Will you? Tell yourself that and you will. You acknowledge that you've gotten better. Take ownership of that and use it to keep going forwards instead of making fatalistic conclusions about yourself.
I have been trying to be level-headed here but now you're just making me angry.
I have tried to change my worldview. It works temporarily. I will go around shouting praises "Woohoo! I beat Depression!" And then it comes back, and it hurts twice as much, because I thought I beat it. So "thinking happy thoughts" or whatever the fuck you're thinking about, isn't going to cure shit, because when I have an episode or something, despite me thinking it would never come back because I beat it, it ends up making things worse, and any improvements I made are dissolved because I'm crushed that I relapsed.
So instead of thinking everything's happy-go-lucky, I instead realize that maybe Depression isn't fucking temporary. Maybe it's something I have to live with and manage continually. And once I realized that, my life has improved a fuckton. My type of Depression may not be everybody's, but likewise your's isn't everybody's either.
I still slip sometimes unless I have my life go 100% according to plan.
Then you've recognised a big part of the problem, and the solution is letting go of the need for things to be perfect all the time. Because that's never going to happen, and you have to learn to accept that and learn to navigate around that fact.
Some People with hypoglycemia will be fine because their diet just happens to be good for them. Other people will need to constantly monitor that shit to make sure they don't pass out. "Have you ever thought of just... Not let hypoglycemia rule your life?" is just... It's fucking shit.
By having a controlled diet, is that really letting Hypoglycemia rule your life? Fucking no. They live perfectly fine, maybe they just need an extra candy bar once in a while. Nobody should give a shit. Nobody should say "Oh, stop eating candy bars! Just pluck up and have the strength to pull through to the next meal! Accept that you can't always plan your meals!" That doesn't help anybody. Maybe they can make it through the next meal, but maybe they can't, and maybe they should just be safe do what they know works for them.
Likewise, I don't know how long you've been dealing with Depression, but I've been doing so for over ten years. Just because I'm constantly dealing with it doesn't mean it rules my life. It just means I have to constantly supervise it, and maybe eat a fucking candy bar once in a while. I'm not going to change up my routine, which currently works, when other routines have been proven to not work or at least not for long as this one does. No, life never goes according to plan 100% of the time. But the reason my life is doing as good as it is right now is BECAUSE I have a plan. I have accepted that Depression is going to creep around the corner whenever it feels like, so I have planned accordingly. And when you come in here and say "Oh it's so easy! You just need to roll with the punches!!"
The very fact I am alive at all is me rolling with the punches. I am not going to abandon the way my life has been scheduled, because this is what works. The Hypoglycemic isn't going to give up his candy bar because he needs to accept that not everyone should have a candy bar in between meals.
are really hurtful and invalidating.
because you're the only person who can fix it. Not me, not a shrink, not pills. Whether you find that message invalidating or empowering is entirely down to yourself, because many millions of people find it to be a very empowering one, and you can make that choice right now while reading this.
Figuring out you have a problem is THE FIRST STEP to getting help. Some people can just cut an addiction off cold turkey, but other people need programs and shoulders to lean on. When you say things like this, you're making everyone who's not strong enough feel like shit.
Some people ARE SIMPLY NOT STRONG ENOUGH. It's not bad to recognize this. Most people in a wheelchair aren't ever going to walk. No amount of "Just try harder!!" is going to make it happen. For a select, rare, few it might happen. But not for everybody. And posts like OP's and yours are going to drive people AWAY from treatment. You make it seem like therapy and shit is just a waste of time, that you can do it all yourself if you JUST TRY when really that is simply not true for a lot of people. Some people need therapy. Some people just want therapy so the process of healing themselves just isn't as fucking difficult. We shouldn't be shaming people for that, we should be happy that they recognized they were weak so actively hunted for someone to help them.
Depression doesn't make any fucking sense. You can be Depressed when you're poor, and you can be Depressed when you're rich. You can go on constant trips to find yourself and still be Depressed. Even if changing my world view would suddenly cure my depression, it's not like it's so easy to do anyway. You can't just go over to the list of switches and flip the "World view" one. Fuck if it was that simple I would've done it a longass time ago.
I'm sorry pills and therapy didn't work for you. I'm glad what you did helped. What you did didn't help me and pills and therapy DO work for me. We're different.
Never once did I try to say your way was shit. I have said MULTIPLE TIMES that your (and OP's) advice was good but it was just not presented appropriately.
Then that's good. But don't deceive yourself into thinking it's the end of the road and you're destined to be depressed forever, or it'll become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Nobody said otherwise. :)
Nobody's saying any of this is easy or that it's just something you can shake off and get over. But can you shake it off and get over it? Sure, but it might take years. But acknowledging every day that you, yourself, are responsible for getting yourself over it and not giving up? That definitely helps.
But you are presenting it like it is. You're presenting this "Just change your world view!" Like not only is it easy, but it's instantaneous and it's a cure. That's not how it works, and presenting it in that way is just harming Depressed people and driving them away from treatment because "It doesn't work."
I've learned new hobbies, I've traveled the world. I was trying to "find myself" and "change my view." I was still Depressed through the whole thing. I blew 7k on a country tour of Island of Ireland, learned a whole lot. Looking back, it was an amazing trip. But during the trip? I was bored out of my mind, thinking "Why am I not happy? Everything is beautiful and I'm supposed to be having fun." Posts like this just make it harder to bother trying again because the first time worked out so shittily.
Look at the other posts here. They all say much of the same thing, just a lot less angry and less wordy.
Anyway, this has made me supremely irrationally flustered. My jimmies have been far too rustled. So I'm not going to reply to any more posts here.