Reddit reviews The Upward Spiral: Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression, One Small Change at a Time

I want to let you know that you can get better. There is lots of time for you to improve and as long as you're still here there's always hope that things can get better for you.

For the past few years I've struggled with moderate depression and anxiety. Maybe not as severe as yours but I can relate to a lot of what you are saying.

But in the last year or so I've come a long way in digging my way out of my depression and anxiety. I still have more to go, but I can say that I'm feeling much better nowadays, and feeling happy more often.

The first step for me was to realize and accept that there's no magic pill or instant easy solution. But that it takes a lot of small things that add up, small changes and habits that you make, and tiny steps day by day that will gradually reshape your brain. Little and often makes much.

The next big thing that helped me personally was to learn about the neuroscience, how the brain works in depression and anxiety. What's happening in the brain and why depression and anxiety tend to keep you doing behaviors that keep you trapped in it. Like how you feel as though you can't bring yourself to do anything and can't control yourself, is largely because of depleted serotonin in your prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is what you use to consciously control your actions and override your automatic habitual behaviors.

A book that super helped me a lot is "The Upward Spiral". You can probably find it at a library.

It's all about small easy daily things you can do to help yourself, like getting sunshine, getting a little exercise, going for walks, getting better sleep, and so on that eventually make a big difference. Even things like forcing yourself to smile and laugh to yourself, because it creates a biofeedback loop to your brain. It feels silly, but your face muscles/nerves send a signal to your brain that you're smiling and your brain thinks, "Oh I'm smiling therefore I should be happy." And soon you start feeling happier.

The next big thing that helped me a lot was to learn meditation and mindfulness. I started that after I learned about the neuroscience of the effects of meditation on the brain in depression.

I also went to counselling/therapy. In the end I decided not to go with medication, because I didn't want to do that. But it's up to you, and a doctor or therapist can help you decide the best strategy.

Anyway the point is that it's a combination of things that work for me. Hopefully it can help you. It's super important to be patient with yourself and with the process of improving. It's really important to go easy on yourself and forgive yourself. And to realize that you don't need to fix yourself all at once. Just focus on little steps day by day, focus on what you can control. It's not easy but you keep at it and eventually it gets better.

I would suggest creating a self care routine that you make a daily habit. Start with a small morning ritual and a small evening ritual, and gradually build it out from there.

A great book on creating habits like this is Atomic Habits by James Clear. (The book is worth it, but you can get a lot from just browsing his website)

Speaking for myself, what works for me:

AM

• Wake up early
  
• Go for a 20-30 minute walk
  
• Meditate with the Headspace app (you can also use Insight Timer which is free, but Headspace is my favorite and absolutely worth the money to me)
  
• Exercise (yoga, jogging or weights)
  
• 10-20 mins of basic housecleaning
  
• 10-20 mins of shower and grooming
  
• Get dressed and out the door.
  
  PM
  
  
• Turn off screens at 8:30
  
• Make tea
  
• Gentle stretching and foam rolling
  
• Journaling
  
  • a few sentences about the events of the day
    
  • a few sentences about gratitude
    
• Read a light fiction book on my kindle until I fall asleep
  
  My therapist suggested I make my routine non-negotiable. It was hard at first, and a lot of times I don't feel "motivated" to do it -- but I make myself do it anyway. Over time, it has completely changed the way I feel day-to-day.
  
  The point is — you won’t “feel like” doing your routine. But you know it makes you better, so you make yourself do it anyway.
  
  Here are some great books on how to treat depression, which are full of great, and specific advice.
  
  The Upward Spiral (costs $10, but EXTREMELY worth the money imo. There is also a workbook I bet would be absolutely perfect for you.)
  
  Hardcore Self Help: F**k Depression (free to read for Kindle Unlimited)
  

I'm just going back through comments of this thread that I didn't get to read before and saw yours. I know your question isn't for me, and this may seem a bit off topic, but I am reading this book called the upward spiral right now about the neuroscience of anxiety and depression and it's pretty great. Written by a neuroscientist but in a really digestible easy and interesting to read way. Strongly recommend it

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00QUIAK0G?ie=UTF8&redirectFromSS=1&pc_redir=T1&noEncodingTag=1&fp=1

Here are some great books on how to become less anxious and create healthier habits, which are full of specific, actionable advice.

The Upward Spiral (costs $10, but EXTREMELY worth the money imo. There is also a workbook that just came out.)

Hardcore Self Help: F**k Anxiety (free to read for Kindle Unlimited)

I would suggest creating a self care routine that you make a daily habit. Start with a small morning ritual and a small evening ritual, and gradually build it out from there. Things like walking, yoga/stretching/exercise, hydrating, cleaning your space, etc. can be game-changers if you do them consistently.

A really great book on creating habits like this is Atomic Habits by James Clear. For me and my partner, life-changing. (The book is worth it, because it is systematic - perfect for 'checklist people', but you can get a lot from just browsing his website too.)

With you on the depression, anxiety, and unemployment train. I've found that focusing on losing weight has actually helped me manage all of my other feelings, because it's something that I, and I alone, have control over. Even when I get my 50th form rejection letter on a day when there aren't any jobs in my field to apply to and I feel like I'll never stop being unemployed, I still have control over what I choose to eat. That alone isn't always enough, but having some successes on the weight loss front helps mitigate the desperation and anxiety that's gone hand-in-hand with unemployment for me.

I also have gotten a lot of mileage out of:

• focusing on the ethos of discipline, not motivation, in all areas of my life.
  
  
• Ending the day by listing all of the small things that I accomplished that day, including simple things like running a search on job boards, loading the dishwasher, getting dressed, etc. If I have even the smallest sense of accomplishment, I feel less of a need to self-soothe with food or alcohol.
  
  
• On that note, finding non-food/booze ways to self-soothe. Lately this has been a lot of exercise, knitting, reading, cooking, and cleaning, but find what works for you.
  
  Basically, the more I do to find ways to make myself feel like a not-shit person, the less likely I am to turn to food for solace, and the more likely I am to create an [upward spiral]
  (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QUIAK0G/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1) out of depression. (also, that was a helpful book and I'd recommend giving it a skim).

thats the thing with medication, its not exact science yet with anti-deps. .. lexapro worked for me for 1.5 years for anxiety, then stopped, now on prozac, 2 years,,/.. maybe it will last longer...maybe it won't.., i did enjoy reading this book https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QUIAK0G/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1