Techniques for dealing with lack of motivation, malaise, depression

[escapismgame]

0:00 Made me feel like John was really disappointed in me

[FractalWanderer]

This is one of the single most useful videos I have seen in years

[funicon]

"regular working life is probably unhappiness making"

so true and simple

[BinaryDad]

This landed at a rough time for me. An hour later, things feel less shitty. Thank you.

[haojiang]

"Sensations are, at their core, neutral. They're not negative or positive, right? The negativity or positivity are things you assign later and, therefore, they're not that serious." This is so powerful.

[razvanfilip]

Hey man, this is a video from 7 years ago, so this won't get seen or get traction but I really appreciate this video. This stuff is not talked about. Nobody wants to sit in front of a computer, some of us just happen to be somewhat skilled in this area so that's what we'll do. It's a thankless and unappreciated life. Again, simply hearing you speak about it helps, it doesn't matter if you felt that it's hard to explain what you say, I feel what you mean to say. A lot of us don't want to acknowledge being depressed, we just feel we're bearing a burden that others don't care or think about. It's hard man. Thanks for speaking about it, it makes a difference.

[juanfarrell]

15 minutes in and I have made up my mind that this is the best advise on mental health I've heard in a long while and I don't even code or spend too much time in front of the computer. Thanks.

[AsbjornOlling]

11:26
Jonathan just glosses over it, but I really like the phrase "the color of the light in the room of my mind".
It's both really phonetically satisfying, and gives a clear way of thinking about emotional state.

[tonyalberty]

This video was eye opening on multiple levels. I think if he were to have a discussion with Dr. K from healthygamers, the result would likely be some amazing and impactful content.

[MattThomson]

I came for the presentation, and stayed for the soothing fireplace

[vidadecao]

Thank you soo much. The ideas you showed helped me a lot 😁 (Even after 6 years....)

[TraceMyers]

"Most of your experience was not comprised of that thought." While I already knew this, because I'm forced to think about it all of the time, I had never thought of this separation from thoughts as a tool. 16 minutes in and you've already been so helpful. Thanks for this.

I'm also constantly thinking about the difference between verbalization of thoughts and the ideas preceding them. But, I get so worried about thinking about the preceding ideas and the underlying processes (thoughts themselves?) that I get dragged right back into the loop. What that single line above has helped me to do is to understand that no matter what I call it, or how many parts it's made up of, I need distance from it sometimes. And, it needs to be a conscious effort.

[aarongreenberg]

This was a really powerful reminder. I meditated every day for a year, getting it in my head that I wouldn’t be truly grounded and present unless I did it “enough”. Now I know that I can be present at any time, thank you Jonathan.

[progfix]

My approach: I write my current physical state down. Then I write down what feeling is causing that physical state. Then I write down what causes that feeling (e.g. my heart races because I have to talk about something and I am not really prepared). Then I ask questions about it (e.g., Why am I not prepared? -> No time. I was told to do that way too late.) At this point I always realise something about that situation that lets me escape the bad feeling (e.g. I can write everything I don't know down and give the information the very next day.). If the bad feeling is still there then I ask myself "What else is causing my physical state?" and repeat the process. This works (at least for me) so incredible well that I can't imagine a situation that could bring me down anymore.

[keno]

This is pretty much ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) to a tee! So cool to see successful people use similar ideas

[sahir]

13:50 exercise for standing apart from thoughts 21:10 physical sensation exercise

[ElijahuPincher]

Living in cold climate taught me that feeling cold is not actually painful(up to a certain point), so it is not to be "feared" as usual. Though that works only when you have energy, when youre feeling sleepy, cold cannot be resisted mentaly

[Infernovogel]

I always was frustrated by meditation, because I could never figure out how to know when I was doing it right. This puts everything so clearly and in such a straightforward way. Thank you so much!
This is one of the best videos I've ever seen. It puts so much in perspective for me. The funny thing is, I've been using these techniques for years. I just called them 'being aware that nothing matters and I am insignificant'. It sounds strange, but that thought always was really comforting and calming to me and had that exact effect of making my emotions subside. But putting it in terms of sensations being neutral and the layer of interpretation being there is a much more elegant and approachable way of putting it!

[Kevin-xsxn]

Loved this talk and wanted to share some of my notes from it, all mistakes are mine:

--
His three keys - 1) Thoughts, 2) Bodily sensations, 3) Emotions
1) Thoughts - don't identify too closely, stand back and watch them happen
2) Sensations - they're fundamentally neutral, your mind interprets and amplifies, see thru this
3) Emotions - disappear instantly when you look at them
--

"You are not your thoughts. There's a limit to how useful they can be"

How much do your thoughts weigh?

Your mind is interpreting and translating all of your experiences, doesn't represent the totality or reality of what happened

Lots of everyday physical experience is imposed by the mind

Emotions don't last long, but we can keep them burning for a long time with our thoughts and perceptions, even years

If you want to be happy, why create negative emotions?

Everyone goes out of their way to find negativity

He was mild to moderately depressed in past, could have multi day episodes

Antidepressants not well understood, unlike other western medicine, "science's weaker medicines of last resort"

[ZombieLincoln]

I really appreciate that Jonathan is so open and willing to share