[eivarv]

Seek professional help.

Threads like these are typically filled with unverified claims, anecdotes, well-meaning tips and what others think helped them or someone they know in what they believe are similar circumstances.

Some people aren't diagnosed, but make their own assumptions. Others don't differentiate between a mood (sadness) and pathology (clinical depression).

TLDR: There are too many variables, unknowns and right-sounding wrongs out there. A professional third party is better suited to interpret your situation than anyone else - including yourself.

[ackfoo]

You did not understand the question. OP requested a "hack", which is, by definition, an unverified claim, anecdote, well-meaning tip etc.

And anyway, your absolute faith in professionals is unwarranted.

Psychiatry and psychology remain largely unsupported by good science. There is no verified and widely-accepted predictive model of overall brain function.

Many therapists operate entirely on personal bias and superstition; at least one major university touts their M.Div. program as a preferred gateway to clinical psychology.

The evidence in support of pharmacological treatment is polluted by the fact that almost all large-scale clinical studies of psychoactive drugs are underwritten by those who intend to profit from them. Double-blinding is not an absolute guarantee against manipulation if you fund multiple studies and simply drop the results you don't like.

Truly endogenous depression, meaning that which has no legitimate external factors underlying it, may be a mythical beast. All the drugs and therapy in the world will not resolve a bad situation, particularly when that bad situation happens to be a social norm like working at a meaningless job.

SSRIs may get you functional again, but is that really a positive outcome when all they are doing is revving you up to feel good about wasting your life as a corporate cog? Stimulating you to participate gamely in the destruction of the planet through mindless consumption? Convincing you to squeeze out more little consumers to propagate the system?

Evolution has not prepared animals to live in zoos; they often develop symptoms analogous to human depression. Neither has it prepared us to sit around all day in offices doing shit jobs for the primary enrichment of those at the top.

Here's my hack: if you find yourself depressed, have a look at your situation. It probably sucks. Get up, walk out, don't come back. But realize that you cannot easily escape our shitty system that constrains you to participate in economic slavery in order to afford basic shelter and minimal health care. Good luck.

[eivarv]

My point is that there may not be an obvious hack for complicated issues like depression.

I don’t have absolute faith in professionals; Don’t know what gave you that idea. I’m saying they’re better than the alternatives, and that expertise is worth something.

I agree with some of your criticisms of the status quo, but it seems to me like you’re conflating your own views of society with an objective view that serves as a legitimate basis for a depressive reaction/sadness.

As for your claims regarding endogenous depression: I don’t know what you base them on. I’ve seen nothing to support this position, at least.

There might be psychologically unhealthy sides to modern society, but what you and others present as alternatives is, in my opinion, glorified guesswork - as opposed to a somewhat systematic search for knowledge (flawed as it is).