Hey guys, I have a pretty good life. Girlfriend, good money,

Jesus Christ is my answer. You can have the whole world but if you lose your soul for eternity it is nothing. We're born dead in our sin, but the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has made a way for all of us to be reunited with Him and regenerated through the death and resurrection (Mark 8:36) of his only begotten Son. He will give you the strength of live a victorious life in spite of your previous depression or whatever choices you have made in the past (Matthew 11:28-29), but most of all you will be able to rest in the promise of eternal life (John 3:16). Ask Jesus in heartfelt prayer to reveal Himself to you. He's real and alive and loves you.

>>18185038
Stop being liberal

>>18185382

You need a direction in your life, read the bible it will help you.
Once you read it, you can continue to follow this or make your own direction
Jesus is with you

this is probably the first post i've ever read that has summed up something i haven't been able to put my finger on. what treatment do you receive and what are you diagnosed with, if anything?

>>18185554

Nice to find someone that can rely.

They say its schizoaffective depression. Treatment is sertraline and quetiapine. If I could go back in time I'm not sure I would start taking treatment in the first place. Get a couple books on BCT if you can, they're pretty helpful. Heard some good things about meditation too.

>>18185601

how do you personally feel about meditation? i don't know if i 'can't' or if my environment, schedule and way of life don't allow for it (primarily the first two factors).

i have been wanting to see a psychiatrist for a while but i am really scared of putting everything down on the table for someone to see, especially when their answer/feedback, hopefully, won't be bullshit and if anything, hurtful to accept and digest.

i want to believe i can control it but things have gotten really bad lately, i don't think i can. something about the night and the later it gets destroys me.

Nothing you have experienced in this world is ultimately fulfilling OP.

You reached the top of the maslow pyramid and now don't know where to go.

The answer to it is vipassana meditation. If you do a 10 day course at dhamma.org or follow lessons at a local center you can solve this deep unfulfillment.

You will come to realize that there is no goal to achieve anymore, nothing more that needs to be there to be happy, just your awareness.

The technique is simple though it takes a few months to even grasp what it is even about, and then it will be a process of several years further understanding the technique and the philosophy of the technique. With each practice your understanding deepens.

It's a hard road, but it's the only road. Read about vipassana meditation and go take a 10 day course.

>>18185636

I tried mindfulness meditations a couple times and it's excellent, but I can't commit myself to it. I do a lot of sports these days and it basically has the same effect ("free your mind").

You need a good comprehensive shrink, one that will not make decisions for you. It can take a lot of trial so don't give up. You shouldn't be scared to share your story with a professional psychiatrist.

Concerning the other answers, I do understand that religion and meditation can help achieve happiness, but I think they are just tools. If it was THAT simple to find happiness and leave our sufferings behind, everybody would obviously be an all-day meditating christian. What I mean is, there are no easy or obvious solutions to depression.

>>18185761
Don't ever confuse depression for unhappiness. Depression is a disease. Unhappiness is part of the human experience. Depression is the vast majority of cases not so. I'm talking about real depression not meme depression.

Vipassana meditation slowly cuts away the sources of suffering. But it's not an instant cure. It takes years and years to master. Though benefits can be seen from daily meditation after 1 month. The three roots of human suffering are attachment, aversion and ignorance. If you think getting rid of these is an simple task able to be done in a day you're thoroughly mistaken.

And no meditation does not at all produce the same results as sports. Your idea of what meditation is supposed to do is very flawed. The philosophy goes very deep.

Try vipassana meditation, research it, and if you are interested go to dhamma.org for a course. Vipassana is not the same as mindfulness.