Emotional Support/Advice Thread

[joe_galindez]

Honestly, this has always cheered me up:

"And with their survival secured, the fire ants revert to type, attacking every living thing in sight."

Yep that's us.

[VibrantFox]

The resilience of fire ants is honestly pretty inspiring

[inbox_anime]

When I read through and I see people say 1k sub 2.5k sub 5k comment /engagement and they're still like depressed? You should use that to boost your morale.
What of me, since 2013 and I still don't have 30 sub of engagement.
I just feel like I'm wasting my time, perhaps I'm on the wrong track

[joe_galindez]

I've found it best to focus on the certainties in life. Like, I'm not the best writer in the world, but writing is still what I do best. And I'm happiest when I'm being productive.

It can't be a waste of time to do the things that you do best.

[DiegoPalacios]

Sometimes depression comes from other life aspects.

About subs and engagement. Don`t worry if at first you dont succeed. It takes effort and learning. If you enjoy doing comics/novels keep doing it. Even if at first you cant make a living from it, at least it can be a hobby. Being more active in the forums can help. Not only to reach more people, but also to make friends and learn.

[inbox_anime]

Thank you very much really appreciate it

[dawgofdawgness]

Weird vent:

So I was feeling kind of uneasy today, as if I were going to dip down into a depressive mood at any second. And so i thought, why not talk to some friends to cheer myself up? So I said hi to someone (ignored) and asked them what's up? And i shit you not, they answered with "yes." and disappeared.

And then I started crying! (reminder that I was feeling shitty beforehand.)
I ended up talking to one of my other friends, who comforted me and gave me advice. (And then I blocked that other friend's ass)

I've been going up to this person for MONTHS seeking emotional support when I had depression. And every time I would get brushed off. And yes, it hurt like hell. I started feeling more and more like it was my fault that they didn't want to talk to me and that I deserved to be left dying in a hole. My depression got worse and worse in the hands of this "friend" to the point where I cried myself to sleep every night for weeks. And had to seek therapy.

So in a nutshell, I'm salty. Also, seriously remove toxic people from your life. That's my advice. If you spend time with someone who constantly makes you feel like shit, you'll start to think that it's your fault and that you deserve it. Sometimes you'll feel so close and connected with someone you're convinced is your "friend" that you'll sort of filter out everything terrible they say/do to you. At that point it's difficult to realize that they're toxic. Being around the wrong people can seriously hinder your ability to feel happy.

Spend time with people who care about you and love you unconditionally. Those are your true friends. They're the ones you want to keep forever and ever. And for the ones that don't appreciate you:

[jpnakashima]

Wow...
Just wow...

Dude, I'm glad though you shared this with us. I super agree with what you say. It's hard sometimes when we're feeling down to see that not everything is our responsability, and the way toxic people react to us is certainly not. That's their shit.

So yeah, I'm glad to read this from you, dawg! It's one day at a time and I hope it only gets better from here on out!

PS: Holy smokes how I goddamn love these screaming bird images gaaaaaaagh!!!!!!

[Wumbl]

Yikes. I'm having a rough day to be honest, in terms of anxiety.

Being manic depressive my anxiety levels are constantly changing, and I also have a slight speech problem which leads to episodes of stuttering. Today at work I had one of these and stuttered a lot during a conversation with a customer, and they laughed at me. As a result I'm super anxious now and I keep stuttering because the anxiety can make it worse! AAAAAGH

[minerrale]

Take deep breaths buddy, if anything you can't blame yourself for that! It's the guy that's definitely rude for laughing! I for one find stuttering a charming thing, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one there's no reason to be anxious about that particular issue, it's part who you are and it makes you all the more likeable

[VibrantFox]

I very rarely vent on the internet but lately my mind and body have been so tired. I've already shared bit bit of my financial situation and opened commissions but the waiting is becoming too much, much less facing the fact that there's a number of people trying to pull through the summer months.

I'm just worn out having so little food and even toiletries. I think what bugs me more is the service companies in the state i'm living in. power company is the only one in the state and barely anything has been done over their overinflated bills. then the phone/internet company up and says our bills supposed to change from the rate we've had for years and slapping on another thirty bucks because "the low price was only for the first twelve months". yet i don't even recall a year going by? i don't even want to have to watch either company pull something about reconnecting any services because they seem to love piling it on.

that's like i could tell i was 'tipping the scales' after barely sleeping and really i just wish i knew how to just not be stressed about it even though i keep trying to be the "positive one" about things. honestly wanna smack my head in a wall cuz i feel stupid but i just wanna be useful for once in my life

[DiegoPalacios]

Hi Vi. I am sorry you are going through this. I know is a hard situation, but don`t give up on yourself. You are a skilled and talented artist. Talent and profit are not neccesarilly things that come together because business and art are different skills.

The good news are that, like any skill, it can be learned.

About the money situation....do you have a full time or a part time job?. If you don`t maybe searching one for a while until you stabilize financially can help.

And about commissions. The advice i can give you to selling stuff in general, is that you should know what kind of people need/want your product/service.
Here are some ideas:
1-Novel writers with novels where your art style fits. Some of them can`t draw and want some cool illustration of their OC.
2-People who want to give a gift to someone Maybe for a romantic letter?
3-People who want a design for a tatoo they are gonna get.
There can be more kind of people who needs or wants comissions, of course.

Seek the sites where you can find these people.

I will not tell you to lower your prices. But you can make "promotional packs" , for example, a "book cover pack" could be a full body character plus background. It would be like a small discount that only applies if they buy the pack. (something like 10% cheaper for the whole thing)

Wish you the best and hope you solve your money situation.

[hamsterdude]

I don't know if I'm allowed to ask for support with my life problems, but anyways yesterday my mom kept saying she's worried she has to go to the hospital again and she keeps coughing today.

last December, I posted videos on tumblr of when they took my mom to the ambulance, I was really scared and sad.

it was really scary when my mom had respiratory failure in the hospital and she couldn't pronounce her name right, and they were gonna.. well I don't understand, but put her on something where she's stuck in one room for the rest of her life. But then they got her name and she was able to return home.

I hope my mom will be ok.

I'm very anxious and depressed and lonely lately! Drama happened a year and a few months ago, and it made me lose my closest friends. Its so hard for me to make new friends. I have a social worker that takes me places, but I'm not sure where to go to socialize with people.

[hamsterdude]

@Friendly_Crocodile Thanks. One time I called a suicide hotline and I thought it'd be private. But later on, my parents found out (I guess the program I'm in found out about it and told my parents maybe, I'm not sure actually) and they told me that it's embarrassing to them and they tell me not to call them again because it just embarrasses them.

[Hodge]

Rejection is hard when you put your all into something sigh, like in just a few words someone can make me feel like the past 3 years I've dedicated to comics has been worthless (3 years man does time fly by). I'm running out of options the older I get. Not only that, it's hard to not take things personally and wonder if I've messed up in more ways than one. Like I've been analyzing every word and comment trying to see if I've done something to make them not like me. Haaaaaaaa I need the webcomic gods to throw me a bone (and some money lolol I desperately need time but so poor).

But yeah I just needed to bitch somewhere since this frustration is eating me up inside, and no one believes that I can do anything with comics that's worthwhile. Granted I have so many comics and art that has never been published because I hate it all. Like I know I know I need to get over myself and just post the damn shit, but my ego is all I got. My social life is next to nothing, my career is nonexistent, and now even my comics are worthless. If my younger self could see how much of a parasite and trash of society I've become she'd probably would have just killed herself.

To anyone who has moved forward in achieving success with their webcomics or art, what's it like? How does it feel? If you struggled with frustration and anxiety, did it go away? Do people admire you? Can you tell people confidently what you do for a living? How does it feel to read positive comments from your fans? I'm not even jealous at this point, my spirit will get crushed if I keep comparing myself to others. I just want you to paint a pretty picture for me of what my future could look like if I don't give up.

[minerrale]

Don't give up! I remember you, you're the amazing artist who drew my Demon and his flaming friend, that drawing was so awesome! I showed it to the friend who drew the original one (since I can't even make a proper stick figure) and she was completely WOWed. Your art is good!

Life can be hard, insecurities and anxiety can be real big obstacles, but the most important is to NOT GIVE UP!
I decided to become a full-time writer after working for years on jobs that just got me deeper and deeper into depression. And I did. I proofread for people, I publish on Tapas, and even though I have yet to make real money, I got a couple of comissions for fanfics that were really fun to make.
I teamed up with an amazing illustrator on a children's book and a comic project that are slowly but surely getting out, and I work my head off to try and promote my stuff.
Result? We got a table at a convention in January.
It's only the beginning, but it's a dream come true, and it only came true because I didn't give up.
I still suffer from depression, anxiety, PTSD and social phobia, that didn't disappear, but it got a teeny bit better. And I have found out that some people like what I do.
So, please, keep doing these amazing things you do, stand a bit straighter because ONLY YOU can make them. ONLY YOU can write your story. ONLY YOU could draw my character in this way, AND I LOVED IT.
DO. NOT. GIVE. UP. I believe in you, mate

[Hodge]

Thank you for the kind words, means a lot haha! I'm not giving up but maaannn the sacrifices we make for our dreams huh. Nice to know someone believes in me

[dawgofdawgness]

I just retyped paragraph after paragraph of word barf and deleting it, because there's so much going on in my head, and decided to just go with this: can depression have a "relapse"?

[DiegoPalacios]

unfortunately it is possible to have a depression relapse.

This can happen for different reasons, like hormonal changes, stopping a treatment beforehand, traumatic and/or emotionally draining events.

It could also be a temporal situation getting you worried.

If the feeling persists or comes back again, make sure you check out with a profesional and to tell the people you trust.

I hope is not a relapse

If you need to talk about it, count on me Dawg

[qwerty]

If whatever underlying cause(s) that caused the depression previously are still present, then of course it can happen. Or it can happen again due to new causes.

For whatever it's worth I'm here and wishing you the best