Ask HN: What non pharmacological means do you use to manage anxiety/depression?

[Essa]

Just to clarify. This does not exclude those who are also on medication.

In my case, I’ve been on antidepressants for about 2 years and have found the following helpful in mitigating my anxiety and depressive moods:

* Writing every day: It not only helps me identify and understand my triggers, but also provides a feeling (perhaps an illusion) of control that I feel is helpful.

* Cutting out caffeine: This helped cut down the jitteriness and sudden spikes of anxiety through the day. It also helped me sleep better, which also improved my mental well being in the long run.

* Regular exercise: Massively improves the quality of my mood.

* Sleep: Improving sleep quality and time

I’m curious to hear about what others here have found useful.

Thank you

[sentamalin]

Creating to-do lists (whether on paper or in an app) and checking things off of it helps me a ton, especially when I'm feeling the start of an episode.

Depression at its core, for me, has a feeling of a lack of control and helplessness over a situation--whether it's a real situation or a perceived one by my mind. By having a list and being able to do things on it, I gain a feeling of control that is out of my head and can be proved because I checked it off, marking it done.

A general item, for example, in the to-do list templates I have when I'm feeling the start of my episode is "Brushing My Teeth." It's horrendously mundane, but it's actionable, simple, and also necessary (to me). It might be a small thing, but getting that crossed off shows me, "Hey, I did something, I do have some control over my situation right now."

[blanche_]

Exposure to nature (dogs are very in getting you out of the house), also sun exposure to an extent.

Doing fun stuff and doing stuff that you're good at (especially when some other areas of your life suck at the time and you feel like a failure, yay dopamine).

CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) has been proven to work quite well for anxiety.

[billconan]

I have not yet been diagnosed with depression, but I have close friends who have been diagnosed. So based on what I saw from them, I know I kinda have some depression symptoms. For me, the hardest part is not being able to sleep sometimes. Vacation is the only way that is effective, but not practical.

The trigger for my depressive moods have always been the feeling of being abandoned or being left alone. It could be a breakup with a girl friend, or it could be close colleagues left for other companies, leaving me being the only person on the team. Or a graduation with me being the only one that have not found a job or being accepted by a grad school.

[onion2k]

Writing every day

Coding rather than writing for me, but this really helps. Ensuring I do something every day on a (non-work) code project helps me feel that I'm always moving forwards.

[alex_hitchins]

Read about Buddhism. Seriously, it helps me.