I spent some time looking up supplements that may be helpful for memory and focus. I found a few promising ones...
Coenzyme Q10
Huperzine A
Centella asiatica
Acetyl-L-carnitine
Ginkgo biloba
Dimethylethanolamine (DMAE)
Phosphatidylserine
I'm going to have to learn more about them before I consider consuming any of these though.
I used to be the exact same. That was three years ago though.
Things to sharpen your brain.
1: Get a hobby, Cooking was suggested, could be anything though.
2: Read Books, Forget about TV. It's simple, but works wonders.
3: Impossible fucking Puzzles. The kind that make you trow the thing against the wall in frustration, only to have you come back a day later and run through it like cake.
1. Do computer games count as a hobby? I was thinking of resubbing to Eve Online recently. You guys probably mean I should pick up something new though. I could start cultivating plants, could even make some good money from it if I'm successfull. I've always wanted to figure out a method to produce large amounts of Morchella. That would probably be a bit too ambitious for me at the moment though.
2. I actually stopped watching TV a long time ago, though I don't really read books unless I need information from them. I browse the internet mostly nowdays. I do have this story
http://www.cca.org/cm/picnic.pdf that I planned to to read someday.
3. I never cared much for puzzles so I don't know that much about them. Know of any good ones?
#1 sounds a lot like me TBH
Yes, that's about where I was a year ago. I also had literally zero concentration span. Couldn't read. Couldn't watch TV. Couldn't do anything. I let go of my anger rather slowly. Don't really know if I can talk about it anymore... it seems so long ago.
All I can say is: do the best you can, and don't listen to anyone's predictions. Not your own. Not those of scientists. Positive or negative--just forget about them. Live.
Eat well and take long walks. Four hours long, if you can. Allow yourself to get lost.
As Mindmaker said, just take it bit by bit, and try piece by piece to do what you can.
I would like to thank everyone for their support, also, I didn't know there were so many people here that have felt like I did.
I wouldn't mind going for long walks but my environment kinda sucks. Its either raining (I actually kinda like the rain but I have no umbrella atm) or its to bright and hot out for me. I've tried walking around at sunset but that only gives me about an hour and the mosquitoes nearly carry me away. I've always hated sunscreen and insect repellant so I stay away of those. The feeling of that stuff on my skin and the smell of it drives me crazy.
"Read books, don't watch TV" reminded me of something: Maybe you should also stretch your artistic understanding as well. Try to get into genres or themes that you normally wouldn't, watch interesting films and read interesting books, engage in art that involves you emotionally and intellectually, and that sort of thing. I know that's not what people usually think of when they talk about improving their mental faculties, but in a more abstract sense, it's still meaningful.
Hmm, maybe I'll try some art related stuff sometime. I've never been a big fan of art though. I used to dislike music too at one time though and that changed, so anything is possible.
Before I post anything, I just wan't to let you know that I'm speaking about personal experiences and it may not apply to your situation.
I too had those episodes of feeling content, often during the timespan when I was engaged with a good book/game/series or sometimes for no reason at all.
However they were only a symptom of my condition, rarely lasting longer than a few days and then everything came crashing down again.
It finally changed when I finally managed to find a competent doctor, got diagnosed and medicated.
While it was obvious to me that I was depressed, I would have never thought that I could have social anxiety. I was aware of all the symptoms, but I simply wouldn't draw the conclusion.
I spent a lot of my time overthinking everyday events, or planning out for every eventuality of an embarassing situation. It was quite the obsession and interfered with my everyday life.
I would get easily lost in thought mid-sentence while reading a book, only to realize that I just read a whole page without picking up any content.
Every kind of social interaction was being hindered by crippling fear of doing something wrong.
The only thing I can say is that medication worked for me and those two issues are gone for now. An appointment tomorrow will decide further course of action.
Of course, none of this might be of any relevance for you.
You may indeed be ok now and be able to recover on your own, in which case I congratulate you for being a stronger person than I am.
Just don't hesitate of getting professional help, should you fail to pick yourself up this time.
It can really work.
This isn't everything I wanted to say right now, but I'm posting using my mobile, which makes structuring difficult.
I've always had (anti)social issues including social anxiety before I was depressed. I doubt thats anything I'll ever really be able to remove from myself. Its just in my nature as many other unpleasant things are. The only thing I can really do is just take steps to mitigate these issues. My main problem was depression though, it allowed things like social anxiety to fester into real problems. I have plans to deal with these issues once my mind and body are healthy again though. I however refuse to take medicine for these issues, an odd stance for someone like me no doubt, but I think there is something important about only using willpower on this. I want you to know I appreciate your posts and don't think less of what you decided just because my decision is different. One of my issues is that I have a hard time figuring out how people will react to things I do/say sometimes. So I just wanted to be clear about that incase I came off wrong. I should also say that your probably right anyways. I'm just incredibly stubborn and I'm using it to my advantage atm (people underestimate the usefulness of this trait)
.
I suppose I will look up mental exercises later. I'll probably start with GlyphGryph's suggestion and try meditation.