DEPRESSION
ARE YOU FEEDING OR STARVING YOURS?
Wellcome Trust # V0011567
“Antidepressants primarily work on brain chemicals called neurotransmitters, especially serotonin and norepinephrine. Other antidepressants work on the neurotransmitter dopamine. Scientists have found that these particular chemicals are involved in regulating mood, but they are unsure of the exact ways that they work.” From the NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health website (Depression).
“The WHO [World Health Organization] studies described above highlight the interaction between depression and physical illness. Each contributes to the worsening of the other. People are not going to get better unless both (or all) dimensions are tackled, and so we need new models that acknowledge this complexity…. However, health care administration — at both government and health service levels — separates physical care from mental health care. This is not effective, efficient or cheap.” From Dr. David M. Clarke’s article in a 2009 edition of the Medical Journal of Australia (Depression and Physical Illness: More Complex Than Simple Comorbidity)
There are any number of reasons that people end up DEPRESSED. These range from the death of a loved one, a divorce, serious financial crisis, problems at work, problems at school, etc, etc, etc. Many times these sorts of things leave us feeling helpless because we have no control over them. But as you’ll see below, there are others — many others. Regardless of the cause, by far, the most common medical solution is to put people on SSRI ANTIDEPRESSANTS.
Unfortunately, the more you study this issue, the more you realize that drugs are not usually the best option for Depression. This is because Antidepressants — in similar fashion to the drugs given for most other common health problem — treat the symptoms of Depression without ever addressing it’s underlying cause(s). If you or a loved one is depressed, you need to stop trying to control the things you can’t, while figuring out what variables you can control, and stop feeding the beast.
- DEPRESSION IS FED BY INFLAMMATION: Depression is one of the multitudes of chronic conditions that is considered to be “INFLAMMATORY“. This is why so many other health-related problems also considered to be “Inflammatory” (OSTEOPOROSIS, OBESITY, THYROID DISEASE, DIABETES, and even HEART DISEASE) have been strongly linked to INFLAMMATION, with increasing numbers of these and similar being linked directly to Depression itself. Part of the problem is that I so rarely find anyone who understands what Inflammation is, let alone what it takes to squelch it. HERE and HERE are my posts on Depression and Inflammation.
- DEPRESSION IS FED BY SUGAR: Show me 100 depressed women (Depression affects far more women than men), and I’ll show you 99 who are raging SUGAR / CARB ADDICTS. Sugar is one of the most addictive and Inflammatory substances you can put in your body (HERE), and once you understand that Depression itself is one of the myriad of “Inflammatory” health problems, it makes sense that you have to figure out a way to break the cycle of addiction, Inflammation, and Depression. To learn more, just follow the links in this bullet point.
- DEPRESSION IS FED BY NUMEROUS DRUGS: This is true whether the drugs are pushed or prescribed. CORTICOSTEROIDS, ANTIBIOTICS and ACNE DRUGS are notorious for feeding Depression. And as far as drug addiction and Depression are concerned, we need look no farther than Hollywood (Robin Williams is the latest in a long line of tragedies). Furthermore, one of the things we know for sure is that the serious harms of antidepressants are dramatically underreported (HERE).
- SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION AND DEPRESSION: While it is certainly true that SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION would probably be “depressing” to most folks, how many of you were aware that possibly the number one side effect of Antidepressant medications is sexual dysfunction (HERE).
- DEPRESSION IS FED BY DYSBIOSIS: I have said numerous times that drugs — especially Antibiotics — cause DYSBIOSIS, while sugar feeds it (HERE). Rather than belabor this point, I will provide you a single link to read on the subject (HERE) that has to do with the relationship between Depression and Gut Health. If you don’t like that one, HERE is another.
- DEPRESSION IS FED BY A SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE: The peer-reviewed literature touting EXERCISE as beneficial for Depression is overwhelming. If you are Depressed; then laying around all day in your PJ’s is not going to benefit you (neither will spending hour after endless hour parked in your favorite chair in front of the tube as “SCREENS” THEMSELVES have been linked to Depression).
- DEPRESSION IS FED BY POOR SLEEP PATTERNS: Usually this is a function of some degree of SYMPATHETIC DOMINANCE. When you understand that sleeping aids are tied to hundreds of thousands of deaths a year (HERE), this becomes even more troubling.
- DEPRESSION CAN BE FED BY CHRONIC PAIN / CHRONIC ILLNESS: Honestly, this is where the rubber meets the road. I can vividly recall how depressing it was for me to have to give up certain physical activities as the result of a decade of CHRONIC PAIN (a problem since resolved). Although doctors like to tout the studies that say that Depression causes Chronic Pain, 25 years of clinical experience tells me that most of the time the exact opposite is true — people get depressed because some sort of chronic health issue prevents them from living their life the way they want to.
- DEPRESSION IS FED BY READING STUDIES ON ANTIDEPRESSANTS: Once you begin to realize THE INCREDIBLE NUMBER OF WAYS that you, the American tax-paying public, are being duped by BIG PHARMA, I promise you’ll be fighting mad (or maybe depressed). For instance, if you know teens who are taking Antidepressants, make sure to get THIS INFORMATION in front of those who love and care about them most. The fact that half of all studies on Antidepressants fall under the category of “INVISIBLE & ABANDONED” is depressing in and of itself.
CRACKING THE COMBINATION TO DEFEAT DEPRESSION
Rather than reinvent the wheel here, I am simply going to provide you with a couple of different articles I wrote on the subject. One is called DEFEATING DEPRESSION NATURALLY and the other is called SOLUTIONS FOR CHRONIC PAIN AND CHRONIC ILLNESS; FORTUNATELY THEY ARE THE SAME. Remember that “holistic” treatment really means “wholistic” treatment. In other words, you need to deal with the whole person, because we already know that in most cases, MONOTHERAPIES ARE WORTHLESS. It sort of goes back to the initial quote from Dr. Clarke — a Gastroenterologist at Oregon Health & Science University who wrote the book, They Can’t Find Anything Wrong. Depression is a complex problem, and we do need a new model for effectively dealing with it — because simply throwing drugs at the problem is not working out. Especially over the long haul.
