The Depression Cure
by Ph. D., Stephen S Ilardi · first published 2009
86% recommend14% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Practical, non-drug approach to depression built on six steps covering exercise, light, sleep, diet, social contact and routine. It is easy to follow and can be used alongside or instead of medication.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Most Americans work long hours, eat on the fly, and lead increasingly sedentary, isolated lives. Alongside this lifestyle, depression rates have skyrocketed: approximately 1 in 4 Americans will suffer from major depression at some point in their lives. Where have we gone wrong? Dr. Stephen Ilardi sheds light on our current predicament and reminds us: our bodies were never designed for the sleep-deprived, poorly nourished, frenzied pace of twenty-first century life. In fact, our genes have changed very little since the days of our hunter-gatherer ancestors and are still building, in effect, Sto
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…regimens of drugs for a few years. They had serious side effects, didn't work or worked only for a few months. They did keep me afloat long enough to get the rest of my life together. Stephen Ilardi's "The Depression Cure" is 80% insipid self-help; I'm surprised I didn't throw it away in disgust. The remaining 20% (which is mostly the table of contents) had a profoundly positive effect. It did more good than all the drugs…
on “Depression lies” ↗…schedule. 2. Finding a good team. When you find a good team/manager, stick with it. Manager matters 10x more than the company 3. Therapy. duh 4. "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor E. Frankl 5. "The Depression Cure" by Ilardi. This is NOT A SUBSTITUTE for therapy or medication. ONLY use it as a supplement . The tl;dr is take care of your body or your mind will pay the price. 6. Soft skills: developing skills on…
on “An Amazon programmer’s perspective (2015)” ↗…reading list I have put together: https://github.com/pdfernhout/High-Performance-Organizations... If you can only look at one resource, read or watch something by Stephen Ilardi, PhD, author of "The Depression Cure: The 6-Step Program to Beat Depression without Drugs", whose advice is built around this quote of his: "We were never designed for the sedentary, indoor, sleep-deprived, socially-isolated, fast-food-laden,…
on “Let’s avoid talk of ‘chemical imbalance’: it’s people in distress” ↗…that you have an issue, and it's not going to get better unless you do something. Don't skip this step. Now that you're convinced, start hacking at the problem. I recommend http://www.amazon.com/The-Depression-Cure-Program-without/dp...; but do your own research, talk to people, get better. Get better every day. You'll fail several times along the way; have people you can count on for help. Get better every year.…
on “Depression lies” ↗…sense" stuff but if you read it and follow the instructions it actually does work. It basically cured my depression without meds. Kind of a pita to follow but really does work: https://www.amazon.com/Depression-Cure-6-Step-Program-withou... ^ was recommended to me by a coworker and I was really skeptical but super happy I tried it. GL!
on “'Fuck ethics. Money is everything' FB employees react to scandal on gossip app” ↗> especially the book Feeling Good by David Burns. This book changed my life for the better, as well as The Depression Cure by Stephen Ilardi. Both of them combined got me out of a deep multi-yearlong depression and allowed me to get married, get a better job, be more productive, more active and much much happier. I still…
on “What I have learned from my suicidal patients” ↗One of the books I read that helped me finally beat my severe chronic depression has an entire section on engaging work and why it's good for your brain. It's called The Depression Cure by Steve Ilardi and basically the engaging work and any "meaningful activity" can stop your from ruminating and help you feel accomplished. Gardening, fixing things around the house and walking the dog…
on “Yoga Effects on Brain Health: A Systematic Review of the Current Literature” ↗The two books that helped me the most were The Depression Cure by Stephen Ilardi and Feeling Good by David Byrnes.
on “Ask HN: Post Burnout Ideas” ↗I was actually suggested this book by someone on Hackernews and it was awesome for me- did more than meds and is pretty easy to follow: The Depression Cure by dr. Stephen Ilardi https://www.amazon.com/Depression-Cure-6-Step-Program-withou... I still go back and reread certain sections when I feel like I'm struggling.
on “Ask HN: Best resources to support a partner with depression?” ↗This is all in a book called The Depression Cure by Stephen S. Ilardi (https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-depression-cure-the-6-step-...) I read this years ago and it's fascinating. Looks like it's been updated for a second edition last year.
on “Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants” ↗…sedentary, indoor, sleep-deprived, socially-isolated, fast-food-laden, frenetic pace of modern life. (Stephen Ilardi, PhD)" Dr. Ilardi has written a self-help book based on the elements of TLC, "The Depression Cure: The 6-Step Program to Beat Depression without Drugs". The book has an example of a guy who suffered depression for about forty years and within a few weeks moved beyond depression following this approach…
on “Everywhere and Nowhere: A Journey Through Suicide” ↗Two related books that say much the same: "The Depression Cure: The 6-Step Program to Beat Depression without Drugs" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6446928-the-depression-c... "Most Americans work long hours, eat on the fly, and lead increasingly sedentary,…
on “Meaningful life at older ages – relationship with prosperity, health, biology” ↗…fact: https://tlc.ku.edu/ "We were never designed for the sedentary, indoor, sleep-deprived, socially-isolated, fast-food-laden, frenetic pace of modern life. (Stephen Ilardi, PhD)" A related book by Ilardi: "The Depression Cure: The 6-Step Program to Beat Depression without Drugs" by Stephen S. Ilardi https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0097DHV94/ "In the past decade, depression rates have skyrocketed, and one in four Americans…
on “The hyped and distorted claims of psychedelic marketing” ↗I've read and followed the advice in both "The Depression Cure" and "The Mindful Way Through Depression" and can say both helped quite a bit. I personally did not find that therapy did much of anything for my depression (though I will say CBT for sleep was a life…
on “British Doctors May Soon Prescribe Art, Music, Dance, Singing Lessons” ↗…depressive episode, that I needed to get help after 12 years of dealing with this depression. I kept thinking that I had a handle on it, and then it coming back weeks, months or years later. I read The Depression Cure (https://www.amazon.com/Depression-Cure-6-Step-Program-withou...) about 5 years ago, and it helped for awhile, but it started to worsen again, and after awhile, getting the right diet, exercise and sleep…
on “Comparative efficacy and acceptability of 21 antidepressant drugs” ↗