

I spend a lot of time thinking about myself - oliyoung
https://medium.com/the-healthy-life/f6b0a53fa2f1

======
Arjuna
I wanted to focus in on the exercise aspect of this piece:

In my experience, exercise is vital to my mental well-being, just as the
author of this piece found it to be for him, until he hit a slump.

We all hit slumps.

I hit a major slump when our child was born. Prior to that, I had been hitting
the gym consistently (4 days per week), but my life changed and I had to re-
prioritize.

However, where I failed myself is that I quit exercising entirely, because my
"exercising world view", if you will, was gym-centric; that is, I had
programmed myself to need a gym to be successful in working out.

I realized that I needed to change. After some research, I found P90X [1].
This is an exercise system (presented on DVD) that utilizes body-weight
techniques (e.g., pull-ups, push-ups), yoga, plyometrics [2] and resistance
exercises (you can use dumbbells or resistance bands - they demonstrate both
techniques).

I also found a used Nordic Track ski machine [3] online for $100. This is not
part of the P90X system, but I find it to be a fantastic cardio machine, and
it allows me to change things up a bit... plus, the skiing action is fun.

The advantage here is that you can do all of this without going to a gym.
Also, there is minimal equipment required; here is a picture of what is used
in the system [4] (note the "Description" of the image that identifies all of
the required pieces).

The system is fairly intense, but as with most things in life, you start very
slowly and just work through what you can do, at your own pace.

I just wanted to share this experience, because I know we all struggle to find
our routines, especially with exercise. I have found that one of the biggest
challenges with finding an exercise routine is time: time to pack for the gym,
get there, workout, shower up and head out. With a home-based system, you have
essentially instant availability, no travel time and you never have to wait
for a machine or piece of equipment.

[1] <http://www.beachbody.com/product/p90x-what-you-get.do>

[2] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plyometrics>

[3]
[https://www.google.com/search?&q=nordic+track+ski+machin...](https://www.google.com/search?&q=nordic+track+ski+machine&tbm=isch)

[4] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:P90xgym.jpg>

~~~
nisa
If you can join a sports club. Be it soccer, martial arts or whatever fits you
needs. You learn more and meet new people. If you need more workout you can go
running or do body weight exercices.

You also don't need any machines. Body weight exercices should be more than
enough. Push-ups and chins can go a long way.

~~~
baby
Sports Club are not for everyone. I've been through a lot (tennis, soccer,
volley, badminton, ping pong (competition), fencing, taekwondo, judo, kungfu,
karate, climbing...) and I never really enjoyed it fully.

I figured it was because I didn't like having a teacher in some case (I hate
having to follow directions) and also I didn't like the mentality of some
sports (soccer, if you suck people will just hate you).

Going to the gym is one of the thing I really like in my life right now. It's
like quitting life for an hour. I don't have anyone to talk to or to follow, I
can do sport on my own, by myself. It's refreshing.

~~~
xenophanes
Going to the gym is not the only way to be by yourself sometimes. Try reading
Ayn Rand, it could help you.

~~~
psychometry
If you're reading it for entertainment, maybe. Otherwise it'll just turn you
into a bitter, self-absorbed, selfish asshole like the rest of the
objectivists.

~~~
eropple
I think he was joking.

I laughed, anyway.

------
jere
I'm not going to try to minimize what you're experiencing. They could be
serious issues that need to be dealt with. Lack of desire to eat and not
wanting to spend time with friends seem concerning at the very least.

But I will say the following behavior you have described is one of my biggest
problems and I would give almost anything for a tool that solved _that_ :

>When I'm sick I struggle to maintain focus on what I need to, I get
distracted (small dopamine hits from social media are the worst)

~~~
hollerith
Accidentally downvoted you. Sorry!

------
rawland
In my humble opinion, a set of people here have this "no focus problem."
(depending on my form on the day - me included). One can see it more
positively as Too Many Aptitudes problem, which gives it a significantly
better viewpoint, as elaborated here
[<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1486708>]. Actually, I think the
previous #1 article [<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5616786>] reflects
this by _reaching_ #1 on HN!

You all are smart people. Else these essays/articles wouldn't exist!

But, as edw519 pointed out:

    
    
      The single most important thing I do to "achieve laser focus
      and concentration" is to work in such a way that I don't need
      "laser focus and concentration" to get my work done.
    
      This has to be done the night before.
    

[<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5550366>]

David Kadavy wrote about his related approach here
[<http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/mind-management-intro>] what was reposted a few
days ago, as far as I remember. I really like this viewpoint. Take note of
David's words, especially:

    
    
      If you can’t meditate for 2 minutes, you have bigger problems than being “too busy.”
    

There is a significant difference between being dispersed and having a
disease.

\--

edit: format

------
izendejas
For anyone struggling to get into an exercise routine, I've ran into a
potential solution because it doesn't require lots of time and effort.

Exercise 10 minutes daily (or at least 3-5x a week) as soon as you wake up and
before you hit the shower. Do intervals. Out of the 10 minutes, two have to be
all out and intense. You can do a treadmill, elliptical, or as I often do at
home: jumping jacks and running in place (no, seriously). Also, listen to your
favorite, upbeat music.

Benefits:

* exercise is generally good for the frontal cortex, what helps you focus and get things done [1]

* exercising in the morning will put you in a more positive mood, helping to reduce stress; by reducing stress, you feel more energetic, you feel less hungry and crave less crappy food, therefore you prevent the systematic downward spiral that comes with it and you lose weight.

* because you exercise in the morning, you burn more fat [2]

* adding music is great for your dopamine levels: [3]

* intensity (anaerobic exercise) is more important than duration and frequency [4]

I ran into this routine because I always have a hard time waking up in the
morning (not so much anymore) and was always late to work. But knowing from
previous experience that working out intensely in the morning helped with my
energy level and focus, I did 10-15 minutes and found that it's all that I
needed. In a bit over a month I've lost like 9lbs, I eat better, get less
tired at work and can focus for longer periods of time.

I hope to put my experiences into a blog post series soon.

[1] [http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/22/how-exercise-
fuels-...](http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/22/how-exercise-fuels-the-
brain/) \+ other research. Also, read the Willpower Instinct (for a summary of
lots of research)

[2]
[http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130124091425.ht...](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130124091425.htm)
This is the first source I could find, but I've known about similar research
for years.

[3] [http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/04/11/why-
does-...](http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/04/11/why-does-music-
feel-so-good/)

[4] <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3529283>

If you're already very fit, a friend of mine pointed out this routine recently
which is more intense than the one I propose:
[http://healthland.time.com/2012/09/04/we-tried-this-fast-
and...](http://healthland.time.com/2012/09/04/we-tried-this-fast-and-furious-
tabata/)

Edited: 1) format 2) removed superfluous phrases

~~~
baby
What about listening to music ALL THE TIME. Do you know if that might fuck
with Dopamine? I know smoking weed too much does screw the level at which
Dopamine is enough to enjoy life.

I just stopped listening to the music I was at the moment. I might just be
freaking out for nothing though.

EDIT : just talked to a friend doing medical studies and he told me this :
When you eat chocolate, take drugs, etc... you ingest something and the body
have to deal with it. Stuff happens and you can't really control it. But when
you listen to music, you activate something through your sense, so the brain
can regulate it (for example when you start listening to a song and you love
it, then the more you listen to it the more it annoys you until you just
ignore it when listenning to it. Brain regulated).

I like his explanation.

~~~
izendejas
I don't know, but I doubt that music can do that as it's not some substance
that's throwing off your brain chemistry.

I listen to music at work all the time to avoid distractions. When I do my 10
minute routine, I listen to music that gives me a dopamine rush during the
intense part of it to help boost my performance. I can replicate the rush most
of the time, but I do believe that finding new songs after a few weeks is
good.

When I listen to my workout playlist at any other time of the day, it actually
helps boost my productivity and motivation level because my brain has learned
to associate such songs with pushing myself. So I actually do this when I'm
feeling a bit tired to get another boost.

Also, invest in great headphones. The new EarPods really enhance my workout
experience, so much so, that I now look forward to my early morning workout
when I wake up to get over my grogginess.

~~~
baby
What you did was create an anchor. I do self-hypnosis as well but just telling
myself stuff like "the more you run, the better you feel, the more you run,
the better you feel" (repetition matters).

Also is it inner-ear? A doctor told me you should never put anything in your
ears. I don't know how those things are legal actually.

------
johnward
I feel like I could have written this post myself. Patterns like this are also
something I've notice in my life but have yet to get a handle on them. There
is like a catch 22 with exercise. You skip exercise so that makes you feel
tired or lazy. That laziness makes it even harder to get back into the
exercise phase. Rinse. Repeat until you pretty much give up.

The most productive times in my life were when I was lifting 4-5 days a week
and able to run 2-5 miles every other day or so. There is something about
exercise (serotonin release?) that offset much of the natural imbalances I
have. The problems seem to start when I let outside influences get in the way.
Working late one night, wifey telling me we nee to get something done around
the house, family commitments, etc. All of these lead to a downward spiral.

I don't know why I'm typing a wall of text. I guess I just want you to know
that this is something very interesting to me and I can't wait to see what you
come up with.

~~~
baby
> I feel like I could have written this post myself.

Everyone does. It's like reading the horoscope. He's just describing normal
human behavior.

------
experiment0
I'm really not sure what this means:

> My brain works a little differently than most people’s. My body doesn't
> balance chemicals like serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine well and as a
> result I get “sick”, my label for my particular mix of anxiety, depression
> and general mental health issues.

Chemicals like serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine? So neurotransmitters?
And what does balance have to do with it? Do you lack dopaminergic neurons? Do
you have an over expression of serotonin? I'm not asking for you to go into
detail about your problems but that sounds a little too wishy washy.

A lot of these issues sound exactly like what many other people also suffer
from every day. So it's hard to not think that on some level this is
psychosomatic.

~~~
oliyoung
I was trying to simplify it, admittedly a lot, I was just trying to illustrate
that really in the end behaviour and affect is just chemistry, effected by
various different stimulus. (i also should've added as a footnote, i studied
psychology for several years)

And sure these are all things that people suffer day-to-day, what makes it
more is that an episode can go days, weeks and (thankfully not recently for
me) months.

~~~
experiment0
OK. I understand what you were trying to put across. But ultimately what you
described was a set of symptoms of a disorder that you didn't fully explain,
so I found it confusing reading the essay with vague hints of the underlying
issue.

I'm just saying this as cognitive scientists spend a lot of effort working out
which mechanisms and pathways are malfunctioning for a specific disorder, and
a generalised statement listing 3 neurotransmitters didn't sit well with me.

From a neuroscience perspective, there is a major issue with self diagnosis,
its very hard to be objective when you're examining yourself and once you
begin to notice something, you tend to 'fix' the evidence in your mind.
Psychosomatic symptoms are surprisingly common. However I don't want to sound
like I'm questioning your diagnosis, so if you are aware of a deficit on a
functional level please ignore me.

~~~
oliyoung
Oh no no, I completely understand how it could "not sit well" with someone, I
over-simplified it for the audience and it was only supposed to be
illustrative in the purpose of what I was writing.

(Obviously I'm more a believer/subscriber/fan of cognitive approaches to
psychology, and why I wanted to be a psychologist and not a psychiatrist.)

~~~
hollerith
I suggest ignoring experiment0's comments in this thread.

At any rate, your article has convinced _me_ that you're not just engaging in
self-fulfilling prophecies or theorizing as he seems to imply when he writes
"psychosomatic".

(And experiment0, you can't have gotten far in your study of neuroscience if
you think there are just 3 neurotransmitters.)

~~~
experiment0
Why would you suggest to ignore me when I was aiming to promote discussion. I
was primarily questioning the science behind the post as there's a lot of
questionable reporting on topics like these and so if it looks dubious, then
I'm set to promote clarification. As it turns out oliyoung does seem to know
what he's talking about, so I guess I needn't have worried.

And the snark at the bottom of your reply is really quite unnecessary.

~~~
baby
I suggest ignoring hollerith's comments in this thread.

things got so meta...

------
nisa
Thanks! As someone that is right now deep inside a such hole I can relate.

This _autopilot_ you mention is what cracks me time and time again. If you are
not somewhat relaxed after days or weeks of heavy exercise you fail to
accomplish the most simple tasks you actually want to do.

This effectivly kills my self-esteem and self-worth every time again.

It was different in school to me, then I rode my bike to school 20km a day and
did martial arts 2-3 times a week. Actually failing to "perform" in academics
and life in general is at least for me heavily correlated with having hard
workouts.

If you skip workout, pull an all nighter you feel that you set yourself up for
bad things again and It's incredible hard to get your feed on the ground
again.

Just one data point: Medition never worked well for me (even did a 10 days
sit-in) but progressive muscle relaxation on the other hand worked quite well.
I also had good experience with the whole "Qi" concept from Aikido* (focus on
a point in your lower abdomen). But nothing really works too well without the
basic exercise you outlined.

Do you have any more information related to this condition?

* Qi is pseudo-science. I'm aware of that. However the idea is a powerful concept to focus.

------
carbocation
Most of the cardinal signs of major depression, and some of anxiety disorder,
are mentioned in this article. The Internet is no place to make a diagnosis,
but I hope it's a reasonable place to make a friendly suggestion to consider
seeing a physician.

~~~
oliyoung
Oh absolutely, I was diagnosed in mid-teens… but if any of these symptoms seem
familiar to anyone else go have a chat with a doctor

~~~
carbocation
Thanks for saying this. I hope it helps others, too.

------
eatitraw
1) Even if there are drugs(antidepressants, stimulants, etc) which can relieve
depression by interacting with dopaminergic, serotoninergic or noradrenergic
neuronal systems, it doesn't mean that depression was caused by lack of
specific neurotransmitters.

It's like making implication that if reboot solves a problem with your laptop,
than this problem was caused by infrequent reboots.

Simple lack of one(or even several) neurotransmitter is an old hypothesis.
Modern "neuronal" theories are more complicated and elaborate.

2) I'm going to give advice other than exercising, sleeping and eating well.
These things are great, typical HN depression thread contains lots of advice
on that by more knowledgeable people than me.

So.

OP and other depressed or anxious people, there are self-help books by David
Burns: "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy" and "When Panic Attacks". Both are
available on amazon kindle: <http://amzn.com/0380810336> and
<http://amzn.com/076792083X>

What's good about them?

First, they contain various scales for deprssion and anxiety. If you like to
quantify things like OP, get this book, and measure your score 1-2 times per
week.

Second, Burns features cognitive model for depression. It is considered that
depression(and anxiety) is caused by unrealistic distorted thoughts, which you
often think automatically and may not even notice such thoughts. They have
vast impact on your mood though. So, literally, you feel the way you think.
Change your thoughts and your moods improves. (easier to say than done, I
agree)

Third, these books describe a great amount of cognitive tools, which will help
you to think rationaly and realisticaly(and consequently - feel better). Even
if you aren't depressed, you may find awesome tools which will help you to
beat procrastination(Anti-procrastination sheet and daily activity schedule
are my favourites).

Fourth, they are well-written and helpful on its own. The main power of these
books is technics though. Reading + Using Tools > Just Reading.

3) If you're having difficulty fighting depression on your own - get
professional help. Find a good CBT therapist, CBT shouldn't be very long, so
you won't waste a lot of money.

------
carlisle_
Your post pretty much summarizes my life concisely but I am still struggling
to get the exercise part down. I'll be looking forward to see what you churn
out!

~~~
radicaledward
Unsolicited Advice: For exercise, I found that yoga has worked extremely well
for me. I started in January and it has been going great!

A few factors have really kept me motivated to go:

1) For the first 10 weeks, it was run like a college school class. The roster
was fixed. Attendance was taken.

2) It is expensive. When I pay this much for something, I feel obligated to
use it. In this case, the first 10 weeks were a Christmas gift so I _really_
felt obligated.

3) I can practice outside of class literally everywhere. This is impossible
for a lot of gym workouts.

4) It is _hard_. I feel seriously challenged.

I did Tae Kwon Do in high school. A lot of the above points also apply to
martial arts. Plus if you do martial arts you get extra style points according
to <http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html>

~~~
carlisle_
You know I've given yoga some thought but haven't really looked into it. I'll
check it out, thanks for the info!

------
SoftwareMaven
Diet and exercise are critical for mental wellness (I do OK on the diet and
horrible on the exercise, but I'm better than I was last year on both counts).
Ketogenic diets (e.g. "low carb") have shown to have a significant positive
effect on schizophrenics[1] as well as being a long-known treatment for
epilepsy[2] for people for whom drugs don't work or are too dangerous and is
showing initial signs it might have positive impact on autism[3].

My point is this: Diet has a huge impact on mental health. My personal belief
(based on research, not faith :) is that sugar is toxic, but even if you don't
believe that, it is clear that sugar has an impact on the brain[4].

1\.
[http://journals.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?Volume=121...](http://journals.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?Volume=121&page=1110&journalID=13)

2\.
[https://zooko.com/file/URI%3ACHK%3Ac23hp4yicl5e5lc4p6k5w2bo6...](https://zooko.com/file/URI%3ACHK%3Ac23hp4yicl5e5lc4p6k5w2bo6u%3Ai7ul2bymhu672fmmgndvkaptlrhjjptb3zdxbwmeiob2uma7owoa%3A1%3A1%3A117367/@@named=/Neal-2008-The_ketogenic_diet_for_the_treatment_of_childhood_epilepsy%3A_a_randomised_controlled_trial.pdf)

3\. <http://jcn.sagepub.com/content/18/2/113.short>

4\.
[http://dobrochan.ru/src/pdf/1212/2010_CurrOpinClinNutrMetabC...](http://dobrochan.ru/src/pdf/1212/2010_CurrOpinClinNutrMetabCare_Blumenthal-
Gold_Neu.pdf)

------
jacquesm
Medium.com seems to have hit the nerd/emo intersection spot on, those articles
get upvoted faster than TechCrunch during an apple product launch.

~~~
oliyoung
#makesajokeaboutrobertsmith

------
baby
Isn't everyone like that? (either that or I suffer from exactly the same
problem.)

~~~
oliyoung
This is the $64,000 question. Either we're all acutely aware of ourselves and
we're just feeling the normal human condition multiplied through that
awareness, or we really aren't functioning correctly. I've yet to work that
out myself.

All I do know is when I do things that literature has said will reduce
symptoms of well known and well documented behavioural issues, my own go away
a little bit.

~~~
baby
One always think he is original and different, but doesn't realize all others
are suffering from the same evils

~~~
rquantz
Did you read the GP? It says either some people are uniquely hyper-self aware,
or everybody is the same. All you've done is state one side of that argument
in the form of a maxim.

~~~
baby
what do you mean by GP?

~~~
hollerith
GP is short for "grandparent", i.e., the comment by oliyoung.

------
scottcha
I know in our community here its easy to jump to try create a technical
solution for both identifying and solving our issues. I've found that
meditation is the mental tool you might be seeing. The main goal of meditation
is to make what is unconscious conscious. And simply by making it conscious it
brings it to the level where you can start to address it.

It looks like that is what you have been doing though without the benefit of
an explicit meditation practice, keep it up.

There are lots of guides to beginning meditation out there and I happened to
write one myself [http://hackerhmb.tumblr.com/post/42240064528/hackers-
guide-t...](http://hackerhmb.tumblr.com/post/42240064528/hackers-guide-to-
beginning-meditation)

------
exabrial
You know, I'm really happy to know that I'm not alone. I experience the
_exact_ same cycle and problems mentioned in the article.

I started crossfit last fall, and I felt great. I finally kicked my perma-funk
and I was LIVING life. Unfortunately, I was injured (not related to going to
the gym) and I haven't been able to workout except for pushups and situps. Now
I'm stuck in a hard place: I physically cannot work out, and I absolutely need
it to maintain a healthy mental state.

My friends don't understand my behavior and why I'm happy, then when I need to
hide from them so they don't run into my 'down' state. I had a wonderful
relationship with a beautiful girl, which ended with her leaving me, partly
because communication broke down when my pendulum swung between metal states.
I try really hard to not put my friends through my issues, but you can't be
close to anyone without them eventually learning who you actually are. Like
the guy in the article, I've developed the same defense mechanisms to appear
normal.

One thing I'm starting to observe is that this condition of anxiety, which
when not managed leads to despair/depression, kinda runs with the territory of
being a software developer. I guess maybe it's just how our brains are wired.

I wish there was just an easier way to manage this, or at least explain to
'normal' people that I won't always be normal, and it's ok.

------
FallDead
I like the author of the article had my own vices, I used to be bullied in
highschool I was one of those smart kids, They would always cheat off of me
and ask for my help in turn I would be condescending. This trait soon bled
into my life and turned me into someone that people could not get along with.
I eventuality sat down one day and stepped out into a third person perspective
and saw why. Now I hold mental barriers that prevent this trait from exposing
its self.

------
toor
You described how my daily life goes to the t. As someone else has stated, I
feel like I could have written this myself. The app you are talking about
would be of tremendous help in analyzing my issues/habits, but I also lack the
willpower to complete such a task lol. If you ever do make the program, I'll
be the first to download. Thank you as well for the good read, I don't as
alone anymore now ha.

------
laurentb
Somehow, I keep thinking that what we lack, is what our elders used to do back
then (and I'm not just talking about our dads/mothers and grand parents here).

Whenever I read about a famous writer like Jack London or others, It seems
like one of the most common traits between them is their attitude towards
learning.

They exercise, read the classics of those that lived before them, but they
also write (much like we do today with our blogs and such). And they write
about their own self, their journey. Essentially, they were already keeping
track of themselves, in order to better themselves without outside judgement.

It seems to me we kinda skipped some part and are just beginning to re learn
what was common back then...

In the end, the most helpful thing you can do about your mental health is to
question your own self, on paper.

------
notlisted
OP recommends more sleep. Brand new study says less sleep actually helps
depressed people.

[http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-
sleep-d...](http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-sleep-
deprivation-eases-depression)

------
fxthea
I wrote a blog post about why exercise is important to mental health and I
think the title sums up how I feel about why exercise is so necessary: "The
Body is a Distraction for the Mind" - <http://felixthea.com/the-body-is-a-
distraction-for-the-mind>

------
dolphenstein
I think similar symptoms can come about from hypomania. I dare say hn readers
are more susceptible than the population at large.
[http://pandodaily.com/2013/02/20/why-many-entrepreneurs-
are-...](http://pandodaily.com/2013/02/20/why-many-entrepreneurs-are-
privately-suffering-and-what-to-do-about-it/)

------
Connaissance
I like the concept (and I like the name a lot, excellent find). As the
comments here make clear, many people experience the same "funk" and would be
interested in paying for such a product. Hope you get to raise money and make
progress on this very soon. Much sillier ideas have been funded before..

------
lucb1e
Would like to reply, but not in public. Doesn't seem possible... Empty HN
profile, nothing to find on the site, etc.

Didn't have that much to say, it's not really worth emailing me so that I have
your email address (or something), but it's annoying to have no contact info
whatsoever.

~~~
oliyoung
Follow through my Medium profile, I'm most active on Twitter. DM me if you
still want to reply

------
stevewillows
"Sleep, it seems, is a massive part of my behavioural defense mechanism."

Not to suggest that one is more important than another, but sleep is critical
for me own depression. Turning off my brain and meditating before bed is
possibly the most important part if my day.

------
futhey
I created a calendar to try to manually discern the patterns in my own life,
and it's been quite effective. Found your repo (0 watchers, haha), definitely
a project that has piqued my interest. Keep us informed.

------
nnoitra
You don't need tools to maintain focus, instead of simplifying things you are
making them more complicated.

