Treating the cause, because depression is not a ~~symptom~~ illness but a ~~consequence~~ symptom (eg unknown mental issues, chemical imbalances etc). It's not trivial.
(thanks for helping me out with the wording, got confused)
Soul-crushing profit driven economies are the main cause of my depression.
Yeah but we don't talk about systemic inhuman requirements.
Depression is a symptom, symptoms are consequences.
You are right that what needs treating is the underlying cause, though.
The wording might be off, I'm neither a doctor nor native speaker 😁
Yeah sorry, I was just correcting you on the symptoms part. Symptoms are the consequences of source reasons. A fever is a symptom caused by an infection, for example. Hope that helps.
I'm not native either. 😋
Don't be. Everyone is learning constantly (or should be 😁)
Yeah I was mixed up, is a regular happening 😉.
To be a bit more constructive, these might be the words you were looking for?
depression is not a(n) ~~symptom~~ illness but a ~~consequence~~ symptom
Drugs.
The fall of a fascist regime and its replacement by an actual democracy, based on the needs of the people and prioritizing them over corporations and billionaires?
Utopia. I agree. That should be societal progression but we've been taken over by a whole system of people that are taught to own things and fight to the death for those owned things using tokens that represent false value. So much false value that they throw even more tokens at you called "points". Now they are even letting the masses trade for free now that the stock market is a rotting husk.
Running.
And no, i'm not kidding. I knew one who got the choice his therapist : take medication or start running. He took the advised solution and found running really works. A co-worker started running a few years back and later admitted the feelings of depression went away.
i don't run, but i walk a lot. it definitely helps. i went cold turkey on my antidepressants two weeks ago because my doctor is incompetent and thought that was what triggered my mania (it wasn't, i just got a new computer). i tried explaining myself to him but he just said (in his limited english) "YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN"
Some doctor
That's great if you're able bodied. What about those who physically can't?
Fresh air and any activity you manage to do.
I've been running from my problems for a while now and I'm fine
None of these are a cure. Clinical depression is a real thing and you should see a mental health professional. But here's my list.
Most importantly. You don't have to do all of it. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. If all you can manage today is drinking a glass of water, then start there. This random Internet stranger believes in you.
Also drugs.
+1 zillion on sleep!!! It's so under rated while it solves so much. Physical and mental. I could never repay my coach who tought me relaxing is an important part of training. 40+ years later i can still get to sleep in minutes. Often even seconds. Invaluable.
Dogs. Very difficult to stay depressed when you've got this warm fuzzy cheerleader who is happy just to see you and completely loves you for who you are AND keeps you active with play and walks. Not impossible mind you, but as close to it as you can get without drugs.
++++++1 can't imagine life without a dog. He's my answer to nearly eveything.
Dead billionaires.
Also cures climate change, the global pedophile network, most wars, and that's just the start!
Not having a crushing job that saps your will to live so someone else can get rich off your toil.
I dunno man my dad is retired and still gets depressed.
Does he have hobbies or does he just kinda exist?
He does have hobbies.
Therapy, seriously. I am not a mental health professional, but from what I have read, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can be just as good as chemical antidepressants.
If you are struggling with depression, please do yourself a favor and see if your health insurance covers therapists. If not, at least read up on therapy techniques to deal with depression. I have been recommended Feeling Good by David D. Burns as a book to follow.
At least for milder forms of depression, it can help to pretend that you're not depressed. Do stuff, get out, meet people, feel the rain, try to be in the moment, etc.
It's a chronic illness. I'd say there definitionally isn't a cure. Just different ways of managing it.
Some cases are short term, situational depression - say, as a reaction to something happening or that occurred. Others are indeed chronic and unyielding. There are ways to manage it, or to adjust to it but I agree there is absolutely not a known cure.
Socializing is difficult when one’s instinct is to isolate. I learned that in non-human animals that exhibit depression it is often because they believe they are going to die and do not want to become liability to the rest of the group, when applicable.
Basically the same for humans where there’s a chance that if that situational depression is activated (for the lack of a better term) it might never shut off. Overactive hind-brain also makes one prone to fight/flight/fawn which is colloquially anxiety disorders.
Don't be afraid to go to a psychiatrist (the kind of doctors who deal with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental and emotional disorders) and ask them about alternatives to perscriptions. I did that when I was frustrated with trying so many different medications and combinations of medications, and I learned about TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) and so I underwent that and it was life-changing for me.
I dunno about a cure, but a cat that wants to snuggle is a pretty effective treatment.
Major positive changes in your environment and removing any stressors, coupled with effective, active weekly psychotherapy. The whole exercising, eating well, self-grooming etc things will come naturally as things get better and easier.
Don’t get me wrong, doing them will also help tremendously, but no need to beat yourself up with not being able to do them while in full crisis. Your mind just can’t cope with it at this point.
Exercising, taking a walk, 8h of sleep per night, destroying capitalism.
Exercise and money.
You could just sorta snap out of it. (/s)
Love the "Have you tried not being depressed?" advice. Well no, but now that you mention it I will give it a go, that's genius, thank you!
Just walk it off.
This is not a practical long term solution, but one answer is falling in love. Everytime I've fallen in love my depression goes fully into remission. I have lots of energy, it's easy to keep my place clean and super easy to shower, do my hair, whatever it takes to look pretty. I am inspired to try new things and get into hobbies. I have patience and am less irritable. Works like a charm until we've been together long enough for the relationship to become completely routine, and then the depression creeps back in, bad as ever. But you can get like 6 months out of it.
Problem with falling in love is that it can and will backfire and then the depression comes back twice as bad.
Community. Walkable neigborhoods. Culture. Access to high quality (prepared) food. Treatment of chronic illnesses. Free time to do things that make one feel happy and fulfilled.
Drugs only make it easier to cope with a world that makes these inaccessible to the average person. They individualize and pathologize a burden that would otherwise have to be addressed systemically by the ruling class that hopes to have a functional and passive working class.
edit: ... I realized something, looked it up, and wouldn't you know it; here in the US, good old Reagan closed down the psychiatric hospitals less than a decade before Prozac hit the market (antidepressants existed before that; since the 1950s; but were mainly only marketed to doctors who would prescribe them to women with ""housewife syndrome"" for the purposes of domestic labor). That's not to say that psychiatric hospitals are any less of a band-aid solution, I just think it's rather telling that they were closed at a time that folks with clinical depression (and probably other illnesses) could simply be given a pill and put back to work.
Money and really good friends
Well I know a plastic bag and some duct tape didn't work
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