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I'm blown away by all the openness and good advice in this thread.

I've suffered through bouts of depression most of my life as well. Luckily, I learned a few things about how to deal with it in my younger years - not that I have always followed the process, but at least the tools are there.

Technical fields are very prone to bring out depression. We work long hours, spend a lot of time in isolation, and have little time to celebrate our own successes. Poor eating and lack of exercise add to the recipe of less than optimal mental health.

There are a few things you can do to help yourself avoid a bad mental state, and help others as well.

1. Have a good attitude. This Ted Talk is fantastic: https://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_be...

2. Be more social. Interact with people at work and outside of work. Include others in your day to day adventures.

3. Get more sun. It's spring time. Enjoy it.

4. Get exercise. It's crazy how quickly you can go from completely sedentary to running a 5k.

5. Get sleep. It's astounding how much of a difference regular sleep will make in your happiness, in your metabolism, and in your overall outlook.

6. Don't accept dangerous behaviors out of your peers. When you see someone working 100 hour weeks over and over again, make them stop. We all appreciate a solid work ethic. Don't take advantage of it. When you see a co-worker isolated due to workload, figure out ways to bring that person out of it.

7. Be a leader. Be healthy. Have balance. Show people what kind of a difference that lifestyle can make.

Depression is always best cared for by a professional, but not everyone is open to therapy. When you identify someone going through it, don't simply recommend seeing a doctor and move on. Be a friend.

>If I do this project and publish my web app, I will be happy. Or if I contribute x-lines to some OSS and get my name on the contributers list, I would be happy. It was sort of like preparing your bed but never actually sleeping in it.

That realization sounds a lot like the TED talk I saw recently from Shawn Achor. He likens it to always moving the goalposts on your own happiness. (FYI - you can get the same amount of info from this TED Talk as you can from his book. Not worth $7.)

http://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_bet...

⬐ sean_the_geek

Thanks for that link, bookmarked, will definately watch. I don't exactly remember where the analogy came from so could very well be from him.

I'd recommend The Happiness Advantage. Really changed my outlook on life for the positive.

Author also did a TED talk on the subject called "The Happy Secret To Better Work".

http://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_bet...

http://www.amazon.com/The-Happiness-Advantage-Principles-Per...

Yeah, not to judge a book by it's cover, but everything about "The Secret" screams new-agey superstitious bullshit (redundant?). Positive psychology does seem to have some common sense things going for it (ie, if you think something is impossible, it probably is, for you), but there are better books out there (cf "The Happiness Advantage" by Shawn Achor; he also did a TED talk that sums up some of the themes nicely: http://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_bet...)

⬐ thorie

Anyone here guilty of thinking they'll be happy (happier) after they've built a successful startup...?