Ask HN: What should I do if I feel depressed in my job?

Re:Ask HN: What should I do if I feel depressed in my job? by the_economist on Tuesday March 10, 2015 @05:58PM (#9180947)

The following things are proven to make you happier (and smarter!). I try to do all of them.

1) Exercise for at least 60 minutes/day. I recommend getting a pedometer and walking 12,000 steps/day, plus working out with weights 2-4 times/week 2) Gratitude -- try to spend time every day thinking about the things you are grateful for 3) Meditation -- 10 minutes/day. It works. Studies prove it! 4) Relationship with the sun -- try to get outside at noon every day 5) Eat an anti inflammatory diet. Inflammation is heavily correlated with depression. 6) Try to do something nice for at least one person every day. 7) Research sleep quality and follow all the best practices. 8) Take a Vitamin D supplement, just in case :)

If you do all those things, you'll probably find yourself a lot happier at your job!

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: What should I do if I feel depressed in my job? by lolo_ on Tuesday March 10, 2015 @06:30PM (#9181179)

While all of these points are great advice, I think it's important to check whether this is something deeper.

In my experience with serious depression, advice like this actually doesn't work, there was a period I was doing all of these things only to find it did nothing, which was disheartening to say the least.

So by all means do this, but if things persist, speak to your doctor!

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: What should I do if I feel depressed in my job? by griffinmahon on Tuesday March 10, 2015 @06:00PM (#9180960)

I know that diet is important, but could you specify about "anti-inflammatory"? Just interested, thanks!

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: What should I do if I feel depressed in my job? by mendelevium on Tuesday March 10, 2015 @08:41PM (#9181812)

Inflammation is linked to depression http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/288715.php

14 Foods That Fight Inflammation http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20705881,00.html

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: What should I do if I feel depressed in my job? by fru2013 on Tuesday March 10, 2015 @06:25PM (#9181143)

9) Take a shower every day.

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2rgsan/i_am_elon_musk...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: What should I do if I feel depressed in my job? by DanBC on Tuesday March 10, 2015 @06:45PM (#9181275)

> The following things are proven to make you happier

> exercise

There is only weak evidence of the psychological benefit of exercise.

Exercise is useful for other reasons, but please don't use words like "proven" when talking about fixing low mood.

[ Parent | on HN ]

[dead]

Re:Ask HN: What should I do if I feel depressed in my job? by DanBC on Tuesday March 10, 2015 @07:39PM (#9181539)

There have been some studies testing exercise for depression -- they compare exercise against no treatment or exercise against treatment.

When you only include well run studies you find minimal benefit for exercise vs no treatment -- it's a little bit better than not doing anything. There's no reason to expect this would be different for exercise vs treatment -- when you use good quality trials you will probably see very little benefit, and the benefit of actually getting a real fucking treatment is probably going to be better.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD004366...

Here's the authors extract for clarity:

> Exercise is moderately more effective than a control intervention for reducing symptoms of depression, but analysis of methodologically robust trials only shows a smaller effect in favour of exercise. When compared to psychological or pharmacological therapies, exercise appears to be no more effective, though this conclusion is based on a few small trials.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: What should I do if I feel depressed in my job? by gabamnml on Tuesday March 10, 2015 @06:10PM (#9181032)

I think the most important part is to exercise. The body releases endorphins which are the ones responsible to make humans happier.

[ Parent | on HN ]