Desperately depressed. Has anything “woo” helped you?

[Chihowhow]

I have been depressed for years. I take 200mg Sertraline, ashwaganda, I have a flow headset, I try to stick to a Mediterranean diet, I do yoga when I can, i journal, I do mindfulness, I do gratitude journaling, I try to live in the moment, and I have two children and a dog. And I am still so depressed that even showering is the absolute limit. My house is a shit show. I can barely leave the house without having an anxiety attack. I am only allowed to drink every third day or I would be a full blown alcoholic. I just can’t beat this thing. I need advice and help desperately. Does anyone have any advice? Xx

Have you tried Wim Hoff yet? There's a free app to get you into cold showers. They do make you feel alive!

I need to try Wim Hoff. I've tried cold showers and after feel amazing but take too long to get in before as scared of facing the cold 😂😂 but should woman up really as after feel great!

On the mainstream woo side, meditation!
My life is so much better when I meditate every day for 20 minutes.
Just stick a noise (white noise or something) on YouTube and listen to it. When you start thinking about other stuff, let it go and focus on the sound again. Keep doing that. Commit to at least 2 weeks, it takes time to learn what you’re doing and to feel any benefit.
I spend more of my time in some sort of natural mindfulness, rather than constantly overthinking. I found mindfulness really frustrating before, but it’s come naturally as a side effect of meditation.

Apparently it’s much easier if you start the shower warm and turn the temp down while you’re in it.

The things that make me happy are massage, tarot readings, swimming and reading. I have no idea if these might help you. I've also had a sound bath and I really enjoyed it. But these are little things and I think you definitely need a change in medication. It would be very risky to take magic mushrooms if you're feeling depressed. They could really bring up trauma.

Didn’t know frankincense could help lift mood. I’m currently heading to Oman, land of frankincense. Will pick some up.

EFT Tapping meditation and exercise, even just ten mins I'd feel better. Currently got a weighted hula hoop which I do along to trance / house tracks. Really lifts me.

Running when not injured. Uplifting books and films. Avoiding the news too, I just got too caught up it, Also on Setraline, moved up from 50 to 100 mg.

I hope you find something for you,

I highly recommend conscious connected Breathwork. It's a breathing style that is like a psychedelic but without the drugs. It's been so life changing for me to deal with past trauma. I started doing 30 minute free weekly online Breathwork with www.makesomebreathingspace.com and it's been fantastic. A really lovely community of people going through similar things.

And definitely take vit b complex and magnesium supplements. I also take iron and Vit D spray

Hi OP
I've had a lot of good help with "woo". It helps access deeper layers that are unconscious and not necessarily originating from you. I really appreciated reading everyone's suggestions and got a lot out of them too. Just follow your instincts. For me what I am learning is that love of self and life is most powerful. Believe me it is easier said than done. I am 47 and I've literally just had that clarification today. I've been in a very hard place and seemed like my life as crushing in on me. The "woo" I've been doing has lifted very deep patterns and programming significantly. I still have a long ways to go but I'm more and more having faith I'm going in the right direction. So don't ever give up. Find what you used to enjoy and reunite with it. If you're not sure try something new. And yes, exercise is medicine. Gets you in your body and out of your head. Brings up your Yang energy and that keeps depression at bay. I feel for you OP. I'm a single mom with a toddler and I know what it's like to not function and feel so sad and guilty for it. I know you can do it. It's not going to always be perfect but keep going. You'll see how strong you've become. We can both do it. ❤️

Finding out the root cause of the depression and working through it emotionally, particularly if it is trauma based.

I’m sorry you are going through this. It sounds really hard. I noticed you mention that you are not ‘allowed’ to drink more than every 3 days and it stood out to me because people often do this when they have identified that alcohol is the problem and aren’t quite ready to give it up. Alcohol is known to make existing mental health challenges more difficult to manage. Your depression sounds quite severe, so even drinking a few times a week is likely to be having some impact. Have you considered a break from alcohol completely? This could be a 30 day challenge or a longer challenge like 100 days. This Naked Mind by Annie Grace and Quit Like a Woman by Holly Whitaker are two books that really helped me.

I have been where you are myself. This time 18 months ago I was in the depths of a very deep depression and could barely leave the house due to panic attacks. It took 6 months of stopping and starting before something clicked and I was able to stop. I will never drink again. Quit Like a Woman and the Reframe app were very helpful for me.

I have also made use of the following tools in my sobriety to help me manage my anxiety and depression: Meditation and body scans, magnesium supplements, relaxing essential oils at bedtime, a very good bedtime winding down routine, an anti inflammatory diet (paleo has been very good for me), gratitude journaling, walking in nature, limiting my exposure to negative news and social media, regular exercise and hypnosis.

I’ve not got depression but have been going through a prolonged period of stress / trauma and I’m prone to ruminating and catastrophising

Ive tried quite a lot of things and these are what I’ve had success with:

Sleep Magic - hypnosis by Jessica Porter, available free through podcasts or audible. I listen to one of her sessions every night for 18 months and through that I sleep well 99% of the time.

CBD drinks. Expensive, but I drink these instead of alcohol (which I gave up because it made me feel worse the next day). I mostly drink them from a wine glass in the evening but occasionally I’ll glug one in the day!

Gratitude - This lifted my mood and made me feel positive whereas journaling did nothing for me. I learned that the important thing about doing gratitude was to be sincere so some days this took me to dig very deep! Five things a day was hard but part of the process was that it forced me really hard to dig out positives, meaning that if it took me an hour to think of five things for that day, it was one full hour without having negativity dominate my thoughts.

I hope you find something that works. To want to help yourself shows you have determination, that’s an amazing character trait to have. Good luck.

@Magnoliainbloom I lived in the ME for a few years and it does make you think about the use of incense - frankincense reminds me of Coptic churches.

One thing I really want to do but have completely failed at is mindfulness & meditation. I really need to to give it another go I just can't seem to crack it. But OP - lots of research showing it is very effective.

And alcohol is my nemesis. I'm trying to cut back - it can be so hard to fight your own brain....

Dancing. Put some music on and dance round the lounge. Music is a great mood booster.

Would you be able to share the names of your therapists Mojitomogul?

Ask for a review of your meds.
Unfortunately the only things that work for me are exercise..starting with walks and building up to the gym as when I start to spiral and fall into it, the gym disappears and it becomes a vicious circle. I actually really hate the gym and running but it's the only thing that works to manage my mental health. I don't take meds but that's a personal choice. The other thing for me is therapy and consistently challenging my own thoughts to keep the work going between sessions.

Trued therapy?

Oh this is a zombie thread

Sorry for resurrecting the zombie thread - I'm zonked out with pain meds as my username describes...

Can I ask how else you can use frankincense if not in an essential oil burner? I have a cat and they can be very sensitive to aromas/essential oils.

Cut the alcohol completely. Blitzing the house top to bottom makes me feel so much better.. if it’s untidy I feel low and unmotivated. I listen to music or podcasts while out to ease anxiety.

So cleaning and zoning out to sounds or even YouTube videos helps me.

Try multivitamins, extra Vit D, probiotics and omega 3 daily along with loads of water. Can you start a new hobby?

Vit D loading dose from GP (get a blood test to find your level)
Decluttering using A Slob Comes Clean (non judgemental decluttering
Stop trying to "fix" yourself. You are you, nobody else, and worthy of compassion not criticism.

Journalling etc may be putting additional pressure on yourself