Help!! I don't feel like doing anything

[Mr. Scram]

Update on my vitamin D3 experience: It seems to be working, I started taking it in the mornings instead of tea time and I do feel a bit better. 

Of-course the sun is slowly getting stronger so that could explain it too.

Or it's the good ol' placebo effect. Not that's a problem. If it works, it works.

[james_s]

Sounds like you have an easy life - no wonder you're depressed.

Everything you do DOES return to net zero FOR YOU. Have you considered a new project - kids?

Please, no. Kids don't make life better. Kids make life harder. It's fine if you deliberately choose to have them, but don't have them to solve other problems. It's a recipe for disaster.

This.

Look, if a person really wants to have kids I'm not going to try to convince them not to, but I've seen people have kids to try to fix their broken life/marriage/relationship and it only makes things worse. If you want kids then by all means have them, but take care of yourself and reach a reasonable degree of stability and independence in your own life before you create new lives.

[theleakydiode]

Update on my vitamin D3 experience: It seems to be working, I started taking it in the mornings instead of tea time and I do feel a bit better. 

Of-course the sun is slowly getting stronger so that could explain it too.

Or it's the good ol' placebo effect. Not that's a problem. If it works, it works.

Well my levels were pretty low anyway so they can't be hurting anything, March is almost here and I can feel the sun getting more and more powerful each day.

[Kjelt]

Don't forget about the (lack of) blue-ish sunlight, there are special lamps for winterdepression with proven effect. I myself have less problems with getting out of bed in the winter now I have a bedclock that makes an increasing amount if light starting a half hour before the buzzer goes.

[langwadt]

Don't forget about the (lack of) blue-ish sunlight, there are special lamps for winterdepression with proven effect. I myself have less problems with getting out of bed in the winter now I have a bedclock that makes an increasing amount if light starting a half hour before the buzzer goes.

at one point I put up a big work light on a timer, hard enough to get up in the morning being pitch black out side doesn't help

[RandallMcRee]

Vitamin D is hardly a placebo. I have a prescription for it from my doctor! And I'm in sunny California.

Come on folks! Vitamins are real and have real effects!

Better living through chemistry. 

[Inverted18650]

Note: I have not read the comments, just the original post.

I am an disabled American vet who battles, among other issues, severe depression. I left active duty early in 2016 and have been bored out of my mind ever since. I went back to school to finish my EE degree (I started working on it years ago and in-between field problems/ deployments) because I always loved tinkering. Anyway, I have bouts like you described in your original post all the damn time. They can last a couple weeks and come on out of the blue. Granted, many of my issues are directly combat related, the treatment I receive is not unlike treatment that many other depressed people or, other normal citizens, receive from their 'head-docs'. It wasn't working and I had to find a way to make myself focus on the task at hand or to stay motivated enough to see a project through.

One of the things I tried:
In June of last year, I decided to film some of my projects and create a YT channel. It helped me a lot. I found the experience to be mostly positive. Otherwise boring projects had taken on a new perspective. I couldnt just blunder through the work, I had to communicate what I was doing and why to the camera. I could also choose to interact with the viewers and try and help them (those I can anyway) or not reply to comments at all. I could explore their ideas and topics which often lead me to a new an exciting project.

For instance:
Right now I am learning LabView and how to automate testing procedures for the Keithely 2000 DMM. Why?  Well, since used units are "affordable" now for hobbyist, I bought a few on eBay and because when I google "Labview with Keithley 2000" and clicked on the videos link, there were hardly any quality resources. So, once I get a better understanding of it all, I will film the videos and make a series about the topic to help other people, like me, who want to try something new but wouldn't know where to start...and I started the channel playing with recycled 18650 li-ion battery packs...quite a leap.

Note 2:If you are in a position where you cannot film the projects, you can pretend you are. Talk though the work and see if you think someone else would benefit from it. If the answer is yes, at least your mind stays busy while you are working, even though you can't actually share it. I talk to myself a lot anyway...

I still succumb to the desire to lay in bed and do nothing, but much less now than I used too. When I get that feeling, I try to remember that I believe information is the greatest resource we have. The desire to share what I have learned, hoping it may help just one person, goes along way for me. There are brilliant minds on this forum and its a real shame that when they die, they will take all their knowledge with them, because they never took the time to share it.

My two cents...hope you feel better and remember, the sun will come out tomorrow.

[Mr. Scram]

Vitamin D is hardly a placebo. I have a prescription for it from my doctor! And I'm in sunny California.

Come on folks! Vitamins are real and have real effects!

Better living through chemistry. 

A doctor prescribed drug is not only generally more potent than over the counter stuff, but also prescribed by an expert. The potential difference seems pretty obvious. A lamps burns kerosene with the aid of oxygen. A rocket engine burns kerosene with the aid of oxygen. Yet your lamp is not a rocket engine.

Mind you,  I'm not saying taking vitamin D can't work or doesn't work. It's just the self rapporting after self prescribing I'm wary of, regardless of who it is and what you take.

[steverino]

Let's not forget that vitamin deficiencies are real and can be measured via blood work.  I suffer from vitamin D deficiency and take supplements to correct.  Symptoms for me are hand tremors.  Vitamin D supplements corrected problem.

[Mr. Scram]

Let's not forget that vitamin deficiencies are real and can be measured via blood work.  I suffer from vitamin D deficiency and take supplements to correct.  Symptoms for me are hand tremors.  Vitamin D supplements corrected problem.

I don't think anyone said vitamin deficiencies aren't real.

[Zero999]

Vitamin D is hardly a placebo. I have a prescription for it from my doctor! And I'm in sunny California.

Come on folks! Vitamins are real and have real effects!

Better living through chemistry. 

A doctor prescribed drug is not only generally more potent than over the counter stuff, but also prescribed by an expert. The potential difference seems pretty obvious. A lamps burns kerosene with the aid of oxygen. A rocket engine burns kerosene with the aid of oxygen. Yet your lamp is not a rocket engine.

Mind you,  I'm not saying taking vitamin D can't work or doesn't work. It's just the self rapporting after self prescribing I'm wary of, regardless of who it is and what you take.

In this case, oerhaps taking vitamin D acted as a placebo, or maybe they really did have a deficiency and it wasn't a placebo?

You don't know without talking blood tests, so it's impossible to know by reading someone's posts on the Internet, whether it's placebo or real.

[Mr. Scram]

In this case, oerhaps taking vitamin D acted as a placebo, or maybe they really did have a deficiency and it wasn't a placebo?

You don't know without talking blood tests, so it's impossible to know by reading someone's posts on the Internet, whether it's placebo or real.

Exactly, you don't know.

[theleakydiode]

I was advised to take it by my GP after the usual routine checkup, and since we have the NHS they wouldn't give out this sort of thing if it didn't work.

[FrankE]

This can be a very solitary and consuming endeavour - IF you let it be.

Are you getting exercise, socialising, engaging with others, meeting MOTOS/SS/whatever? It's good to have a variety of activities on your plate, some regular, some spontaneous, some solitary, some with others, some gekky, some less so. If you have to juggle some all the better.Broadening experiences and horizons can help and scheduled activities can stop thing getting chaotic.
Changing one's daily activity schedule can help, eg playing uplifting music in the morning to help you out of bed and get you on your way.

Living with the 'rental units I've found can be very demotivating and it's often socially frowned upon, sometimes quite angrily so. I cared for my late dad who had a number of late and EOL health issues and couldn't have friends round, let alone women. The same for my late mum in her EOL.

You needn't do electronics on your own. There are hackspaces and makespaces all over.
I was at one for a year and a half and achieved naff all but it was fun.

[Zero999]

I was advised to take it by my GP after the usual routine checkup, and since we have the NHS they wouldn't give out this sort of thing if it didn't work.

It's quite likely the symptoms you had matched vitamin D deficiency so the doctor recommended it. If you have darker coloured skin then it's likely the doctor would routinely recommend taking vitamin D between November and March.

I also dispute the part about the NHS not giving out medications which won't help: doctors routinely prescribe antibiotics, to patents who won't benefit from them and will just suffer from side effects and increase antibiotic resistance.

[bd139]

Yes I’ve got a massive stockpile of antibiotics which I didn’t take! Tummy ache? Antibiotics! Dislocated shoulder. Antibiotics! Tinnitus? Antibiotics! I know when to take them and that is rarely if ever but I’m bloody well snagging them as I have a prescription fee exemption

[Mr. Scram]

I was advised to take it by my GP after the usual routine checkup, and since we have the NHS they wouldn't give out this sort of thing if it didn't work.

Why do people pretend I said vitamin D isn't useful? I'm not saying vitamins don't work or anything remotely similar. I'm just careful of what self medicating people report.

The fact that plenty of people are reporting that homoeopathy is working for them is enough reason to be careful of whatever people self report. Just to make sure nobody misunderstands me, I'm not comparing vitamins to homoeopathy.

[sony mavica]

this sounds like me kind of

theses day I can't really find anything I would enjoy doing or any places worth my time going too

I do have things l kind of enjoy doing but like after a little while I get board of it most of the time I'm just home on my computer but I do try and make myself get out of the house for a while I walk about 2km a day two get my nephew from school and i work 2 days a week other then that I'm mostly on my pc doing survys and other things like that on like to make money on a dozen different websites   
everything is just boring these days

[james_s]

The overuse of antibiotics is a serious problem that can and will affect all of us eventually. Many antibiotics that were effective in the past simply no longer work against the bacteria that are out there today and there is only so far we can go before we'll have to try a completely different approach. Everyone expects a pill but antibiotics should only be taken when there is strong reason to believe that a *bacterial* infection is likely.

[Mr. Scram]

The overuse of antibiotics is a serious problem that can and will affect all of us eventually. Many antibiotics that were effective in the past simply no longer work against the bacteria that are out there today and there is only so far we can go before we'll have to try a completely different approach. Everyone expects a pill but antibiotics should only be taken when there is strong reason to believe that a *bacterial* infection is likely.

In an increasing number of cases, antibiotics actively hurt the patient by wiping out good and necessary bacteria too. In some countries the use of antibiotics is completely off the rails. When we finally run out of working options we'll be back to a few hundred years ago, except that it's now a disaster of our own making. If we would have shown more restraint, we might never have run into issues.

It's not just human healthcare either. In some places livestock is preventively medicated with antibiotics, so more animals can be held in the same area. That's just flying too closely to the sun.

[FrankE]

Update on my vitamin D3 experience: It seems to be working, I started taking it in the mornings instead of tea time and I do feel a bit better. 

Of-course the sun is slowly getting stronger so that could explain it too.

A,D,E, and K are fat soluble  Bioavailability is improved by taking with a meal with fats. .

[bd139]

Bacon sandwich is recommended 

[Red Squirrel]

This may not be the place to talk about this, but I feel my story might help others who may not realize what they are going through.    I had previously posted in this thread saying I was kind of feeling the same way, and mentioned vitamin D.  Depression also got mentioned by others.  I kind of gave it some thought but brushed it off.   

Well for me anyway, it turns out it was depression slowly setting in.  A few days ago, I started to feel sad for no apartment reason.  Also completely lost motivation to do anything. At least with my ongoing lack of motivation I had SOME just not a lot.   2nd day was worse.  I was starting to wonder if something is really up.  I was in a really dark place.  Felt like nothing had meaning, nothing was fun or satisfying.  Not even simple things like watching TV or playing video games.  I wanted nothing.  I went to bed hoping it would just go away, but I felt anxious and butterflies in my stomach and that throat feeling when you're sad. By morning (Wednesday) I was considering checking myself in to the MHU.  It was bad.   My sense of purpose was just gone and I was just filled with unexplainable sadness and grief.  I called my mom, I just had to talk to someone.  I told her how I felt, and that I think I'm having a depression.  We talked for a while and she helped me feel better, and she told me I should just go for a walk.  Yeah it's cold out, but just do it. 

Long story short because I've become complacent with my job, and love my night shifts, and generally love going to bed late and sleeping in, it just caught up with me.  I never get sun light, and don't socialize much. Always just doing the same thing over and over.   So I went for that walk, then my mom came to visit me for a while, and then I went for another walk.   When I got back from the walk I did a few things around the house that needed to be done.  I then went to visit my mom and my dad was now done work and stayed over with them for a while.  At some point I started to feel better but it was up and down. I was debating on even just sleeping over to my parents' as they offered, but I wanted to try to power through this so went home, took two tylenols and slept well. 

Also, Vitamin D tablets don't replace the vitamin D you get from the sun.  They will help for things like bone and dental health so it's still good to take them, but they don't help with the mental aspect.  So for anyone feeling this way, your first step is to really try to get some sun every day.  For a red head like me, I don't even need that long, like 15 minutes maybe? (there's not really any 100% answer as it depends on lot of factors like latitude and atmospheric conditions) But try to get more.   Myself I will make it a case to go for a walk around the block every day.  Who cares if it's freezing, once you start it's not that bad.    I also need to stop going to bed so late on my days off because I end up getting late and miss out on day light.  Need to do things out of the house, and go visit people more, like my grandparents and parents. And friends.   And if I don't do any plans I need to at least set goals for each day so I accomplish something rewarding.  Need to try to do more than just be on the computer.

You do not want to fall in the dark place I fell in recently.  Honestly if I had been in that place for any longer I think I would have started to feel suicidal.  I really feel bad for anyone that has to suffer this chronically, especially those who do so in silence.  The best thing to do is to talk to someone, whether it's family, friends, or a counselor.   I have a Dr. appointment next week, just for a general checkup as I had been wanting to take better care of my health even before this hit, but I will mention this incident to my doctor too.  I feel good now that I talked to my parents but I can't just ignore it and continue living the same life.  Need to shake some things up.   One thing I did do is decide to not work as many night shifts, going to ask to just be put back on normal rotation.  I worked lot of nights since I enjoyed them, not realizing it was messing with my health.   What I got is most likely Seasonal Affective Disorder.  Google that and see if you hit all the checkboxes, because I do, or at least did.  Now I know what I need to fix it and sunlight and socializing is the two main things. 

I just thought I would share my experience with depression.  I think it may help a people here who may not realize they are suffering it, we are all geeks who probably spend too much time indoors, and always working our brains.  Sometimes you need to shut down and just go for a walk outside no matter how cold it is.  Winter is the worse time for this because you don't really want to spend more time outside than you  have to and there is a very short window of opportunity to get day light.   

[TerraHertz]

Also, Vitamin D tablets don't replace the vitamin D you get from the sun.  They will help for things like bone and dental health so it's still good to take them, but they don't help with the mental aspect.

I'm glad to hear you were able to pull out of that. Of all the troubles I've ever had, depression is the worst. Hardest to deal with too, because you don't feel like even trying.

One point. Vitamin D3 in capsules is the same as your body produces via sunlight in the skin. And it has the same effect on mental state as from sunlight exposure.
But, when you are outdoors, getting exercise and social contact, those are additional strong benefits. Things that are also essential to well being. Just taking D3 in capsules doesn't give you those, so it's easy to conclude it 'isn't working.'

One other point. Any time you take antibiotics (which kill the normal gut bacterial population, essential for health), one should wait a few days after completing the course (till the antibiotics are all gone), then take a series of those live bacteria fermented milk drinks. Here in Oz one brand is called Yakult. But they all do the trick. Re-establish your gut bacteria in a healthy form. If you don't you risk ending up with 'wrong kind', and that can be bad too.

[Red Squirrel]

Good to know the tablets do help for that.  Always had the impression they didn't.   Been taking them a lot.  I'm kind of on a rollercoaster right now. Been up and down.   I just hope this is a one time episode and that it does not become chronic.