good call: waitbutwhy.com could fit the bill … entertaining, smart, thoughful, fun!
+1 on going out and get your bodily juices flowing … a good spirited walk, or better a ride on a bike - for a change of “wallpaper” … and those are antidepressants!!!
another thought: maybe you could dog or cat sit for other people in the evening or weekend … sounds like fun, kills 2 or 3 birds (active life) and might flush a little $$$ into your cofers.
Ahhh and … try to avoid finding reasons for why something (like many suggestions) is not possible for you to do … think more along the line of “what would I have to do to make this work?”
hit a library or poke around community college for classes or free seminars …
have a set of “possible things to do” and go through them every week or 2 … hitting the library? checking out if there is anything new at the community college, dog-shelter visit? calling up friends, etc… → that are already things to look forward.
I’d miss out on a lot if I didn’t have my old-and-cheap-but-trusty bike… I just texted a friend who I’ve been ignoring for weeks and said “I’ll be out on my bike, but I can adjust my route to correspond with wherever you’ll be mid-afternoon for some coffee.” And it worked! The friend even gave me a book by a New Yorker cartoonist.
The exercise helps a lot of my health problems, and getting out and seeing the town is a mood-lifter.
I often think “If I can just get through this and that by 6, then I can check the Dope before I make dinner! I’ll get to laugh at idiots in the Pit, then over to MPSIMS to see if that one poster’s gotten a diagnosis yet, and whether Doc’s doing any better, then go get scared in political threads… before I end with basking in the latest schadenfreude…”
This weekend was largely a downer. But, I commented on a friend’s FB post and now have a 68 page PDF of the fighting secrets of Count Dante of the Black Dragon Society- deadliest man alive!
I don’t know. I did learn he was also renowned as a hair stylist- no I am not kidding. The aforementioned PDF mentions this along his other accomplishments and the last photo in the book is not a fighting stance but a picture of a model whose hair Dante cut.
One thing you can do is declutter. You sound like you have a small space and too much stuff. Make it a project for a weekend or two. I guarantee you, you will feel so much better. I did.
I’m a diagnosed hoarder. Decluttering is very hard for me. Plus, some of the stuff I don’t want to keep, I bought to resell. For example, I have a complete Kenner Alien board game. It’s worth 2-300 dollars. While I have been donating some low end stuff, I cannot bring myself to just donate the high end stuff.
I get that it’s hard. Can you ask someone to help? I really cannot over stress how much better you will feel after. Your feeling that these things are important to you is your depression lying to you. Let me ask, have you taken any positive steps to sell that valuable boardgame?
I don’t think this is true for me. I’m still sad, angry and stressed over some things that I lost in the move- a wonderful curved glass front display case, my Fearsome Flush action figure, and a marvellous teardrop-shaped lightning bulb that the movers utterly failed at packing.
Cats and dogs are always the answer. If there is an animal shelter anywhere around you, they likely welcome volunteers to come in. Jobs vary from feeding and other chores to just providing skritches and love to lonely animals. I used to go to a cat shelter in Anchorage. When I walked in the door, I was mobbed by dozens of lonely kitties looking for some affection. I sat down in a chair and immediately had a half dozen of my new best friends vying for a spot. It was very satisfying, and I was very relaxed mentally after I left a half hour later, albeit covered with cat hair.
Some of the biggest houseflies I’ve ever seen- all over the kitchen. I don’t think they’re coming from the trash. It has a lid. I don’t know what they’re eating or why there are suddenly so very many. After work and therapy, I will buy some diet soda and use the bottles to make fly traps.
I just remembered what would really help- If I could visit my friend H. He has puppies. He has kitties. The house is home to a ferret rescue (accredited and authorized by the state- not some crazy ferret lady situation). I don’t have a car. He works odd hours. He lives far away. His live in gf is a massive hypochondriac who hates having people in the house.
Ok, I’m sorry because this may sound harsher than intended, but I looked up the fearsome flush action figure, and it’s a cheap piece of crap from a mediocre at best 90s children’s cartoon. The appropriate response to it being lost in a move is mild annoyance and moving on. (I get the attraction to shitty pop culture, I’ve got a liittle Donkey Kong Mario Kart in my bathroom. My friend brought it to me in the hospital to cheer me up.) If you are feeling stress and sadness about this loss, that’s a problem you need to work on, maybe through CBT or something, I don’t know. Talk to your therapist about it. I guarantee you being surrounded by unnecessary crap is terrible for your mood. It was for mine. You say your a diagnosed hoarder and I believe you, but being aware of the problem is only the first step in dealing with it. Next you have to work on it. You do not want to live in a small apartment surrounded by crap. I guarantee that. Again, good luck.
you use the word of hoarder as a legitimation to hoard. You just need to stop being a hoarder to stop hoarding.
Come up with a good rule: for every piece of new stuff, you throw away 5 pieces of old stuff that you never used in the past 3 years. or something akin …
Suggestion here, we can help fix @DocCathode’s long term issues later, if they ask for it. Short term, let’s focus on the clinical depression rather than the probably helpful but not right now future fixes.
Houseflies. Setting up a trap is a good idea. The last time I had a fly infestation, it was from a bunch of potatoes that had gone to seed and rot in a hidden corner of a pantry. Probably not what you’re looking for, but since you’ve checked the trash, taking a few moments to go through all the storage areas of your new place to make sure something didn’t get left is a good idea.
Otherwise I’d check all the screens, vents, and windows (which you’ve probably already done but just in case) to see if there was a way in.
Maybe he’d bring some animals over to your house. Or set up a time to go see him: just say you’re depressed (optional) and need an animal fix (that’ll get him on your side), and let HIM worry about when would be the best time (and how to get buy-in from his gf). Or, meet him and some pups at a park.