Who suffered from depression while or before coming here

[eli77]

I had severe depression most of my teen years, starting around age 14, and lasted until my mid-late 20s, though the worst of it was definitely around my high school years. I would say only within the past 4-5 years I got a handle over it. SS or game/pickup had absolutely nothing to do with it. I thought that doing cold approach and getting laid would help but it did nothing.

Honestly looking back I think the main reason I got better is simply due a few different factors:

The fact that "with time, all wounds heal" and I never let myself veer too far off course
Psychedelic use which helped reorient my life
Generally building wisdom from books, lectures, research, etc.

I've never taken SSRIs or any other prescription medication. I tried years of therapy; didn't work. To this day I am convinced almost all depression and "mental illness" in general is caused by environment/lifestyle, particularly the social/parental environment in which you grew up.

Two books I would recommend to anyone:

The Myth of Mental Illness by Thomas Szasz and In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Mate.

I also have found Zen Buddhism and Roman Stoicism to be particularly helpful. If you're a nihilistic atheist you're almost guaranteed to have a mental illness; it's no surprise that leftists have significantly higher rates of mental illness across all age groups.

Why stoicism i like that to.

 

[FlexpertHamilton]

Why stoicism i like that to.

As you may or may not know, one of the main benefits of Stoicism (not the type you see in pop culture, such as Spock in Star Trek) is translated as tranquility of mind, basically inner peace. Or at least, that's a large part of what Seneca wrote about. Anyway, the ultimate goal of Stoicism isn't to become emotionless, it's to minimize negative emotions and maximize positive emotions. Rufus was banished to a barren island for several years and thrived. Epictitus was a slave for most of his early life, and a cripple, yet also thrived later in life.

Working your internal mind state always seemed far more important than any external goals. Gratitude, for instance, can go a long way. And there's an interesting parallel with Zen Buddhism for losing attachments and desires and the futility of chasing external validations. When you're depressed you see through these illusions from an early age and realize almost everyone have vices in some form or another as a way to distract themselves from their hollow existence.

 

[eli77]

I too am someone who has never had time for depression. If something is wrong, I spring into action to correct it.

I do remember, as I gradually began to internalize evolutionary psychology and the true nature of the modern socio-sexual marketplace, that I was very shocked and quite sad that the world that I thought I lived in was really non-existent.

Then I learned to fiddle while Rome burns…

You want to elaborate?

 

[eli77]

I had severe depression most of my teen years, starting around age 14, and lasted until my mid-late 20s, though the worst of it was definitely around my high school years. I would say only within the past 4-5 years I got a handle over it. SS or game/pickup had absolutely nothing to do with it. I thought that doing cold approach and getting laid would help but it did nothing.

Honestly looking back I think the main reason I got better is simply due a few different factors:

The fact that "with time, all wounds heal" and I never let myself veer too far off course
Psychedelic use which helped reorient my life
Generally building wisdom from books, lectures, research, etc.

I've never taken SSRIs or any other prescription medication. I tried years of therapy; didn't work. To this day I am convinced almost all depression and "mental illness" in general is caused by environment/lifestyle, particularly the social/parental environment in which you grew up.

Two books I would recommend to anyone:

The Myth of Mental Illness by Thomas Szasz and In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Mate.

I also have found Zen Buddhism and Roman Stoicism to be particularly helpful. If you're a nihilistic atheist you're almost guaranteed to have a mental illness; it's no surprise that leftists have significantly higher rates of mental illness across all age groups.

I agree

 

[Pierce.Manhammer]

You want to elaborate?

What part where you having trouble comprehending or want to hear more about?

 

[Ricky]

The ability to reframe life events helps alot.

i had a pretty easy life until the last couple years. If it was a video game you would say i played it on easy mode other than my education. I found my undergrad degree in engineering to be stressful.While a good student it challenged me to the point where i considered quitting a few times.

i got out and worked for a few years and was extremely bored with my career and wasnt having success with women. It slowly got a bit better and I definitely had alot of great guy friends to party with.

then about the time i got my first serious girlfriend i also got bigtime into PUA and game. She was only the second woman i slept with.

game really helped me. I was confident in my sexual ability from the Mrs robinson type that took my virginity but i had no idea how to handle women in relationships (in some ways i still dont haha)

i went on a tear and have a bodycount i dont wish to report on the sosuave thread. I know one friend with a higher count and one other guy too who almost certainly does so i will gladly take the bronze medal amongst the tribe of several hundred guys i know personally.

that being said when the pandemic hit it all started to crash down on me. Family illnesses, wife causing me major issues after being great for years and general unhappiness as well as a death in the family and a few friends dying from covid almost b

stoicism, friends and a few very religious ones who kept an eye on me and exercise and music saved me

i was definitely depressed. Like too many i denied it. I didnt want medication

i am fortunate i didnt crack but ive been close

 

[eli77]

The ability to reframe life events helps alot.

i had a pretty easy life until the last couple years. If it was a video game you would say i played it on easy mode other than my education. I found my undergrad degree in engineering to be stressful.While a good student it challenged me to the point where i considered quitting a few times.

i got out and worked for a few years and was extremely bored with my career and wasnt having success with women. It slowly got a bit better and I definitely had alot of great guy friends to party with.

then about the time i got my first serious girlfriend i also got bigtime into PUA and game. She was only the second woman i slept with.

game really helped me. I was confident in my sexual ability from the Mrs robinson type that took my virginity but i had no idea how to handle women in relationships (in some ways i still dont haha)

i went on a tear and have a bodycount i dont wish to report on the sosuave thread. I know one friend with a higher count and one other guy too who almost certainly does so i will gladly take the bronze medal amongst the tribe of several hundred guys i know personally.

that being said when the pandemic hit it all started to crash down on me. Family illnesses, wife causing me major issues after being great for years and general unhappiness as well as a death in the family and a few friends dying from covid almost b

stoicism, friends and a few very religious ones who kept an eye on me and exercise and music saved me

i was definitely depressed. Like too many i denied it. I didnt want medication

i am fortunate i didnt crack but ive been close

I heard that it seems like a lot of my friends who got the education in the early twenties would have been better off taking online classes in the end that really helped me in that regard 40 is the new 20.

 

[Fruitbat]

Epictitus was a slave for most of his early life, and a cripple, yet also thrived later in life.

Stoicism is the closest thing to a complete practical philosophy ever created by man.

on the note of thriving later in life, Winston Churchill was lord of the admiralty in the First World War. His Gallipoli idea ended up failing and losing thousands of men. It was a huge mistake and ended him pretty much. He spent over a decade licking his wounds, depressed and defeated.

At age 65 he became wartime prime minister and is now considered the greatest Briton of all time. One of the greatest authors too.
His speeches galvanised an empire to fight to the death. One of his finest was in october 1940 when the majority of Britain was being bombed, close to starvation and he dropped this:

“Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

The rather rambling point I’m making here is that you’re never finished and never too old and to quote Walter white, get up and kick that bastard right in the teeth.

this is the attitude needed to defeat depression.

 

[Bible_Belt]

Stoicism is the closest thing to a complete practical philosophy ever created by man.

on the note of thriving later in life, Winston Churchill was lord of the admiralty in the First World War. His Gallipoli idea ended up failing and losing thousands of men. It was a huge mistake and ended him pretty much. He spent over a decade licking his wounds, depressed and defeated.

At age 65 he became wartime prime minister and is now considered the greatest Briton of all time. One of the greatest authors too.
His speeches galvanised an empire to fight to the death. One of his finest was in october 1940 when the majority of Britain was being bombed, close to starvation and he dropped this:

“Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

The rather rambling point I’m making here is that you’re never finished and never too old and to quote Walter white, get up and kick that bastard right in the teeth.

this is the attitude needed to defeat depression.

My ex wife's father flew a hawker typhoon for the RAF in treetop level strafing missions over France. He said there were fewer faces each morning at breakfast, guys that didn't make it back. He took a bullet in the neck, but flew home and landed safely, because he said they drilled it into them to not lose the plane.

Hitler never did understand why you Brits wouldn't just give up.

 

[Fruitbat]

My ex wife's father flew a hawker typhoon for the RAF in treetop level strafing missions over France. He said there were fewer faces each morning at breakfast, guys that didn't make it back. He took a bullet in the neck, but flew home and landed safely, because he said they drilled it into them to not lose the plane.

Hitler never did understand why you Brits wouldn't just give up.

Couldn’t have done it without you.

We showed the guts to hold on and we are thankful for the amazing industrial machine that is the United States to come to our aid. And of course the Russians, who gave their sons in vast numbers.

My grandad was on the Atlantic convoys and I think he has horrible memories of that.

Nothing sets me off like a Churchill speach. I get a genuine tear when I hear them.