Hey /lit/ I am depressed. can anyone recommend me any books

>>9883773
>how do i stop the mono no aware and avoid the inevitable poetry of things
no. >>>/a/ til you've written an anthology, emotional retard. thanks for the twitter acount though.

>>9883781

no problem

>>9883787
try to fit a roundel about best girls in there

>>9883773
I thought learning the truth would relieve me of my depression but that was another lie I was fed.

Stay ignorant; happiness will follow

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Non-meme, read the Myth of Sisyphus

As someone else in the same position, try meditating. It isn't a cure-all, but it allowed me to step outside my own toxic circle of thought which helps a lot in breaking the cycle. When you're neck-deep in a shitty situation it can be hard to understand fully what the core of the problem is. Meditate and you might feel your energy slowly coming back, or a solution might jump out to you that was previously unthought of. If you want a simple jumping in point that doesn't go too deeply into religion or supernatural shit, try Mindfulness in Plain English. It simply explains what medition is, what it isn't (to correct your expectations), how to meditate effectively and how to elimimate distractions. It's cheap as well.

https://youtu.be/yKN6jr4QTUw

Just call me Franklin

>>9883860

What sources of information would you consider "the truth"?

You could be right, but I've always felt better being able to understand as much about a problem as I possibly can, therefore I think if I were to find a source that explains how and why humans think the way they do, I would feel better. Even if the answer is nihilistic, as long as it makes sense.

>>9883873
Sure thing, I'll check it out right now.

>>9883881
Thanks for the suggestion, I've considered meditation in the past, but like you said some of the spirituality inherently tied in with it turned me off. I'll take a look at the book

>>9883773
Prpbably start with Victor Frankl, then read books on Stoicism. Theres always the OG Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus

Those 3 are very accessible, but if you need something that REALLY lays it all out for you you can always dip your feet with modern applied stoicism self help bs. For example Ryan Holiday's "Obstacle is the Way" and/or "Ego is the Enemy"-- not philosophically deep, but will help get the practical bits of Stoicism that keep the unhappy away.

Def start with Frankl though. The depression meme tends to come from not having purpose in your life and failing to do psychological hygiene.

Also ignore the banal depressives who rationalize their failure to be happy as some sort of enlightenment. Thinking depression = truth is the ultimate signal that one is a pitiful pseud.

Remember: your brain can lie to you

>>9883773
Infinite Jest unironically. The whole, live life from moment to moment, blocking each off from the other as you go through them thing really got to me. Nothing is unendurable, etc

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>>9883899

DANCE MONKEY DANCE AHAHAHHAHAHAHA

>>9883907
it's just viral marketing for ryan holiday

that guy had one good book "Trust Me I'm Lying" but the rest of his crap is junk tier self-help crap

>>9883899
>being this arrogant
guess your recommendations didn't take.

>>9883890
It's worth a try. It's only around 250 pages, and as the title suggests it's written in simple prose. It won't take long at all for you to read, maybe two sittings.

>>9883881
Mindfulness in Plain English is filled with mysticism and metaphysics. The guy literally says that you may see images of previous lives and that further down into your meditation journey you may develop psychic powers.

>>9883915

Its god damned pathetic is what it is. But I digress. I used to be reasonable, now... Well, I don't know. I could blow it ALL out of the water with what I know now. Just a few keystrokes, and let the hordes do the rest. Why should I care anymore? What do they have to offer me? This is the Rage of Achilles. I don't need violence. Who needs that when you have DAMNING information?

>>9883907
no kneecaps on horse's hind legs, there goes my immersion

>>9883941

Dont insult my Don marionette, or his horse. Unforgivable. Don, show 'em whats up.

>>9883907

Alas, poor Yor(ic)k!

Something is rotten in the State of Denmark.

>>9883952

Lol, sliding this post on /lit/. You guys are great. Here on the weekend too.

>>9883899
>The depression meme tends to come from not having purpose in your life and failing to do psychological hygiene.

This sounds about right. Not so much lacking a purpose in life but being able to see the possible paths my life can take and not really seeing the point in pursuing any of them.

>>9883900
>Infinite Jest unironically

I'm reading up on this now, the book sounds really interesting, but are the lessons that you take from the book implied by the author or is it just something that the reader can postulate from the story?

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No depression if your Ego has dissolved into nothingness

>>9883990
bro the author hung himself

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OP here, thanks for the suggestions everyone.

I'm currently reading the Myth of Sisyphus, but still keeping an eye on the thread for other suggestions

>>9883932
I said it doesn't go too deeply, which is true compared to almost any other book on the subject. Believing in the supernatural elements isn't required to benefit from meditation.

The Noonday demon, it's autobiographical, but pretty accurate.

>>9883773
Eh, psychology is a bit of an ideologically biased pseudo-science. There isn't much help to gather there.

The recommended literature depends largely on why you're depressed. If you could give a short paragraph on your situation, I might have something up your alley.

>>9883773
If you are interested in meditation to better govern your thoughts without the spooky mystic shit, then "Mindfulness" by Mark Williams and Danny Penman is a great place to start.
I highly recommend it despite my usual aversion to anything resembling a self-help book.

>>9884500

Sure, like I said earlier in >>9883990, I don't really see the meaning in continuing to progress along any path in my life, not saying that I couldn't, but ultimately what is the point. I'm in a career where I make a decent amount of money, there is also a very clear framework for progression (through various certification programs and title changes), but I lack the drive to do so. I once thought that maybe this was due to being uninterested in my line of work, but I can't think of anything I would rather do. This goes even further to say that I don't even know what I'm interested in anymore. If I were given a few weeks off to spend however I wanted, I wouldn't be able to think of anything.

I look around and talk to people who take trips, have hobbies and aspire to do things greater than what they are now and I can't empathize with them at all. Put simply, I just lack drive. It's gotten the point where my I'm putting off chores and just going to sleep early most days. Sometimes I do things I used to enjoy like watch movies or play games, but I don't feel any sense of fulfillment afterward.

This is why I made the thread in the first place. In my mind I might be happier if I can understand how myself or other people think and where they derive motivation and purpose.

>>9883773
>Seneca
>“Can you no longer see a road to freedom? It’s right in front of you. You need only turn over your wrists”.

>>9884728

haha eat shit

>>9884593
I suspected it might have been a lack of drive, as it ever so often is. It's not necessarily a bad thing, though. On the contrary, I'd consider this an excellent opportunity for personal growth. Thanks for clarifying.

In regards to understanding the drives of other people, I'd recommend two books in particular. Both aren't too long and very accessible to newcomers by their very nature.

The first is The Praise of Folly by Desiderius Erasmus, preferably in the translation of Hoyt H. Hudson. It's a short satirical work where Folly is personified as a goddess, giving self-indulgent speeches on how she liberates men from so many evils, with a fair dose of mocking and irony woven inbetween. Very insightful.

The second would be The Prince by Machiavelli, though you should be careful with this author as he is tremendously misunderstood by the general audience. This is usually because people read The Prince exclusively, and quite selectively at that. A good edition is The Complete Works and Others by Allen Gilbert. Either way, the central theme of this work is the strife between virtú (that which is in our power) and fortuna (that which is not). If you know enough of Machiavelli, you'd understand that this work doesn't reflect his personal views – it is simply a realistic approach towards politics and society, without the Utopian daydreaming of a diseased imagination. Though predominantly political in nature, it sheds a great deal of light on human nature in general.

In regards to finding a drive in life, that is something very personal and idiosyncratic. People are going to give you recommendations based on their philosophical bias and I would be no different.

I'd read some great literature that inspires the very best in our character, the main ones being the Iliad and Odyssey by Homer, Metamorphoses by Ovid and the Divine Comedy by Dante. If you're in a receptive state, these works can truly be lifechanging.

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>>9884753

This is the least likely response I expected to get in this thread. I really appreciate you taking the time to give me such a detailed response.

I'll start with Praise of the Folly since you mentioned that most people misunderstand Machiavelli and to be honest I am not the most well read person.

I wrote down the rest of your suggestions and will most likely read the Illiad and Odyssey since I've heard about it many times but never had a reason to look into it until now. Thanks again

>>9883773
a book won't cure a disease. Go talk to a doctor. Seriously. Depression isn't a moral problem, it isn't a matter of philosophy. It's a disease, for disease, you talk to doctors.