I've been having bits and pieces of this conversation with several people lately, and decided to draw together what I've found helpful into one place.
What this isn't: This isn't medical or other professional advice, or a replacement for any of that.
What this is: My experience, what I've seen of others' experience, reflections on that.
What it won't do: Give you your pre-depression life back. At least it hasn't done that for me. This is what I've learned so far about getting into a new life that feels worth living, but it's not the same as what came before, and I wouldn't know what to suggest might do that. It's about working within what you're stuck with.
The starting point: You're depressed. You lack energy. You lack motivation. You lack the ability to get pleasure from most things in life that should be pleasurable. You're probably tired, and may be sleeping a lot or a little but not getting good rest from it. You're getting into a lot of arguments online and/or off, and it's one of the few things that leaves you feeling actually alive for a little while. You hate where you are, but anything that might lead you out of it to something better seems impossible and in any event any real change seems like it would just mean the annihilation of your self in favor of some blank generic entity that isn't you at all. And the only way out of any of this seems down into worse.
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