Optical1,
Thank you for reaching out to us and sharing your story, we're happy to have you on the forums. I'm sorry to hear that your experience with depression has been a long and exhausting one. I can see how recurrent episodes would really be taking a toll on you.
I can guess that you might be across most of the coping strategies that I would usually suggest from my own lived experience, so I might try and give advice a little differently. I'll open it up to you:
What have you tried so far?
- I gather that you might've dabbled in different types of therapies as well as medication, given the indication in your post. What seems to have worked for you before, and what hasn't worked so well? What have you liked about certain therapies or techniques, and what haven't you liked?
- Are there any coping strategies that you use regularly/semi-regularly (eg: exercise, journaling, hobbies, socialising, meditation)? Which of these do you find help and which do not? What aspects of these activities do you like/not like?
- How do you go with completing small tasks during the day? Making your bed, cooking up a meal, showering, getting out of the house? What activities are more of a struggle for you and which ones come more easily, if any?
Often, there will be ways to feel better that you might not have considered or tried. Other times, it'll be a case of changing or elevating something that you already have in your repertoire of tools, or instilling in you greater confidence and strength to do so. If you have answers to any of these questions, I may be able to tailor my advice better. I know that from my own experience, my level of willingness to change and ability to change varied at different points, so this can be a good starting point when you're mapping out how you can start feeling better.
I hope this helps even a little bit, just to know that somebody's hearing you can sometimes be really meaningful. Please feel free to keep chatting if you'd like to, we're here to support you.
All the best, SB
