Motivational support for a depressed grad student working on master's thesis (with updates maybe?)

[PearsthePlatypus]

Hey. So as the title says, I'm have really bad depression and anxiety and it's making it extremely difficult to actually work on my thesis. I've been working on it for maybe 2 years now, so it's way overdue as far as a master's program in anthropology goes. I need to get my act together. So I had this idea: are there any forums out there for grad students to discuss their research and their progress? One where you can form a small community of people who will motivate you, be curious about your work, and actually want to see your progress? One where you can then follow up on other people's work and support them?

Right now, I feel totally alone. My advisor doesn't understand my topic very well and has been of very little help. Because of this, I haven't talked to her since September. I sent an email and she never responded, plus I've been working at such a slow pace that I'd be embarrassed to actually see her again. I struggle to get out of bed and a work a part-time job. The days in-between working at my job, I feel tired. I'm medicated and I go to group therapy, but it's not much help in this situation. My therapy group consists of undergrads who are struggling more with making friends on campus, dealing with roommates, and adjusting to college life. I'm past all of that. I'd rather talk about anxiety for the future in academia (I want to be an archaeologist/researcher), imposter syndrome, perfectionism, procrastination, low self-esteem, seeing your own value in terms of accomplishments instead of self-love, etc. You get the picture. 

So yeah. My research is about tooth ablation and mitochondrial haplogroups in the Jomon of Japan. I'm very interested in bioarchaeology and East Asia. I go to a school in the middle of Illinois... and frankly, I'm not very fascinated with the archaeology of Illinois, so it's been difficult to actually do the research. It's more of a meta analysis with a lot of the data being either underreported or in Japanese. Currently I'm working on the literature review and collecting the data. I've been slowly collecting the data these past couple of years and running into a lot of dead ends. Following breadcrumbs. Trying to use crappy translation apps. It's exhausting.

[Leojames26]

Hey, I’m really sorry you’re going through this—it sounds incredibly tough. Grad school is hard enough without dealing with depression and anxiety on top of it. I’d definitely recommend checking out online communities like Reddit’s r/GradSchool, where you can connect with others going through similar struggles. You might find some support and motivation there.

Also, don’t be too hard on yourself. Maybe try setting small goals—just focus on one section at a time. And if you can, reach out to another professor or peer in your department for some guidance. You’re doing the best you can, and that’s enough. You’re not alone in this.