Ryan Roman

I grew up with Truck Stops, and Rest areas near my home. Miss them and outdoor cruising. Love public display and hunting for sex. Also had fun in libraries and book stores

I am on medication, and it's been invaluable for someone with a history of clinical depression.  Along with talk therapy, it's been very helpful.  My advice to anyone - have a genetics test done (they're $300) prior to going on an antidepressant.  I suggest that because physiology can vary so widely that some antidepressants (or any drug) my not be properly absorbed by your body.  The sudden loss of an identity I strived for years to earn and maintain, and was the proud of, is something I'll just have to work through overtime. The upside is I have more time to see clients, which is something I still enjoy. Thanks for your other suggestions - some are things I really should be doing, as well as getting my dissertation finished by the end of Spring.

I am on medication, and it's been invaluable for someone with a history of clinical depression.  Along with talk therapy, it's been very helpful.  My advice to anyone - have a genetics test done (they're $300) prior to going on an antidepressant.  I suggest that because physiology can vary so widely that some antidepressants (or any drug) my not be properly absorbed by your body.  The sudden loss of an identity I strived for years to earn and maintain, and was the proud of, is something I'll just have to work through overtime. The upside is I have more time to see clients, which is something I still enjoy. Thanks for your other suggestions - some are things I really should be doing, as well as getting my dissertation finished by the end of Spring.

A stones song right~?

Rituals are part of human civilization.
Keeping a routine, following traditions and maintaining relationships daily ( even if it's with your favorite barista) work as emotional anchors to counterbalance the emotional chaos that can lead to depression. 
Of course all the other suggestions above have merit as well. But a reliable schedule has a surprisingly positive effect when implementing those other tactics.

Very glad it helped you and you stuck with it.  I'm a huge fan of both Wellbutrin and Lexapro.
It's wonderful the Lex side effect of delayed ejaculation, was not on the negative side for you :-)  For others, that can be horrible because they don't reach orgasm.  It can actually feel a bit scary, because the horniness may remain, but the gun won't shoot.  One "remedy" for that is incorporating heavier than usual dose of ED medication such as Viagra.  It seems to help SSRI-induced anorgasmia and/or delayed ejaculation. 
Of course, a high dose of Viagra can be a bit uncomfortable (when I tried vitamin V years ago it gave me such a headache, I haven't dared try it again, and I'm not a pussy when it comes to pain), but that's the 7-headed hydra of medication for you.
 
Again, good on you for not giving up on a medication that could, and happily did, help you.

Given that Wellbutrin is not an SSRI, its lack of sexual side effects make it useful for gays.

I don't want to see pets pawned-off or in shelters, because owners, depressed or otherwise, bit off more than they can chew, as is most often the case with discarded pets.
I also touched on working on improving sleep, exercising, considering therapy, not discounting medicine, and other options, admittedly without swearing.  I apologize if my dirty mouth offended.    

You won't want to do any of these things if you are anxious/depressed.  But they'll help.
Improve your sleep hygiene.
Daily DAILY Exercise
Daily gratitude journaling, even if you eventually find yourself repeating the same gratitudes.
Meditate daily, that means spending time NOT thinking about the horrible shit, or good shit, but just focus on the breathing.  There are TONS of guided meditations on youtube.
Online therapy.
Online Group Therapy
Do NOT get a fucking pet.
Don't be afraid of Wellbutrin and/or Lexapro, they can help.
As things improve, maintain the exercise, maintain the good sleep hygiene, continue meditation, you can drop the gratitude crap, consider dropping therapy (therapy is meant to be temporary), talk to your doctor or psychiatrist about tapering off Wellbutrin/Lexapro, and only when you are feeling much much better should you consider a pet.  

Hey guys: I was wondering how those of you manage your depression when you're already doing all of the right things like a) taking your meds, and/or b) in talk therapy.  Oddly (or maybe not), being a service provider helped quite a bit with my depression in a couple of different ways.  But, since COVID began, and only having a few clients in the last 18 months, that 'depression relief valve' isn't really there. I've always been a lone wolf, so I don't have a circle of friends or 'tribe' like others do.  On top of that, my professional identity was shattered a month ago - just as I was entering the final stretch of my PhD. I still have a job, but it's not the job that I always strived towards.
Its been tough on everyone over the last 18 months... I'm curious how those who suffer from clinical depression have found outlets that helped mitigate those feelings. 
Thanks guys... Cheers!
 

Hey guys: I was wondering how those of you manage your depression when you're already doing all of the right things like a) taking your meds, and/or b) in talk therapy.  Oddly (or maybe not), being a service provider helped quite a bit with my depression in a couple of different ways.  But, since COVID began, and only having a few clients in the last 18 months, that 'depression relief valve' isn't really there. I've always been a lone wolf, so I don't have a circle of friends or 'tribe' like others do.  On top of that, my professional identity was shattered a month ago - just as I was entering the final stretch of my PhD. I still have a job, but it's not the job that I always strived towards.
Its been tough on everyone over the last 18 months... I'm curious how those who suffer from clinical depression have found outlets that helped mitigate those feelings. 
Thanks guys... Cheers!
 

Hey guys: I was wondering how those of you manage your depression when you're already doing all of the right things like a) taking your meds, and/or b) in talk therapy.  Oddly (or maybe not), being a service provider helped quite a bit with my depression in a couple of different ways.  But, since COVID began, and only having a few clients in the last 18 months, that 'depression relief valve' isn't really there. I've always been a lone wolf, so I don't have a circle of friends or 'tribe' like others do.  On top of that, my professional identity was shattered a month ago - just as I was entering the final stretch of my PhD. I still have a job, but it's not the job that I always strived towards.
Its been tough on everyone over the last 18 months... I'm curious how those who suffer from clinical depression have found outlets that helped mitigate those feelings. 
Thanks guys... Cheers!
 

Hey guys: I was wondering how those of you manage your depression when you're already doing all of the right things like a) taking your meds, and/or b) in talk therapy.  Oddly (or maybe not), being a service provider helped quite a bit with my depression in a couple of different ways.  But, since COVID began, and only having a few clients in the last 18 months, that 'depression relief valve' isn't really there. I've always been a lone wolf, so I don't have a circle of friends or 'tribe' like others do.  On top of that, my professional identity was shattered a month ago - just as I was entering the final stretch of my PhD. I still have a job, but it's not the job that I always strived towards.
Its been tough on everyone over the last 18 months... I'm curious how those who suffer from clinical depression have found outlets that helped mitigate those feelings. 
Thanks guys... Cheers!
 

I went on VACAYA's inoguluar cruise and had a blast. I the a split second of me in leather in one of the promotional videos. Entertainment was great, atmosphere was fun while also laid back, lots of different types of men to enjoy the company of. I'd go again

I managed to commute from the bed to my zoom meetings each day - never once throwing in the towel for a day. That's about it.

I'm still here! ? ?

I found a way to get to the review admin area. I now have a password that works to let me in. There looks to be around 30 reviews in the queue.
 
I don't know how the tool works fully yet as I just literally got in. But at least I have a way to access data now.

As I've said previously, out of an abundance of caution, I've backed up most of the content on Daddy's server. The first priority was getting the forum itself back online which has been done. I've gotten to the point where I've been able to tackle restoring the review site.
 
This was MUCH more difficult as there was a bunch of things coded specifically for Daddy's server. I managed to get the data copied over and to import the mySQL database associated with the site. Once I did that, nothing really worked so I had to go look into the code to see what was going on. This involved changing a bunch of files to reflect where files are located on the new server.
 
It's not perfectly restored (meaning some of the commentary and news links are not fully working), but all of the reviews seem to be working.
 
Main Website: https://archive.m4m-forum.org/
Reviews Based on Location: https://archive.m4m-forum.org/cruise
Reviews Based on Name: https://archive.m4m-forum.org/search
 
I do not plan to try and maintain the system Daddy used to run the reviews. It is simply too much to try to manually do. So the plan for now is for the archive to stay as-is for historical purposes. At a later time, I plan to introduce a new review site that would collect the info and allow for a more streamlined method of management. Once it's ready, we'll need some volunteers to help us manually migrate reviews over into the new long-term tool. Once we're ready to do that, I'll post here asking for some help with all of the copy/pasting that is going to be involved.
 
Hopefully in the next half hour or so, I'll be able to have the main review website redirect to the archive. It's not perfect, but I hope it helps us preserve a vital part of our history.

The thirst is real ?

For me... I've got a few:

Clay Matthews
Cole Beasley
Anthony Castonzo
Jamie Gillan

Jocks with long hair. That's hot...



[MEDIA=flickr]2gSnc2f[/MEDIA]

There is a market for everyone (companions), but no one is for everyone (clients). If you are a people-person, client-focused, can efficiently manage your schedule, and simply keep your word, you can and will do well. Best wishes and welcome to the forum!

Fellow rugby player Stu Reardon

Ben Cohen! [MEDIA=flickr]dZaWSp[/MEDIA]

For me... I've got a few:

Clay Matthews
Cole Beasley
Anthony Castonzo
Jamie Gillan

Jocks with long hair. That's hot...



[MEDIA=flickr]2gSnc2f[/MEDIA]

Danny Amendola
Julian Edelman