I live and breathe treatment-resistant depression, and the struggle is real... Primarily, I try to focus on acceptance, and it's kind of just pure brute force that gets me through my days...
As far as treatment options and coping techniques, these are some terms you could plug into Google and read up on... I use a combination of this stuff to help me cope as best I can...
This is going to be pretty broad. In reality, you could write entire books on any of these topics, so you could take a cursory look at each of these, pick out one that sounds workable to you, then do a deep-dive on that particular topic as far as learning more about it and how to incorporate it into your daily life.
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Mindfulness to try to stay grounded in the present moment as much as possible. This comes from
Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT). DBT is all about treating emotional dysregulation and is definitely something to check out if you're dealing with treatment-resistant depression. Mindfulness is also a part of
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT is a treatment that takes a values-based approach towards acceptance of difficult emotions and thoughts.
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Gratitude to remind yourself of the little things that are going right in your life (the small things that are easy to take for granted).
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Behavioural Activation which is tantamount to,
"Don't feel like doing something? Do it anyway." Forcing yourself to start an activity and giving yourself a reasonable amount of time to 'get into it'. Sometimes just initiating the activity is the hardest step.
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Coping statements to help get you through a rough spot.
"Breathe first. Think later." "Not right now, brain." "I've survived this before. I'll survive it again." There's a limitless number of possible short coping statements you could use to repeat to yourself to this end. Pick one or two statements that you literally repeat to yourself over and over to help you get through 'those moments'.
To elaborate on
Mindfulness, these are a few techniques (again, you'd want to plug in these terms to Google to learn more about them as I'm just scraping the surface here):
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breathing awareness (focused breathing, slowing down breathing, breathing into your belly instead of your chest)
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progressive muscle relaxation (tense and relax your body, one muscle group at a time)
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body scan for tension relief (lower your tongue from the roof of your mouth, unclench your jaw, soften your gaze, unwrinkle your forehead, let your shoulders down, uncurl your toes, rest your hands in your lap, etc.)
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sensory engagement (the '
5-4-3-2-1' technique: what are five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, one thing you can taste, focusing on the immediate environment around you)
Has anyone figured out how to live with untreatable depression?
The
CBT in you would have you move away from "
untreatable depression" and buy into "
treatment-resistant depression" instead. The former, implying "there's nothing to be done." The latter, implying "challenging, but options to keep going."
Distorted thinking patterns: Personally, I feel like 'Discounting the Positive' (
"that doesn't count") and 'Mental Filtering' (
focusing on perceived negatives while ignoring neutrals or positives) are probably my two biggest depression-related ones. In general, for you or anyone else, this probably depends on the underlying causes of your depression.
But I'm still struggling with the boredom that comes with being depressed.
In depression, "boredom" will be more akin to
anhedonia (the loss of interest and motivation). This is a product of low energy, hopelessness, emotional numbness, blunted pleasure/reward response...
It is difficult to target and treat anhedonia as a standalone symptom.
But in doing this, the main approach you'd be looking at is the above-mentioned
Behavioural Activation ("just
do something").
Another aspect you could look at for this is adding (more?) structure to your day: Establish a routine. Make a plan or a schedule and stick to it. Set small goals for the day and treat yourself for the little things you accomplish this way.
Light therapy can sometimes help with this. Light up your living space as if you've got the sun shining down right on you. ('Daylight' type light being the key.) This can help 'wake you up' and coax a certain level of alertness out of you that makes you more inclined to get moving.
If you find yourself stuck at home and unmotivated about leaving the house, you could try just changing your clothes into something you'd wear for going out. Sometimes, just preparing yourself as if you were going to leave the house can give you that final bit of 'oomph' to get out there and get moving.
This is all easier said than done. Be patient with yourself. This is actually critically important, patience is. It takes practice. A lot of it. Expect setbacks and rough times. Give yourself credit for even the smallest of accomplishments or goals as you try to persevere. One day at a time.
