Depression
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Vitamin D deficiency as well!
Nearly 42% of adults in the United States have a vitamin D deficiency. This figure rises to almost 63% in Hispanic adults and 82% in African American adults.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vitamin-d-deficiency-symptoms
If your shadow is longer than you are tall, you are not getting enough ultraviolet radiation to produce vitamin D. You need about 15 minutes a day.
Some of the symptoms are fatigue and depression
What is this shadow longer than your tall thing ? I have never heard of it lol . Can you explain how to check it or why it is a thing that happens and is real ?
I think that's saying that if you go out at sunrise/sunset, the sun is on the horizon, and so your shadow will be a lot longer. In that scenario, you aren't getting enough UV to produce the vitamin D you need.
Angle of the sun. Sunlight’s not intense enough for your skin to use the radiation to help generate the D.
Often caused by an imbalance in brain chemicals, which can be corrected with medicine.
Get diagnosed and take your meds. It’s a world of difference.
To be clear, this doesn't necessarily mean "get diagnosed for depression" either.
No, as others have suggested, get a blood test.
Accelerating depression was surprisingly a symptom of my cancer. So being depressed can also be a symptom of something far more serious than just depression.
My depression is still bad, but the difference between taking my cancer meds (not psychiatric meds) and not taking my cancer meds, is a world of difference, depression-wise.
So being depressed can also be a symptom of something far more serious than just depression.
This is very poor wording. Depression is one of the deadliest illnesses in young people.
Eh what about young people with stage 4 cancer ?
/s
I agree depression is serious but come on you know what they meant .
While I can't provide you with a proper scientific answer I can offer a basic explanation - it's effort.
Browsing through the never ending amount of content online requires no effort but provides you with a dopamine rush as if you actually managed to accomplish or do something with your time. Other stuff, like watching movies, playing games, reading books, etc. requires attention and active participation, the payoff on the other hand is largely delayed (especially compared to the lazy option).
As for hacks... I don't know any. The only ways I know how to deal with it is limiting your time scrolling through this stuff and forcing yourself to do other things - it can be rough early on but you'll eventually get used to the "normal" way of functioning.
I would also like to add motivation to the list. If you’re not particularly hyped about any game, playing games isn’t going to feel engaging. Once you do find a game you enjoy, you won’t have much time for doomscrolling any more.
Being more aware of the passage of time helps me, so setting an alarm is what I do.
ADHD. A lot of people might say depression, and ADHD gets misdiagnosed this way too, especially because people are much more familiar with the way depression manifests rather than how ADHD actually manifests beyond stereotypical hyperactivity and difficulty focusing.
What you're describing is executive dysfunction and energy regulation problems. The reason you can't stop scrolling is because your brain doesn't produce dopamine enough, and it's only used to the short bursts it can produce. This creates a feedback loop where you're stuck stimulating yourself with quick, easy dopamine hits, and that's why anything that seems like a prolonged task feels like an impossible endeavor. It's also why you'll get tunnel vision if you ever do start playing that game.
We have this thing called autistic inertia, which sounds similar, and since people already mentioned ADHD, maybe start here and see if anything rings a bell and go from there:
https://medium.com/@autieadventures/adhd-autistic-inertia-and-pda-what-sets-them-apart-9d2b39a55cf7
I swear I have all three of the ADHD/autistic ones, and all three have gotten more and more difficult to deal with as I’ve gotten older
Unfortunately that's pretty common. Personally I think that the accumulation of trauma (which is unavoidable being neurodiverse in a neurotypical world) makes the brain even more defensive, making it ever harder to break through the walls it creates in "self defence". I wish I had something more encouraging or helpful to say, but I have the same struggles.
autistic inertia
I feel that, didn't know there was a term for it
I only recently learned the term, and I too felt it in my bones.. So validating each time I discover another bit of my autism has a name and is known by others and isn't just me being "useless".
First time hearing about PDA. So being viscerally protective of one's own autonomy, no matter how small or reasonable a demand is, is a problem? Damn dude
Take it a step further - even defending your own autonomy from yourself. Even things you want to do or even thoroughly enjoy become impossible once a demand is introduced. Add that to executive dysfunction, and daily life (and dealing with a neurotypical world that has no idea about these issues) becomes a real challenge.
I can only speak to my experience.
Often I fall back to films or games I've already developed an emotional attachment to. Because the mental energy it takes to develop a new attachment is significant. I find I can trick it by putting something on while I do something else and then come back to watch or listen to it later where it's already somewhat familiar.
My ADHD doesn't really let me have long term (hour plus) focus easily. It wants the easy dopamine hit from something that it knows it already can drop into.
Others have said depression, but this can also be caused by burnout or ADHD. If you’ve tried the usual suggestions (better sleep, exercise, diet) and it’s really bothering you, then talking to a doctor could help narrow down the possibilities.
There could be any number of things causing you to feel like that. Depression, burn out (very common in people on the spectrum), vitamin deficiencies, thyroid problems… our bodies are kind of like really crappy cars that just show a check engine light for every problem, except with feeling tired. The only way to rule out any physical problems is to get blood work done.
Tell yourself "3 2 1 Go!" And do it.
It's fine if you need to try a couple times. Or if you need to rock yourself to a new position and time it with Go.
Sometimes I like to hype myself up and do a really loud pep talking coach type voice in my head for this.
Also very high energy affirming stuff. ‘I am here! This is my body! I choose when and how to use it!’
Yeah, it’s silly, but if it works it works.
Good tip is to hum Tank! As you do it.
“Let’s jam”
3 2 1 laterrr
Great tip honestly
yeah there's a pretty good hack for this.
Stop having social media, if you are unable to look at it, you simply won't.
90% of your life is building an environment around you that incentivizes you to do the work that you need to do, not only to be productive, but also to be happy.
You'll be really fucking bored, but also find that you have other things to be doing, and then go do those instead, because they're more interesting.
It's the level of commitment. You can start and stop online activities with almost no preparation or planning. When you watch a movie, you have to mentally prepare yourself to be in one spot and paying attention to one thing for an hour and a half. When you play video games, it takes effort to turn on the console or launch Steam / Epic / whatever.
Because your brain is naturally "designed" to maximise things that trigger happy chemicals while minimising effort to get them.
So slowly frying your neurons from scrolling an endless supply of garbage where you don't have to move or work or even use your brain to make a choice of what to watch or pay attention enough to follow a story is always going to be your brains preferred choice.
Kinda sounds like standard adult burnout.
Your brain is a large energy eater. Slow oxygen transfer in the lungs would be my guess. Sitting around, your body downcycles to a lower energy requirement and the longer it remains in that statethe more effort it takes to get out of it
Remove the garbage from your life.
Consider how limited our time is and if you really want to spend it on "garbage".
Only hack fortis discipline. Decide what you’re going to do ahead of time, then stick to your plans.