How do I learn a language with depression (severe)

[tarvos]

At least you're limping. Better than not getting out of bed in the morning. (Been there, done that).

[tomgosse]

I know just what you are going through. Like others on the board I suffer from severe depression. Mine is caused by chronic pain from spinal stenosis, and kidney disease. This year has been particularly bad. It can be the most beautiful day, and all I want to do is stay under the covers.

But, while watching President Macron speak during the Fête National on July 14, I realized that I could follow most (or maybe a good amount) of what he was saying. And that was a marked improvement from what I could do two years ago.

While I felt that I was going at a snail's pace in studying French, I was making progress. As, emk, one of our administrators said, it's a marathon, not a sprint. Set small, attainable goals for yourself. For myself, if I'm so tired that I can't even hold a book, I will watch a French language video on YouTube. I usually watch documentaries or videos about the French Foreign Legion. As the old proverb says, the longest journey begins with a single step.

I wish you all the best,
Tom

[zenmonkey]

At least you're limping. Better than not getting out of bed in the morning. (Been there, done that).

You were using a metaphor that I thought was worth extending, I wasn't disagreeing with your point about not blaming someone with a broken leg or depression. Broken legs mend - sometimes in ways that leave no long-term functional issues.

[aokoye]

At least you're limping. Better than not getting out of bed in the morning. (Been there, done that).

I realize that I'm neither a moderator nor an administrator here, but could we not play what is essentially depression/mental illness Olympics? I realize you may or may not have intentionally been trying to say that you had/have it worse off than zenmonkey but that is how it came off to me. For all you and I know zenmonkey, or any of us, may well have had more than enough experience with mental illness that has caused them to not get out of bed.
More over, just because someone is high functioning within their mental illness doesn't somehow mean that they don't have a severe mental illness(s). The stereotype of, "you're successful thus you can't have X mental illness" is a very dangerous one. As my therapist has said a few times, "for you to do your school work you have to climb to the summit of Mt Hood and back" and as she recently said, "it's shocking that you able to so as much as you do - I'm not sure how you do it"

[zenmonkey]

At least you're limping. Better than not getting out of bed in the morning. (Been there, done that).

I realize that I'm neither a moderator nor an administrator here, but could we not play what is essentially depression/mental illness Olympics? I realize you may or may not have intentionally been trying to say that you had/have it worse off than zenmonkey but that is how it came off to me. For all you and I know zenmonkey, or any of us, may well have had more than enough experience with mental illness that has caused them to not get out of bed.
More over, just because someone is high functioning within their mental illness doesn't somehow mean that they don't have a severe mental illness(s). The stereotype of, "you're successful thus you can't have X mental illness" is a very dangerous one. As my therapist has said a few times, "for you to do your school work you have to climb to the summit of Mt Hood and back" and as she recently said, "it's shocking that you able to so as much as you do - I'm not sure how you do it"

Thanks for coming to my defense - and I appreciate it. However, I do not take it as a comparative needling.

I've never shared here anything relative to my health in anyway, simply because I'm an extremely private person in small defined spheres and this is one of them. In the absence of that - tarvos (or anyone else) - is free to make any assumption about me - one way or another.

Having met tarvos, I'm sure she wasn't writing in comparative light, even if I understand it could have come off as that.

All I know is that I agree in this area, like the Petit Prince, that sometimes we feel "my rose is the most important because it is mine". We often cannot talk about mental health but from a personal perspective.

[aokoye]

Having met tarvos, I'm sure she wasn't writing in comparative light, even if I understand it could have come off as that.

All I know is that I agree in this area, like the Petit Prince, that sometimes we feel "my rose is the most important because it is mine". We often cannot talk about mental health but from a personal perspective.

Having never met Tarvos I can only hope that that is the case. That's why I began my post with, "I realize you may or may not have intentionally been trying to say that..." That said I most definitely agree with your last statement. That said, it doesn't mean we as human beings shouldn't try to deviate from that default in some instances. The "I have it worse off than you/X person" isn't useful in a variety of contexts and this is just one of them.

I'm also all about bucking the idea of, "well you're really high functioning so you can't possibly have severe depression." I mean yes I would love it if I didn't have severe depression, but that's just not the case. For me, doing the whole "fix your mental health issues then focus on school/language learning/etc" thing just isn't possible. Given the nature of my depression I'll probably have graduated with an MA before my depression gets less severe enough to the point that I can go from therapy twice a week on a regular basis to once every few weeks and still function. That doesn't make me any better or worse than someone else, just different.

[tarvos]

At least you're limping. Better than not getting out of bed in the morning. (Been there, done that).

I realize that I'm neither a moderator nor an administrator here, but could we not play what is essentially depression/mental illness Olympics? I realize you may or may not have intentionally been trying to say that you had/have it worse off than zenmonkey but that is how it came off to me. For all you and I know zenmonkey, or any of us, may well have had more than enough experience with mental illness that has caused them to not get out of bed.
More over, just because someone is high functioning within their mental illness doesn't somehow mean that they don't have a severe mental illness(s). The stereotype of, "you're successful thus you can't have X mental illness" is a very dangerous one. As my therapist has said a few times, "for you to do your school work you have to climb to the summit of Mt Hood and back" and as she recently said, "it's shocking that you able to so as much as you do - I'm not sure how you do it"

It was a general you, and I didn't mean to compare anybody. I just mean that it's better to be limping than not get out of bed. It wasn't meant to address zenmonkey personally at all.

[ekat2.0]

Hi, I just joined. I have Bipolar depression. I know no one will ever meet me in public, so I am not really hiding it. I spent last year in bed with Bi-Polar, and also a very bad heart condition that made it so I was very nearly bed-ridden and could not work. What made me really like learning the language I am focusing on, was reading duo language books at a level that I am comfortable reading. I have learned more reading those books than any other study method. I pick books with stories I already know, like "fairy tales." After reading those duo language books, I could read single language books, easily if they had vocabularies in the back. Do not feel self-conscious if you get "little kid" books. There are also magazines that a person might get a subscription to. I guess it depends on the language you want to learn. Another thing I like to do is write random sentences into Google translate and read them out loud. Reading aloud, and learning correct pronunciation is very important to being understood.

[leosmith]

What can I do if I feel like this again? Is there a way to stop no motivation?

I think others have mentioned all the important general health stuff already. I'd just like to add that you might try learning to live in the moment; the present rather than the past or future. Everyone has thoughts, sometimes good sometimes bad, about the future and past too. This can't be helped, but what can be improved over time is your ability not to get caught in them; to let them pass fairly peacefully. This is what mindful meditation teaches.

If it would be more satisfying to read a reasonable amount about it right away, I'd recommend this book. If starting out by doing a 10 minutes per day is sufficient, I'd recommend this app.

Someone mentioned mindfulness is clearing the chatter in your head. That's sort of true, though I think of it more like accepting the chatter, noting it and letting it pass. Depression is when we latch onto negative thoughts, keep on focusing on them and overthinking about them which makes the situation worse.