Secondly, most of the other comments have given great advice, so I hope you follow it. Depression runs in my family, and I know how destructive it can be. So props to you for writing this and looking for help. Too many don’t.
Only one other thing stood out to me:
Get a job to generate income: Difficult, can’t think of a single job I’d actually enjoy at the moment.”
Is this your true rejection? By getting a job you would be adding value to society, which you seem to value, and the money would give you the disposable income to do things that might make you happy. I find it hard to believe that you couldn’t find anything to do with the money that would not easily offset the negative utility of the job.
One thing that occurs to me would be buying a pet. Seems like it would be good in your situation, but I don’t know the specifics (allergies, parents, etc.) I have a tremendous love of animals, particularly dogs, and particularly golden retrievers. I seem to recall a study once that was done on depression where they gave the subjects pets and they showed tremendous improvement. (A cursory search shows a number of results, particularly, and surprisingly, for parrots.)
I said I only had one thing, but as I write this, more stands out, and it’s kind of related to what I just said.
Buy some fun (take a train to some kind of fairground ride or try surfing or go on holiday for a weekend, something like that): Feels very selfish and it’s just a temporary emotional kick, not clear this would be a significant part of improving my life.
Third alternative: Buy someone else some fun! Donate to a charity! Volunteer to serve food at a homeless shelter! I predict you’d feel a lot better afterwards, and it would give you the human interaction that, as others have pointed out, you need. Beside that, a “temporary emotional kick” is often exactly what you need to get out of a cycle of depression.
Oh whoops, I missed “Volunteer Work”. Didn’t notice that. Still, saying you “just don’t have” the qualities seems like a rationalization. I’m sure the vast majority on this site are heavily introverted, as you likely are, and it can be difficult, I understand. But if you don’t push yourself to be uncomfortable ever, you’ll never get out of your shell.
So if I can sum up, don’t be afraid of mild discomforts, sometimes they’re good to endure for long term benefits. And get a dog! Dogs are wonderful.
(A cursory search shows a number of results, particularly, and surprisingly, for parrots.)
Parrots in general make very demanding pets, and they also live a very long time for their size—anything much larger than a lovebird is basically a lifetime commitment and in many cases you’ll also need to figure out who you’ll be leaving the critter to when you get cryo’d, even if you live a long life. They also have a tendency to get neurotic and self-destructive if they don’t get enough social interaction, which is almost a given for parrots owned by people who work outside the home.
For someone who’s able to handle all of that, I’m not surprised that they do make excellent companions—parrots are both very smart and very social—but I certainly wouldn’t recommend them to someone not familiar with pet care.
(What would I recommend? A small herd of guinea pigs in a sufficiently large cage. They’re also very social (unlike most cats), and smarter than they’re usually given credit for (this usually isn’t obvious because they’re kept alone in insufficiently stimulating environments), while being relatively low-maintenance (unlike dogs) and inexpensive (unlike exotics), generally not aggressive (unlike rabbits) and with a reasonable lifespan (unlike rats/mice/hamsters).)
Most I’ve laughed today. Props.
Secondly, most of the other comments have given great advice, so I hope you follow it. Depression runs in my family, and I know how destructive it can be. So props to you for writing this and looking for help. Too many don’t.
Only one other thing stood out to me:
Is this your true rejection? By getting a job you would be adding value to society, which you seem to value, and the money would give you the disposable income to do things that might make you happy. I find it hard to believe that you couldn’t find anything to do with the money that would not easily offset the negative utility of the job.
One thing that occurs to me would be buying a pet. Seems like it would be good in your situation, but I don’t know the specifics (allergies, parents, etc.) I have a tremendous love of animals, particularly dogs, and particularly golden retrievers. I seem to recall a study once that was done on depression where they gave the subjects pets and they showed tremendous improvement. (A cursory search shows a number of results, particularly, and surprisingly, for parrots.)
I said I only had one thing, but as I write this, more stands out, and it’s kind of related to what I just said.
Third alternative: Buy someone else some fun! Donate to a charity! Volunteer to serve food at a homeless shelter! I predict you’d feel a lot better afterwards, and it would give you the human interaction that, as others have pointed out, you need. Beside that, a “temporary emotional kick” is often exactly what you need to get out of a cycle of depression.
Oh whoops, I missed “Volunteer Work”. Didn’t notice that. Still, saying you “just don’t have” the qualities seems like a rationalization. I’m sure the vast majority on this site are heavily introverted, as you likely are, and it can be difficult, I understand. But if you don’t push yourself to be uncomfortable ever, you’ll never get out of your shell.
So if I can sum up, don’t be afraid of mild discomforts, sometimes they’re good to endure for long term benefits. And get a dog! Dogs are wonderful.
Parrots in general make very demanding pets, and they also live a very long time for their size—anything much larger than a lovebird is basically a lifetime commitment and in many cases you’ll also need to figure out who you’ll be leaving the critter to when you get cryo’d, even if you live a long life. They also have a tendency to get neurotic and self-destructive if they don’t get enough social interaction, which is almost a given for parrots owned by people who work outside the home.
For someone who’s able to handle all of that, I’m not surprised that they do make excellent companions—parrots are both very smart and very social—but I certainly wouldn’t recommend them to someone not familiar with pet care.
(What would I recommend? A small herd of guinea pigs in a sufficiently large cage. They’re also very social (unlike most cats), and smarter than they’re usually given credit for (this usually isn’t obvious because they’re kept alone in insufficiently stimulating environments), while being relatively low-maintenance (unlike dogs) and inexpensive (unlike exotics), generally not aggressive (unlike rabbits) and with a reasonable lifespan (unlike rats/mice/hamsters).)
But dogs are just so cute!
And guinea pigs aren’t?