The doomer vanguard has arrived, let’s create some positive vibes.
A few things that are amazing to do for your mental health, in no particular order :
- eating some amazing, homemade food, no need to be a renowned chef to cook yourself a quiche lorraine, or a pizza
- taking some time under the shower once in a while, or a bath for the lucky few
- listening to some classical/relaxing music
- spending time with your SO if you have one (experiences MAY vary)
- watching decent pornography (yes yes, it exists) if you happen to be lonely (and horny)
- revisiting old games
- laying off Tinder and dating apps
- if you can do it safely, physical exercise
- pet your pet if you have one, a cat purring is simply amazing
This won't get rid of depression (didn't do it for me, why would it for others), but it improves your life, making it somewhat less miserable. Once this pandemic ends, I'll try 1P LSD in minecraft to actually try to get rid of depression for good.
yeah don't think it needs to be explained why pornography is probably not a great idea if you're genuinely lonely
I found actually getting rid of depression to be a more active process that required awareness of my thoughts and feelings and constant vigilance over which ones led to depression/anxiety and which ones were normal reactions to the present moment. after a couple of years of short-circuiting depressive thoughts, it stopped being an immediate problem and it largely became second nature along the way. lsd helped in a more roundabout way in that it forced me to grapple with being trans, which was preventing me from being actually happy.
(Un)fortunately, my depression doesn't stem from gender issues, but with existence in this absolutely cursed world and childhood trauma instead. Some days are worse than others, but I know deep down there's still a glimmer of hope that I may be cured one day. And if it doesn't work, well, I might write a book to help me therapeutically and financially. And if it fails ... uh, i'll wait for the revolution to grant me euthanasia lmao.
nah, mine didn't either, but it sure didn't help. I'm just prone to depression and have to be careful of not getting sucked into depressive spirals.
but with existence in this absolutely cursed world and childhood trauma instead.
yeah, mood.
one thing that helped me a ton was learning to recognize the first feelings that mean "depressive episode incoming" or "it's about to get a lot worse". for me, it's this sense that I wanted to do something but I didn't feel like doing any of the things that actually came to mind. YMMV
writing is also good. a book is a lot to jump into all at once, but shorter pieces helped me work through a lot of stuff.
Good luck! I've never had a truly life-changing experience like that on psychedelics but lots of people claim to have had success. And if it doesn't work as well as you'd hoped, at least you'll have an awesome time!
Is this your first time taking LSD for depression? My first dose saved my life a few years ago. I was planning my suicide because nothing else had worked, and that trip straight up cured me for nine months. Happiest time of my life. Since then I've used psilocybin with the Johns Hopkins method - eyes covered, listening to this playlist - and I would really recommend it.
Yea, I've been planning to do it under the night sky, in a zone with no light pollution, just so I can have the most memorable moments of my life. I'll take a look to that playlist, I had mine, but it never hurts to see what the man himself listened to. Thanks a lot comrade.
I've been reading books about videogames and almost completely tuning out US and UK politics.
Something that really got me out of my recent depression was realising doomerism requires a non-materialist view of history. I know a lot of people have felt really despondent since Sanders lost and feeling like there's no way forward, but we have to keep in mind that the recent resurgence of broadly left ideas among the general public wasn't created by the electoral candidates that it brought to prominence (Sanders, Corbyn, etc.). Rather, it is the product of the fact that the current system is failing ever increasing numbers of people and they are looking for alternatives. Sure, a lot of liberals might go back to sleep under Biden, but that's good. They aren't on our side. We don't want them to be politically activated. Conservative liberal suburbanites being more than usually politically engaged is one of the main reasons Biden is the nominee.
It's not surprising that people feel depressed. The crises we face are multiple and only increasing in severity as time passes. There are also multi-billion dollar industries whose entire job is to convince you that the world can never get better. But, we should resist capitalists' attempts to impose their political horizons upon our thinking. I don't know anyone my age who hasn't been radicalised (to a greater or lesser extent) over the last decade. People aren't going to stop needing decent housing, job, etc. and most young people seem smart enough to realise that neither the liberals nor the fascists have any real answers. No representatives of capital have so far given any sense that they are going to be able to solve the current decade-long crisis. I'm not arguing for complaisance, but any road to communism will pass through crises of capitalism that capitalists will present as meaning the end of the world itself. We should refuse this perspective and recognise that any future communist society will inevitably have to deal with the problems that capitalism bequeaths it.
(Edit: Sorry for the big long rant in an otherwise chill thread)
No apologies, this is helpful. Putting pain/suffering in perspective is good. It's hard not to get impatient though. . .
I feel that. Right now I feel like my life is pretty good, but there are definitely times where I feel like I can't cope with things continuing as they are. You're right about it being good to put things in perspective. I'm not sure about you and others here, but I have a tendency to project my depression onto my understanding of politics and to become a doomer as a result. Realising that I do that and that my feelings of political hopelessness were the result of being depressed was part of my process of recovering last time, so I'm glad that you and others might find my not currently depressed perspective helpful too :)
Mildly cold weather where I'm neither sweating nor freezing is my fucking favorite.
Been there, buddy. Ain't nothing wrong with it. Hell, even the Reanimation version with Aaron Lewis is haunting and good.
This makes me feel less bad about being on a Slipknot kick lately. I didn't get into them back in the early 2000s because I'd written them off as shitty shock-jock nu-metal. Now I realize that they're shitty shock-jock groove metal, which totally slaps.
I discovered a supermarket that sells the fancy big Dr Oetker frozen pizzas for really cheap, I'll be living like a king
I started homeschooling my kids when their public school closed. Theyre reading and doing math a grade above their current level. I have way more time at home with my wife, and I’m spending a lot of time working in the garden.
Oh, and the new fleet foxes album makes my heart soar.
Gardening in a new locale and seeing the yard slowly come to life as I create more biodiversity.
Top stuff. Even just prepping my allotment for winter has been very satisfying.
This sounds great, extra fuck yes for planting natives and getting some wildlife back into your area :sankara-salute:
Damn that sounds like absolute bliss, I get the same kind of joy just being out watching all the pollinators coming into the flower patch I have out back. Gardening really is such a nice thing to get into in a world that's nearly alway running at full speed, very few things beat the satisfaction of seeing a garden spring to life.
That's a hell important job right now so kudos, but yeah, that invisible hand really finds its way into messing with everything, community projects really help beat back the blackpill. When I was doing my painting apprenticeship I found painting for friends and charity helped with the disappointment of working for a corner-cutting residential construction company.
Coffee, lots of it
Good TV shows that suck you in which you can re-watch constantly - Twin Peaks for me, although that has had the downside of nothing else coming as close to it.
Music, both writing/playing and listening to stuff
Cycling everywhere I go so I avoid public transport and don't have to pay for Uber
Shitposting here is quite fun
The shrooms I ordered have finally arrived after like a 3 month wait
Drinking outside
Fall Guys.
Took my animals to the vet for their annual exams and everyone's healthy.
Eating more spicy food.
I got a hot steam humidifier and put it in my room to help with sinus issues. Very helpful.
Got caught up on laundry this week.
I ponder dropping like $100 on hot sauce and being a hot sauce guy. I'll keep everyone updated
Throw me a recommendation on humidifiers yo, that sounds incredible
I've noticed myself falling deeper and deeper into the doomer mindset, so I've been trying to spend the bare minimum amount of time online while still keeping up with the current events that matter to me. It's a tricky balance and I'm not doing the best at sticking to it, but it helps a little. I've also started taking daily walks because I felt like my legs were atrophying on the couch through the first several months of the pandemic, and this has been huge.
I have a job interview coming up in a couple hours, the hr manager sounded really happy they got someone to apply for the job they've been wanting to fill for a while. Said they themselves worked the position some time ago and did they good job selling me on the position. I'm pretty hyped for it and the hours are convenient enough for me to go to school part time.
On top of that I recently got back on anti anxiety/anti depression meds and have been talking to a psychiatrist and psychologist weekly and working through some past traumas, even if I don't get the job things in general personally feel a lot brighter than they did even a month or so ago.
I'm back at my parents' house this week and cuddling my dog is basically the only time that I experience anything close to joy lately. Other than that, I try to keep myself sane by going on walks, listening to podcasts, journaling, practicing meditation and most recently, playing Hades.
I used to listen to a bunch of different podcasts but lately I just put on something familiar so that I can tune out. I mostly listen to Giant Bombcast (g*ming), Overdue (books) or Chapo. How about you?
War Nerd + Citations Needed (politics) and Reading Glasses (books) are the ones I listen to regularly. Generally put them on while doing a Hades run haha. I'll check out Overdue, always down for more book podcasts!
I love chatty cats. My old lady cat could meow so long she'd gasp for air at the end of a note. And it was always over something silly, like me not opening her can of food fast enough. She was also very demanding for affection. I miss her so much. We're going to get another pair of cats in the spring. I can't wait.
