[DedSpace]

Hey. I have suffered with anxiety and depression for the best part of 6 years. I have been on and off medication in that time and have seen many counselors about it. Since January I have had mental images of hanging myself from the banister of my stairs which I could acknowledge that I didn't want to do and the thoughts would pass. A few weeks ago the thoughts were getting more regular, more vivid and overall more intense and I couldn't seem to shake them. So I phoned my doctor and they put me back on the medication and seeing a counselor.

Things are starting to calm down in my mind now. But what doesn't calm down is the loneliness I feel. Not only because I permanently work from home or that I don't see anyone most days. It's because my anxiety stops me from meeting new people and ultimately find love. I long to find someone I can be with, and not just for sex. My confidence and self esteem are at rock bottom which doesn't help. And every time I do pluck up the courage to talk to someone of the opposite sex the rejection puts me in a spiral of self hatred where I beat myself up over not being good enough for anyone, and that no one will ever want to be with me because I'm the shit at the bottom of the barrel that no one wants. My father killed himself after becoming depressed following the divorce from my mother. I often worry that I will end up like him, alone and depressed with no other option.

Does anyone else here feel like this? If so, how do you cope? How do you manage your anxiety and depression apart from medication and counseling?

[sachaneedslove]

To be honest man, I am at the verge where you are right now. Well, we are similar though in quite a unique way. The only difference between use is the situation and second, I do not ask too much opinions from doctors, psychiatrists or other medical specialists but I plan to in the near future. I am still finding ways to solve it on my own by being tough as a bone and Anyway, I do not want this reply to be self-centered and I would like to help you out since you are the OP and in a way how I handle things.

First and foremost, you do not need people go towards people. IMHO, people will come to you instead, its just the fact that you need to change things in your life. It's not that I am trying to change you as a whole person, try to look for a hobby or something that would be considered as a distraction and try to join communities on your own. People come and go in life man, 75% - 80% that you will meet in life are surely farts in the wind that you would be forgetting as years pass by. Life is hard and lonely man, there is no such thing as a perfect life.

Second, be effing patient man. Nothing is instant in this world, you really have to work hard for it. Having friends, a best friend, being in a relationship, having wife, having kids, and all that, its a slow progress man, just like the way you age. It will never happen if you keep making yourself a baby and always ranting that you have anxiety and depression. Just think out this way, there are lots out there who are suffering more than you, it's just that you feel empty right now and you need someone or some friends to full this void.

Lastly, the answer to your question is how I cope up. Well, plain and simple, I totally ignore it as much as I can even it comes to the fact that I feel bottled inside and I utterly feel useless. I do things as much as possible in order to distract myself, and I believe in that way, you can man up and become a stronger person. Sometimes, I try to read self-help or self-improvement books, maybe some articles might help. Just don't give up. Life isn't easy.

Mistakes, tragedies, anxiety, depression, and other bad things in life.... Well these are the key components in order to make us more stronger in situations. It's just the matter that sometimes we have limits, and we stick too much to people or things we couldn't easily let go of. Best example would be the one you said about your father.

But hey now! Always keep safe and don't try to rely too much on other peoples words. Rely on your own worlds and test the waters. If you are too shy to approach people, get some balls and try your best. Mistakes do happen but if you keep trying, it will just be nothing and you will get used to it. If you need a friend, you can PM me. Lol.

[Marshland]

Sorry to hear that you're going through a depression.
What helped me coping with anxiety was signing up for some teamsports or events. Yes its anxiety inducing at first, but it kinda forces you to be social and it takes your mind of things. It's ofcourse not guaranteed you'll be joining a group with people you connect with but its alteast something to try and chances are you will enjoy it.

[HypnoticMagician]

https://sinister.ly/Thread-What-everybod...pid1050700

[Drako]

Have you considered using psychedelics for treatment? Of course, you shouldn't self-medicate. Especially with psychedelics. If you aren't in the correct headspace, you could make your depression worse, and it may even increase suicidal thoughts. You should look out for clinical trials instead. That way you can be monitored by professionals.

[HypnoticMagician]

Have you considered using psychedelics for treatment? Of course, you shouldn't self-medicate. Especially with psychedelics. If you aren't in the correct headspace, you could make your depression worse, and it may even increase suicidal thoughts. You should look out for clinical trials instead. That way you can be monitored by professionals.

I strongly recommend against phychedelics. They are very few people who benefit from such a thing. Psychedelics simply do not have any effect on most people. They reach same insights. They still talk about the already existing same information inside their head. Claiming they have made contact with a "spiritual entity" or reached "god recognition". And most of those who overdose phychedelics just because they don't have any effect at first end up being hospitalized. So what's the point?
I don't think this psychedelics thing benefits you this much. When you examine people with high IQ, for example, you realize none of them are taking anything like a special drug, be it psychedelics or any supplement at all. What does that mean? That means you are just doing something else wrong. You need to find that thing. Of course, it will take a lot of time and effort. Nothing hard is easy to achieve. Very similar to the process of gaining muscle. It will be very painful at first. It will be very difficult to lift even the lightest weights. But you need more patience and perseverance. Otherwise, If you keep thinking like this, constantly trying to reach perfect results without putting sufficient effort into it, you will not be able to arrive anywhere. There is no short-cut. At least, not possible when you consider today's primitive advancement of technology when compared with what artificial general intelligence could achieve once found.

@DedSpace
The things I have mentioned above is also valid for you.

[Boudica]

I am by no means a professional, and I have no clue what it really feels like to be you. So, I'm just going to offer advice from personal experience from back in my really low periods - I hope this helps!

Don't stop trying new things. You don't have to do anything crazy out of your comfort zone. But try to think of something "new" to try everyday. I could be a new type of food, or workout, listening to a new song/band or it could be saying hello/smiling at someone in the street. Give yourself smaller reachable goals. If you don't achieve one, that's ok, just be sure to try again tomorrow.

The loneliness can be really intense, but trying to form long standing relationships is extremely hard when you're fighting yourself. Do not give up on the idea, but look inward. If you're feeling like you have no friends because their is something wrong with you, consider what you want to do to improve yourself and your mindset. Thought distortions can be so difficult to cope with, but take the time to process it and then move on to your next mini goal. Things will change over time, and you will find yourself in a better place. When you do, you'll realise that you are the one who managed to get yourself there. You can do anything!

[Badgateway504]

I'm more depressed than you. In fact I'm the most depressed on earth. The only difference is that I know why I'm depressed and I know the cure too.
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[Drako]

Have you considered using psychedelics for treatment? Of course, you shouldn't self-medicate. Especially with psychedelics. If you aren't in the correct headspace, you could make your depression worse, and it may even increase suicidal thoughts. You should look out for clinical trials instead. That way you can be monitored by professionals.

I strongly recommend against phychedelics. They are very few people who benefit from such a thing. Psychedelics simply do not have any effect on most people. They reach same insights. They still talk about the already existing same information inside their head. Claiming they have made contact with a "spiritual entity" or reached "god recognition".  And most of those who overdose phychedelics just because they don't have any effect at first end up being  hospitalized. So what's the point?
I don't think this psychedelics thing benefits you this much. When you examine people with high IQ, for example, you realize none of them are taking anything like a special drug, be it psychedelics or any supplement at all. What does that mean? That means you are just doing something else wrong. You need to find that thing. Of course, it will take a lot of time and effort. Nothing hard is easy to achieve. Very similar to the process of gaining muscle. It will be very painful at first. It will be very difficult to lift even the lightest weights. But you need more patience and perseverance. Otherwise, If you keep thinking like this, constantly trying to reach perfect results without putting sufficient effort into it, you will not be able to arrive anywhere. There is no short-cut. At least, not possible when you consider today's primitive advancement of technology when compared with what artificial general intelligence could achieve once found.

@DedSpace
The things I have mentioned above is also valid for you.

Okay, you have to understand that psychedelics are unlike any man-made medication. And for most people, that's their last option for recovering from an illness that can lead to suicide. It has provided many addicts and depression patients relief or even a cure from their illness, even though they may have been unresponsive to previous treatments.

And I'm not sure what you're on about when you say "overdose." It is nearly impossible to overdose on any psychedelic. Even if you're a new user who refuses to do any research on dosage and just decides to take a wild amount of a psychedelic, like three tabs of LSD, you won't overdose. You'll feel extremely strong effects, but no overdose. That's why I said look for clinical trials. That'll guarantee your safety.

[HypnoticMagician]

Have you considered using psychedelics for treatment? Of course, you shouldn't self-medicate. Especially with psychedelics. If you aren't in the correct headspace, you could make your depression worse, and it may even increase suicidal thoughts. You should look out for clinical trials instead. That way you can be monitored by professionals.

I strongly recommend against phychedelics. They are very few people who benefit from such a thing. Psychedelics simply do not have any effect on most people. They reach same insights. They still talk about the already existing same information inside their head. Claiming they have made contact with a "spiritual entity" or reached "god recognition".  And most of those who overdose phychedelics just because they don't have any effect at first end up being  hospitalized. So what's the point?
I don't think this psychedelics thing benefits you this much. When you examine people with high IQ, for example, you realize none of them are taking anything like a special drug, be it psychedelics or any supplement at all. What does that mean? That means you are just doing something else wrong. You need to find that thing. Of course, it will take a lot of time and effort. Nothing hard is easy to achieve. Very similar to the process of gaining muscle. It will be very painful at first. It will be very difficult to lift even the lightest weights. But you need more patience and perseverance. Otherwise, If you keep thinking like this, constantly trying to reach perfect results without putting sufficient effort into it, you will not be able to arrive anywhere. There is no short-cut. At least, not possible when you consider today's primitive advancement of technology when compared with what artificial general intelligence could achieve once found.

@DedSpace
The things I have mentioned above is also valid for you.

Okay, you have to understand that psychedelics are unlike any man-made medication. And for most people, that's their last option for recovering from an illness that can lead to suicide. It has provided many addicts and depression patients relief or even a cure from their illness, even though they may have been unresponsive to previous treatments.

And I'm not sure what you're on about when you say "overdose." It is nearly impossible to overdose on any psychedelic. Even if you're a new user who refuses to do any research on dosage and just decides to take a wild amount of a psychedelic, like three tabs of LSD, you won't overdose. You'll feel extremely strong effects, but no overdose. That's why I said look for clinical trials. That'll guarantee your safety.

What are you talking about?

Unlike man-made medication? Some of them are natural, some of them pretty artificial. When it comes to the overdosing, it depends on what psychedelics you use. If you take mushroom, for example, which is naturally poisonous, you need to be careful about the amount you take on your "trip". Even when you take LSD, overdosing causes "bad trip". If you choose to take less, you'll have little to no effect. Most of the time, maybe all the time, psychedelics do not cure any psychiatric illnesses. It can't resolve excessively heavy brain sickness, it is claimed to solve mild mental illnesses even though I highly doubt if it is really psychedelics that cure these other than placebo. It is the right opposite of what you have said. What logical use could psychedelics have other than confusion, sorry, "deep insights"? The reason depression or obsession patients can't cure their illnesses with psychedelics is because they have set up a lot of wrong, inefficient, misleading, twisted connections and accumulated domain-specific dopamin addictions that you can't target directly apart from holistic targeting. Not so different from taking a lot of methylphenidate instead of patiently trying find out what you did wrong and lost your mind. Just because the the person in question can't pay attention to things he would like to, she stupidly takes more and more of these sorts of dangerous drugs. Your brain will burn. That's very similar to loading a very inefficient computer program to a better hardware instead of changing those inefficient algorithms. If there is an infinite loop, you could even damage the CPU. So what's the point of psychedelics? Even the lightest psychiatric drugs can lead to sudden deaths let alone terrifying and sometimes permanent side effects once abused. Encouraging random people to use psychedelics is a terrible idea. Even if that person's illness is seemingly untreatable, psychedelics is last means you should resort to, maybe never. Your understanding of biology is limited. So think twice, talk once.