Jimnotgym/Hacking_Depression

A list of things people are trying to help with their depression

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A list of things people are trying to help with their depression and energy levels.

This is a direct response to this question on Hacker News: View Original Posting Here

So I thought I would start a list (since there were two things on the front page of HN that day already). It always struck me that self-help can be really effective (when combined with medical advice) at mitigating some parts of depression for some people.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. If you have depression you should see a medical professional about it. Maybe you should ask them about the things on this list?

Please send pull requests with things to add or a revised order of things. Let's start it as a page on here and see how it goes. I have linked to Hacker News a lot, rather than the actual article as the discussions tend to be very instructive.

Table of Contents:

• Things people are trying to help with their depression
  • Mental techniques
  • Manipulate your circadian rhythms
  • Light therapy
  • Novel drug therapy
  • Talk about it
  • Look for a cause
  • Exercise
  • Other resources

Things people are trying to help with their depression

Mental techniques

1. Mindfulness https://www.mindful.org/the-mindful-way-through-depression-video/

2. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy http://cbtsanfrancisco.com/cbt-is-for-hackers/

Light therapy

1. Depression fighting lamps-not just for SAD https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10590068

2. Measuring the Spectral Characteristics of a Light Therapy Lamp https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16146932

3. DIY therapy light resources

• http://lukeskaff.com/diy-sunlight-simulator-light-therapy-full-spectrum/
• https://meaningness.com/metablog/sad-light-lumens/talk
• https://meaningness.com/metablog/sad-light-led-lux

Manipulate your circadian rhythms

1. By manipulating your sleep patterns

• Not sleeping https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16557500
• Regular sleeping http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/matters/consequences

2. Taking vitamin D https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16556732

3. Sleeping in the pitch dark https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16562599

Novel drug therapy

1. Ketamine https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16555757

2. Magic mushrooms

• https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11713000
• https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15469854
• https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16085048

3. Curry spices https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16225531

4. Vitamin D https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17001681

5. Nutrient therapy

• Article https://www.lewrockwell.com/2013/02/bill-sardi/weaning-away-from-psychiatric-drugs-finally-a-wayout/
• Book mentioned in article https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14603192-nutrient-power

Talk about it

1. By blogging http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/depression-part-two.html

2. By Blogging https://zachholman.com/posts/the-depression-thing

Look for a cause

1. Depression is a symptom https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11372377

2. Depression as a network http://slatestarcodex.com/2016/12/14/ssc-journal-club-mental-disorders-as-networks/

Exercise

1. How it may work

• https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8402229
• https://elifesciences.org/articles/15092

Other resources

1. Things that sometimes help if you are depressed http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/06/16/things-that-sometimes-help-if-youre-depressed/

2. Mental health on a budget http://slatestarcodex.com/2018/04/25/mental-health-on-a-budget/