Curing depression in the long term

[davegr]

Hi all,

I'm a first time poster, I won't bore you all with the intro ;)

I'm curious what changes people have made in their lives which they think have lead to curing their depression.

I'm starting with the following which are mainly just common sense things that everybody should be doing anyway. What else can be added to the list? (I'm not really looking for further recommendations for medications or herbs etc as the eventual goal is to live a normal life without "popping pills" :) )

a) Good food with a good multivitamin (Metagenics Multigenics), less alcohol
b) Exercise
c) Good sleep and relaxation time
d) SJW
e) Reading some good self help books to get ideas
f) Trying not to let life get complicated without good reason

Prior to this I was feeling very anxious which seems to have gotten much better after taking a Vitamin B complex regularly and changing my diet to include more fruit & veg.

Thanks in advance for any additional tips

Dave

[sheephead]

Hi all,

I'm a first time poster, I won't bore you all with the intro ;)

I'm curious what changes people have made in their lives which they think have lead to curing their depression.

I'm starting with the following which are mainly just common sense things that everybody should be doing anyway. What else can be added to the list? (I'm not really looking for further recommendations for medications or herbs etc as the eventual goal is to live a normal life without "popping pills" :) )

a) Good food with a good multivitamin (Metagenics Multigenics), less alcohol
b) Exercise
c) Good sleep and relaxation time
d) SJW
e) Reading some good self help books to get ideas
f) Trying not to let life get complicated without good reason

Prior to this I was feeling very anxious which seems to have gotten much better after taking a Vitamin B complex regularly and changing my diet to include more fruit & veg.

Thanks in advance for any additional tips

Dave

Good list, Dave. The only thing I would suggest as a possible addition is talk therapy. I am currently doing a CBT course and have found it useful (even though I thought I wouldn't). At the very worst it won't do any harm and it may just do some good.

Good luck,

Sheephead.

[davegr]

Good point. Thanks for the idea. I don't generally like the idea of therapy but maybe I'll look into it.

[davegr]

I suppose Omega3 should be added to the list. It's not a herb nor a drug but an essential(?) part of human nutrition. So even if it's not as a supplement we should be getting it.

[Newgirlintown]

Hi Dave,

Just a quick comment in response to your email. I first became depressed over a year ago. I had a lot of changes occuring in my life which increased my stress levels. I took SJW which helped a lot, however, the depression 'feeling' decreased and I was able to get through the days but my anxiety levels increased. I knew my body was struggling to tell me something was still not right even though I was taking the SJW. After about 7-8 months on SJW I switched to taking Rhodiola Rosea which helps to balances out your hormones and decreases stress. From what I have read, and in my own personal case, over production of stress hormones was the underlying root cause of my depression. Once I balanced out the stress hormones, I began to feel better. I have taken up golfing and rollerblading to get outside and soak up vitamin D from the sun that I need and I am always conscious of the foods I eat (i.e. stay on the outside isles of the grocery stores-the isles are just filled with processed foods). Doing all these things help boost those seratonin (along with other hormones) levels that help you feel happier. RR is the best thing I ever tried for myself. There is a lot of info out there on this wonderful herb. Hopefully, you will find what works for you. Good Luck.

Note: If you ever do decide to switch to RR, start out with a very low dosage (I take 170mg 5% Rosavins-standardized) and increase it as you feel your body needs it. I see a lot of posts from people wondering why they feel drowsy and I believe it is because the dosage is too high.

[davegr]

Thanks for the tips.

If I don't get the result I expect from SJW then maybe I'll check RR.

To be honest though, I'm looking to fight the origin of the depression rather than treat it with a cocktail of herbs or otherwise :)

How did you know that the overproduction of stress hormones (cortisol?) was your problem? Was it diagnosed by a doctor?

[Newgirlintown]

Hi Dave,

I understand where you are coming from. Every one of us suffering from depression is hoping to treat it without meds or a 'cocktail of herbs' as you described. I think we are all trying to do what is best for our own bodies and we all have different degrees of depression as well. I have consulted doctor's (who all prescribed me anti-depressants within the first 10 minutes which I NEVER took), therapists, and read countless articles and books on the topics of depression and treatments. Through all of that research I have learned that the ultimate root 'cause' of my depression was events that occured in my life which then 'caused' the over production of stress related hormones. The RR has helped me to balance out these hormones and to start to attend to the events in my life. After 4 months I will stop taking it and let my body adjust on its own and see how I feel.

I think this website does a really good job describing depression which you may find useful.

http://www.clinical-depression.co.uk/index.htm

Good Luck!

Thanks for the tips.

If I don't get the result I expect from SJW then maybe I'll check RR.

To be honest though, I'm looking to fight the origin of the depression rather than treat it with a cocktail of herbs or otherwise :)

How did you know that the overproduction of stress hormones (cortisol?) was your problem? Was it diagnosed by a doctor?

[davegr]

Through all of that research I have learned that the ultimate root 'cause' of my depression was events that occured in my life which then 'caused' the over production of stress related hormones.

This reminds me of a book I read recently by Richard Carlson where he says that people often blame their circumstances or life events for the way they feel when in fact, it's not the events that cause the feelings but the way we react and the thoughts we have about the events.

He backs this up by basically saying that if an event was truely "good" or "bad" then it would trigger the same reaction in everybody. This is not the case so it is our own reaction that is the problem.

Interesting reading...

[davegr]

After a lot of thorough research into the "brain anime theory" I have decided to postpone the SJW (it's going to be very bright and sunny here the next few months and I'd rather not take the risk regarding photosensitivity and cateracts). I will have it for the Winter months should I get a bit "SAD" and in the meantime im going with the following:

L-Tyrosine in the morning
Multivitamin + EPA concentrate with the 3 main meals
5HTP at night

Since I'm 99% sure my problem stems from nutrition I think this is probably the best combination to resolve the nutritional failings and give my body what it needs to get back on track neurotransmitter wise.

I may or may not post on how it goes ;)