Reddit mentions of Overcoming Depression 3rd Edition: A self-help guide using cognitive behavioural techniques (Overcoming Books)

hey man, sorry to hear. I just drop some quick advice here, it is only meant to helping you and hoping it will if you are interested:

• seek out professional help asap. A specific therapist with experience in this field. Let it be CBT specialized therapy. Find someone you like.
  
• nuturing yourself like getting enough sleep, eating healthy(and enough) and regular exercising is also a good Tool to fight this.
  
  then 3 mustread books I think you should read and apply in your life:
  
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMSCHh3Xbzw
  
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQXQ_zJxddw
  
• "overcoming depression" by Paul Gilbert : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Overcoming-Depression-Cognitive-Behavioural-Techniques/dp/1849010668
  
  hope it can help you, good luck
  

Oh, I had not quite realised that you are struggling with this, I am so sorry..! I hope you feel better soon! Please don't think you are just stuck in this mode now, it is not true and something can be done. I felt for myself at least that things like movies and music one used to have an emotional connection with can help. If there are no emotions the 5th, 6th or 7th time, don't be discouraged. For me it may have been the 30th time, but then it worked. The constant repeat of trying to break through that wall eventually worked, and the NAC is very good, too!

You are right, exercise is fantastic, but so is omega 3 fish oil / cod liver oil. Have you tried that? It does have an effect.

I wonder if I might take the liberty to recommend two books to you, perhaps you would like to check out the reviews, they have helped me enormously, very practical, simple, and above all effective:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Depression-Cure-Six-Step-Programme-Without/dp/0091929814/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=depression+cure&qid=1556395957&s=gateway&sr=8-1

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https://www.amazon.co.uk/Overcoming-Depression-Cognitive-Behavioural-Techniques/dp/1849010668/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=overcoming+depression&qid=1556396277&s=gateway&sr=8-1

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If you have the chance to do compassion focused therapy (a part of cognitive behavioural therapy), I would go for it. I cannot stress enough how much it has helped me! My therapist is my superhero without a cape. ;-)

Hope so much you will feel better soon, depression can make you feel passive and as if nothing is really worth it, but you know what? I see depression as a bully, and bullies try to tell us all kinds of things that apparently are bad about us or useless or that are impossible. Does this mean he is right? No. Don't believe the discouraging voice that tries to discourage you., should you hear it. It's all lies. :-)

white elephants

you can't 'stop' thinking about something that you're thinking about :/ brain doesn't work that way

instead you have to identify what you're actually thinking about, challenge the validity of the thought, recognise any patterns or cycles that the thought follows, any subtle or less immediate / conscious levels to the thought, then compare these with your values. values and morals are things that we have to work at.

once you can recognise such thoughts, you (and so your brain) will become bored with them, and the neural pathways will fade and die.

only way to kill thoughts like this is through boredom.

This is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. This book is industry standard though it's aimed at 'depression' rather than addiction - there's a lot of cross-over. There are also works aimed at addiction, but Gilbert is very well known. The industry is increasingly starting to think of and treat depression in terms similar to addiction. Combining mindfulness meditation has given us MCT which is also very affective. ... but CBT is the chosen method of treatment for addiction.

All this relies on your conviction that you don't want to get high, though. There's this old joke:

How many therapists does it take to change a light bulb?
One, but the light bulb has to want to change!

I've come to understand that it doesn't really matter why we stop - the reasons evolve as we evolve ... it's a decision that must be made anew each and every day, and although your parents seemed to have kick-started this, you're the one who is enforcing it. They couldn't stop you, if you really wanted to. The consequences would be disproportionate, I expect ... but you should be grateful that you have a good relationship with your parents (enough that you respect those consequences) and grateful that you seem to hope beyond this. Some people don't, and their addictions run deeper.

My point is - articulating the reasons why you want to stop might be a bit more scary, since you're taking responsibility, but ultimately it'll help you align your values with your thoughts - which are that you don't want to get high.

the process to re-write your thoughts is long ... but you'll see relief pretty quickly after you've learnt the skill (read the book, or at-least look up CBT) - it'll be an emotional process, since thoughts, rationalisation and emotion are tied together, so don't expect it to be tear free. and, what with it being a skill, it's something that takes time to learn and master. and depending upon the complexity and depth of the addiction, determines the amount of effort and time for results. saying all this, it'd be reasonable, if all else were equal, to expect the thoughts and feelings to become manageable with-in a couple of months of practising, and virtually gone with-in 6.

distracting yourself in the mean-while is another strategy, but it often causes other problems, in that something of equal intensity (and so self deception) is required, and addictions are always damaging - it's just a question of degrees. so you take up music or you take up exercise, and the only way to get a comparable high is to go harder and to go further, and before you know what's happened it's come to define you as much as weed ever did - and maybe it's not as tragic, but it still doesn't look healthy and free. and long term, there's still the vulnerability, under extreme stress, that you'll revert to stonage, because, of-course, you haven't confronted the underlying issues. as a stop gap, though, it might be required until the CBT can take affect. and music and exercise, of-course, is good.

4 months isn't super long, and it's not unexpected you're still feeling the urge, especially if you haven't quite articulated or taken ownership of this decision... however, you're much better armed than an inebriated (or wet stoner ... perhaps you're a dry stoner?) - in that you're sober, and you've clearly driven yourself clean, through personal discipline or support, I don't know ... I actually expect that 4 months is about the time you're going to start crawling up the walls, cause so much of these past few weeks has been about staving off the immediate effects and withdrawing, and now that you're coming into balance again (neurologically speaking) you'll be out looking for stimulation again :) sounds nice

stick with it - as the good times become more consistent, they get better. let us know

Du kan alltids prøve på egenhånd med denne boken: http://www.adlibris.com/no/bok/a-bekjempe-depresjon-9788251920797?gclid=COG-7dayntICFU1fGQodDSMEpQ

EDIT: Finnes også på engelsk i rimeligere versjon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Overcoming-Depression-self-guide-Cognitive-Behavioural-Techniques/1849010668/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487584228&sr=8-1&keywords=paul+gilbert+overcoming+depression

Do you have any free clinics? Or if you are at uni school/college/uni you could try the counselling service they have available?

I get what you mean about not wanting to burden people. If you ever want to unload to me please do.

With regards to doing it on your own, mindfulness and cognitive therapies have some good evidence behind them. This book can be prescribed by doctors in the UK, and I have heard it can be very helpful. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy also works very well for some people. I've done the full 8 week course and it was really useful.

How about self-help books? This one provides instructions on therapeutic techniques you can use on yourself. It's based on cognitive behavioural approach which is considered most effective form of psychotherapy in depression.