I’m having some personal issues causing some severe depression and anxiety. I’d like to get past this time as fast as possible, and my days are dragging on. I can’t sleep, which would be a good way to make time go fast. But I also can’t just play video games, I don’t have the motivation to play more than a few minutes and it also just makes me realize how alone I am with no friends or anyone I can connect with emotionally and I spiral into my anxiety and depression.
I can do stuff during the day, run, chores, etc. But as soon as I’m done, especially at night, I start freaking out and it seems like time stands still. Does anyone have any suggestions? Activities I can do that are mindless that will just kill time and get me through the night before I can just go to sleep?
I know this question is stupid but I’m looking for at least somewhat serious answers.
You must log in or register to comment.
I’m severely depressed and unmotivated as well. I watch a lot of TV. When I get sick of that, I make 3D wooden puzzles, like these dinosaurs. They take about 30-60 minutes each, and when you’re done, you’ve got a dinosaur! Rawr!
I can think of three things:
Gaming- Contributing to opensource
- Learning something new
I find it hard to contribute to some projects because I don’t understand the overall architecture but I think contributing to unit testing is pretty simple. You just need to understand the smallest units of work, not the whole thing.
Contributing is not limited to writing code. Sometimes it is finding bugs and reporting them. Sometimes it is just telling people about project.
Have you thought of practicing a sport in a club / team? I find that it’s a good way to focus on something else than my issues and it helps to socialize.
The days are normally ok. I can find activities to do. It’s night time, when I’m supposed to be tired and going to sleep that it’s the hardest.
If you can’t sleep and are trying to kill time anyway, why not look into something like mindfulness meditation? It might help you keep some of those anxious thoughts in check to the point where you can actually focus on something to take your mind off of whatever is causing your issues.
I’m sure it’s not for everyone, but it helped me a lot when I was at my worst.
Also, you indicate that your anxiety and depression are due to some personal issues (which it sounds like will no longer be an issue in a month). If I’m understanding that correctly, that sucks for the time being but I’m glad to hear it has an expiration date. If those are feelings you deal with chronically, however, and you have the means to do so, I highly suggest trying to find professional help. The right meds can make an absolute world of difference, and talk therapy can help you straighten out how you approach those feelings.
Whatever route you take, I hope this passes for you soon and you start to feel so much better. Those feelings suck, but life can absolutely get better.
If those are feelings you deal with chronically, however, and you have the means to do so, I highly suggest trying to find professional help
It’s a combination of an expiration date as well as chronic. I started therapy recently and I’m on meds as well. We’ll see how that goes. So I just want to get this short period over with, because the combination is pretty unbearable…
MMORPG’s. Do you have a favorite?
I played WoW for ages. I tried going back during shadowlands, but, it’s just so different from what I enjoyed about it at its peak (wrath).
Is there a current MMO that really requires teamwork, as well as the ability to find a consistent group? A month probably isn’t long enough though, and I don’t think I’m mentally in a place to grind to a level cap without already having friends in game.
Have you ever played Eve Online?
A little bit a long time ago. Was hard for me to get into
So you’re having trouble relaxing before bed?
I would recommend either finding a book you like to read before bed, or perhaps if you are so inclined, doodle or sketch. Something that requires focus, but isn’t intense, so you will still be able to tell when your body is ready to rest.
I’ve been listening to a great book series called dungeon crawler carl on audible…there’s like 6 books and they are pretty long .that could eat up time… I listen to them whilst exercising
Haven’t listen to dungeon crawler Carl, but He who fights with monsters is also a good series
Mines a wild departure in tone but the Wandering Inn is both long and engaging.
Start a project doing something that allows you to enter a flow state. Could be programming, woodworking, knitting, anything you can reasonably do with your interests and budget. If you can find something that holds your attention it will delete time.
It’s hard to get the motivation to do a project. I’m really looking for something totally mindless. Like, exercise is a good one, but I do a lot of that during the day and it starts to get unhealthy and unproductive. I end up at night doing a lot of pacing, or stuff like that. I was hoping for something the equivalent of pacing but that isn’t physical. I don’t know. I think I’m just grasping at straws that there’s some solution to this that I haven’t thought of.
Jigsaw puzzles, the bigger the better. It keeps you constantly mentally engaged and the act of reaching for pieces and looking around is good physical activity too. I get back ache if I do a jigsaw session for the first time in a while. It really tires me out before bed and can prevent that rumination before falling asleep. Finally it’s really cheap, there are limitless puzzles in charity shops and even some libraries lend them.
Yeah motivation can be tricky and I actually missed the bit where you’re specifically looking for something to do at night before getting to sleep instead of pacing around.
Uhh… Rubix cube? Puzzle? If you don’t want to walk around something where you use your hands and that takes some mental focus might help. Hopefully you find something!
Learn to crochet. It’s not hard to learn, aside from some people whose brains are wired a bit different, and it doesn’t cost much to get into. Eats up a lot of time for larger projects, and you can kinda watch tv or listen to radio/audiobooks while doing it.
Well, let’s see…
Time in your local frame of reference slows down the closer you are to a gravitational force. This will give you the perception the rest of the universe is going much faster. However, you’d need a pretty strong gravitational force to notice any effect of it.
A black hole is one of the most powerful sources of gravity out there, but if you don’t want to waste millions of years travelling to some far away celestial body, you can find an even stronger gravitational force much closer to home:
Your mum.
Just fill your time by being the guy who replies “unfortunately this niche group of people I don’t belong to can’t use your advice” on every ask post reply. Some people really get a thrill out of it.
Like for instance if someone asks how they can stay hydrated and somebody replies water you could say “unfortunately some people don’t have access to clean water”, and then just let the upvotes roll in because it’s technically true. It’s going to make you feel worse in the short term because you’ll know what you’re doing, but you won’t recognize that right away or maybe ever so it’s probably a viable strategy for a month.
unfortunately some people dont have a consistent internet connection
upvotes pls
Unfortunately some people don’t have time to post that kind of bullshit on lemmy
Unfortunately some people don’t experience time as a near concept
Some people take Baldrian before bed in Germany. You can (probably) get it without a prescription. It has a calming effect that might help you, without going down the road of stronger medicines.
I take melatonin, which helps a lot. But the issue is I just have trouble sleeping right now in general. I’d love to be able to sleep 14 hours a day all month. But I’m lucky if I get 6-7
I would take a class if I were you. Not necessarily at a college but an art, cooking, or dancing class. Whatever you’re into. You mentioned running so maybe try to train for a marathon (or whatever your distance is).
The only other way I know of time traveling is brown liquor and you definitely don’t want to go that route if you’re depressed and lonely. A class will help you meet new people too.
I ran some trail and road marathons when I was younger and trail runners are always super interesting and a bit nuts in a good way. It’s a solo hobby at times but there is a community. Trail running isn’t about your time since every trail is different. No one really compares anything except distance and even then, finding a cool trail is more important. So, it tends to be about the process rather than the outcome.
Procrastinating… I feel, whenever I postpone something for tomorrow, days fly by faster than usual.
Having a due date for a project or work assignment that you procrastinate really makes time move way too quickly
Why the oddly specific time period? Is something happening in a month, or are you doing something so that you won’t feel like this in a month?
I’m in a different physical location than normal for the next month, so my routine is totally thrown off. I’m not saying I won’t feel like this in a month. I’m sure I’ll still be having issues. But that’s a different situation I’ll deal with when I get there, and I’d like to get there as soon as possible to just get this over with.
