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How do you get through depression?

TimKT9

TimKT9

Bluelighter
Joined
May 25, 2013
Messages
103
I've been a moderate to heavy opiate user for about 5 years now, sometimes for months at a time, years, or weeks. Pretty much I've been either high or withdrawling for almost all of that time. I have made it 2-3 months At a time without any opiates, but I always succumb to depression a few weeks/months after stopping, and resort back to pills to deal with it. What are some good ways to deal with this crippling depression without taking anymore drugs? Because I am determined not to enter that viscous cycle again
 
Eat good, exercise for the natural high and good feeling, fill your time with activities now that your not using, I go for multiple walks with my dog a day make sure you enjoy things you didn't before.

I use natural supplements to help with mood, st johns wort helps a lot.

So main point is keep your mind off drugs, thinking about the depression just makes it worse.
 
^ everything he said. but id recommend finding a hobby. I'm serious though if you can find something you love to do and are passionate about that thing it will save you. for me I have surfing which keeps me sane, gives me some joy in my life, and (usually) keeps me off dope.
 
Find something to occupy your mind. For me there are always chores or something I can do to keep myself from focusing on my depression. Physical activities work best I think. Usually being productive or completing tasks helps me to feel good about myself.
Reading, writing, spending time with dogs, exercising, meditating, walking, cleaning my fish tanks, doing laundry, music...these are some of the things that help me deal with my own sadness and not dwell.
 
In every situation and moment we choose how it is. Chemicals and neurotransmitters affect our thought, but its a intertwined relationship.. so our thoughts determine the chemical makeup of our mind.

Drugs do not change the world.. they just alter our perception of it. But our thoughts determine perception and we control them.

The way we experience life is determined by how we choose to perceive it. Our perception is based off of our thoughts. We control our thoughts. In the end we choose how it is.

We have little if any control over what is thrown our way.. wanna make God laugh, make a plan. What we have total control over is how we look at and think about what is thrown at us.

We really do choose.. the next time you find yourself making yourself miserable.. take a step back and say "how am i looking at this in a way thats making me miserable."

I dont know about you, but i have caused enough misery for myself.. im done with it.. totally over making myself nuts and totally unhappy.

At first glance this may seem like insanity, but really living in our own imposed hell is the real insanity.

Change the way you look at and think about the world and your world changes. Trueth.
 
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Sex lots of it, in the amounts a therapist would say you cant fill the empty void with...and then some more just to be sure
 
Great advice neversickanymore. Are thoughts truly do create our realities. It is not easy looking at things in a positive way when you are feeling really down, but realizing that there is an entire world going on outside of our own lives helps me to see how truly insignificant my problems actually are.
 
Cosmic Giraffe said:
Great advice neversickanymore.
Click to expand...

Hey thanks:)


Another huge weapon against addiction is aerobic exercise. I really cant state how much regular exercise has helped me and others heal from addiction and live a peaceful and enjoyable life with little or no anxiety, stress, or depression.

Exercise and Brain Neurotransmission
Neurobiology of Exercise
Exercise 4 Health, Mental Health, and Addiction vs. The Endorphin Factory
Exercise 4 Health, Mental Health, and Addiction vs. I worked all that out
exercise and sleep

it is a powerful thing to keep our thoughts possitive and here are some threads many of us use to help us do this.
Managing depressive thinking
Good things about being off drugs/getting sober
Share Something Positive from Your Day vs. It's All Around You
Today I Am Thankful For... Ver. 4 Infinite Chances in an Amazing World

Here is the mindfulness thread.
 
I agree with finding something you're passionate about. Drugs fill a HUGE void in our lives. When we quit, that void can come back, so you need something to fill it. Something that means something to you. Like someone said above, surfing, or writing, or meeting someone special, or - something -. IMO you cant expect to quit dope and then just go to work, come home, watch tv, go to bed, get up and repeat, and not feel drugs calling to you really bad. You have to fill that void with something. But try not to stress about it, try to look at it as a fun process, exploring and finding out what makes you happy and passionate in life. And if one thing doesnt work, dont give up and go back to drugs - just try something else, because drugs are just a temporary escape. You're going to have to sober up sometime, and that void is still going to be there, so better to deal with it now and get it out of the way.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I know of the main things that help, like exercise, eating right etc. Sex deff helps too lol but I've just been trying to find like a hobby or something to keep my mind occupied
 
my only advice is exercise...thats the only thing that helped me...the fatigue, depression, anhedonia that results from opiate addiction is brutal though..
 
BlueSaffron said:
I agree with finding something you're passionate about. Drugs fill a HUGE void in our lives. When we quit, that void can come back, so you need something to fill it. Something that means something to you. Like someone said above, surfing, or writing, or meeting someone special, or - something -. IMO you cant expect to quit dope and then just go to work, come home, watch tv, go to bed, get up and repeat, and not feel drugs calling to you really bad. You have to fill that void with something. But try not to stress about it, try to look at it as a fun process, exploring and finding out what makes you happy and passionate in life. And if one thing doesnt work, dont give up and go back to drugs - just try something else, because drugs are just a temporary escape. You're going to have to sober up sometime, and that void is still going to be there, so better to deal with it now and get it out of the way.
Click to expand...

yep, great point..when i have quit drugs in the past i never realized how much time i spent pursuing and taking drugs and the just enjoying the high..i mean, a very large part of my life was just drugs and worse yet, u have to fill that time with something else...u also have to change friends which is difficult..
 
There are a few things that will help you with paws... as stated exorcise is by far the biggest one. Sometimes you probably feel too tired to do any of that so just get some music you LOVE on your headphones and walk around. If you get inspired by the song and the beauty of being alive maybe jog a bit.

Just push yourself to break out of the depressing cycle. Go to a meeting and meet uplifting people! Social interaction is HUGE in our happiness.

Also consider Wellbutrin. It's a different type of anti depressant that works on your dopamine receptors and most recovering addicts find it HUGELY helpful.

If you're tired all the time lay off the caffine except from like green tea or yerba matte' because it's hard on your adrenal glands and they've already been thoroughly fucked from opiates. Get a adrenal support supplement and ashwaganda. KEY

so : 1.Exorcise 2. Socialize 3. Check out meds 4. adrenal help

eat right and most importantly change the way you look at things. always see the beauty, the blessings, the best of everything. Spend time thinking about what your mind is rattling on about non stop while you're not paying much attention to it. Is it fear? cravings? Planning some shit or is it thankfulness for getting this far, planning your new life, glad you don't have to wait around for shit anymore etc.

Good luck!
 
The gym and excercise is number one for me. After that staying busy making music (my main hobby.) Listening to music.
 
Welcome to BL Lux!

Have you explored TDS? They have a great suicide support thread in there. Might be worth checking out. Or you can create your own thread in TDS. They have a lot more experience with this than we do in SL.
 
First I just want to give a shout-out to how awesome NSA's post from 2015 is (the one a few lines above, with a bunch of links in it). Damn, there's a lot of good material in there. Thanks as ever, NSA, for your contributions to SL!

One other thing that I've found important is how we think about our capacity for change. When depression really has me, it's all but impossible for me to see past how things appear in the here-and-now; I see how fucked everything is (or how fucked I think it is), and the depression makes it seem like a different outlook, a different aligning of the stars, is totally out of reach. Personally, I have to work every day to remember that I *can* make changes to my life. It's something I have to practice at--cultivating change where I feel I need it.

I've never felt as bad as I did last summer when I was completely strung out on heroin, failing at my job, lying to my family, and generally hating the world. I'm still digging my way out. But A) my life is a lot different now, and B) the farther I get from that headspace, the easier it is to realize that how things are now says very little about how things will be later.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that we can make our lives exactly as we want them. The world has other plans for us. But the inertia of depression and gloom is not absolute. Something better is always possible.
 
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