[Serious]Redditors who have successfully beaten depression, how did you do it?

In college, terrible things happened, dropped out, living at home. Every day was spent sitting on my couch all day and then migrating to my bed to lie down awake for several hours, then sleeping in the next day. I ate all unhealthy food, and was sedentary as can be. I had seen a therapist about depressive episodes previously, but after hearing my mother worry about the cost of the therapy I faked my way out because I felt so guilty.

Due to various factors, it eventually got to a point where I needed to get job. I did, and dedicated myself entirely to my work for maybe 4-5 months. I worked as much overtime as possible every week, and literally did nothing but eat, sleep, and work.

My intense focus on work, the rigid schedule I was on, the physical activity necessitated by my job, and the lack of free time to think about my problems or re-connect with any of the people I associated with "the bad times" led to me becoming a functional being once more. When my schedule slowed down and I couldn't get overtime, I realized that I had energy, willpower, and desire to actually live my life. I got my act together, enrolling in community college to raise my GPA and getting my diet straight and forming an exercise program to get into shape.

I definitely wouldn't recommend this for everyone because it sucked, and I still felt like I was rotting inside for the first two months (and of course you can't always just find a job if you're unemployed with no experience). But being forced to be busy, all the time, and coming home exhausted every night were the dropkick I needed to get out of that headspace.

Coming out of it, it was really weird suddenly realizing that I felt human again. By the time I got the job, a lot of time had passed since everything had gone down, but I had never detached myself from my problems and was mired down in self-pity and self-doubt. I believe seeing a good therapist would have gotten me through these issues a lot faster and with less suffering. Things aren't perfect for me now by any means, but I am far from the pathetic, depressed blob that couldn't even bear to change out of PJs or have the lights on in my room.

OP, I hope things improve for you. Best of luck.

/r/AskReddit Thread