>DUDE JUST SIT STILL AND LET YOUR THOUGHTS WASH OVER YOU LMAO

>>18469209
1. Personally i do Awareness meditation and rarely get depressed these days ,if i do feel it come up i meditate and it's gone again

2.You are going in this with a I MUST HAVE THIS SPECIFIC RESULT ASAP attitude, start off slow 10 minutes a day and build it up and let go of expectations

>>18469235
From what the first few links on Google show, Awareness meditation mainly involves focusing on the breath and generally being aware of bodily sensations. Do I have that right? If so, I'll give it a shot.

>let go of expectations
I did just that; I wouldn't have stuck with that method for two weeks otherwise. While I understand that trying to will the mind to still itself is like expecting muddy water to clear up by sloshing it with one's hand, there is an inherent paradox. The only reason I'm meditating is to fix a problem. If a particular technique can't do that, then I'm better off spending those two hours exploring other ways to fix my depression.

>>18469209
do a guided mindfulness meditation. Don't expect to be a zen master in a week. Also think about chanting.

>>18469235
How does your method of awareness meditation differ from mindfulness meditation or any other kind of meditation? Why would meditation convince the voice in my head that I'm not a worthless piece of crap? Just sounds like more time to think about how I'll never succeed.

>>18469235
you don't "get depressed"
please stop misusing the term.

>>18469209
It's just a personal opinion I have, but I honestly believe mediation and stuff like that is basically placebo level bullshit.

It's the exact same thing as trying to pray your problems away. It only ever works if you believe it absolutely.

>>18469209
It's one big scam OP. No more than a placebo effect. There are hundreds of these types of "perform ritual-become happy" scams out. Another example if psychics

>>18469292
Breath is one of the most used methods but sound and emotions work too.

>>18469209
Tried meditation, almost killed myself after a month of it,
Guess it's for people who have chances at life.

>>18469331
>>18469334
There's plenty of peer reviewed evidence that it reduces cortisol levels and lowers amygdala overreaction.
Do you really believe that having more control over your mind wouldn't make you feel more peaceful?

>>18469337
I have Borderline Personality Disorder, and my part of my therapy was mindful meditation.

I can confirm that it doesn't come anywhere near touching extreme mental pain and trauma.

In a round about way it did help me. By that I mean I started to wisen up when I realised that if I didn't get better I'd be doing this bullshit for the rest of my life.

The only real "cure" to mental illness is building a life worth living.

>>18469328
What would be a better phraseology? I am diagnosed with depression and say that I'm "feeling depressed" and that I "got depressed" to sum up when I've relapsed into a self-defeating mindset.

>>18469338
Here's where the BS comes in. Anything you do can "give you more control over your mind". Reading a book has the same meditative effect as meditation if you believe it to. Eating an ice cream does the same thing. It's all bullshit. Just because the placebo works on many people and peer review has documented a successful placebo, doesn't mean it's not a scam. Btw, the scientific community constantly flipflops, especially in the field of psychology.

>>18469347
In your experience, what did you do/what are your goals to make your life worth living? What does such a life look like?

>>18469365
> Reading a book has the same meditative effect as meditation if you believe it to. Eating an ice cream does the same thing.

For some people these things help reduce their anxiety and create calmness. Not so much the ice cream but yes, reading is therapeutic.

It's not a competition, but there is NEUROLOGICAL (as opposed to just psychological) evidence that some things fire up the anxiety centre of the brain (such as looking at screens, road rage etc) and some things calm it down.
If it doesn't work for you then don't do it. But OP is trying to find a technique that helps, and meditiation is one supported by a large body of evidence- statistcally valid evidence (ie greater than expected by the placebo effect).

>>18469334
>>18469331
If it's a placebo effect, then that means there are results, aren't there? Isn't that a good thing? If you do it right, meditation doesn't cost anything, so I don't know why it would be a scam.

>>18469382
You truly are a moron. If I give people a placebo, and they believe it works, then we have a statistically significant relationship that it works. Btw, like I said, there are many rituals like this. The difference us that people meme'd a lot of money into mediation scientific studies and not into studies for these other rituals. Should the same amount of research money be devoted to these other things, then everyone will prove to reduce anxiety and depression.

I really wish people would think critically

>>18469412
ffs have you ever even read a medical journal?
They use double blind threshold comparisons when presenting data on efficacy.

Yes, there are stupid treatments like homeopathy which have had money going in to trying to make them look legit. And proper peer reviewed journals debunk this shit.

Who the fuck do you think has the lobby money for meditation anyway? It's not owned by fucking big pharma.