Quote (carteblanche @ Dec 22 2011 09:22pm)
how would you recommend curing depression, raising self esteem, and overall feeling better about myself? i've been down for years, so it's not a short term thing. for a few months i tried working out, got 8 hours of sleep, followed the meal plan you provided. i got two bunnies and i changed jobs. but these changes dont seem to help. lately i take melatonin and sleep 10-12 hours so i dont have to sit around feeling depressed. i'm thinking the next step is to get some anti depressants, but i hear it takes months before they start to work.
You must first find the cause of the depression.
I can NOT stress this part enough, you MUST see a good psychiatrist. It won't take just one or two sessions, but probably 8-12 sessions before you make SERIOUS progress. You have to open yourself up to the psychiatrist and be completely honest with both them and yourself. Don't fear judgement and don't worry about anything other than you getting better.
There is a root cause 99.9% of the time in depression cases. It is very rare to be a pure chemical/hormonal imbalance in young healthy males that directly causes depression.
Once you see a good psychiatrist, you will be able to make leaps and bounds in the right direction. I can't tell you exactly how to make yourself happy but I will say this - one of the most critical things to have in life is balance. That means a job, a family, a pet, a girlfriend, a good diet, exercise, some hobbies, relax time, plenty of sleep, and even some time to let loose and be crazy (within reason). You should try to find and appreciate what you do have in life, rather than what you don't have.
If you haven't heard the song "Life is Beautiful" by Sixx A.M. I would highly recommend it. The story in that song really wakens the senses to understand how important life is, and how it should not be lost to inward facing emotions such as depression and angst.
Good luck!