Depression help...

I didn't have time to look through all the pages of the forum but just talking to a few people in the chat I thought that it would be a good place to just let people talk and others to offer advice. this should be an open topic just let your thoughts and feelings out and NO ONE should judge you. also if you are offering advice please stay away from the take a pill answer cause a lot of things there are things much deeply rooted then that and people need a place where they can express themselves without fear of judgement. hopefully this will allow those of us (myself included) begin to heal enjoy life and together maybe we all can beat this dreadful disease

We have a Temple Crisis Hotline for those who are in need of someone to listen to whatever you are upset about. It is located in the Health Section of the forums, although you can just click on the hyperlink that I put above.

This Temple Crisis Hotline has been brought up many times, I understand. However, it should be brought up often as it is a valuable resource, in my opinion.

The research shows the following helps stave off depression:
1. Talking to people
2. Eating right and exercising
3. Sunlight for those in S.A.D. areas

I found this to be the #1 cause of depression in the US because people work in cubicles(indoors and isolated) and don't eat right and never exercise. Some people last many years before obesity and depression set in. Many resort to drinking alcohol.
On the other hand, there is normal depression which can result from the loss of a loved one, traumatic experiences, poverty, and finally brain chemistry imbalances. For these kinds you need a counselor. If it is a brain chemistry thing you can sometimes alter it with all of the above. I've had depression that was so bad I had to take pills but only long enough to interrupt the imbalance long enough to get the other methods going.

I just wanted to add some insights from my own recovery to help others.
1. Food: Anything you buy in a package is loaded with excess salt, sugar, and glutamates. These are labeled as "natural flavourings". The only thing I've found that works, for me, is to prepare all my own food from scratch. Even the brownie mixes you buy and make at home are problematic. The glutamates make you hungry and cause your pancreas to release excessive insulin, causing obesity and diabetes.

2. Exercise: Walking is easy and works fine. Try to get at least one hour of rigorous exercise every day. Also stretch lots if you're out of shape.

3. Talking: Well as a teacher I got to talk every day. Now not so much and typing on a forum doesn't activate the same parts of the brain. Maybe that would be a good use for the hotline.

I just wanted to add my advice, which everyone is free to wholeheartedly accept, vehemently reject, or anything in-between.

First off, I'll start by saying that I've suffered from depression for about a decade now. It's f'd up my life, and it's just not fun. I won't bother explaining the circumstances, but let's just say it's been bad.

I want to agree 100% with the OP that taking pills is not the answer. I had enough experience with psychiatry (unrelated issues) as a kid to know that it is no good usually.

That being said, I want to recommend St. John's wort, an herbal anti-depressant that can be found at any Wal-Mart or similar store in the USA. It's prescription-only in some countries, but I think in most places it's free to buy just like vitamins or supplements.

It's helped me a good bit. It takes the edge off the depression, but you're still very much in the real world.

Yes, I remember St. John's Wort working well. It has a serotonin reuptake inhibitor. It can be grown very easily. It should not be taken by women using birth control pills as it decreases levels of estrogen. It also interferes with a number of drugs like antiretrovirals, benzodiazepines, immunosupressants, etc. It's also poisonous to grazing livestock.

I also recommend Omega-3, SAM-e, Folic acid, B6, magnesium. Studies have linked deficiencies of these to depression. I also take melatonin in the winter months, vitamin D, and cannabinoids. There are a lot of herbs and studies out there to help you find what you need and everyone's body is different.

Good suggestions Whyte Horse and Star Forge!

St. John's Wort is great, but definitely be aware of the drug interactions.

"A 14-day course of St John's wort administration significantly induced the activity of CYP 3A4 as measured by changes in alprazolam pharmacokinetics. This suggests that long-term administration of St John's wort may result in diminished clinical effectiveness or increased dosage requirements for all CYP 3A4 substrates, which represent at least 50% of all marketed medications." (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13129991)

Meaning St. John's Wort lowers the level of active drug in the blood if the drug is metabolised by cytochrome p450 enzymes.

for specific drug interactions go to:
http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-329-ST.%20JOHN'S%20WORT.aspx?activeIngredientId=329&activeIngredientName=ST.%20JOHN'S%20WORT

Do you know the source/cause of your depression?

Star Forge wrote: I just wanted to add my advice, which everyone is free to wholeheartedly accept, vehemently reject, or anything in-between.

I want to agree 100% with the OP that taking pills is not the answer. I had enough experience with psychiatry (unrelated issues) as a kid to know that it is no good usually.

i wouldnt be so quick to dismiss decades of psycho-pharmacological advances. for example, since the advent of the use of lithium (a simple heavy salt) as a mood stabilizer, incidents of institutionalized mania have gone down drastically.

we find out more every day about our own minds. and there are are really only two things you enjoy in this life: dopamine and serotonin. we are a collection of nerves, cells, electrical impulses and so forth. the manipulation of which by modern medicine has made life much more stable for the mentally ill as well as their loved ones.

i cant help but feel that these advances will continue into the future now that computers have such massive computing, predictive and modeling power, as well as mapped the human genome.