Dude, it doesn't "help" it allows you to actually get REM sleep. Before I had one I was a walking zombie. I could barely stay awake sitting at a stoplight. Now I can get 5-6 hrs of actual sleep and feel great. Do I love have forced air into my face every night? Nope, but at least I can sleep.
Anyone dealt with depression successfully
- Thread starter Eppy99
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I have battled bouts of depression before and got through it with no medications. There are some that absolutely NEED medications as they have some sort of chemical imbalance and the medications helps tremendously. The problem that I have found with medications, is when left on them, they do more damage than good a lot of times. I was on meds for quiet awhile for both depression and anxiety, and I felt that at first, they did well, but slowly would become ineffective after awhile. So a switch would be made, and the same thing would occur. I know a lot of people that went through the same thing.
After I finally got off the meds, and the effects wore off, I began a self search so to speak. I ended up doing the following and it helps so much.
1. Limit Caffeine intake. I was a caffeine-aholic for years. Now I may drink one per week, if that.
2. Exercise. I keep track of steps every day. My work insurance has an incentive program for those that walk so many steps per year. I lift some and stretch and yoga, but mainly just walk a lot. It helps.
3. Positive Thinking. Now I'm sure OTFers will laugh at this, but I've learned how to separate negative, scary, untrue thoughts from true and positive thoughts. Teaching yourself how to re-think is one of the hardest skills you will ever try to master. It takes time, but understanding that thoughts produce feelings which affects chemical releases into your brain helps in knowing that positive and true thoughts and reactions goes a long way to stem dark depressive thoughts.
4. Rest. You need to find your balance. Not too much and not too little
I still have "rough days", but the deep and dark seasons that last for more than a couple days are long gone. When I went through my divorce, I employed these tactics and while I was sad, I didn't go down that dark path as I had in my teens and 20s.
crossfire, that's a really good post. I heartily endorse 1-4 in your post, and would like to run a highlighter over every one of them.
I would add a couple or three things: (1) I suggest meditation as a form of rest different from the type of rest you get from sleep - it's a mental rest that helps you achieve the balance referenced in 4 above. (2) Set some realistic goals and try to achieve them. For example, if you have a car loan with 30 months left on it, then sit down and see what you can do with your budget to pay it off early. If you figure you can pay it off within 24 months, then see if you can do that. If it takes 27 months because you had to pay for something unexpected, don't beat yourself up; you're still ahead of where you'd otherwise would have been. And when you do achieve those goals, celebrate a little bit, then find other goals to achieve. (3) Do NOT compare yourself to others. There's always going to be someone richer than you, smarter than you, more personable than you, and better looking than you (other than Univee of course). Do you, not anybody else, much less everybody else. (4) Above all else, keep breathing. Whenever you think you've reached your limit, you haven't, believe me . . . things can and will get better in one way or another.
If you have a driveway with a basketball goal, start shooting 100 jumpers a day. Keep track of how many you make and write it down.
Not into alcohol or denial but Cannabis, music, sexual addiction, and gardening work for me.
I highly recommend the sexual addiction ..
Good Stuff Crossfire.... I would add and this might sounds stupid as well but do some "manly" stuff. Chop wood go out in the woods get dirty. Sounds pretty lame I know but it works. We are inherently well "manly". We still have the instinctual drives we had from our ancestors. Move west, follow the herd, kill for food, get dirty, build $#!T. When I get in a rut I try to do something "manly". I was in a foul mood the last few days I went and raked leaves, built a fire, cleaned gutters, shot the bow, wrestled/ play fought with my boy, lifted heavy stuff and worked out. Sounds stupid but it follows the be active theme, I just put a spin to do things we were put on this earth to do. Provide shelter, provide food, provide protection and breed.
VanPastorMan
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VanPastorMan
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In my 20's I used to shoot a lot when I felt a lot of stress. It helped me from blowing my top at home.
There are men, and then there are men . . . you'll know when you do it.
Have you had your T-levels checked?
There is direct causal link to the depression, weight gain and lack of energy as symptomatic of low T levels
You mean like no sex drive, sagging breastages, flat butts and weight gain around the waist are symptoms of low estrogen levels in women as they age?
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