Depression

[blessmycottonsocks]

Diet may have some effect - I'm currently reading a recent book called Change your diet, change your mind that is basically saying try paleo for 6 weeks or more extreme diets if that doesn't work. I'm going to try gradually transitioning to paleo to see if it improves anything but it's a big ask as it means cutting out seeds (grains, beans, nuts etc.), nightshades, dairy, vegetable oil, raw cruciferous and keeping carbs lowish.

Within a couple of years of quitting that stressful job in London, I also took the decision to become vegetarian.
I haven't relapsed to meat eating for over 3 decades now.

 

[Tempest63]

Within a couple of years of quitting that stressful job in London, I also took the decision to become vegetarian.
I haven't relapsed to meat eating for over 3 decades now.

I am a committed carnivore and couldn’t survive without fowl, fish or meat. And though I have thought that a vegetarian diet would help my health problems, I am told to stick to a non residue diet. Low in veg and fibre. I don’t stick to the diet advised by the hospital but tread cautiously. Avoid anything that comes out as it went in (eg sweetcorn) and Chew your drink and drink your food, as attributed to Mahatma Gandhi. (Or Ma hat, my coat, my flip flop from my childhood)

https://ankitkumarmahakur.medium.com/drink-your-food-413a171b4945

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

I went veggie primarily for ethical reasons, but feel that it probably did help my recovery from the burn-out I was experiencing.
The main point I wanted to make though was that anxiety/depression isn't some disembodied external factor that assails you for no reason.
I believe it is something that is triggered from within you and the only way to defeat it is to analyse your lifestyle and take steps to eradicate that trigger. In my case it was the combination of a very stressful career position and an absolutely horrible long commute.

 

[Floyd]

I don't know if this will be of any help to @DrPaulLee or any other forumists with similar feelings, but I was by far at my lowest ebb with anxiety, depression and shocking insomnia some 30 years ago. At the time, I had a fairly high pressure position with a financial company, coupled with a long and absolutely exhausting daily commute into London.
I stuck it out for 3½ years, but knew it was having a very bad effect on my health and relationships and I finally took the decision to take a significant cut in salary for a far less stressful IT position within cycling distance of home.
After that, my outlook and life in general improved enormously and I quite simply started feeling like me again.
Now that I'm within a couple of years of retiring, I've long since shed any ambition to seek any further progress up the corporate ladder and am more than happy to be considered something of an expert in my field but without having the stress of project/team management.
Never underestimate the effect that your 9 to 5 grind has on your wellbeing, either positive or negative. If you're doing a job that you hate, then change it before your health suffers.

A few years ago when walking along the canal, I met a canalist (who looked suprisingly like Frank Zappa) who had had a job that sounded similar to yours.

He said that he'd often be still working at 11pm, even on a Sunday.

The money was great, so he stuck it out for a few years, but couldn't take it anymore, and bought the boat to live on and travel the country in.

 

[PeteS]

A few years ago when walking along the canal, I met a canalist (who looked suprisingly like Frank Zappa) who had had a job that sounded similar to yours.

He said that he'd often be still working at 11pm, even on a Sunday.

The money was great, so he stuck it out for a few years, but couldn't take it anymore, and bought the boat to live on and travel the country in.

There was an interesting interview on the radio yesterday with a former stock market trader who started at a young age. Did an 80 hour 7 day week (motto from the floor "If you don't work Saturday don't bother coming in on Sunday"). Burned out and became a volunteer at London Zoo. Some of the traders were earning millions every year in bonuses, but I suspect at great cost to themselves and those around them.

 

[escargot]

Here's Radio 4 programme that might resonate with @blessmycottonsocks and others.
It's about Dan, in a well-paid but high-stress job, who gave it up to do something he felt more worthwhile.

The blurb doesn't give anything away so here's what happens:
When out running Dan saw someone doing zoo volunteer work and realised he'd like to look after animals instead of money.

Trading places

Aged 19, Dan Simmonds turned down a university place and instead became an oil trader in the City of London.

It was an exciting and ruthless environment driven by big risks and even greater rewards but also ultimately challenged Dan’s values and filled him with a desire to seek something new.

Over a decade later whilst jogging around Regent’s Park Dan made a discovery that would change his life and career.

 

[Floyd]

There was an interesting interview on the radio yesterday with a former stock market trader who started at a young age. Did an 80 hour 7 day week (motto from the floor "If you don't work Saturday don't bother coming in on Sunday"). Burned out and became a volunteer at London Zoo. Some of the traders were earning millions every year in bonuses, but I suspect at great cost to themselves and those around them.

I've worked similar hours (not in a high positioned, well paid job though) and apart from the health factor, I still struggled for money!

 

[escargot]

There was an interesting interview on the radio yesterday with a former stock market trader who started at a young age. Did an 80 hour 7 day week (motto from the floor "If you don't work Saturday don't bother coming in on Sunday"). Burned out and became a volunteer at London Zoo. Some of the traders were earning millions every year in bonuses, but I suspect at great cost to themselves and those around them.

We posted at the same time.

 

[PeteS]

Here's Radio 4 programme that might resonate with @blessmycottonsocks and others.
It's about Dan, in a well-paid but high-stress job, who gave it up to do something he felt more worthwhile.

The blurb doesn't give anything away so here's what happens:
When out running Dan saw someone doing zoo volunteer work and realised he'd like to look after animals instead of money.

Trading places

Yes that was the one.

 

[escargot]

Quote from the programme blurb -

Over a decade later whilst jogging around Regent’s Park Dan made a discovery that would change his life and career.

Yeah, along the lines of money isn't fucking everything. The wisdom of Solomon right there.

 

[PeteS]

Quote from the programme blurb -



Yeah, along the lines of money isn't fucking everything. The wisdom of Solomon right there.

I guess it's easy to get caught up in the thrill of making dosh. In my 20's I changed jobs moved 75 miles away, earned 5 times the wage I had the previous year, travelled long distances, took no holidays, and enjoyed every minute. Lasted 10 years before interest started to wane and it went downhill from there. Looking back I really don't know how I did it and survived partly intact! Youth I guess.

 

[escargot]

I guess it's easy to get caught up in the thrill of making dosh. In my 20's I changed jobs moved 75 miles away, earned 5 times the wage I had the previous year, travelled long distances, took no holidays, and enjoyed every minute. Lasted 10 years before interest started to wane and it went downhill from there. Looking back I really don't know how I did it and survived partly intact! Youth I guess.

Sounds like you caught on in time.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Here's Radio 4 programme that might resonate with @blessmycottonsocks and others.
It's about Dan, in a well-paid but high-stress job, who gave it up to do something he felt more worthwhile.

The blurb doesn't give anything away so here's what happens:
When out running Dan saw someone doing zoo volunteer work and realised he'd like to look after animals instead of money.

Trading places

The odd thing is that my change of career wasn't really into something I particularly wanted to do. I left finance and went down the IT route, doing some coding and a little team leading and project management along the way and ultimately ending up as a software test specialist, which I now thoroughly enjoy. I definitely preferred that to coding, as I found it's much more fun putting things to the test and breaking them than it was building them. Before determining that position though, a couple of jobs that really attracted me were a field researcher/forest ranger with the Forestry Commission and a data analyst with the British Antarctic Survey. I didn't pursue the first one as it didn't pay enough to live on (although they would have thrown in a Land Rover with a picture of a tree on the side) and the second one would have involved over-winter stays in the Antarctic which, had I been a single man, would have been a wonderful adventure but, as I was married, wasn't really feasible.
I've got a shedload of testing to carry out today, so I'd better get back to the software on my work's laptop and start telling the developers how ugly their baby is!

 

[escargot]

it's much more fun putting things to the test and breaking them than it was building them.

I bet you take a keen interest in the Post Office Horizon farrago.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

I bet you take a keen interest in the Post Office Horizon farrago.

I am SO glad that I left Royal Mail IT before that particular curséd project!

 

[escargot]

I am SO glad that I left Royal Mail IT before that particular curséd project!

I remember your mentioning that a while ago.

It just wasn't ready or fit for purpose at any point.

Techy reckons I can't possibly have heard about it as far back as I did, which was long before it was common knowledge. However, I took an interest because I'd worked for the Royal Mail and knew about the ruthless theft/fraud investigators and had noticed very early Guardian reports about it.