Hello everyone , Hope you all fine ... I'm an atheist from middle east I was born in a religious family , I was a religious kid who was worshipping an talking with his god in a silent way - It's religious way - until I found me talking with myself when I was 18 years , Yes when I was 18 I've become an atheist and of course no one knows there is no way to tell my family like at all ,, The good thing that I get out of my family and I live alone in a flat ..Around 2 months ago my mental power get decreased I can't do a process like studying or even do an exercise more than 20 minutes in the whole day I feel depressed immediately .. The main reason I feel pointless like Why I do all of those things ?? What is the porpuse of all this since there is no free well or even all of our goodness it's just an imagination ?? There is no god anymore there is no that plan behind the killings and all of bad things that happened around the world and I don't even know why I feel bad since this is just a nature thing that happened maybe we should just accept it and don't reject it but of course we need to create the goodness to make things better or to just fooling our self to think that everything is going to be better .... So in this situation I was thinking to get into some philosophy or religion .. So that's the question If you don't mind guys Do I need to take this decision ? Even If it's not rational , Or maybe I don't need to think about my feeling and just leave it for some medical thing .. And I don't know If my childhood still has kind of effect on my psychic thing ... And guys If you don't mind please share with me your philosophies that makes you get up from the bed everyday and complete the routine .. And yeah thank you for those kinds of websites that bring us together , Love you all .
Subscription Note:
Choosing to subscribe to this topic will automatically register you for email notifications for comments and updates on this thread.
Email notifications will be sent out daily by default unless specified otherwise on your account which you can edit by going to your userpage here and clicking on the subscriptions tab.
"The good thing that I get out of my family and I live alone in a flat ..Around 2 months ago my mental power get decreased I can't do a process like studying or even do an exercise more than 20 minutes in the whole day I feel depressed "
Give yourself a break. Are you even aware of what you are going through right now. Anyone who has done the things you have done is going to feel depressed.
1. You left a religion and an entire support system behind. Now you have to find a new support system. Welcome to AR
2. You moved from your family and are living on your own for the first time. You are not a child any longer but an adult.
3. Sounds like you are in school/ At 18 you may have just left HS and are not looking at or attending University. Another major life change.
4. You have not hit bottom yet. Someone could die, you could run out of money - lose a job , your town could be leveled by an earthquake, and you could discover you have cancer.
The point is simple.... give yourself a break. You are right in the middle of several major life changes. Make sure you get sleep, eat well and take care of yourself. You are changing from a child to an adult. As an adult you will become your own father and mother. You must care for yourself. Anyone going through these changes is going to feel depressed. If you had a young son who had just done all the things you had done, what would you say to him? (Treat the young son in you right/) Take your own advice! You know how to treat this new person you are becoming.
Your life is moving forward. Move forward with it.
Why do I get out of bed every day: I love my job. I like the people I work with. I have the respect of my colleges. I'm planning my next big adventure. I just dumped a girlfriend that was not good for me and I am starting a new relationship with another girl that may not be good for me. Ha ha ha ha .... There is a reason I have stayed single. Life is an adventure and every day something new is going to happen. I just won "The Teacher of the Year" award at my university and I was promoted to a new position as a coordinator in the universities counseling department. I will be taking an online course in Laws and Ethics for counselors in the next few weeks. An online counseling agency has asked for my resume and the online counseling business is growing. When I retire I will be able to work from my home on the computer and still earn a very nice income. I am writing a second book and hoping I can complete it in a year. I am learning some new songs on my guitar. I just bought a Taylor Baritone Acoustic, Solid mahogany back and sides with a spruce top. I am having so much fun with it. All my dental work is done and I look great. I had 13 implants and all my front upper teeth capped. This weekend I am going to go out and purchase a new notebook computer. This peach juice I am drinking tastes cool and refreshing. It's 5:18 AM and I am going to take a wonderful warm shower, shave, put on some nice clothes and walk to school as the sun rises. At school I will have a wonderful cup of coffee. I found a Vietnamese brand called 57. It is dark, rich, and delicious. After that I will go to my first writing class. The students will be happy because as soon as they finish a rewrite on their essays, I have a game planned for them.
Why do I get up in the miring? So I can make plans for the next morning.
A wakes up "feeling depressed" (morning blues) ... and spends the rest of the day musing about his "Mental health".
B wakes up "feeling depressed" (morning blues) ... goes for a walk, paying attention to the clouds in the sky, the architecture of the upper parts of buildings, the greenery and treeline in the local park, and so on. A short, sudden sprint ... of no more than 20-30 yards wakes up the body. Not wishing to "become depressed" he reflects upon his habits that may be bringing him down ("Am I happy with how I'm using/running my living environment?" "Am I managing my finances in a sensible manner?" "Am I procrastinating about things I should be doing?" ... and so on.).
The final question is: "Am I the instrument of my own despair?"
When I spoke with my "wise aunt" about my "problems" she just smiled and said: "You've got to figure out what you're doing wrong".
Actually, This is the very FIRST quasi intelligent thing Senior Citizen has ever said and I can tell you why.
@ "goes for a walk, paying attention to the clouds in the sky, "
It is a fact - exercise and physical activity can cure most depressions and alleviate symptoms of even the most depressed states.
"In the exercise only group, only 8% of patients relapsed into depression."
In the medication only group, 38% of patients relapsed into depression.
In the exercise and medication group, 31% of patients relapsed into depression.
Exercise - even just getting out and walking for an hour a day can significantly reduce symptoms of depression and it is cheaper than going to a psychiatrist. This is just one study. There are many more/.
https://jamesclear.com/exercise-and-depression
@SC007
Great advice, dude. Nicely done... *thumbs up*...
@Adonis
Welcome to the AR, young man. Nice of you to join us. Best advice I can give you at this point is to listen to what Cognostic is telling you. He is pretty much hitting all the right points. Not much for me to add, really, other than to reinforce what he already said. You are going through MAJOR life changes right now at a relatively young age. A bit of depression is to be expected. Willing to bet pretty much everybody here has experienced such things in their lives. I know I have. The trick is to just keep moving forward. Step by step, little by little, day by day. Nothing wrong with being sad and a little depressed. It is how you deal with it and get through it that counts. You are in a good place here in the AR to help you with that.
@ Adonis
Do you still live in the Middle East? Or are you in a more "westernized" country?
If the later, you can find help. If the former, I feel for ya.
The only help I can offer is that part of my CPTSD involves depression. I have been dealing with it for 20 years. Don't ask me how I get through it because I truly do not know. I just take each second as it comes and handle it the best I can. I can say mine own research into CPTSD (Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) has probably helped me more than anything else. By knowing what effects is has and how they effect me, allows me to deal with it on a different level than not knowing. Perhaps the same can work for you?
Hope you find what you need.
And welcome to our little corner of godless heathenism. Scope out all the threads and fun reading them.
rmfr
A thought that often gets me out of bed when depression is kicking my ass and even the things that I usually love don't seem fulfilling anymore: Before I was born, I was not-alive (can you be dead before you were born?) for many billions of years. This century or so that I get to experience consciousness and life is seriously precious and awe-inspiring. I don't want to miss a second of it. I want to live it to the fullest. I'm seriously lucky to be here. (Side note: I'm curious whether this sounds empowering to other people or just depressing?)
I went through about 3 years of a deep depression after I stopped believing in God. Your mind is trying to make sense of the world from a totally different perspective, and that's normal. It gets better. And you're younger and more resilient than me, so I'd bet that you find your way through it a whole lot quicker than I did. You're on the right track!
@Stone Jade
I find it empowering.
Welcome Adonis, I hope we can enjoy a long and productive relationship.
Like others have pointed out, you are in a transition, and finding you way. The old reference points are gone, and it is understandable that things can appear confusing, challenging, and even scary.
What I do (and I can speak only for myself) is to count the positive things in my life. When I begin to do that, it becomes a long list of very wonderful things. The first item is that I woke up and that I am alive. The next item is that I am functional enough to recognize my surroundings and know where and when I am. I am also intelligent enough to get through a day.
These are just things that we take for granted, but when you think about it, we are very fortunate. I know people who have died. I know people who have diseases of the mind and they do not even remember who they are. I know people who are mentally challenged, and do not have the intellect to cope for themselves.
Instead of focusing on the negative, I focus on the positive, and not only do I get through the day, it makes everything very wonderful.
Stay your course. You have moved out and adopted an atheist mind-set. Do not question those good decisions, and keep moving forward in your life.
It helps to occasionally add distractions to your life. Listen to music that pleases you, watch a silly comedy, watch silly YouTube videos just for the giggles. As they say, and it is true, laughter is the best medicine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F9jXYOH2c0
If it is feasible to do so (without adversely negative consequences), the best advice would be to see a doctor.
While the things that make you unhappy may be deeply profound and seemingly unanswerable, at a biological level, what makes you unhappy is very simple in terms of chemicals affecting mood and may be straightforward to change through exercise, therapy, medicine and so on.
I suggest that you do not isolate yourself from people and activities that previously made you happy unless they are now a negative influence, even if you associate them with religion.
As I always like to say, the meaning of life is really whatever you want to do with this short life. It's the only one we'll have, after all, so make the most of it, friend.
Welcome AD,
"we need to create the goodness to make things better"
You already know the answer my friend. Each of us create our own journey through life. Each finds value in different ways, whether it be family, friends, working at a job that is worthwhile and makes the world better, charity, etc. You can find your niche. You have to make up your mind to make a difference in this world, no matter how big or small. Then, when you look in the mirror, you will smile.
You have friends here.
One of my favorite things to do, is playstation. I am a first person live shooter nut...my favorite recently, is Battlefield 5. No shit...a fuckin game keeps me going...Also my wife, kids, dog, and friends, in that order. I love upland hunting, skeet and olympic pistol and three position rifle shooting/comp's too. I love going for drives with the music blaring, I like pissing off theists face to face and will do so at every opportunity. I like peet's orange pekoe tea, lucky charms, spaghetti with meatballs, wild bore steak and nerds. I love feeding sea lions french fries, watching youtube fail videos, playing spot the idiot, in the mall with my wife while eating fro yo, teasing the dog by pretending I will eat his food, getting so high with my wife that we both think we are going to die, sweet and sour chicken from cardero's in vancouver, prime rib from from lawrys in chi town, and asking for a window seat after sundown at the cliff house in my home town and chuckling at the maitre d trying to explain that you won't be able to see the ocean. I truly think I can go on forever, with things I enjoy, and add to my life. These things happen, planned or not, that become things you love and give hope to do again. Sitting on a hill, feeding a grey wolf a whole bag of jack links teriyaki, while deer hunting on an island in alaska, is something I will never ever forget, and will not likely do again...but one thing I am sure about, is that something equally meaning will happen again. So wake up, get up, and live.
@Adonis
Here is the TLDR version of what gets me up in the morning:
We humans have an amazing and unique ability to learn and create. Like no other known living thing, we have a heightened ability to learn and from that knowledge create.
We very well could be the first on the planet to ponder at the meaning of life and how we came to be. We may well be the first that can strive to be greater and continually improve ourselves arguably instead of our intelligence being a curse, it can be a great gift, the ultimate freedom. To me life is too rare, to short, too precious to waste it stuck on the negatives, as long as you can draw breath and learn and create why not take advantage of such an amazing ability that allows for such freedom.
I am addicted to learning, and I am addicted to creating, from pure art to the highly practical. Those "addictions" are what get me up in the morning. These forums for me are a reflection of that. I learn a lot here, and I create, writing down my own thoughts here. I can even go back in my post history and read it like a journal of my articulated thoughts along with people's reactions to my own thoughts. Leading to my final reason to get up in the morning, to share what I learn and create with other humans.
And then of course there is love. Some may call love irrational, I don't. Even if it was, it is one of the best things I ever experienced and it also gets me up in the morning.
If you want more detail let me know and I can give you the non tldr version. I imagine some here will warn you how verbose I can get!
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
▮I am an atheist that always likes a good debate
▮Please include @LogicFTW for responses to me
▮Tips on forum use. ▮ A.R. Member since 2016.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
The only thing I can recommend if you suffer from depression is the help of a psychiatrist. Everything else can only worsen your condition. Now that I have undergone full treatment, when I feel anxious, I can take a Fully Kratom capsule, which I buy at https://fullykratom.com/collections/capsules. It helps me relax. But in the case of depression, only a psychiatrist.