Hello all, RellHaiser here. So yeah... I'm now 30. Depression has been a persistent problem for me for about 20 years now. I've found a few things that help, but I'm tired of just coping. Aside from the rather nebulous label of "depression", what are the actual problems I need to solve?
Problems
I'm very lonely (emotionally and physically). It's been 12 years since I've had a girlfriend. This loneliness is the single biggest ongoing factor in my depression.
My physical health isn't great. 2013 was a particularly bad year for me in many ways and by January 2014 I had become a type 2 diabetic. This was caused by stress, depression, and severe binge eating to cope with the depression. When I became diabetic my weight had peaked at 280 lbs. Between then and now my previous attempts to resolve or mitigate that disease mean I don't need any medication for it. No pills, no insulin needles, nothing. I have managed to lower my weight to ~215 lbs, which is still about 20 lbs overweight for me. Due to the nature of diabetes, much of that is belly fat.
I graduated high school back in 2006 and between then and now have not really ever had a good job situation. The one exception being a 20-month stint at an MSP in my city. But I live in Alberta and the crash in oil prices a few years back led to my lay off in October 2015. Whilst at that job I was making a lot of progress in my personal life, including with my depression and comorbid social anxiety. I have still not recovered from the effects of losing that job.
Without going into detail, I also discovered issues with another aspect of my physical and mental health, my sexual health. The sort of problems caused by overindulgence in pornography. Another coping mechanism.
I'm sick of living with my parents, BUT I don't want to deal with roommates either.
Due to the depression and associated anxiety, I still don't drive. I do have a learner's license, but that's it.
Solutions
I'm making a fresh attempt at a full 90 day NoFap reboot. My previous best attempt was 67 days. The one thing I need to watch for is that during such attempts I find that my feelings of loneliness become much worse, particularly on the emotional side.
I plan to start the Beginner Bodyweight workout from here again. I know from previous attempts that I need to ease myself into that, last time it took me a couple weeks before I could do all 3 sets.
I'm going back to school in a couple weeks. I'm currently halfway through a program called Network Engineering Technology. I managed Honours on both semesters in the first year of the program. Completing this should help with my future job security and quality.
I'm using a supplement called rhodiola rosea in a fairly big 500mg dose to help manage my depression. It is by no means perfect, but it works way better than any prescription anti-depressant I've been on, and without side effects. Unlike the prescription meds, the last of which I was on made me piss myself in my sleep, very embarrassing for a man in his late twenties.
Well, thanks for reading. I don't yet have solutions in mind for everything, but I'm doing my best.
