Fighting Depression - Using Facebook - Part 1

This is part 1 of a series of posts I intend to write on depression and related topics. Having suffered from a chronic state of depression for almost 10 years now, I've always wanted to document my erratic mood changes and mind-upheavals in a journal of some kind.

After seeking counseling with my psychologist for the last 3 years now (I still do), I have slowly been able to unravel the limits of my emotional range. I have made some progress in understanding what triggers it, the life-cycle of the depressed state, how often it happens and if the weather's got anything to do with it :)

It would be foolhardy to unburden 10 years of a silent mental struggle in one single post. So I thought I would write a little about my past and a little about my present condition in each post.. and hopefully over time, I will have documented most of the last 10 years and the present.


(Above, I found this interesting school project video made on depression ..thought it was shot beautifully and was very sensitive too).


The last few weeks in particular has been like sailing in tempestuous waters. Sometimes, three days straight I will show up at school and work, perform extraordinarily and be highly efficient. I will be at work on time .. finish project deadlines way ahead of time .. go out of the way to learn more and do more ... Things couldn't get more satisfying.

Then the crash comes. Its like panic selling at the NYSE. I miss a day at work(maybe I overslept). Then the next few appointments go up in smoke. Very soon I realize I haven't left home in 2 days .. I'm stuck in a dark dingy corner in my room surfing the net incessantly without a purpose .. and by the 3rd day, I know I have just reversed the previous "3 awesome days of productivity". Then the phone goes off because I become reclusive .. I don't want to talk to anybody or listen to anybody .. And you know the rest.

I have spent the last couple of weeks in a similar state. My mood changes ranged from intermittently buoyant to outright gloominess .. so I decided on an experiment. Using Facebook.

I pushed myself to resume my personal blog (this one) and start expressing my opinions on current issues (once again). I go on Facebook, ping back old friends, return messages .. accept friend invitations .. and soon I have messages back and forth from my friends .. things slowly start looking better.

I start posting my blog on Facebook as well and invite friends to read it. People leave comments .. tell me if they like it or disagree. I start feeling confident and finally find the temperament to leave the house and enjoy the summer sunshine.

So bottom line : Get out of the house ! I remember reading a research article where a study showed it helps to fight depression just by simply leaving your room/house and going outside .. and also by just showing up at work.

Hope I haven't bored people to death with my travails. Maybe my next post I'll write about how successful the process has been .. and when I first started feeling depressed for long stretches of time together at 15.

Till then,
Keep your spirits up !