Ask HN: I am in recovery for depression. What sort of work can I do from home?

Caveat, I am not a doctor or psychologist, definitely not qualified to answer but here goes: how about math tutoring? You can set your schedule and it pays well.

Just wanted to say good luck OP. Hit the gym.

Im going to make a silly suggestion but it has worked for me.

There are a lot of open source projects out there, that need someone to do basic work, things like unit tests and documentation.

Pick a few of them and spend an hour a day on each making them better! Whom ever is the most appreciative of your work continues to get your time! It won't put food on your table, but it will get your name out there, and hopefully help you rebuild your confidence in your skills, and maybe even grow them!

>What sort of work can I do from home?

I'm not a doctor, but I know that actually getting out of the house on a regular basis is helpful when tackling depression. Any excuse that lets you stay inside all day is likely going to hurt your recovery.

There's no contact information in your profile, so can't pm you. What kind of programming work are you looking for ?

you could check out http://webwork.io they have alot of programming and web-design jobs. Good luck

Hi, i was deppressed too! Check sites like authenticjobs, weworkremotely, LinkedIn! There's sometimes the gold nuggets :) Exercise! And _work on stuff you like_, that helped me a lot. But first of all: have a routine: even if you do only 1 thing the whole day, stick to that, oh and watch comedy!

try doing some less mentally demanding work. depression largely reduces your ability to do work most of us HNers are doing. so, getting that work done is much more difficult than getting work to do. perhaps you can do some teaching, writing, etc. you can also get some menial work. getting out of your home is very important though making yourself get out is very very difficult!

you're nervous for a reason. not being able to do as much as i used to frustrates the hell out of me

if you'd like to talk to a fellow geek suffering from major depression (F33.2), drop me a line to info [at] wprapido [dot] com

Here's 0.02c from a lifelong depressed person. I'm still figuring out the path as you are!

Absolutely find some sort of physical activity and do it every day. Even if it's a run for 30 minutes. Even if it's a walk for 30 minutes. You need to get that blood flowing. As a marathon runner who started running to quit smoking, one of the greatest side effects I've discovered from consistient physical activity (aside from increased female attention, of course!) is the seemingly unwarranted boost of endorphins and happy juice throughout the day. Definitely look into something you can do physically.

Get out of the house. Go work at a cafe. Talk to people. Even if the conversation leads to you talking about some of the problems you feel you're facing. Confronting the rut you're in now with others is an immediately identifiable issue, and we all go through it. Absolutely get the notion that you're the only one with sadness inside out of your head because it's a selfish and incredibly misguided view. We all get there, and most reasonable people are immediately compassionate about it.

Wake up early. Get out of bed by 8 a.m. at the latest, every day. Have a routine before you sit down to work and stick by it. It can be as simple as cooking breakfast for yourself.

Don't forget to breathe. You're learning how to be your own best friend. It's time to learn how to care for yourself and be the best version of yourself, for others (and also for you!).

Something you enjoy, which is probably an obvious statement. I would do something you feel confident in, that you feel energized to do.

I'm also going to offer a light-hearted suggestion.. Express yourself. Paint, draw, sing, play an instrument, dance, spin, move, write. Keep it private and to yourself if/until you feel like sharing it..