Dealing with Depression and its Consequences

So, I'll start by giving some information about myself. I'm 19 about to be 20 and have been dealing with depression/apathy for about 4 years now. Throughout those 4 years my depression has pretty much skyrocketed in intensity. It's gotten to the point where its also effecting my body image and my social anxiety is getting much more intense as well. I am currently in college and have been trying to find out what I want to do for the rest of my life. With that being the case, I've decided to finally try and commit to solving these issues, but here comes the problem and where it gets kind of complex. I can barely motivate myself to do basic daily activity's, let alone convince myself to change my daily routine to contain exercise, a decent sleep schedule, a social life, and some other stuff necessary to get my life in order. So I guess my question in posting all this is, how do you guys suggest I begin to motivate myself to do these things? Does anyone here have any tips/tricks that have been useful in their recovery, or just something that might work? I don't really have the financial capability to go to a therapist, so please don't put that as a suggestion.

Hi.

I guess I'd say I have low motivation but I don't know if the kind of apathy I have is really the type of depression that most people who have depression have. I'm kind of the type of person who doesn't want to be motivated because I don't like "normal". Trying to be normal depresses me more than knowing I'm not. So I guess I'm the wrong person to ask. Just responding to give your thread a little boost.

I can't speak for other people that suffer from apathy, but mine is definitely due to my lack of motivation and lack of social interaction. I guess I realized a bit too late that emotions and social skills can also "get rusty" if you dont use them often enough, which put me in this situation.

I have heard some people use an accountability partner. From what I have heard you both tell each other what you want to achieve and then keep in touch in some form of communication, daily maybe and ask each other how its going etc, maybe what could be better, what is causing difficulties etc.

You could try a few things:

- Daily Exercise(non-strenuous is also good like walking)
- Changing your diet. I find that the less carbs I eat the better I feel mentally(keto-ish diet).
- Meditation:
These are suggestions that work for me, personally.

Medication will also help you get some stability so I hope you find a way to get your hands on some!

All the best and if you have more questions about my list, feel free to ask.

If you know the root cause of your depression, maybe try to force yourself to target them and work on them? If lack of social interactions is the cause, force yourself to socialize and hopefully that breaks the mold. Lack of motivation, maybe give yourself some sort of hobby with gradual goals that you achieve over time. Maybe that will help you jumpstart your lack of motivation.

If you're in college, I would think it will have therapist or psych services available to students. And seek more help and advice there.