Re: Boredom
'Chronic boredom' as in 'a condition where somebody finds s/he can't take an interest in things, can't motivate her/himself to so anything meaningful or stimulating' is not a cause, it's an early symptom of an upcoming depressive episode.
Whether this episode is going to be mild or severe, it doesn't show.
Re: Chemical/psychologic depression
Depression is multicausal, in if not all, then almost all cases. There seem to be certain genes that either directly or indirectly increase the risk for depression. Malnutrition increases the risk of depression. Substance abuse does. Stress over a long time period in general does. Chronical illness does. Cancer does. Traumatic experiences do. Habits do, especially when they include malnutrition, substance abuse or anything else that induces high negative stress levels (=eg. either negative stress causators or possibly positive ones without the due rest for recovery)
As for myself, I am happy to say that I haven't had an episode of major depression in years.
When I had mine, I just ... endured. Did whatever I activity I could do. Hated myself for not being able to do the 'exercise healthy diet healthy sleep pattern' routine. Hated myself. Hated myself.
Said routine does help, by the way - if you are dealing with
-a depressed mood
-a very minor depressed episode (like a depressed mood but in somebody with a history of depression)
-the onset of an episode
-the end of an episode
It also may help alleviating a depressive episode, but it's not a cure, and it only can work if the patient has routine in it (or had it for a long time) or has help when it comes to implementing it.
Re: Topic
-healthy diet
-extra fish oil and linseed oil
-exercise
-daily walks, preferrably, out in the green when the sun is shining and at least half an hour (that way they help most, but sometimes you can't)
-enough and enough quality sleep. (if you can't get sleep, try to rest. do not self-medicate with alcohol. I mean it. I also wouldn't take tranquilizers more than one or two times a week, and only under medical supervision.)
-meditation, any kind of. or yoga, tai chi, mandalas - whatever you can do and what calms you down
-if you are religious or spiritual, pray
-laugh (it sometimes is difficult to find something that makes you laugh, and you shouldn't go over your own normal limits in order to find something. but when you can laugh, do it. It's one of the best stress relievers out there, and I find it a lot more helpful than any drug I tried ... was given, actually)
-counselling for traumatic experiences
-no self medication or substance abuse (that's very important, because in the long run it makes matters only worse. caffeine is probably okay for most people.)
-take any prescribed medication, if you can't bear the by-effects, think the drug has too little, no or adverse effects for you, talk to your doctor first before stopping to take it altogether. (talking from experience. it is a lot better to talk to your doctor and insist on not taking it, and if the doctor wants to mess with you change doctors, than to just not take it any more.)
-sleep deprivation (under medical supervision - it helps, but I ended up having a more messed up sleep pattern than before and it is really difficult to fix that, which is pretty counterproductive)
-social contact that's not too stressful
-pets
-do things you like or used to like (if you can bear with not enjoying them as much at the moment)
-do things that calm you down, help you think more clearly
The important thing is not to expect too much from yourself. When you re-read a book you loved as a kid, during a time when you were pretty happy, it might just lift your mood a bit. But if you expect it to, like, cure you, or if you start thinking about how bad you are for not being able to be like you were back then, it will drag you down. Same goes for activities you're good at. If you can't bear with being slow and making mistakes, you will not only not enjoy it but it will drain you.
Even in a person with severe depression, the mood fluctuates throughout the day. Usually, the depressed person does *not* notice it like that, but during their better moments they can do a lot of constructive things. It's very important to not waste one's energy on beating oneself up, perfectionism, trying to cram anything one could do during a healthy day into a few hours of a depressed day, or use all of your energy for escapism. (Some escapism might even help but not the kind where you end up feeding your WoW character instead of yourself!)
In such moments, try to do something meaningful (in your own view). I just feel a lot better than before because I cleaned the bathroom ... (in a not so good mood atm, pretty scared of actually getting depressed again...)
Make memories of positive things you encounter throughout your day. Your own achievements, nice experiences, sheer luck, nice deeds of other people. Write them down, talk about them, make pictures or fotographs. It doesn't really matter how, but you have to give your shrunk hippocampus a chance to actually process such events, and in order to do that you need to spend time on reviewing the memories, without judging your own or somebody else's actions.
(I'm still bad at that)
Find out how you can counteract negative throughts like adding a 'but I don't deserve it' when thinking of anything good that happened to you. For me distraction is what helps best, but maybe you'll find something else. (You might not think in the terms of guilt and self-worth that is only achieved by things that are altruistic like I do. Maybe you think things like 'the world is still evil' or... I have no idea. You will know it.)
Once you have figured out how to counteract the ways you manage to think negatively about positive or neutral experiences, do the same thing about actually negative experiences.
(This is the way I overcame my own depression, once I had endured the worst time)
Also, if you can, write a diary or protocol about events, your activities and your mood.
17 Jul 2010, 4:28 am
Still, I'm always trying to learn how to better handle some situations in life by gaining insight into other's stategy when faced with various scenarios..
