction?

>>11906594

because pain sucks and you might actually end worse off than before

for example, if you jump out in front of car and not die, you might end up paralyzed from the neck down

>>11907687

end up worse off*

>>11906394
Tbh

>>11906594
I'm depressed and consume large amounts of opiates if that counts

You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero

>>11906394
Always first fix diet and exercise to eliminate those as factors.
This includes Alcohol and cigs

If depression still persists go seek help for sure.
If someone recommends Chicken Soup/The Secret self-help style books then punch them in their face.

>>11907764
>Always first fix diet and exercise to eliminate those as factors.
Why does everyone say diet and exercise diet and exercise but never elaborates on it? It's basically the new version of "just get over it"

>>11907769
No you bell-end it's not the same as
>muh get over it
That implies that there is no issue at all.

Others that recommend diet and exercise
do so to eliminate these 2 factors first and just help in general. They are 2 aspects which do affect depression significantly for many people which you have control over.
They are not magic.

The reason no-one elaborates is that every person will have a different diet requirement, weight, strength, fitness, budget, taste, allergies etc.

Since you ask.
Diet:
Eat a varied regular diet with pulses, vegetables, meat, fish, milk, water, good olive oil and ask your Dr. what you might be deficient in. e.g. I am anemic so need more iron-rich food.
Kind of hard to eat well when depression kills your hunger and motivation I know.
Learn to cook.

Exercise:
Go for a walk in the morning
Go for a walk in the evening
or
Get 1 session with a personal trainer and tell them you simply want to stay fit. Stick to that routine for 4-6 weeks
30-40 minutes 3-5 times a week is fine.
Or do bodyweight exercises at home.

Then of course, if you are still heavily depressed seek medical help.
I understand even fixing diet and excercise when heavy depression sets in is like torture; but it's literally one of the best medicines.

>>11906884
the issue of depression is that it's self sustaining in mostly the same way regardless of how it arose

But we do underestimate the immense effect that minor changes in diet and lifestyle can have. Especially diet.

However - the longer you have depression, the harder it is to break. It's a habit in and of itself and has a tendency to overpower the rest of your general condition, such that it becomes the very thing holding you back from the things that would help you. And when this happens it looks kind of ridiculous, and the awareness of how ridiculous it looks to complain about depression while doing nothing about it just makes you feel more weak and defective.

It's like the thing about circus elephants - if they grow up in chains, they never come to the realization that it's possible to break them, or that they can live any other way. When you're depressed for a long time it's difficult to believe that you don't have to be. Think about how much trouble non depressed people have in getting around to eating right and working out. It's a larger task than you think.

>>11906643
This. Feeling Good by David Burns and Control Your Depression by Lewinsohn are both good books showcasing methods of dealing with depression that actually work. But you actually need to make changes in your life if you expect to get better, just reading won't help much.

>>11907687
same can you imagine being so fucked that you can't even choose suicide?

>>11906643
Can you give me some of the websites or phone apps if you have used any of these? Amazing book suggestions as well
>>11906575
Thanks, I tried Anna Karenina a while ago but because of how I felt I left it unfinished. I will try again.
>>11906594
I'm suicidal but I'm also a coward. I have cut and done similar stuff but sometimes I'm afraid to go out of the house.
>>11906670
Thank you so much for sharing your experience. It makes me extremely hopeful to read this. I'm going to give it my best to restore my mental health as well and change my surroundings. I don't really have toxic habits (aside from self-loathing and some procrastination) but I certainly dont have any good habits either. Thank you, really
>>11906725
What you said about the Models book interests me. I have little to none self-improvement (aside from being crazy about my job and trying to get better at it) and I have trouble with the vulnerable aspect too. Do you think the book will be okay if I read it? (I'm a woman) I don't care if it says some sexist stuff like treating women like meat because even if I don't like it I'm kinda used to that, I just want to know if you think the techniques/methods are feasible for females too.
>>11906931
Thank you for the studies and links! But I stopped caring about that kinda thing long ago. Still interesting to read about them
>>11907132
Thank you, since most people suggested it I went out for a jog for the first time in years, pretty hard for me (well, maybe more like awal) and I will try to make it an habit from now on.
>>11907764
>>11907835
>>11907929
My diet is not crap but I don't exercise at all, so I'm going to give it my best. Thank you for the breakdown, I'll try to get some omega3 vitamins soon. Also yeah the last time I was genuinely happy was around 6 years ago, maybe more. I have a lot of problems waking up early and going to sleep at a regular time, exercise and diet is just impossible for me to do. The worst is that since I've been always underweight because of hormones, people tend to say nice things about my body but I know I'm just bones and high cholesterol. I have tried therapists but I could never deal with them, maybe I just never found the one that clicked with me.

>>11907730
This is an interesting book but I honestly don't believe it has helped anyone with their depression, unless by entertaining you out of it. I remember the passages on the homosexual tendencies of Italians and the imbalances of humors that produce various temperaments.

>>11907929
>immense effect that minor changes in diet and lifestyle can have

Yes, but those effects are due to changes in your state of mind, not your biology.
When you go to the gym, it's not that exercise has balanced your brain chemicals or whatever.
It's that it changed your fundamental beliefs, either through disproving your hopeless beliefs that you can't do anything or because it influenced your self-image in a positive way.
Similar to a diet, you start thinking about the positive effects it will have on you "i'm gonna look so good, be healthy" etc.

I recommend reading "Cognitive Therapy and Emotional Disorders" at a peek at how cognition i.e. your thoughts, beliefs, schemas, affect your emotions.
The Cognitive Triad (pic related) is how depression sustains itself and grows. The way out is to break out of the loop through a streak of successful tasks.
Each successful tasks disproves your hopeless thoughts, elevates your mood, increases your motivation which makes the next tasks easier to do, creating a positive feedback loop.

For mild, less severe depression, gaining an awareness of your thought patterns and how they affect your mood will help a lot.
It's like practicing knowing you're in a dream, pinching yourself at random parts of the day and gaining control of the auto-pilot thoughts.

>the longer you have depression, the harder it is to break

This is true. The longer you hold down a belief, the more experiences you have that will prove it thus making it harder to change.
Then that becomes a challenge of gaining positive experience, which is a kind of catch-22 because it requires acting in the opposite of your beliefs.

For instance, someone who believes they're worthless, socially inept etc. won't be able to change those beliefs without the positive experiences codified in his brain.
Just disproving it rationally won't help because you'll just be automatically reminded of the numerous times you failed.
The only thing that would affect those beliefs is having positive social experiences which disprove that belief.
Even then, your previous negative experiences are still a part of you and can't be erased, only new experiences can be added on top.

This means that if you have a lifelong pattern of dysfunctional behavior, it's almost nearly impossible to really change, which research on personality disorders shows quite clearly.

TL;DR - exercise/diet help but not for the reason you think

>>11906394
can you link the pdf?

>>11910295
http://gen.lib.rus.ec/search.php?req=depression+cure

>>11908960
>What you said about the Models book interests me. I have little to none self-improvement (aside from being crazy about my job and trying to get better at it) and I have trouble with the vulnerable aspect too.

Most of it is just about these two topics. Dunno if it will help you, but this is a very recent, and one of my first, experiences with vulnerability:
>been friends with a girl in uni for about a month
>she starts realizing I barely give details about myself, besides peripheral info
>It’s always respectful about it though, never really prods
>one day I get really depressed during class
>decide to talk with her after it is over
>tell her all about how I can’t really expose myself to others and vulnerability is the thing I dread the most
>tense as fuck during all of it, can’t look her in the eye and my body language is shut down to the point I’m almost with my back turned to her
>she is kind, and sympathetic towards me
>after telling her I feel enormous relief, like being permeated by a feeling of lightness and optimism
>day by day we start learning more about each other, to the point nowadays she’s one of the friends I like the most
>Been trying to let myself be vulnerable in more situations, sometimes it works, sometimes not, but trying is the most important thing

Not everyone will react as well as my friend did, and you don’t have to go for my method of exposing your greatest insecurities first, but putting yourself even a little in these kind situations, day by day, is vital for your progress. I would do the same thing ten times over if necessary; after all, it helped immensely with my self-improvement and deepened my friendship with someone I really like. Life is not without its adversities though. She keeps flirting with me despite having a boyfriend and mentioning him from time to time, which makes me feel guilty and afraid to fuck up our friendship, and, shortly after we agreed to go out and do something this friday, started calling it a date. God only knows what will happen, and I’m anxious and tense as fuck, but it isn’t a bad kind of restlessness. Just conflicted, I guess.


>Do you think the book will be okay if I read it?

As far as I remember there is no sexism in the book, the author even goes as far as to imply that methods centered on lying to women or treating them like objects are the tools of needy men. He comments in the preface about a lot of women being interested in the book, and even mentions which chapters should be ignored by them (just a couple). Most of the advice in the book is pretty general, and they are as simplified and accessible as possible. He also mentioned the possibility of writing a book completely geared towards his female readers at some point, although I do not know if it was ever written.

>>11906394

Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy I found to be genuinely helpful. It's a bit dated and cheesy at points, but the information is good and potentially life-changing. The main lesson is that your thoughts are more important than your feelings; learn to control your thoughts, and your depression will start to lift. It's basically stoicism applied to the modern era.

>>11906594
I love that kind of thing when I'm not depressed. When I am having an episode I don't leave bed unless I must.

I did ketamine a few weeks ago. A few days ago my friend reminded me that it has shown efficacy in treating major depressive episodes. I haven't noticed that I was depressed. Woah, it's truly a miracle, everyone go find a wook and get some k.

we need a /self-help/ board. this is getting pathetic

>>11910512
I am unsure of the reprogramming that the "think better thoughts" school claims is possible. Childhood trauma through inadequate relation to caregivers produces a constant stream of anxiety pessimism and negative thoughts. Even if you consciously keep it in check some times, the bulk remains intact and working against you.
We need a method to restore what went wrong on that very early unconscious level. Maybe relating to a loving God could fill that attachment error. After all, this method has been tried and perfected through thousands of years

>>11906394
try sulphoraphane supplements

>>11910033
>Yes, but those effects are due to changes in your state of mind, not your biology.

I disagree; both have immense biological effects.
From changing the composition of your gut, to the hormonal changes via excercise, much difference can be mad with such seemingly simple changes.

Doing it requires immense effort. Your state of mind reference is very good btw too. Just don't knock the quantifiable and demonstrable effects of a good diet (for your body) and exercise (no, you don't have to be Adonis)

>>11908960
Good luck lad; start with a simple walk.
All the best lad.

>>11910617
this board is primarily for broken and defeated people. go on /r/literature if you want emotionally balanced conversations.

>>11906394
I didn't read any books. What I did find helped me was gradually creating a strict, daily routine where I was occupied for most of the day.
I started off by getting a job and working regular hours. I then focused on getting up and going to sleep at the same time every single day. From there, I started forcing regular exercise at set times into my routine. Essentially, I gradually filled my days with healthy and productive pursuits. I found that I was at my worst when I was left alone to my own thoughts, wasting away and not achieving anything. Avoiding that experience was an important part in changing things.

That said, I do think therapy is very important and it is something you should look at. Medication is crucial too.