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> Changing your lifestyle to treat depression works. I did (and am still doing) all of those lifestyle changes and it didn't help me in the slightest. So much

> Changing your lifestyle to treat depression works. I did (and am still doing) all of those lifestyle changes and it didn't help me in the slightest. So much for that theory. Not that people shouldn't try lifestyle changes but they are not the magic cure-all you're selling them as.

Swizec 9y ago
That’s awesome! Keep at it. It takes a few years. And as other have pointed out, depression isn’t super curable, it’s more like going in remission. I liken it to addiction as well. Stop doing the things that keep it at bay? Boom there it is, comes right back. Just like an addict makes an active decision every day to not do their thing, so too must I actively do things that keep the depression away. No magic, just hard work,
- cflewis 9y ago
  Dude, screw you. Seriously. The biggest screw up we all make about mental health is the assumption that the thing that works for one person is the thing that works for another. I would have hoped that someone who has been through treatment would understand that, but here you are spouting the "get your life in order and it'll all be dandy, it worked for me!" crap that's so unhelpful in the first place to people with mental illness. Everyone is different with this stuff. Everyone needs different treatment. You are not a mental health professional. Do not say shit like this and not expect to be called on it.
  - Swizec 9y ago
    > "get your life in order and it'll all be dandy, it worked for me!" No it won’t all be dandy. But it helps. Or at least it’s what I’ve seen help the most people I know who are or have been depressed. At the end of the day, the main thing to do is to not give in to depression. That thing wants you to sit on the couch and feel sorry for yourself. That’s like one of the main symptoms. Fighting that urge helps make it go away eventually. I mean, shit, even the super-OP, Zach whose post we're commenting on, said that he had to keep taking meds and going to therapy for a few months before he saw results. Do you think doing it just once then saying "Fuck this shit, this doesn't work for me, therapy doesn't work. I tried it and it did nothing". Do you think that would've worked?
    - eradicatethots 9y ago
      I think my other reply to you is relevant here, because your advice cannot be proven wrong. You’re replying to someone who tried what you said, saw no marginal improvements, and saying that means they have to keep trying the same thing regardless. If someone tries this for several years and it doesn’t help them, would you consider your theory thoroughly debunked?
      - Swizec 9y ago
        > If someone tries this for several years and it doesn’t help them, would you consider your theory thoroughly debunked? Yes.
        eradicatethots 9y ago
        Well then what do you say to the athletes in this thread who tried this for several years and felt no better? Have you been debunked? Does everyone have to spend 2 years of their life’s on your advice before they’re allowed to say “This doesn’t work for me”? I can’t imagine you think that’s reasonable... I think it would be more helpful if people stopped throwing this sort of advice around like it’s useful to people I’ve argued things like what you’re arguing before but really I was just afraid to think otherwise, could you be feeling the same way? I don’t think that’s a sustainable strategy though so here I am, arguing the other way. It was harder to think that way than this - less natural
        Swizec 9y ago
        > could you be feeling the same way? Yeah you're probably right. I guess what bothers me about the whole thing are the 2 or 3 years of my life I spent vehemently disagreeing with everyone who gave me This Advice and telling them that it doesn't work and they need to fuck right off. Then when I actually legit gave it a chance, it worked. Maybe I just got lucky. Maybe the therapy worked more than I think and it's what enabled me to give This Advice a chance. I'll never know, it's not like I can A/B test.
- ThrowawayP 9y ago
  > It takes a few years. It's been a bit under three years already; no joy. Your theory just plain doesn't hold water. Sure would be nice if it did, though.

Swizec 9y ago

That’s awesome! Keep at it. It takes a few years. And as other have pointed out, depression isn’t super curable, it’s more like going in remission. I liken it to addiction as well. Stop doing the things that keep it at bay? Boom there it is, comes right back. Just like an addict makes an active decision every day to not do their thing, so too must I actively do things that keep the depression away. No magic, just hard work,

cflewis 9y ago
Dude, screw you. Seriously. The biggest screw up we all make about mental health is the assumption that the thing that works for one person is the thing that works for another. I would have hoped that someone who has been through treatment would understand that, but here you are spouting the "get your life in order and it'll all be dandy, it worked for me!" crap that's so unhelpful in the first place to people with mental illness. Everyone is different with this stuff. Everyone needs different treatment. You are not a mental health professional. Do not say shit like this and not expect to be called on it.
- Swizec 9y ago
  > "get your life in order and it'll all be dandy, it worked for me!" No it won’t all be dandy. But it helps. Or at least it’s what I’ve seen help the most people I know who are or have been depressed. At the end of the day, the main thing to do is to not give in to depression. That thing wants you to sit on the couch and feel sorry for yourself. That’s like one of the main symptoms. Fighting that urge helps make it go away eventually. I mean, shit, even the super-OP, Zach whose post we're commenting on, said that he had to keep taking meds and going to therapy for a few months before he saw results. Do you think doing it just once then saying "Fuck this shit, this doesn't work for me, therapy doesn't work. I tried it and it did nothing". Do you think that would've worked?
  - eradicatethots 9y ago
    I think my other reply to you is relevant here, because your advice cannot be proven wrong. You’re replying to someone who tried what you said, saw no marginal improvements, and saying that means they have to keep trying the same thing regardless. If someone tries this for several years and it doesn’t help them, would you consider your theory thoroughly debunked?
    - Swizec 9y ago
      > If someone tries this for several years and it doesn’t help them, would you consider your theory thoroughly debunked? Yes.
      - eradicatethots 9y ago
        Well then what do you say to the athletes in this thread who tried this for several years and felt no better? Have you been debunked? Does everyone have to spend 2 years of their life’s on your advice before they’re allowed to say “This doesn’t work for me”? I can’t imagine you think that’s reasonable... I think it would be more helpful if people stopped throwing this sort of advice around like it’s useful to people I’ve argued things like what you’re arguing before but really I was just afraid to think otherwise, could you be feeling the same way? I don’t think that’s a sustainable strategy though so here I am, arguing the other way. It was harder to think that way than this - less natural
        Swizec 9y ago
        > could you be feeling the same way? Yeah you're probably right. I guess what bothers me about the whole thing are the 2 or 3 years of my life I spent vehemently disagreeing with everyone who gave me This Advice and telling them that it doesn't work and they need to fuck right off. Then when I actually legit gave it a chance, it worked. Maybe I just got lucky. Maybe the therapy worked more than I think and it's what enabled me to give This Advice a chance. I'll never know, it's not like I can A/B test.
ThrowawayP 9y ago
> It takes a few years. It's been a bit under three years already; no joy. Your theory just plain doesn't hold water. Sure would be nice if it did, though.