4 ms·

As I said in my main comment (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22127841#22133387 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22127841#22133387): Give up social me

As I said in my main comment (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22127841#22133387 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22127841#22133387): Give up social media (all of it: Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, HN), porn, and TV (including Netflix) for a couple of months. Take up some form of exercise (lifting, running, even pilates or something), and re-evaluate your attention span. I'm not being flippant. If your therapist hasn't recommended this as at least a starting point to better diagnose you, then you need a better therapist. Whenever a friend tells me they're depressed, or anxious, or have attention difficulties or whatever, the first thing I ask is "what did you spend most of your time doing last week?". If the answer is "Oh, I found this cool new show and binged it", or "Oh not much, I wasn't motivated to do anything so mostly just scrolling the feed haha" - I immediately sit them down and suggest that maybe those things are the cause and not the symptoms. You aren't depressed, therefore you watch TV and observe other people's lives on Instagram. You are depressed because you do those things with the majority of your waking hours. Sure, many people suffer from depression, anxiety, etc. for plenty of other reasons they cannot control. But the rates of this in Western countries are skyrocketing. There has to be a better reason for that than "it's just who I am".

InvisibleUp 7y ago
I'll bite. - I don't watch TV, and I don't have a Netflix account - I'm asexual. I don't consume porn. - I tried taking a social media break in the past. It didn't fix anything. I would just either nap or stare at the wall while my thoughts raced in circles. - I bike and walk long distances on a regular basis. I understand you're trying to help but I'm not you. My brain works differently than yours. Maybe the rates in Western countries are skyrocketing because more people are learning this is a thing they have. Apologies if I'm being flippant, but it's very important to understand that not everyone is the same. Some people need therapy or medication or surgery or etc. to be at their best. That's not a bad thing. There's nothing wrong with treatments that are known and proven to resolve a set of symptoms that you have.
- sadok 7y ago
  So much this. Honestly, there is a condescending tone in the parent comment, it's the usual "Do you feel depressed? How about we go to the movies? You'll feel better!" type of advice. My brain can't produce the appropriate neurochemicals that yours (parent comment) can, so in the past I've had the need to use antidepressants to supplement my brain. Lots of people don't understand this.
  - Allower 7y ago
    Bullshit. You just haven't figured out your own personal triggers. Expecting others to solve your problems (doctors, 'therapists', etc) will only teach you a new fiction.
criddell 7y ago
I think rates may be skyrocketing because some of the stigma associated with the stuff you listed is finally started to recede. Now that people are being more open and honest with their doctors, more diagnoses are being made.
taurath 7y ago
> Whenever a friend tells me they're depressed, or anxious, or have attention difficulties or whatever, the first thing I ask is "what did you spend most of your time doing last week?". If the answer is "Oh, I found this cool new show and binged it", or "Oh not much, I wasn't motivated to do anything so mostly just scrolling the feed haha" - I immediately sit them down and suggest that maybe those things are the cause and not the symptoms. You aren't depressed, therefore you watch TV and observe other people's lives on Instagram. You are depressed because you do those things with the majority of your waking hours. For me personally, having done all these things, even major lifestyle changes, diet, exercise, etc, causing extreme amounts of stress, there was VERY LITTLE benefit. I spend 99.9% of my energy to move my mood 10%, which reverted immediately upon anything knocking me out of the new routine for even a short amount of time. Being a couch potato will make a normative person a little more depressed or anxious. But thats like someone being depressed because of a life event, rather than something they deal with chronically. There's something to people not being harmonious with their environment, and there's also something to environments not being harmonious to people. But most people have responsibilities and must go to work for a living, and don't have fully control over their environment. Western culture may be somewhat to blame, but for people who need help NOW just telling them to go on an information diet and exercise isn't going to help.
- tidenly 7y ago
  On the other hand though there also are people who are in a rut and get stuck in a negative cycle that affects them - I was there for the middle 4 years of my 20s and slowly have started to pull myself out with help from family and friends. Both options need to be explored of course but I think some people worry doctors go straight for the medicine cabinet. "When your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" kind of thing.
  - taurath 7y ago
    Thats certainly true. For me who is medication-phobic it took years to systematically eliminate different causes until I settled on chemical imbalance as at least a major contributor. The cause of the imbalance is totally up in the air, but given I had trouble from an extremely young age there's gotta be some genetic factor there. Could I go live in a treehouse on a desert island and probably be a lot more naturally in tune and happy? Sure. But I choose to live in this society for now, so I need chemical help.
exolymph 7y ago
On the one hand, I directionally agree with you that much of modernity is addictive and maladaptive. On the other hand, your comment is not unlike telling a depressed person to just exercise when having the wherewithal to exercise is galactically out of reach for them. There is no blanket advice that works for everyone, no one-size-fits-all solution. It simply does not exist and never will, because humans are a quite diverse bunch.

InvisibleUp 7y ago

I'll bite. - I don't watch TV, and I don't have a Netflix account - I'm asexual. I don't consume porn. - I tried taking a social media break in the past. It didn't fix anything. I would just either nap or stare at the wall while my thoughts raced in circles. - I bike and walk long distances on a regular basis. I understand you're trying to help but I'm not you. My brain works differently than yours. Maybe the rates in Western countries are skyrocketing because more people are learning this is a thing they have. Apologies if I'm being flippant, but it's very important to understand that not everyone is the same. Some people need therapy or medication or surgery or etc. to be at their best. That's not a bad thing. There's nothing wrong with treatments that are known and proven to resolve a set of symptoms that you have.

sadok 7y ago
So much this. Honestly, there is a condescending tone in the parent comment, it's the usual "Do you feel depressed? How about we go to the movies? You'll feel better!" type of advice. My brain can't produce the appropriate neurochemicals that yours (parent comment) can, so in the past I've had the need to use antidepressants to supplement my brain. Lots of people don't understand this.
- Allower 7y ago
  Bullshit. You just haven't figured out your own personal triggers. Expecting others to solve your problems (doctors, 'therapists', etc) will only teach you a new fiction.

criddell 7y ago

I think rates may be skyrocketing because some of the stigma associated with the stuff you listed is finally started to recede. Now that people are being more open and honest with their doctors, more diagnoses are being made.

taurath 7y ago

> Whenever a friend tells me they're depressed, or anxious, or have attention difficulties or whatever, the first thing I ask is "what did you spend most of your time doing last week?". If the answer is "Oh, I found this cool new show and binged it", or "Oh not much, I wasn't motivated to do anything so mostly just scrolling the feed haha" - I immediately sit them down and suggest that maybe those things are the cause and not the symptoms. You aren't depressed, therefore you watch TV and observe other people's lives on Instagram. You are depressed because you do those things with the majority of your waking hours. For me personally, having done all these things, even major lifestyle changes, diet, exercise, etc, causing extreme amounts of stress, there was VERY LITTLE benefit. I spend 99.9% of my energy to move my mood 10%, which reverted immediately upon anything knocking me out of the new routine for even a short amount of time. Being a couch potato will make a normative person a little more depressed or anxious. But thats like someone being depressed because of a life event, rather than something they deal with chronically. There's something to people not being harmonious with their environment, and there's also something to environments not being harmonious to people. But most people have responsibilities and must go to work for a living, and don't have fully control over their environment. Western culture may be somewhat to blame, but for people who need help NOW just telling them to go on an information diet and exercise isn't going to help.

tidenly 7y ago
On the other hand though there also are people who are in a rut and get stuck in a negative cycle that affects them - I was there for the middle 4 years of my 20s and slowly have started to pull myself out with help from family and friends. Both options need to be explored of course but I think some people worry doctors go straight for the medicine cabinet. "When your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" kind of thing.
- taurath 7y ago
  Thats certainly true. For me who is medication-phobic it took years to systematically eliminate different causes until I settled on chemical imbalance as at least a major contributor. The cause of the imbalance is totally up in the air, but given I had trouble from an extremely young age there's gotta be some genetic factor there. Could I go live in a treehouse on a desert island and probably be a lot more naturally in tune and happy? Sure. But I choose to live in this society for now, so I need chemical help.

exolymph 7y ago

On the one hand, I directionally agree with you that much of modernity is addictive and maladaptive. On the other hand, your comment is not unlike telling a depressed person to just exercise when having the wherewithal to exercise is galactically out of reach for them. There is no blanket advice that works for everyone, no one-size-fits-all solution. It simply does not exist and never will, because humans are a quite diverse bunch.