Mental Health

It could be something harder to solve, but the thing that helped me was trying the boring/cliché/obvious advice first. Like p much every "normie" life tip I've followed has made my life slightly better.

Like exercising regularly (made minor aches less common), which lead naturally to drinking less (improved base mood a bit, and gave me my weekends back); reading before bed instead of screen time (paired with other habits made it so I can usually fall asleep within 30 minutes (huge for a former insomniac)); starting a diary (let me converse with myself and recognize long term patterns), then starting gratitude (diminishing returns after a while, but still think it's worth trying); walking/running (hurt at first, but eventually felt great), which lead to eating healthier because that made running easier (also less "food hangovers" from eating garbage); kept reducing drinking until I just stopped, and now don't see any reason to ever drink again (I feel I actually have energy and focus to Do Things on evenings and weekends - without drinking, weekends feel like they go on forever).

I've always tended to be a "meh" person. This hasn't turned me into like a type A extrovert or anything, but even when I feel down I don't feel that down anymore, and it doesn't go on for as long. My baseline mood is just a bit higher.

Thats depression

Been there, solved half of it,

Do you drink enough water? Hydration is necessary for serotonin

Are you eating enough calories? A severe deficit can slow down your metabolism and the rate of brain chemistry gets released

If you are eating enough calories, are you eating diverse enough? We need an wide array of nutrients and minerals to keep producing everything we need to keep content, check your iodine especially, and your vitamin d

Are you getting enough sleep? It's impossible to be content and see much hope in life if you're tired

Then you have to remember humans are social animals, make sure to eat at the same table with somebody and just chit chat and riff about life at least once a week, a shared joy is a double joy, a shared sorrow is half a sorrow.

There's more but my app is about to be blocked, because I try to not spend time doom scrolling, I found that spending too much time on short video format tires my brain

You’re more likely to act yourself into feeling than feeling yourself into action.” —Jerome Bruner, Harvard psychologist

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/quantum-leaps/201907/4-pictures-explain-motivation-and-confidence

When I have felt this way, I take time to journal.

I examine my values, in writing.

Then I go over those values, and I write down things I am doing that align with my values.

I might not always feel good, but I can know that I am making choices my future and past selves could feel good about.

So far, this has worked for me. Sometimes I am in touch with my emotions, and I do (lately) feel good about how I spent my time when I was not.

Of course, I don't know what will work for you.

This is what works for me.

Are you taking enough vitamin B and iron? I've been depressed most of my life, but when I eat well/take my vitamins I tend to feel better. Also drink a lot of water!

Finding a new hobby can also create some dopamine in your brain. Drawing, photography, working with clay, reading comic books, even just taking a walk every day to a new area of your neighborhood.

Best of luck! Been there! <3

I totally feel you :'(