Ask HN: People with depression, have your depression increased lately (Covid)? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: People with depression, have your depression increased lately (Covid)?

16 pointstuyguntn9 comments

Since I started working at home I feel like my depression level is coming back to higher points, I am worried if I am doing something wrong or quarantine is affecting everyone in similar ways?

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In the first few weeks of working from home, my depression definitely got significantly worse. I'm pretty sure that, perversely, I enjoy my job because of the high levels of stress and anxiety (teaching) that normally distract from deeper-seated unhappiness. By removing all the distracting stimulus from my day-to-day, my mental health fell off a cliff fast.

In recent weeks I've mellowed out into a new normal. Have you heard about the idea of the hedonic treadmill? It's the idea that being happy is a temporary response to a positive change in your life and eventually your emotional state returns to normal, even if your life continues being great. I'm beginning to think it works the other way too: I've returned to my not-so-great emotional baseline, even though my quality of life is objectively worse.

I'm sure others will chime in here with what strategies have worked well for them but I thought I would add this observation because it surprised me and is perhaps counter intuitive. All the best getting through this.

Default is happy. The rest we learned on the way.

https://samharris.org/podcast/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTrrRoBZSpg

P.S. Obviously get out and travel doesn't work well those days... There must be better days soon!

Yes working from home is wearing me down too. Reasons:

- Video conferencing is boring and detached

- Constant bad news being advertised in all forms of media

- The terms "social distancing" and "self isolation" are depressing

- Weather is miserable

What helps me is; good food, exercise, cuddling pets and family.

Yes. I am feeling lonely and depression is causing me more daily distress than pre-COVID19. I moved to a new city three years ago but have struggled to make any meaningful friendships. Without the small talk and board game nights from my workplace, loneliness consumes a lot of my mental space in these days.

Edit: In fact, this is my first HN comment. As a long-time lurker I thought maybe participating might alleviate some of these negative feelings.

First few weeks were an improvement - no commute, lucky enough to still have a job, no pressure to meet people, plenty of time to chill out, read, exercise etc. Then it starts to wear off - the days get way too repetitive, boredom increases, motivation to do anything at all disappears and you realise that being forced into minor social interactions is pretty good for you.

Yes it affected first few weeks. I was struggling to get a proper schedule. Also there was no proper desk setup. Infact I took 3days off to feel better and spend some me time.

Now I am performing better and feeling better too. I have proper schedule of day. I use my commute time as metime to meditate or read something uplift my mood. Thanks to good weather too

I'm in the same boat. I was already fraying at the edges before this all started, but this past month has been brutal.

It was until I realized I actually enjoy my current life a lot better:

- no commute, I haven't used an alarm clock in months

- I don't have to deal with stupid office chit chat

- I spend a lot of time with my wife

- I do yoga

- I've been studying a lot more

Mines gotten a fair bit better. I'm spending a lot more quality time with my s/o, and work has gotten a lot less stressful. I'd love it if my city stayed this quiet.

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