I should have read your original post closer.
I have also had some pretty bad depression the past year or so. Something I never experienced before on this level. I have very low energy these days, but it's getting better. For a while I was sleeping until 2-4PM and had no energy to wake up. Showering, cutting my hair, etc. were all exhausting. It would take me 2-3 hours to shit, shower and shave. I was fucking miserable, and I didn't even hardly realize it. I'd never had depression like that before. Now several months later I can tell looking back that mentally I was pretty fucked up for months on end. Maybe even a year. It takes a while to snap out of it, but I'm doing much better now.
My non-doctor opinion is that diet, exercise, sunlight, and lifestyle can fix a lot. I am extremely wary of any medications for depression. I'm uneducated in this, but most depressed people I know are on meds, and they are still fucked in the head. None of them exercise or change their lifestyle, and it doesn't seem like their doctors push them to. They just give them pills with side effects and then give them more pills to combat those side effects. Fucking madness.
A few things that have helped me.
1. Go to bed and wake up at a set time. This is still a struggle for me, but I find going to bed earlier and waking up earlier has helped me a lot. It takes time though. The more depressed I was the harder it was to do, but eventually I was able to start doing it.
2. Stop drinking. I have cut way back on my drinking and I think it helps. When I drink I get hungover, lay around all day, eat like shit, and it throws off my sleep and everything for several days.
3. Eat healthier. My diet always has a huge effect on my mental state. Start eating at more regular times. When I was really depressed I wouldn't eat for hours and hours and I'd get sleepy and low energy and headaches and it was fucking me up. Eat 3 square meals per day.
4. Morning cardio. I've only been doing this for a few days, but it's definitely making me feel good. Force yourself to go to the gym and do even just 20 minutes on an exercise bike. Throw in your headphones and listen to some music that pumps you up, or some audiobooks that are motivational for you.
Get some help man. Find a forum that specializes in this stuff. Preferably not a forum filled with people eating pills like they are candy.
I have also had some pretty bad depression the past year or so. Something I never experienced before on this level. I have very low energy these days, but it's getting better. For a while I was sleeping until 2-4PM and had no energy to wake up. Showering, cutting my hair, etc. were all exhausting. It would take me 2-3 hours to shit, shower and shave. I was fucking miserable, and I didn't even hardly realize it. I'd never had depression like that before. Now several months later I can tell looking back that mentally I was pretty fucked up for months on end. Maybe even a year. It takes a while to snap out of it, but I'm doing much better now.
My non-doctor opinion is that diet, exercise, sunlight, and lifestyle can fix a lot. I am extremely wary of any medications for depression. I'm uneducated in this, but most depressed people I know are on meds, and they are still fucked in the head. None of them exercise or change their lifestyle, and it doesn't seem like their doctors push them to. They just give them pills with side effects and then give them more pills to combat those side effects. Fucking madness.
A few things that have helped me.
1. Go to bed and wake up at a set time. This is still a struggle for me, but I find going to bed earlier and waking up earlier has helped me a lot. It takes time though. The more depressed I was the harder it was to do, but eventually I was able to start doing it.
2. Stop drinking. I have cut way back on my drinking and I think it helps. When I drink I get hungover, lay around all day, eat like shit, and it throws off my sleep and everything for several days.
3. Eat healthier. My diet always has a huge effect on my mental state. Start eating at more regular times. When I was really depressed I wouldn't eat for hours and hours and I'd get sleepy and low energy and headaches and it was fucking me up. Eat 3 square meals per day.
4. Morning cardio. I've only been doing this for a few days, but it's definitely making me feel good. Force yourself to go to the gym and do even just 20 minutes on an exercise bike. Throw in your headphones and listen to some music that pumps you up, or some audiobooks that are motivational for you.
Get some help man. Find a forum that specializes in this stuff. Preferably not a forum filled with people eating pills like they are candy.