Thank you for discussing this. "Passive suicidal ideation" is so real and that hit so close to home. That's exactly what I deal with most of the time. I had no idea Dan was going through that.
Mm. Every time it's cold outside, I keep thinking "what if I just sat down in the snow and waited for nightfall, I wonder how long it would take people to find me."
@@andreasbuehler1821 Been there, had an old girlfriend who would get SO FREAKED OUT because I'd cross the street without looking either way, she had to pull me back more than once. I did it unconsciously, I just wouldn't care if a car hit me. I'm still struggling with it but I'm on therapy and that helps a lot
I really appreciate Dan being brave enough to talk about what he's going through. I'm sure it will help a lot of people, myself included. I wouldn't wish depression/apathy on my worst enemy. A long time ago I would spend days at a time for the better part of a year without the motivation to get out of bed, or do anything. The worst part is I felt so guilty and ashamed of how I was acting. I KNEW that it made no sense, and was just self destructive, but I just couldn't make myself do anything else. Fortunately I've gotten a lot better over the years, but there's still a few of days where it isn't easy.
I work here in Utah as a Mental Health Therapist and I really appreciate you guys talking about this! Men don’t talk about mental health issues nearly as much as women, yet commit suicide 3x as much. It’s tough, and more men need to know it’s okay to need help. 💙 Also, breathing techniques and mindfulness are very research proven techniques! No ‘woo woo’ at all lol
I really appreciate seeing men talk about their mental health in such honest ways. Zero bravado, just discussing real feelings and reactions. Well done.
I don't know if what you're thinking of is this, but there is an entirely separate thing called "l'appel du vide," or "call of the void," in English. It's that feeling that you get when you're doing something that is potentially dangerous that you're mind gives you for the immediate jerk back into care mode. The "throw yourself off the bridge," or "drop the child down the stairs," feeling. It's a common and perfectly normal, and separate thing from suicidal ideation. Which is not to say you don't have suicidal ideation. If you do, seek whatever help you need.
Thank you Dan for going over your story in this episode. I have had my own struggles with depression and I feel less on my own every time I hear someone describe the feelings I have had especially people I regard as successful. It gives me hope.
This is my first time hearing about "Passive suicidal ideation". I've been having these thoughts my entire life, but just thought that it was normal to daydream about a freight truck slamming onto my car from time to time. Thank you, Dan, for talking about these things and helping people on their own mental health journeys.
I just want to thank Brandon Sanderson for educating aspiring writers for free of charge, here on RUclips. I learnt so much. You also inspired me to start my own booktube channel, sir. Thank you so much!
I just want to say Brandon that a line from one of your books is what made that mental switch flip in my head that allowed me to sidestep those negative thoughts and reject them. I'm not saying that Brandon cured my depression but the positive message was the external stimulii I needed to break the cycle. Story telling is magic.
You guys have both done a lot to humanize people with mental illness. I know you both have grown and changed over the years in your understanding and in the way you write mental illness, I really appreciate your journey and sharing it with us.
I've had friends and family with clinical depression, but haven't experienced it myself. With 1/5 people having it after covid this is a very timely subject. You know that the real number is likely much larger. Hopefully more people will get help thanks to normalizing it by talking about it.
I'm so glad you guys did this episode. I'm very open about my mental health in hopes that people around me will realize it's okay to need help. Dan -- some days showing up is all you can do, but it still counts!
9:43 Meds are a hard thing to get the right combo that works for you. Played around with meds for 3 years with my psychiatrist (I'm on 3 different meds for depression, anxiety, PTSD, insomnia, ADHD, etc) and just now I think I've got the combo that is making me feel better. It's a process and journey but keep going! You'll find the right combo of meds and therapy.
I appreciate the honest discussion on depression. It's definitely not something you can "smile your way through" or "just stop being so sad." Unless you have gone through it you'd never truly understand. Depression is something that you'd never wish on anyone. Ever. I'm grateful that I went through depression to learn empathy. I'm grateful for the therapy and medication that got me through. But I'm mostly grateful that I overcame it and that is no longer part of my life.
As a doctor that works with mental health is very interesting to hear out such a conversation. Its great to see that peolple are acknowledging the importance of multi disciplinary professionals to work on their mental ilness. Medication will work in helping fixing whats has being damage, but if you do not work on where that damage is coming from (unresolve traumas mostly) it will almost always come back. So everyone who can have acces to therapy, at least try it out.
Thanks, for taking the time to talk about this. I've been through depression, nearly suicidal, but I got help and while I still have bad days, I've found hope. I hope you get the meds adjusted for you.
I am a licensed mental health counselor, and I also have my own mental health considerations as well. This topic was incredible and powerful. I can only imagine how hard it was on Dan to do this topic, and i truly appreciate you both for doing this episode
4:51 I did the smarties research. There are two ways of buying smarties so you will get 2 different answers. You can buy them in bulk or as individual packs. Smarties in Bulk: They cost 12.82 USD/kg which means you can get 62.4kg(137.568lbs) of smarties for 800 USD Smarties in Store: If bought in the store they cost 19.86 USD/kg which means you can get 40.2kg(88.62lbs) of smarties for 800 USD All of these prices are based on the german smarties market so results in the US may vary. Also I now have a doctorate in smartieology.
Thank you for this conversation. For therapy relating mental illness its really important not only to visit a psychiatrist but also a psychologist, and if they work together its way better. Meds alone aren't enough most of the times, we also need the tools of how to handle what we have.
I'm just finishing up a PhD (I REALLY envy Brandon's writing speed when trying to finish this damn thesis) and have a similar story to Dan. Covid broke something in my brain even though I'm an introvert and I ignored it for a year or two until it built up enough I had to deal with it. I had a similar experience driving my truck over an icy bridge late at night on the way home one day where I started sliding and had the same thought "that would be nice". I've had days where I kissed my partner goodbye in the morning and just drove to a random park and sat there for 8 hours before driving home and pretending I was at the lab all day. I haven't found medication that works for me yet but therapy, meditation, exercise and fixing my nutrition are helping. I have days where I still get nothing done, but a few productive ones every now and then are letting me see the light at the end of the tunnel. Depression SUUUUUCKS.
Thank You Dan and Brandon, I really needed to hear some of these things today. It's been hard for me to talk about my issues with anyone. I think I am finally gonna go and try to get some actual help.
Not one to usually comment but I appreciate the honesty on Dans part. I have depression with very similar symptoms to Dan and it is truly a struggle. Like Brandon wa saying for Emoly CBT was a game changer for me. Ten or so years after my diagnosis I still have those long held lows but life is more enjoyable than i thought it could be. Would highly recommend finding things that help clear your mind as well. For me that’s long walks outside and intentional breathing
Just want to also post that i appreciate you both talking about this. Same diagnosis as Dan from years of abuse as a child plus PTSD. It's the type of abuse that really bums people out when you talk about it, so i won't. I had wonderful parents who got me help immediately, and that made all the difference. I can't even imagine where I would be without that support. I started medication at 13 after being in therapy for years before that, and it is a life saver. I will most likely be on medication for the rest of my life, but I'm okay with that, and nobody should worry about a stigma around it. This episode actually means more than i can say. Listen and relisten to the podcast. Read your books. Dont know if you'll see this, but thanks. And good luck and much love to anyone else on this journey. ❤️
I really love that you guys chose to talk about this on an episode. Also, I was listening on Spotify and had to pull up this video and comment because when Brandon said "I'm not happy meditating because I could be writing a story," that is the most relatable thing I have ever heard.
This meant so much to me. I've also been struggling with anxiety and depression since 2020, and as the pandemic began and my mental health declined, I also started a two-year master's program. I spent 2 years just trying to soldier on, but by the time it came to write my thesis, I could barely look at a book. After taking an extra semester with the intent to finish my thesis and then not reading or writing a single word, I realized I would need professional help to move forward again. I started seeing a therapist in January and almost immediately started being able to make progress on my thesis. It hasn't been all sunshine since then, I have weeks and even months where it gets extremely hard to read and write for my thesis whether due to general lack of motivation to do anything or anxiety paralyzing me and causing me to avoid stressors like my thesis, but I'm moving forward again, regardless of variations in pace. I'm generally at peace with my struggles with mental health and how they has set back my writing, but it meant so much to hear a professional writer talk about how his own recent struggles with his mental health have impacted his ability to write. I've largely been successful telling myself it's okay that I've struggled to write since the trauma of the pandemic, but I was the only person I knew who was struggling so much with my academic life as a result of the pandemic. I watched everyone else who began my program with me successfully defend their theses while I couldn't even put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard, I guess). To hear someone else talk about their struggle to engage in a similar form of work to me has made me feel a lot less alone, that someone understands my situation from common experience rather than just empathy. All my best to Dan. I hope we'll both get to a point soon where we can somewhat comfortably manage our mental health and engage in work and life with some semblance of normalcy. I'm glad you also sought help, and to anyone who feels like they're going through a rough time, go to therapy if you can afford it. It will probably make your burdens in life so much easier to bare. Even if you're doing relatively well, it can be good to work through things before they become overwhelming. I wish I had seen a professional for some of my trauma and insecurities before the pandemic piled even more issues onto the pile. I definitely would have handled the last few years better if I had worked through my other mental baggage and already had a therapist to help me navigate my struggles in the pandemic as they arose.
This may be one of the best episodes I have ever seen not only in Intentionally Blank but in Podcasts in general. To be honest I'm thinking a lot about stuff in my life and reconsidering my views of psychology and mental health. I'm not sure what exactly but this conversation triggered something in me, maybe because is really authentic and not as prefabricated as most of the content regarding mental health that you find in social media now days. Thank you very much Dan for being this open with us and making yourself vulnerable, I wish you much success on your journey. And thanks Brandon for your insightful and honest feedback as well. I think I will look for a psychologist soon.
Thanks for sharing, Dan! In the same boat with med trials and hopefully something works soon for both of us. It means a lot to hear that you and Brandon understand.
Sanderson, Wells, and all the people they work with are truly amazing. They bring us great stories and entertainment, but also take time for important topics such as mental health both in and outside the stories they tell. Thanks for having such open and honest conversation about this topic.
As someone who's gone through therapies including cognitive behavioral therapy, this is such a refreshing episode to watch. Thank you for being so open about things, it made me feel seen about my own struggles
As someone with inattentive ADHD which has led to depression and anxiety, I kinda feel like I’ve never quite been *there* ya know? I’m still in college and idk. It’s hard to even feel like doing things let alone actually do them. So fuck do I understand what it’s like. Thank you for talking about this. It sucks and sometimes you have to remind yourself that it’ll get better even if it doesn’t feel like it at the moment. 22:25 edit: There are good days and bad days. Sometimes you can do more work, sometimes you can’t. It doesn’t change the fact that you *have* done stuff. If you’ve heard of “spoons” that might be applicable here. I’m not having a good brain day lmao, so I can’t explain it atm, but it might be interesting/helpful for you to look at.
I really appreciated them saying that the answer is much more often "go get help" rather than "soldier on". That's been super helpful for me and my issues :)
One of the things which really sucks with ADHD is that society and doctors generally speaking don't have an issue treating it with meds, so long as we're talking about children. When it comes to adults it's much harder to get treatment, and if you're a stay at home parent you can just about forget about it.
Adult ADHD doesn’t technically exist in America; diagnostically it must be found in childhood. Obviously lots of medical providers recognize that’s silly and diagnose adults anyways, but yeah that’s a big reason so many adults have run into issues with diagnosis
Hey Dan. Just wanna say me too brother. I’ve not had a major episode in a couple Of years. Proud of you for speaking out. You can manage it. Keep working with your doc on adjusting your meds. There’s a system that works for you, sometimes it just takes a while to find it. Praying for you man. You aren’t alone.
Thank you for this, I appreciate the discussion about mental health and admitting struggles and disfunction. It's easy see someone like Dan or Brandon and assume their problems are minimal on the mental health vector, but this is illustrative of the fact that people have problems in life and it's not shameful to seek help and admit to needing professional intervention!
I appreciated this conversation. I would not mind hearing more about this kind of thing in the future. It helps to learn about this from someone you relate with rather then people who are professionally trained. Obviously there is value in that as well but.. hope that makes sense.
First of all, thank you for sharing 😊 One of the valid points, among several, brought up that I’ve found incredibly dangerous, from personal experience, is for people within our orbit to insist it’s all in our heads… Its unfortunate people believe that 😞 I’m grateful you used your platform to discuss this important topic ❤ (oh, and writing could be your “active” meditation 🤷♀️🤗) You’re all amazing!
Thank you for sharing your experiences. A few years ago the topics of anxiety and depression were highly stigmatized in the US. It's great that you feel comfortable sharing with everyone especially since many more people have mental health issues after COVID!
Thank you Brandon and Dan for talking so openly about mental health and by extension health in general ❤ I have been listening non stop to all 3 of the secret projects so far, each book in it quarter, just obsessively listening, and following the story as a form of self therapy. I have seen a genuine transformation of my hopelessness, my fear, my anxiety- all transmuted into hope, gratitude, peace. The struggle isn’t over yet, and now I know how to weather the storm!
We love you Dan!! Thank you for sharing your history, some of your struggles, and helping chipping away at the stigmas that exist regarding mental illness. I love listening to the two of you, especially with these more challenging and deeper talks :).
Thank you for this episode. It had a big impact on me, and it needs to be talked about more. Also thank you to Dan for sharing his personal struggles. it shows that no matter what your level of success, you can be affected by this stuff ❤
I’ve been dealing with depression for almost half my life, and have only recently been getting into serious treatment, and it’s been hard. I appreciate your conversation about Mental Health and tearing down the stigma.
This video is exactly what I needed today. I've been battling this for way longer than I'd like to admit. These days I usually have it under control, but the last week or so has been a long, drawn out internal battle with absolutely no reasoning behind it. Thanks for being willing to share your experience.
My brain stalled with this math until I remembered that Smarties are totally different in the USA from Canada. That totally makes sense. How about the Canada Alternate Universe? If this were Canada, and we assumed 1 box of Smarties is $1, then $800cad would get 79.3lbs of Smarties, or 36kg (45g per box). 😄
This came out right as I got out of the hospital for suicidal intent/ideation. I'm finally in am okay place to watch this, and it is so nice to hear that even my favorite authors go through rough times and feel these things too. You all have no idea how much this was needed. Thank you.
Dan, you are amazing. I'm right in the throes of it too. This is Jake from the old patreon writing group. Stay strong and thanks so much for speaking about this.
Thanks for sharing this Dan! I’m so happy you have a good support system and are aware of it and finding ways to help yourself and your family 🌟 I hope you will always find ways to rebalance if one of your days starts as a “feel nothing” day. I’m lucky to only have a few off days a month, and I have a lot of compassion and respect for people currently experiencing mental health pains. 🌟🌟🌟
Also maybe someone will find. This useful!! There’s a book called “Superbetter” by Jane McGonigal. It’s brilliant! I cant explain it well but it’s a game that helps gamify your life to reach goals and help yourself do what seems impossible. She is a game designer who experienced deep depression and came up with this game “Superbetter” to help her feel more in control, positive and optimistic about her healing
I go through minor bouts of depression in response to anxiety, basically just shutting down as a way of powering through whatever is going wrong and once the anxiety trigger is gone I return to mostly normal. It can sometimes be hard to tell when this is happening because the fact that I am shutting down makes it hard to tell something is wrong, but I’ve realized that the best way to tell if I am anxious or not is how often I wake up thinking there are mice in the room. In college I bought a sofa that turned out to have mice living it in, I set out traps and captured two and never had any problems afterwards but there was always a tiny voice in the back of my head telling me there were more mice. So now when I get anxious my brain fills in a source for the anxiety by hallucinating mice crawling around in my bed, so that’s fun.
Thank you so much for opening up. I exercise, do martial arts, read and write fiction, and other things to help. Jiddu Krishnamurti has helped me with my thinking processes. Oddly enough, watching and interacting and connecting with a few streamers on twitch, a couple podcasts (this one) and playing a video game for an hour a day. Everybody's different but I look up to you for sharing. Thank you so much. Oh, and my father and I incidentally ended up with the same medicine, his through a long and difficult journey. Celexa/ Citalopram works very well, a big difference for me. Been taking for about five years.
I don’t have clinical depression or anxiety, but I’m so happy that a lot of people here feel heard. You all are amazing people and I feel lucky that we’re all in the same community.
Thank you for sharing! Conversations like this really help normalize mental health struggles and help people realize they are not alone. I appreciate that you talked about the definition of disorder and compared seeking treatment with getting glasses. The only thing I would caution is not to compare or suggest treatments because everyone is different - different metabolism, brain chemistry, symptomatology, etc. The dosage necessary for one person will be completely different from another.
I am ADHD inattentive type and took the meds for several years in elementary school. As an adult I have coping mechanisms that let me function (reasonably well) without the meds, but before I learned those, the meds helped a lot. My wife suffers from depression and anxiety. My best friend killed himself because he stopped takin his depression meds. His family considered depression to be a failure of faith and he and his wife were living with them at the time, so he just stopped picking them up to avoid the conversation. That event over 10 years ago made me start having panic attacks as an adult. I appreciate you guys talking about mental health openly. It’s so important and therapeutic to hear other people talk about issues that you deal with or have experienced.
As someone who hasnt really ever had much depression or anxiety this was a really good episode to listen to. I need to be more aware of what the people I care about are going through and watch for signs of these things in my own life. Thanks guys
I have ADHD, was diagnosed as a child, but my parents refused treatment for it. It was only when I got to university that I went back for treatment, I just couldn't cope anymore with not being able to study properly. My grades changed when I got on medication, and I'm a different person. My partner and all of my friends can almost immediately tell if I've taken my medication or not. This episode was honestly therapeutic for me, as some of my friends still treat ADHD as a joke, which isn't helped by it being an illness a lot of people say they have only as an excuse or joke.
ive had depression for 8 years now, it got to severe depression back in 2019 until 2021, im 29 and still havent finished college.... i can relate to this stuff... would like to point out that reading books was my escape from real life for the longest time, and those stories saved my life, now im better than ever and finally finishing my career thanks for sharing this dan, i think its good for ppl to realize its more normal than ppl realize (even tho its kind of terrible that it is)
I'm not an expert on meditation, but from what i've learned meditation isn't about not thinking but it's about focusing in one thing and just let the thoughts flow without judging them or letting them distract us..
Dan, thank you for sharing your feelings. I’ve been depressed since the pandemic too and I’ve been taking Vortioxetine. It usually keeps me stable but sometimes it doesn’t seem like it does much. I’ve been trying to focus on minimizing the stuff that makes me feel like I’m better off dead and more on the stuff that makes life worth living. It’s a daily struggle. I hope it gets better for all of us
Thank you for this! I had suspected if I might have a mild case of depression but thought it was all in my head. But now listening to this, one thing too many sounded familiar. I love all your episodes, even the most whimsical, but this one was appreciated on a different level. Thank you for trusting us and bringing attention to it in such a heartfelt way. Life before death, strength before weakness!
Thanks guys for talking about this stuff. As someone who has been dealing with worse depression (high functioning) than usual for the last few months, it's good to hear just a few words of comfort and understanding. Best wishes to you and your families and to any of them that have been struggling with their mental health. And screw the quacks who pretend that their supernatural rituals have any medical benefits. They do far more harm than good.
Dan! Thank you for being open about your depression and other mental health struggles. 11:45 I've struggled with mental health issues since my 20s. It makes me feel seen to hear other people speak openly about thier struggles
So great to talk about this things. Being able to discuss and ask for help is something super important. On 2020 I discovered I'm neurodivergent, and even when I haven't experience depression, overstimulation and burn out is really disrupting. Asking for help, going to therapy and trying to accommodate my needs was needed. Thanks for sharing and be kind to yourself Dan!
These days, the most common perception of what depression looks like still often not match what depression really looks like on someone who's living with it. All that misconception causes unecessary delay in diagnosis and treatment for many people. I'm glad you're being open about this and giving depression visibility so people gain understanding via this big platform. I've been living with depression for over 15 years and also started out first being ignorant of it, then choosing to ignore it like Dan did, then it got really bad which does not help with trying to take action to find out how to get help when one is in the abyss. Awareness, awareness, awareness! Nobody needs or benefit from delay in doing something about mental health caused from misconception!
This was my favorite episode. I love the silly episodes but the serious episodes are the best. I’ve had very little experience and understanding with mental health issues so it was great to listen to this episode to increase my awareness of it. Thank you and my heart goes out to those who struggle in this way. I pray for those who have this challenge in their lives. Thank you for sharing, Dan. You could really write a non-fiction book about this.
Thank you Dan, it's really almost painful sometimes when you see people, that never had an experience of some mental disorder, to not being able to understand you. My parents genuinely love me and I love them, but they have never understood my condition. In years they learned to accept that I can't do some "normal things" But I so clearly and painfully see they don't understand.
Thanks for talking about this, Dan and Brandon! I can tell it's really helpful by all the folks leaving comments. Hope this encourages more people to talk about mental health.
Thank you for sharing this. As someone struggling with depression and anxiety for over 15 years is always nice to hear others talk about their struggles and accomplishments when dealing with this beast.
Thank you Dan and Brandon for being open and talking about this. I’ve struggled with depression most of my life. It always helps when someone else is at least willing to talk about it from a place of understanding and compassion rather than judgement. Sometimes all we need is a listening ear. Dan I hope you find a medication that works better for you. You can also look into eastern medicine such as natural oils for the Doshas (this got me off my meds for almost 3 years) and there’s Orgone Koshino ring treatments from Japan, a Japanese lady in Sandy does them. Lexapro was my depression medicine that carried me for a while without as much side-effects. I got off Lexapro over the summer because it got to the point I felt like it was doing more harm than good. I still take my ADHD medicine which I believe helps my depression in a way, but now I get massages, still go to therapy, and reach out to people when my thoughts become unbearable. For anyone reading this, keep going. We’re cheering you on and suffering with you. You’re not alone in this.
Big thank you to Dan Wells for opening up about his depression. It means so much to hear the specifics of how it affects you and to know it’s relatable
Thank you both for this. Its incredibly important to get this information out there and to normalize it. Thank you Dan for being brave and open. I love this podcast, but now so much more so.
Weil, this was unexpected... hitting a little close to home there, fellas. Wish more people spoke this openly about their experience with mental challenges.
Brandon: "Emily's had depression since her 20s." Me: Coincidentally, how old was she when you got married? Context: My wife also got depression in the first year of our marriage (12yrs ago). Hard to shake the feeling that it's not my fault. Dan: I had to drive down to St. George, and it was the worst depression I've felt in my life. Me: I take offense to that! Context: I live in St. George, and it's lovely. PS: Just riffing and having fun
Thank you for this episode, guys. The point about so many people needing glasses was such a good one! I have struggled with depression for a long time and it helps to have other people talk about it openly and with such care. I hope that treatment starts working for you, Dan!
That was an incredibly tasteful coverage of depression. Good questions from Brandon and thanks to Dan for sharing. I find that depression is rarely sadness, but often just emptiness; the emotional equivalent of watching paint dry or grass grow. But there's help to be gotten, both in terms of therapy, medication and techniques to help one live with depression. Depression also comes in many forms. Some are seasonally depressed, some are genetically. Some people have a bad reaction to expectations not met, while others end up depressed due to grief of having lost a loved one. You might feel completely empty. I know of people who get easily irritated when they are depressed. Other's just don't have the energy to get out of bed. And it's all ok. Depression is a disease or disorder like so many others - only it's hidden. But there's help to be gotten, and doctors are only getting better at helping with it as we learn more about depression.
Related to part of the convo toward the end about disorders not necessarily being disorders, theres a line a read once that I quite like- "Disability exists in the context of environment", that I have to remind myself every so often, since so much of my life is designed in such away to minimize ,y head stuff.
Thank you all so much for doing this episode. Normalizing mental health treatment, especially in more traditionally conservative circles, is such important work.
Anxiety is absolutely brutal when added to depression. Those are my very worst days. I'm happy to have finally found a cocktail that keeps me stable. I wish you and your family the best with the struggle. *hugs*
Please let Mr. Wells know those of us who have depression empathize and thank him for speaking on this. I've dealt with this my entire life but only got help in 2019 when i was 35. It is life changing to get the help you need
Hello sir Dan! My last anxiety episode was during a time in which I did not have enough vitamin D in me. I have a gene that says that I may not process it very well. That can have a enormous effect on your mental health. As well as some of us have triggers. I finally realized that mine was loud intense noise. It's worth noting that some people are not effected by the Vitamin D supplements and have to only get it through their diet or through the skin. It may not be your issue but it's worth checking. North Americans typically do not get enough.
I have had depression for most of my life, and I would say what makes it so dangerous is how subtle and pervasive it is. I went for four years undiagnosed because I felt that what was happening couldn't be depression, I wasn't sad and nothing bad ever happened to me (well nothing seriously bad), so I just allowed myself to retreat into an increasingly internalized negative spiral. But the other problem with depression is part of my experience: the public perception of depression is so wildly inaccurate. While I found ways to cope without medication, I cannot stress enough how incredibly important getting help is. After my time working for an emergency response company I have seen his bad things can get when people remain untreated.
I went through a journey similar to Dan's. Even had genetic testing done, but it can take a few rounds of different meds to find something that works. Thank you for sharing, it's important that we normalize talking about mental health care. :)
Dan, I hope you know how many people you're going to help by being so open about this. I didn't even know that Passive Suicidal Ideation was a thing. And that was just one part of it.
I had an episode of depression and I’m so glad that I did do the genetic testing at the beginning of my journey because it helped eliminate what meds to not even try cuz they wouldn’t work, thank you Dan for being willing to be open about this! I will say that I do have a pet peeve with social media and friends if they said “I’m so depressed.” When I know they’re really just sad and not depressed, my pet peeve being I feel like people undermine the seriousness of depression by using the term so commonly. (And that peeve doesn’t apply when I know the person knows the difference between being sad and actually depressed.)
Thank you for discussing this. "Passive suicidal ideation" is so real and that hit so close to home. That's exactly what I deal with most of the time. I had no idea Dan was going through that.
Mm. Every time it's cold outside, I keep thinking "what if I just sat down in the snow and waited for nightfall, I wonder how long it would take people to find me."
@@andreasbuehler1821 Been there, had an old girlfriend who would get SO FREAKED OUT because I'd cross the street without looking either way, she had to pull me back more than once. I did it unconsciously, I just wouldn't care if a car hit me. I'm still struggling with it but I'm on therapy and that helps a lot
It hit pretty close for me as well. The "Well if I get tboned while following all the traffic laws, I could actually rest for a couple weeks. "
This was the first time I've heard "passive suicidal ideation" defined and I'm glad I know have a term to describe it
@@CephusW33I feel that on so many levels
I really appreciate Dan being brave enough to talk about what he's going through. I'm sure it will help a lot of people, myself included. I wouldn't wish depression/apathy on my worst enemy. A long time ago I would spend days at a time for the better part of a year without the motivation to get out of bed, or do anything. The worst part is I felt so guilty and ashamed of how I was acting. I KNEW that it made no sense, and was just self destructive, but I just couldn't make myself do anything else. Fortunately I've gotten a lot better over the years, but there's still a few of days where it isn't easy.
Good luck to you, glad you're doing better
You can fit $800 worth of candy in one pocket of your hoodie if you steal from your local AMC theater concession stand.
Facts!
So true
Haha.
That's against God! 15:06
I work here in Utah as a Mental Health Therapist and I really appreciate you guys talking about this! Men don’t talk about mental health issues nearly as much as women, yet commit suicide 3x as much. It’s tough, and more men need to know it’s okay to need help. 💙
Also, breathing techniques and mindfulness are very research proven techniques! No ‘woo woo’ at all lol
I really appreciate seeing men talk about their mental health in such honest ways. Zero bravado, just discussing real feelings and reactions. Well done.
I have really bad ADHD and have dealt with Anxiety and Depression on and off throughout my life. Thank you for this. It was cathartic.
My sister struggles with depression and the descriptions of Kaladin’s emptiness helped me understand her more than anything else I’ve seen.
I didn't realize passive suicidal ideation was a real thing. I think something like that about once a day in general thoughts.
I don't know if what you're thinking of is this, but there is an entirely separate thing called "l'appel du vide," or "call of the void," in English.
It's that feeling that you get when you're doing something that is potentially dangerous that you're mind gives you for the immediate jerk back into care mode.
The "throw yourself off the bridge," or "drop the child down the stairs," feeling. It's a common and perfectly normal, and separate thing from suicidal ideation.
Which is not to say you don't have suicidal ideation. If you do, seek whatever help you need.
Me listening to him describe it: Whoopsie
(I am in therapy and on meds, but still...whoops it's me)
Thinking about it a little is technically normal. Do not self diagnose.
Thank you Dan for going over your story in this episode. I have had my own struggles with depression and I feel less on my own every time I hear someone describe the feelings I have had especially people I regard as successful. It gives me hope.
This is my first time hearing about "Passive suicidal ideation". I've been having these thoughts my entire life, but just thought that it was normal to daydream about a freight truck slamming onto my car from time to time. Thank you, Dan, for talking about these things and helping people on their own mental health journeys.
I just want to thank Brandon Sanderson for educating aspiring writers for free of charge, here on RUclips. I learnt so much. You also inspired me to start my own booktube channel, sir. Thank you so much!
Brandon is an inspiration for sure. At least, for me.
Damn what a real episode. I so appreciate Dan’s opening up about his struggles. Normalizing these topics can literally save people.
I just want to say Brandon that a line from one of your books is what made that mental switch flip in my head that allowed me to sidestep those negative thoughts and reject them. I'm not saying that Brandon cured my depression but the positive message was the external stimulii I needed to break the cycle. Story telling is magic.
What was the line? Just curious
The phase Kaladin went through, and Hoids story were amazing. It helped me understand and process better when I went through it
Dan, be gentle with yourself. You've been through a lot recently and your body is exhausted. Keep strong your doing great 💜
You guys have both done a lot to humanize people with mental illness. I know you both have grown and changed over the years in your understanding and in the way you write mental illness, I really appreciate your journey and sharing it with us.
I've had friends and family with clinical depression, but haven't experienced it myself. With 1/5 people having it after covid this is a very timely subject. You know that the real number is likely much larger. Hopefully more people will get help thanks to normalizing it by talking about it.
I'm so glad you guys did this episode. I'm very open about my mental health in hopes that people around me will realize it's okay to need help.
Dan -- some days showing up is all you can do, but it still counts!
9:43 Meds are a hard thing to get the right combo that works for you. Played around with meds for 3 years with my psychiatrist (I'm on 3 different meds for depression, anxiety, PTSD, insomnia, ADHD, etc) and just now I think I've got the combo that is making me feel better. It's a process and journey but keep going! You'll find the right combo of meds and therapy.
I appreciate the honest discussion on depression. It's definitely not something you can "smile your way through" or "just stop being so sad." Unless you have gone through it you'd never truly understand.
Depression is something that you'd never wish on anyone. Ever.
I'm grateful that I went through depression to learn empathy. I'm grateful for the therapy and medication that got me through. But I'm mostly grateful that I overcame it and that is no longer part of my life.
As a doctor that works with mental health is very interesting to hear out such a conversation. Its great to see that peolple are acknowledging the importance of multi disciplinary professionals to work on their mental ilness. Medication will work in helping fixing whats has being damage, but if you do not work on where that damage is coming from (unresolve traumas mostly) it will almost always come back. So everyone who can have acces to therapy, at least try it out.
Thanks, for taking the time to talk about this. I've been through depression, nearly suicidal, but I got help and while I still have bad days, I've found hope. I hope you get the meds adjusted for you.
I am a licensed mental health counselor, and I also have my own mental health considerations as well.
This topic was incredible and powerful. I can only imagine how hard it was on Dan to do this topic, and i truly appreciate you both for doing this episode
Intrusive thoughts exist. They're normal. When they become pervasive, it's time to take action. Thank you Dan for sharing with us!
4:51
I did the smarties research.
There are two ways of buying smarties so you will get 2 different answers. You can buy them in bulk or as individual packs.
Smarties in Bulk:
They cost 12.82 USD/kg which means you can get 62.4kg(137.568lbs) of smarties for 800 USD
Smarties in Store:
If bought in the store they cost 19.86 USD/kg which means you can get 40.2kg(88.62lbs) of smarties for 800 USD
All of these prices are based on the german smarties market so results in the US may vary.
Also I now have a doctorate in smartieology.
Thank you for this conversation. For therapy relating mental illness its really important not only to visit a psychiatrist but also a psychologist, and if they work together its way better. Meds alone aren't enough most of the times, we also need the tools of how to handle what we have.
I'm just finishing up a PhD (I REALLY envy Brandon's writing speed when trying to finish this damn thesis) and have a similar story to Dan. Covid broke something in my brain even though I'm an introvert and I ignored it for a year or two until it built up enough I had to deal with it. I had a similar experience driving my truck over an icy bridge late at night on the way home one day where I started sliding and had the same thought "that would be nice". I've had days where I kissed my partner goodbye in the morning and just drove to a random park and sat there for 8 hours before driving home and pretending I was at the lab all day. I haven't found medication that works for me yet but therapy, meditation, exercise and fixing my nutrition are helping. I have days where I still get nothing done, but a few productive ones every now and then are letting me see the light at the end of the tunnel. Depression SUUUUUCKS.
Thank You Dan and Brandon, I really needed to hear some of these things today. It's been hard for me to talk about my issues with anyone. I think I am finally gonna go and try to get some actual help.
Not one to usually comment but I appreciate the honesty on Dans part. I have depression with very similar symptoms to Dan and it is truly a struggle. Like Brandon wa saying for Emoly CBT was a game changer for me. Ten or so years after my diagnosis I still have those long held lows but life is more enjoyable than i thought it could be. Would highly recommend finding things that help clear your mind as well. For me that’s long walks outside and intentional breathing
❤ Thank you so much for being so honest with your mental health Dan, I wish you get better
Just want to also post that i appreciate you both talking about this. Same diagnosis as Dan from years of abuse as a child plus PTSD. It's the type of abuse that really bums people out when you talk about it, so i won't. I had wonderful parents who got me help immediately, and that made all the difference. I can't even imagine where I would be without that support. I started medication at 13 after being in therapy for years before that, and it is a life saver. I will most likely be on medication for the rest of my life, but I'm okay with that, and nobody should worry about a stigma around it.
This episode actually means more than i can say. Listen and relisten to the podcast. Read your books. Dont know if you'll see this, but thanks. And good luck and much love to anyone else on this journey. ❤️
I really love that you guys chose to talk about this on an episode. Also, I was listening on Spotify and had to pull up this video and comment because when Brandon said "I'm not happy meditating because I could be writing a story," that is the most relatable thing I have ever heard.
This meant so much to me. I've also been struggling with anxiety and depression since 2020, and as the pandemic began and my mental health declined, I also started a two-year master's program. I spent 2 years just trying to soldier on, but by the time it came to write my thesis, I could barely look at a book. After taking an extra semester with the intent to finish my thesis and then not reading or writing a single word, I realized I would need professional help to move forward again. I started seeing a therapist in January and almost immediately started being able to make progress on my thesis. It hasn't been all sunshine since then, I have weeks and even months where it gets extremely hard to read and write for my thesis whether due to general lack of motivation to do anything or anxiety paralyzing me and causing me to avoid stressors like my thesis, but I'm moving forward again, regardless of variations in pace.
I'm generally at peace with my struggles with mental health and how they has set back my writing, but it meant so much to hear a professional writer talk about how his own recent struggles with his mental health have impacted his ability to write. I've largely been successful telling myself it's okay that I've struggled to write since the trauma of the pandemic, but I was the only person I knew who was struggling so much with my academic life as a result of the pandemic. I watched everyone else who began my program with me successfully defend their theses while I couldn't even put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard, I guess). To hear someone else talk about their struggle to engage in a similar form of work to me has made me feel a lot less alone, that someone understands my situation from common experience rather than just empathy.
All my best to Dan. I hope we'll both get to a point soon where we can somewhat comfortably manage our mental health and engage in work and life with some semblance of normalcy. I'm glad you also sought help, and to anyone who feels like they're going through a rough time, go to therapy if you can afford it. It will probably make your burdens in life so much easier to bare. Even if you're doing relatively well, it can be good to work through things before they become overwhelming. I wish I had seen a professional for some of my trauma and insecurities before the pandemic piled even more issues onto the pile. I definitely would have handled the last few years better if I had worked through my other mental baggage and already had a therapist to help me navigate my struggles in the pandemic as they arose.
This may be one of the best episodes I have ever seen not only in Intentionally Blank but in Podcasts in general. To be honest I'm thinking a lot about stuff in my life and reconsidering my views of psychology and mental health. I'm not sure what exactly but this conversation triggered something in me, maybe because is really authentic and not as prefabricated as most of the content regarding mental health that you find in social media now days.
Thank you very much Dan for being this open with us and making yourself vulnerable, I wish you much success on your journey. And thanks Brandon for your insightful and honest feedback as well.
I think I will look for a psychologist soon.
Thanks for sharing, Dan! In the same boat with med trials and hopefully something works soon for both of us. It means a lot to hear that you and Brandon understand.
Sanderson, Wells, and all the people they work with are truly amazing. They bring us great stories and entertainment, but also take time for important topics such as mental health both in and outside the stories they tell. Thanks for having such open and honest conversation about this topic.
As someone who's gone through therapies including cognitive behavioral therapy, this is such a refreshing episode to watch. Thank you for being so open about things, it made me feel seen about my own struggles
Love and respect for this episode, thank you for being so open Dan, it helps a lot to have these talks.
As someone with inattentive ADHD which has led to depression and anxiety, I kinda feel like I’ve never quite been *there* ya know? I’m still in college and idk. It’s hard to even feel like doing things let alone actually do them. So fuck do I understand what it’s like. Thank you for talking about this. It sucks and sometimes you have to remind yourself that it’ll get better even if it doesn’t feel like it at the moment.
22:25 edit: There are good days and bad days. Sometimes you can do more work, sometimes you can’t. It doesn’t change the fact that you *have* done stuff. If you’ve heard of “spoons” that might be applicable here. I’m not having a good brain day lmao, so I can’t explain it atm, but it might be interesting/helpful for you to look at.
I really appreciated them saying that the answer is much more often "go get help" rather than "soldier on". That's been super helpful for me and my issues :)
One of the things which really sucks with ADHD is that society and doctors generally speaking don't have an issue treating it with meds, so long as we're talking about children. When it comes to adults it's much harder to get treatment, and if you're a stay at home parent you can just about forget about it.
Adult ADHD doesn’t technically exist in America; diagnostically it must be found in childhood. Obviously lots of medical providers recognize that’s silly and diagnose adults anyways, but yeah that’s a big reason so many adults have run into issues with diagnosis
Hey Dan. Just wanna say me too brother. I’ve not had a major episode in a couple Of years. Proud of you for speaking out. You can manage it. Keep working with your doc on adjusting your meds. There’s a system that works for you, sometimes it just takes a while to find it. Praying for you man. You aren’t alone.
Great discussion. Mental illness needs to be discussed as frankly as physical illness. Thank you for this and thanks to Dan for being so open.
Thank you for this, I appreciate the discussion about mental health and admitting struggles and disfunction.
It's easy see someone like Dan or Brandon and assume their problems are minimal on the mental health vector, but this is illustrative of the fact that people have problems in life and it's not shameful to seek help and admit to needing professional intervention!
I appreciated this conversation. I would not mind hearing more about this kind of thing in the future. It helps to learn about this from someone you relate with rather then people who are professionally trained. Obviously there is value in that as well but.. hope that makes sense.
First of all, thank you for sharing 😊 One of the valid points, among several, brought up that I’ve found incredibly dangerous, from personal experience, is for people within our orbit to insist it’s all in our heads… Its unfortunate people believe that 😞 I’m grateful you used your platform to discuss this important topic ❤ (oh, and writing could be your “active” meditation 🤷♀️🤗) You’re all amazing!
Thank you for sharing your experiences. A few years ago the topics of anxiety and depression were highly stigmatized in the US. It's great that you feel comfortable sharing with everyone especially since many more people have mental health issues after COVID!
Thank you Brandon and Dan for talking so openly about mental health and by extension health in general ❤ I have been listening non stop to all 3 of the secret projects so far, each book in it quarter, just obsessively listening, and following the story as a form of self therapy. I have seen a genuine transformation of my hopelessness, my fear, my anxiety- all transmuted into hope, gratitude, peace. The struggle isn’t over yet, and now I know how to weather the storm!
We love you Dan!! Thank you for sharing your history, some of your struggles, and helping chipping away at the stigmas that exist regarding mental illness. I love listening to the two of you, especially with these more challenging and deeper talks :).
Man you guys are so free talking about your current issues, this is a good topic to get out there I guess
Thank you for this episode. It had a big impact on me, and it needs to be talked about more. Also thank you to Dan for sharing his personal struggles. it shows that no matter what your level of success, you can be affected by this stuff ❤
I’ve been dealing with depression for almost half my life, and have only recently been getting into serious treatment, and it’s been hard. I appreciate your conversation about Mental Health and tearing down the stigma.
This video is exactly what I needed today. I've been battling this for way longer than I'd like to admit. These days I usually have it under control, but the last week or so has been a long, drawn out internal battle with absolutely no reasoning behind it. Thanks for being willing to share your experience.
According to my very rough and fast calculations, 800 dollars worth of Smarties (about 3200 packs) would weigh about 37.5 pounds!
My brain stalled with this math until I remembered that Smarties are totally different in the USA from Canada. That totally makes sense.
How about the Canada Alternate Universe?
If this were Canada, and we assumed 1 box of Smarties is $1, then $800cad would get 79.3lbs of Smarties, or 36kg (45g per box). 😄
So which Smarties is this? The chocolate or the chalk?
I did some quick math with skidels and it turned out to be about 40 pounds.
This came out right as I got out of the hospital for suicidal intent/ideation. I'm finally in am okay place to watch this, and it is so nice to hear that even my favorite authors go through rough times and feel these things too. You all have no idea how much this was needed. Thank you.
Dan, you are amazing. I'm right in the throes of it too. This is Jake from the old patreon writing group. Stay strong and thanks so much for speaking about this.
Thanks for sharing this Dan! I’m so happy you have a good support system and are aware of it and finding ways to help yourself and your family 🌟 I hope you will always find ways to rebalance if one of your days starts as a “feel nothing” day. I’m lucky to only have a few off days a month, and I have a lot of compassion and respect for people currently experiencing mental health pains. 🌟🌟🌟
Also maybe someone will find. This useful!! There’s a book called “Superbetter” by Jane McGonigal. It’s brilliant! I cant explain it well but it’s a game that helps gamify your life to reach goals and help yourself do what seems impossible. She is a game designer who experienced deep depression and came up with this game “Superbetter” to help her feel more in control, positive and optimistic about her healing
I go through minor bouts of depression in response to anxiety, basically just shutting down as a way of powering through whatever is going wrong and once the anxiety trigger is gone I return to mostly normal. It can sometimes be hard to tell when this is happening because the fact that I am shutting down makes it hard to tell something is wrong, but I’ve realized that the best way to tell if I am anxious or not is how often I wake up thinking there are mice in the room. In college I bought a sofa that turned out to have mice living it in, I set out traps and captured two and never had any problems afterwards but there was always a tiny voice in the back of my head telling me there were more mice. So now when I get anxious my brain fills in a source for the anxiety by hallucinating mice crawling around in my bed, so that’s fun.
Thank you so much for opening up. I exercise, do martial arts, read and write fiction, and other things to help. Jiddu Krishnamurti has helped me with my thinking processes. Oddly enough, watching and interacting and connecting with a few streamers on twitch, a couple podcasts (this one) and playing a video game for an hour a day. Everybody's different but I look up to you for sharing. Thank you so much. Oh, and my father and I incidentally ended up with the same medicine, his through a long and difficult journey. Celexa/ Citalopram works very well, a big difference for me. Been taking for about five years.
I don’t have clinical depression or anxiety, but I’m so happy that a lot of people here feel heard. You all are amazing people and I feel lucky that we’re all in the same community.
So glad you did the episode. Thank you for sharing your experiences with depression.
Thank you for sharing! Conversations like this really help normalize mental health struggles and help people realize they are not alone. I appreciate that you talked about the definition of disorder and compared seeking treatment with getting glasses. The only thing I would caution is not to compare or suggest treatments because everyone is different - different metabolism, brain chemistry, symptomatology, etc. The dosage necessary for one person will be completely different from another.
I am ADHD inattentive type and took the meds for several years in elementary school. As an adult I have coping mechanisms that let me function (reasonably well) without the meds, but before I learned those, the meds helped a lot. My wife suffers from depression and anxiety. My best friend killed himself because he stopped takin his depression meds. His family considered depression to be a failure of faith and he and his wife were living with them at the time, so he just stopped picking them up to avoid the conversation. That event over 10 years ago made me start having panic attacks as an adult. I appreciate you guys talking about mental health openly. It’s so important and therapeutic to hear other people talk about issues that you deal with or have experienced.
As someone who hasnt really ever had much depression or anxiety this was a really good episode to listen to. I need to be more aware of what the people I care about are going through and watch for signs of these things in my own life. Thanks guys
I have ADHD, was diagnosed as a child, but my parents refused treatment for it. It was only when I got to university that I went back for treatment, I just couldn't cope anymore with not being able to study properly. My grades changed when I got on medication, and I'm a different person. My partner and all of my friends can almost immediately tell if I've taken my medication or not.
This episode was honestly therapeutic for me, as some of my friends still treat ADHD as a joke, which isn't helped by it being an illness a lot of people say they have only as an excuse or joke.
ive had depression for 8 years now, it got to severe depression back in 2019 until 2021, im 29 and still havent finished college.... i can relate to this stuff... would like to point out that reading books was my escape from real life for the longest time, and those stories saved my life, now im better than ever and finally finishing my career
thanks for sharing this dan, i think its good for ppl to realize its more normal than ppl realize (even tho its kind of terrible that it is)
I'm not an expert on meditation, but from what i've learned meditation isn't about not thinking but it's about focusing in one thing and just let the thoughts flow without judging them or letting them distract us..
Dan, thank you for sharing your feelings. I’ve been depressed since the pandemic too and I’ve been taking Vortioxetine. It usually keeps me stable but sometimes it doesn’t seem like it does much. I’ve been trying to focus on minimizing the stuff that makes me feel like I’m better off dead and more on the stuff that makes life worth living. It’s a daily struggle. I hope it gets better for all of us
Thank you for this! I had suspected if I might have a mild case of depression but thought it was all in my head. But now listening to this, one thing too many sounded familiar.
I love all your episodes, even the most whimsical, but this one was appreciated on a different level. Thank you for trusting us and bringing attention to it in such a heartfelt way.
Life before death, strength before weakness!
Thanks guys for talking about this stuff. As someone who has been dealing with worse depression (high functioning) than usual for the last few months, it's good to hear just a few words of comfort and understanding. Best wishes to you and your families and to any of them that have been struggling with their mental health.
And screw the quacks who pretend that their supernatural rituals have any medical benefits. They do far more harm than good.
Dan! Thank you for being open about your depression and other mental health struggles. 11:45 I've struggled with mental health issues since my 20s. It makes me feel seen to hear other people speak openly about thier struggles
Thanks for talking about this, Dan. Makes the people who are going through something similar feel a lot better. Good luck with it all.
So great to talk about this things. Being able to discuss and ask for help is something super important.
On 2020 I discovered I'm neurodivergent, and even when I haven't experience depression, overstimulation and burn out is really disrupting. Asking for help, going to therapy and trying to accommodate my needs was needed. Thanks for sharing and be kind to yourself Dan!
These days, the most common perception of what depression looks like still often not match what depression really looks like on someone who's living with it. All that misconception causes unecessary delay in diagnosis and treatment for many people. I'm glad you're being open about this and giving depression visibility so people gain understanding via this big platform. I've been living with depression for over 15 years and also started out first being ignorant of it, then choosing to ignore it like Dan did, then it got really bad which does not help with trying to take action to find out how to get help when one is in the abyss. Awareness, awareness, awareness! Nobody needs or benefit from delay in doing something about mental health caused from misconception!
This was my favorite episode. I love the silly episodes but the serious episodes are the best. I’ve had very little experience and understanding with mental health issues so it was great to listen to this episode to increase my awareness of it. Thank you and my heart goes out to those who struggle in this way. I pray for those who have this challenge in their lives. Thank you for sharing, Dan. You could really write a non-fiction book about this.
Thank you Dan, it's really almost painful sometimes when you see people, that never had an experience of some mental disorder, to not being able to understand you. My parents genuinely love me and I love them, but they have never understood my condition. In years they learned to accept that I can't do some "normal things" But I so clearly and painfully see they don't understand.
Thanks for sharing Mr. Wells; it helps to hear from other folks in similar situations.
15:03 Oh and thank you for discussing this, Mr. Sanderson.
Thanks for talking about this, Dan and Brandon! I can tell it's really helpful by all the folks leaving comments. Hope this encourages more people to talk about mental health.
Brandon’s books have helped me immensely. Thank you for talking about this, I no longer feel alone.
Thank you for sharing this. As someone struggling with depression and anxiety for over 15 years is always nice to hear others talk about their struggles and accomplishments when dealing with this beast.
Thank you Dan and Brandon for being open and talking about this. I’ve struggled with depression most of my life. It always helps when someone else is at least willing to talk about it from a place of understanding and compassion rather than judgement. Sometimes all we need is a listening ear.
Dan I hope you find a medication that works better for you. You can also look into eastern medicine such as natural oils for the Doshas (this got me off my meds for almost 3 years) and there’s Orgone Koshino ring treatments from Japan, a Japanese lady in Sandy does them.
Lexapro was my depression medicine that carried me for a while without as much side-effects. I got off Lexapro over the summer because it got to the point I felt like it was doing more harm than good. I still take my ADHD medicine which I believe helps my depression in a way, but now I get massages, still go to therapy, and reach out to people when my thoughts become unbearable. For anyone reading this, keep going. We’re cheering you on and suffering with you. You’re not alone in this.
Kaladin, cough cough.
Serious though, thank you for having such open and honest conversation.
Don't soldier through but also don't take drugs if you can change into a better environment...if you're stuck in your environment, medicate.
Big thank you to Dan Wells for opening up about his depression. It means so much to hear the specifics of how it affects you and to know it’s relatable
Thank you both for this. Its incredibly important to get this information out there and to normalize it. Thank you Dan for being brave and open. I love this podcast, but now so much more so.
Weil, this was unexpected... hitting a little close to home there, fellas. Wish more people spoke this openly about their experience with mental challenges.
Brandon: "Emily's had depression since her 20s."
Me: Coincidentally, how old was she when you got married?
Context: My wife also got depression in the first year of our marriage (12yrs ago). Hard to shake the feeling that it's not my fault.
Dan: I had to drive down to St. George, and it was the worst depression I've felt in my life.
Me: I take offense to that!
Context: I live in St. George, and it's lovely.
PS: Just riffing and having fun
They got married a little later. I believe Brandon said Emily first experienced it in college, and they got married out of college.
Thank you for this episode, guys. The point about so many people needing glasses was such a good one! I have struggled with depression for a long time and it helps to have other people talk about it openly and with such care. I hope that treatment starts working for you, Dan!
That was an incredibly tasteful coverage of depression. Good questions from Brandon and thanks to Dan for sharing. I find that depression is rarely sadness, but often just emptiness; the emotional equivalent of watching paint dry or grass grow. But there's help to be gotten, both in terms of therapy, medication and techniques to help one live with depression. Depression also comes in many forms. Some are seasonally depressed, some are genetically. Some people have a bad reaction to expectations not met, while others end up depressed due to grief of having lost a loved one. You might feel completely empty. I know of people who get easily irritated when they are depressed. Other's just don't have the energy to get out of bed. And it's all ok. Depression is a disease or disorder like so many others - only it's hidden. But there's help to be gotten, and doctors are only getting better at helping with it as we learn more about depression.
Related to part of the convo toward the end about disorders not necessarily being disorders, theres a line a read once that I quite like- "Disability exists in the context of environment", that I have to remind myself every so often, since so much of my life is designed in such away to minimize ,y head stuff.
Thank you all so much for doing this episode. Normalizing mental health treatment, especially in more traditionally conservative circles, is such important work.
Meditation is not, in fact, universally recommended. People with PTSD and CPTSD while trying to meditate can instead go to some dangerous places.
Anxiety is absolutely brutal when added to depression. Those are my very worst days. I'm happy to have finally found a cocktail that keeps me stable. I wish you and your family the best with the struggle. *hugs*
Please let Mr. Wells know those of us who have depression empathize and thank him for speaking on this. I've dealt with this my entire life but only got help in 2019 when i was 35.
It is life changing to get the help you need
Hello sir Dan! My last anxiety episode was during a time in which I did not have enough vitamin D in me. I have a gene that says that I may not process it very well. That can have a enormous effect on your mental health. As well as some of us have triggers. I finally realized that mine was loud intense noise.
It's worth noting that some people are not effected by the Vitamin D supplements and have to only get it through their diet or through the skin. It may not be your issue but it's worth checking. North Americans typically do not get enough.
I have had depression for most of my life, and I would say what makes it so dangerous is how subtle and pervasive it is. I went for four years undiagnosed because I felt that what was happening couldn't be depression, I wasn't sad and nothing bad ever happened to me (well nothing seriously bad), so I just allowed myself to retreat into an increasingly internalized negative spiral. But the other problem with depression is part of my experience: the public perception of depression is so wildly inaccurate. While I found ways to cope without medication, I cannot stress enough how incredibly important getting help is. After my time working for an emergency response company I have seen his bad things can get when people remain untreated.
Thank you for doing this episode.
For those wondering, it is not too heavy if you were worried about triggers.
I went through a journey similar to Dan's. Even had genetic testing done, but it can take a few rounds of different meds to find something that works. Thank you for sharing, it's important that we normalize talking about mental health care. :)
Dan, I hope you know how many people you're going to help by being so open about this. I didn't even know that Passive Suicidal Ideation was a thing. And that was just one part of it.
I had an episode of depression and I’m so glad that I did do the genetic testing at the beginning of my journey because it helped eliminate what meds to not even try cuz they wouldn’t work, thank you Dan for being willing to be open about this!
I will say that I do have a pet peeve with social media and friends if they said “I’m so depressed.” When I know they’re really just sad and not depressed, my pet peeve being I feel like people undermine the seriousness of depression by using the term so commonly. (And that peeve doesn’t apply when I know the person knows the difference between being sad and actually depressed.)
I had a really bad night yesterday and this morning found this. Made me feel better in a way, thank you❤