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How to Get Yourself Up
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Let me preface this by saying I am not medically trained and have no qualifications to be making recommendations. This post is relaying what I have read, what I would do for myself or have done for others to good results. If you are the sort of person more interested in getting results by doing what works than in paying homage to a certificate on a wall then you are in the right place at the right time. Welcome!
Firstly, the problem with handling depression is that being depressed puts you in a state of mind where you do not feel up to doing anything, even handling your depression! Which means you have to overcome a major symptom of depression in order to successfully treat it!
Your key tool in overcoming this is to make a decision to start, begin small and gradually increase the gradient of what you are doing until you attain victory over it.
Your secret weapon is having a purpose to do so. It could be the desire to help others overcome what you are going through, the desire to not be a burden to others, to get back to where you were prior to being depressed, anything that helps pull you forward. If you cannot identify your secret weapon at the moment, don’t worry, we’ll help you get one a bit later.
If you fail to find something that helps pull you forward or something takes the wind out of your sails to the point where you don’t feel like doing anything, just apply Step 2 (Take A Walk) of this program like your life depends on it (it might) until you feel up to doing more.
MY SEVEN STEP MINI-PROGRAM
I have put together this mini-program with several aims in mind:
1. No physical, mental or environmental prerequisites
2. No prior knowledge or qualifications required
3. Zero cost
4. No limits to who can use it for themselves and to help others
It should yield results somewhere between remarkable and miraculous to anyone who follows it. (I did step 2 for ten minutes with a woman I met in the park while walking my dog and she told me I had done more for her in that ten minutes than all the psychologists and psychiatrists she had seen for decades.)
If you find it hard to do this, push yourself to do so. Or enlist help from a friend. If you don’t have a friend or relative who can help, find someone else who is depressed and buddy up with them to help each other through the program.
STEP 1. BEFORE WE START, ASK YOURSELF THIS
Many moons ago now I was inspired to take a different path when a speaker at a seminar said, “In order to achieve results never before achieved you have to use methods never before attempted.“
You got where you are by traveling the path you traveled. If you want to arrive some place better, you have to travel a different path. You have to do differently to that which landed you here. If you continue to do the same as you have always done, things won’t change for the better. They may get worse but they won’t improve.
Hippocrates was reputed to have said something along the lines of,
“Before you try to heal a man, ask if he is prepared to give up what made him sick.“
He was a very smart guy so it would be wise for me to follow his advice and ask you, “Are you prepared to change what you do in order to not feel depressed? Are you willing to give up that which made you depressed?“
When you can honestly say “Yes!“, you have overcome the first barrier.
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STEP 2. TAKE A WALK
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You’ve probably heard the expression, “A problem well stated is a problem half solved.“ Well I was talking to someone wanting to get off anti-depressants and it occurred to me that assigning the label “depression“ to the feeling when you are down does not help. It leads one to be open to taking “anti-depressants“ which are anything but! They can cause psychotic breaks, increase suicides, are addictive and have horrendous withdrawal side-effects! More on that later.
Someone who means you harm wants to make nothing of you. They will overtly criticize you to your face or covertly criticize you, your products, your goals and ambitions to others. They specialise in invalidating you and making nothing of you and your good works. They make mountains out of any minor thing you do wrong and make nothing out of anything they do wrong.
This is introverting - it causes you to look inwards and think about things.
They do whatever they can to introvert you. Get you to look in. Because this stops you from communicating and doing. And what is death but unable to communicate or do?
So instead of calling the state ’depression’, if we call it ’introversion’ or ’interiorised’, as in, ’looking inwards’ rather than outwards to the environment, then the more accurate label opens the door to a handling.
The opposite of introversion is extroversion - looking outwards. All of a sudden a solution becomes obvious - if you are introverted, then extrovert by going for a walk and looking at things until you extrovert!
The way you reverse their harm is to extrovert - to go for a walk and look at things one after another until you feel better.
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Easiest, fastest, cheapest and most effective remedy for many things, sadness, anxiety, depression or interiorization, is to go for a walk and look at things until you feel better. Look outwards - extrovert rather than introvert.
Apparently this is so well know in sub-Saharan Africa that when a woman experiences post-partum depression the common practice is/was to take her for a walk - for a week!
So takes walks. Long walks. Morning and night. Look at things. Lots of things. Throw sticks for a dog. Skip stones across the water. If you are not physically capable of throwing, where it is legal, spit. Looking outwards and throwing things extroverts the attention and raise your cause level.
Taking a walk is the nearest thing to a cure-all.
If not safe or possible to walk around outside, just walk around your home looking at things until you feel better.
If you can’t walk, just look around at things, one after another until you feel better.
I hope you are getting the idea. Thinking about things is not the way to stay up. Looking and action extrovert your attention and make you happier.
STEP 3. EDUCATION
(I will collect some links to great, free, online courses and post them as a separate blog post with a link here to it. In the interim, go online and do a search for the Ups and Downs In Life course.)
Until then, here are some techniques that can markedly improve your outlook.
STEP 4. REFOCUS
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(This is the hardest and longest of the handlings. I am putting it here so you know where we are going but if you are anything like me, you will be improving your ability to do this for years if not decades to come. So start doing this and while you are improving your ability with this, continue with the remaining steps.)
From a philosophical perspective, you get that on which you put your attention. Happiness or sadness are alike a state of mind that the individual chooses with which to approach life.
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If I were to sit here and think enough about sad things for long enough I am sure I could make myself feel depressed. I don’t wish to live life depressed so I know not to do that.
I remember 40+ years ago when my wife’s and my first pregnancy resulted in a stillborn baby, we received a card from one of Julie’s cousins who wrote, “I try to remember it is not what happens to us in life but how we respond to it that shapes our life.”
At that time if my wife and I failed to make the deliberate decision to move on, if instead we chose to sit and grieve over that loss we might never have tried again and gotten the three wonderful beings we call our children, their spouses and our 6 grandchildren. Scary thought!
Most people do not know that what they think about is under their own control. Most people run on automatic, giving rent-free room to whatever thought pops into their head. They do not know that they can make conscious, deliberate choices about what thoughts they choose to entertain. Just like you choose what movies to watch in order to be entertained, you can choose which thoughts you entertain and which you kick to the kerb.
The thing to recognise is that what stays front and centre in your mind is what you keep thinking about. If a sad, depressing or harmful thought pops into your head there is no reason to entertain it in your mind any more than you would entertain a burglar who came in through an open window in your home. Just as there are several options to get the burglar back out of your house and onto the street, so there are several options to take your attention of the dark thoughts that invade your thinking.
First thing to do is recognize that it is a dark thought that is not welcome, then take your attention off it. Deliberately and with malice aforethought, direct your attention onto something else. It could be your ’to do’ list for the day, an upcoming event, a project, your major goal in life, doesn’t matter what, just redirect your attention. Every time you do this it will build your mental ’refocus’ muscle.
You didn’t know you had that muscle, did you? It is not a physical muscle but a no less valuable function of your discipline. I am guessing quite a few times you’ve been to told to focus or concentrate but nobody has shown you how to refocus or divert your attention from something. Many is the story or movie told about people who let negative thoughts occupy their attention with disastrous consequences but never have I seen anybody place the proper attention on learning how to refocus.
I deliberately choose not to think about the sad things that happen to me or destructive responses to harms done me. I do the following:
Confront the true cause of the problem,
Take responsibility for what part I had in creating the situation,
If appropriate, warn others,
If necessary and possible, do what I can to handle it then
Move on.
I take my attention off it and focus on the good in life which the main stream media news take great care to avoid.
If you read the newspapers or watch the news you are paying them with your money and your time. STOP DOING IT! Stop thinking black thoughts. Whenever your thoughts start to go there, instantly redirect them. Look at something. Strengthen your “refocus“ muscle!
For a few minutes every day, practice deliberately changing what you are thinking about to something else. Do this until you become expert at changing what you think about any time you wish.
In a month that alone will make you feel a whole bunch better!
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A lecturer walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked the “half empty or half full“ question. Instead, with a smile on her face, she inquired: “How heavy is this glass of water?“
Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.
She replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralysed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.“ She continued, “The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralysed – incapable of doing anything.“
Remember to put down the glass.
Next skill to improve is to reduce the time between when the black thoughts come in and you refocus. The faster the better. The goal is instantaneous. Thought comes in, BANG! Refocus occurs. This is a lot easier to accomplish when you have a burning desire to achieve a goal on your basic purpose line.
One thing you can do is to imagine yourself being productive and happy. If that seems a long way off at present, remember this from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll:
Alice laughed, “There’s no use trying”, she said; “one can’t believe impossible things.”
“I daresay you haven’t had much practice”, said the Queen. “When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I have believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
That said, here are some more physical universe actions to help you get from where you are to where you would like to be.
STEP 5. PRODUCE
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Get Dirty to Get Joy - Bacteria in Soil Acts as an Antidepressant
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/66840#1
THE most important datum on the subject of morale is that high morale comes from production. Not from thinking about things, not from partying or taking drugs or drinking alcohol, not from socializing or relaxing. It is production that raises morale.
Don’t take anything I say as gospel just because I said it. As a matter of fact I recommend you try these things out for yourself to see if they have the same effect on you they have had on others.
If you want to test this out for yourself, I have no objection. Pause reading here and go look around and spot something you have been meaning to do and do it. Even just picking up the socks or filing a piece of paper is an acceptable start.
Go put on a load of washing, make your bed, tidy your room, empty the dishwasher or wash a load of dishes, and clean the place up.
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After that, come back to this point and continue.
Having done that, do you feel better now than when you started reading this article? Good!
To take this to the next level, complete some little jobs on your to do or pending list. Every job you finish gives you back some attention units. The more attention units you have in present time, the better you will feel.
The extension of the production equals morale principle is that production is the demonstration of competence. So you want to feel better? Increase your production! Want to feel even better? Study how to be more competent to further increase your production! Want to feel truly sensational? Study in an area that is on your purpose line, get super competent and really productive in that area. Don’t be surprised if your morale eventually reaches the stars by doing this!
In my mid-50s I went through male menopause. Yes, there is such a thing. No, it is nowhere near as bad as the girls suffer. I would be trying to survive on only 4-5 hours sleep a night. My thinking would take a very black turn middle of the afternoon and when that would happen I eventually learned to stop and say, “OK, I am thinking black thoughts. How much sleep did I have? 4 hours? OK, stop thinking. No good is going to come from trying to think on 4 hours sleep.“
So I developed a motto for those times,
“Don’t think and stew,
Just decide and do!“
Worked a treat. Because production equals morale I could not stay in the thick of the blackness.
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STEP 6. DRUGS
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“A comprehensive, well-powered, high-quality umbrella review now determines that the theory is “not empirically substantiated.” – Psychology Today.
This just repeated study from the University College London published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, finally lays to rest the “chemical imbalance” theory erroneously cited as fact by the psychiatric and mental health industry as a myth. Just as CCHR has been exposing for decades.
To cut a very long story very short, the medical profession has been taken over by big Pharma and are not allowed to cure anybody of many things (that being bad for business).
“The FDA and Big Pharma have admitted that antidepressants increase the risk of suicide by over 800%, according to court documents in a trial against GlaxoSmithKline.”
“The pharmaceutical industry is only marginally less ruthless than the drug cartels...
Eighty percent of the antidepressants are prescribed by primary care doctors, usually after seven minutes, under heavy pressure from both the patient and from the drug company. On the other hand, stopping the medicine can take years.” ~ Dr. Francis Allen
https://www.naturalblaze.com/2018/10/prominent-psychiatrist-tells-cnn-why-antidepressants-are-so-dangerous.html
No sickness, mental or physical, arose because of a drug deficiency. Every drug has side effects, none of them address the root cause of the problem. They just suppress symptoms. The average drug has 75 side effects, one of which is often death. Many of the side effects lead to more prescriptions to address the side effects of the first drug. This results in a lot of people being on 5 or more medications. Worst I heard was of a person admitted to a care home who was on 54 prescriptions.
Many drugs are bettered by natural substances or nutrition. Heck, even sugar pills have been found better than anti-depressants. At least sugar pills don't cause homicidal and suicidal ideation.
Antidepressants are particularly bad as the latest results show they are no better than a placebo and lead to increased risk of suicide: https://www.madinamerica.com/2020/10/researchers-suggest-antidepressants-not-used-depression/
“New reviews have noted that the withdrawal effects of antidepressants can last longer than a year. A recent study found that when ineffective antidepressants are augmented by antipsychotics, early death rates increase by 45%. Other researchers have pointed to rampant industry corruption in clinical trials of antidepressants.”
If you are on anti-depressant medication, look for a practitioner who will supervise an appropriate gradient phasing off them to minimize harmful withdrawal symptoms. Get your blood nutrient levels checked. Magnesium, B group vitamins, vitamin D and E and omega 3 fatty acids (fish oil) are very therapeutic, readily available supplements, a more natural way than drugs to handle depression - they address the nutritional deficiencies which often underlie depression.
From: https://dailyhealthpost.com/magnesium-treats-depression-psychiatric-drugs/
and https://awarenessact.com/panic-atttackss-and-anxiety-episodes-linked-to-vitamin-deficiencies-in-ground-breaking-study/
The study authors concluded: “Magnesium is effective for mild-to-moderate depression in adults. It works quickly and is well tolerated without the need for close monitoring for toxicity.”
The result showed that patients who took the magnesium pill for at least 80% of the time, reduced their depression symptoms on the PHQ-9 scale by 6 points; their anxiety levels also dropped significantly.
...most of the participants began seeing positive results just after 14 days of taking the magnesium pills.
To put this study’s result in context, conventional anti-depressant only improves patients’ PHQ-9 score by 5 points while magnesium supplement does so by 6 points. This makes magnesium a more effective treatment for depression than the available medications.
Another important factor to consider is that most people prescribed anti-depressants stop taking their medication within the first 4 weeks because of the side effects. But more than half of this study’s participants said they would continue to use magnesium supplement even after the initial six weeks.
The study authors concluded: “Magnesium is effective for mild-to-moderate depression in adults. It works quickly and is well tolerated without the need for close monitoring for toxicity.”
Vaccines And Depression
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A slide from a great presentation at: https://rumble.com/vt2bh0-dr.-ray-obomsawin.-the-true-history-of-vaccination-and-infectious-disease.html
We Now Have Proof The COVID Vaccines Damage Cognition
Story at a Glance:
•Subtle and overt neurological injuries are one of the most common results of a pharmaceutical injury.
•The COVID-19 vaccines excel at causing damage to cognition, and many of us have noticed both subtle and over cognitive impairment following vaccination that relatively few people know how to address.
•For a long time, the hypothesis that the vaccines impaired cognition was “anecdotal” because it was based on individuals observing it in their peer group or patients.
•Recently large datasets emerged which show this phenomenon is very real and that the severe injuries we’ve seen from the vaccines (e.g., sudden death) are only the tip of the iceberg.
•In this article we will review the proof vaccine are doing this and explore the mechanisms which allow it to happen so we can better understand how to treat it.
Two weeks ago, the first was published in Nature (one of the top medical journals). It found that COVID vaccination resulted in a 68% increase in depression, a 44% increase in anxiety, dissociative, stress-related, and somatoform disorders, a 93.4% increase in sleep disorders, a 77% decrease in schizophrenia, and a 32.8% decrease in bipolar disorder. I was really surprised to see this be published, and took it as a sign there may have been a decision made to begin disclosing some of the harms of vaccination in the official medical literature. Additionally, I took this as an indication that this was an indirect admission neurologic issues also followed vaccination (due to the strong link between neurologic and psychiatric symptoms).
Around the same time (three weeks ago) another article was published in a mainstream journal (or to be more exact “accepted for publication”). It analyzed individuals over 65 and found COVID vaccination increased the risk of mild cognitive impairment 138% and the risk of Alzheimer’s by 23%, and a smaller increase in vascular dementia and Parkinson’s disease the authors did not deem to be significant.
https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/we-now-have-proof-the-covid-vaccines
STEP 7. EXERCISE
Just saw one of the most helpful videos I have ever seen! I took the time to transcribe it in case you cannot view the source video on Facebook.
“All psychology, all neuroscience and I think this is the most interesting finding of the last decade in all of science. And this is the insight that your muscles are basically an endocrine organ that secretes hormones into your bloodstream, that affect every system of your body. Your muscles, they secrete chemicals and proteins when you exercise that are also really good for your brain health and one of the fist papers almost ten years ago that was published explaining that when you contract your muscles they literally secrete these proteins into your bloodstream that make you resilient to stress and can protect you from depression.
“The scientists called them “hope molecules“, this idea that literally your muscles are manufacturing like antidepressant molecules and the only way to get them into your bloodstream where they can then travel to your brain is you have to contract your muscles. Like, that’s it! It’s like a pharmacy in your muscles and anything your do that contracts them: walking, hiking, running, dancing, weight lifting, like swimming, anything, you are going to be dumping “hope molecules“ into your bloodstream that when they get to your brain they work as an antidepressant and they also help people recover from trauma. Like that... ...that’s like a miracle!
Because of course it’s wonderful when medications work for you, but for so many people medications don’t work or they don’t do the full job in terms of in terms of helping with mental health and the idea that your muscles could provide you with the equivalents of something like an antidepressant medication...”
From: https://www.facebook.com/reel/292118570016169
ADDITIONAL ACTIONS
OK. That’s the mini-program. Here are some other steps I have compiled to help you on the path to a better life.
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When you eat well and exercise, if the dark forces in life drag you down from time to time you have the reserves to drag yourself back up again. Not everyone is endowed with the spiritual, mental and physical reserves to do this and most don’t know the steps I detailed above to help them quickly overcome feeling down.
If you decide to test drive these recommendations yourself I am not to be held responsible for any increased perception of well being or happiness on your part. You did it. You take the credit.
When you are really, really down, the smallest thing can drive you over the edge, so the most important thing to do is to rapidly raise your tone level above hopeless or apathy. Because this will take you through resentment, hostility, hate, anger and antagonism, some people might be evaluative of you and say you have “gotten worse“. Such is not the case because those tones are higher and more survival. Apathy is next to death.
LAUGH
You can cure physical diseases with laughter let alone depression. (For more data on the read Norman Cousin’s book, “Anatomy of an Illness”).
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SING AND DANCE
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BREATHE
Breathe. Deeply and slowly. It has a relaxing effect on the body and mind. Make a conscious and deliberate effort to relax and feel relaxed. Avoid people and things that make you feel tense and worried, powerless and hopeless. Seek out people and activities that validate and empower you.
SLEEP AND REST
Get enough rest. Too little sleep can make the world seem a very dark place. If you are not getting enough sleep, make it a priority to correct this. Lack of sleep will kill you faster than most anything. Except not breathing. That’s pretty fast.
If sleeping is a problem, make a list of anything and everything that you think about instead of sleeping. Now for each item on that list, give yourself a target of something you can do that will improve that situation. OK, that is your to do list for the next little while.
Now for some more relaxed sleep. Here is a recipe for how to make CalMag. It was formulated for, amongst other things, helping drug addicts not suffer withdrawal symptoms but it has helped many people with sleep, aches and pains and muscle soreness. Most of us are magnesium deficient.
CALMAG FORMULA
Calcium does not go into solution in the body and is not utilized unless it is in an acid base.
Tests for other uses than drug reactions brought about the means of getting calcium into solution in the body along with magnesium so that the results of both could be achieved. The answer was to add vinegar, which would provide the acidic formula needed.
The result was a solution which proved to be highly effective, named the “Cal-Mag Formula.“ [Taken from The “Answers To Drugs“ Booklet pg 19]
1 Put 1 level tablespoon (15 ml) of calcium gluconate in a normal-sized glass. Use a measuring spoon not tableware.
2 Add 1/2 level teaspoon (2.5 ml) of magnesium carbonate. Again use a proper measuring spoon.
3 Add 1 tablespoon (15 ml) cider vinegar (at least 5 percent acidity).
4 Stir well.
5 Add 1/2 glass (about 120 ml ) of boiling water and stir until all the powder is dissolved and the liquid is clear.
Note: Place a metal spoon in the glass first to avoid any possibility of the glass cracking from the boiling water.
6 Fill the remainder of the glass with lukewarm or cold water.
Another thing you can do is to make a list of anything and everything that you think about instead of sleeping. Now for each item on that list, give yourself a target of something you can do that will improve that situation. OK, that is your to do list for the next little while.
Now we have the muscles more relaxed and the head emptied of “stuff” that takes up thinking space and time, let’s look at your environment.
DITCH THE NEWS
Stop reading the papers and watching the news. Those who publish them are chaos merchants. They make more money the more chaos they spread and the more they make the environment dangerous to you. If you read their papers or watch their news you are paying them with your money and your time. STOP DOING IT! In a month that alone will make you feel a whole bunch better!
A being is as well off as he is dangerous to the environment and as bad off as the environment is dangerous to him.
MUSIC
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Sing. 10 minutes a day. the kind of songs that lift you up and make you feel better.
This paper reports a study testing the effects of music on depression and compares them with the effects of psychotherapy. There are mainly three conventional treatments for depression: psychotherapy, pharmaceutical treatments, and electroconvulsive therapy. Because conventional treatment has proven to be poorly successful, new means of treatment must be found that might improve depression when used together with other therapies. A randomized controlled clinical trial was performed with a convenience sample of 79 patients aged 25–60 years with low- and medium-grade depression. The Zung Depression Scale was employed for selection purposes. Patients were randomly assigned to the music-therapy group (classical and baroque music) (n = 41), or the psychotherapy group based on conductive-behavioral therapy (n = 38). The music therapy was applied for 50 min a day, every day, for eight weeks. At the end, the music-therapy group had less depressive symptoms than the psychotherapy group, and this was proven to be statistically significant with the Friedman test.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0197455610000857
EDUCATION
Now, closer to home. Is there anyone in your circle of family, friends and work mates who is causing you grief? Invalidating you or your work, making nothing of your accomplishments, telling you what is wrong with you or why things happen to you, always giving you bad news?
Now I could throw you in the 6 foot end of the swimming pool here and tell you that you an immortal, indestructible spiritual being and that nothing can hurt you without you agreeing to be hurt SO STOP BEING SO DAMNED AGREEABLE! Just don't agree that anything anybody says will have a negative effect on you.
But that is a tall ask unless you are a really bright and exceedingly capable person with a lot of life experience. So let’s start at the paddling end of the pool. For each person who is causing you grief, figure out how you could be slight gentle cause in the situations the two of you co-create between you.
There is a great free course you can do online that gives you the tools to be able to spot those you can trust and those from whom you should steer clear. Get in touch with me if you are interested.
FAILED PURPOSES
Next, failed purposes. Make a list of each of the purposes you can think of that you have had that you have given up on.
For each, decide if it is still practical and desirable for you to retain that purpose.
For instance if you have had the purpose to be a ballerina (driven by the desire, let's say, to inspire people with your aesthetic movements) and you lost both legs in a car accident you might rechannel that purpose to being a choreographer.
COMMUNICATION
Ring or write those with whom you've been meaning to catch up.
HELP
Help people. Whatever you can do. Look for someone to help and do something beneficial for them. Even if it's just helping in a soup kitchen, Showing someone the way when they are lost. Go out of your way to look for ways to contribute and help people. Helping others gives meaning to your life and makes you feel better about yourself.
YOUR BASIC PURPOSE
Do what is on your purpose line. Whether it’s painting, writing, sewing, knitting, singing, cooking, carving - do what is on your purpose line. If you do not know what is your basic purpose in life, this will help you identify it: https://www.tomgrimshaw.com/tomsblog/?p=37862
MAKE IT UP TO THEM
Most of us try to do the right thing but sometimes we realize in hindsight that we could have done better. Dredge up people to whom you have said an unkind word or done an unkind deed or done something that in hindsight you wish you hadn't. Make amends for your misdeeds. Each handled misdeed will take some burden off you.
IMPROVE MEMORY AND FURTHER IMPROVE YOUR DISPOSITION>
Spend 10 minutes a day thinking about all the good things that have happened in your life. Recall the moment and reexperience it. It doesn’t matter that the first time you do it that it takes 10 minutes to think of one thing, persist. Do it each day. There’s a really good book you can do that will hep with this. Get in touch with me for details.
FOOD ADDITIVES
Need more proof that you should avoid MSG at all costs? In addition to being tied to obesity, MSG is likely associated with numerous other serious symptoms and health conditions including: diabetes, depression, heart disease, cancer, coeliac, migraines, digestive upsets, infertility, ADD, inflammation, and possibly even asthma.
The controversy surrounding the neurological effects of aspartame began in the 1980s. At first, concern was limited to those with preexisting mental illness. An early study at Case Western Reserve University was halted prematurely for safety reasons because subjects with a history of depression appeared to be experiencing such severe reactions to the sweetener. The researchers concluded that “individuals with mood disorders are particularly sensitive to this artificial sweetener and its use in this population should be discouraged.”
https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/aspartame/
NUTRITION
I am not a medical practitioner and not licensed to give medical advice so I pass this on as a starting point to do your own research. Just as an aside, most doctors are not trained in nutrition so can only tell you what is too much or too little of a mineral or other nutrient based on values in a blood test.
Improve your nutrition. If you are feeling low you are probably not feeding yourself optimally. Get yourself checked out for any vitamin or mineral deficiencies or toxic overload.
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Especially supplement with turmeric, magnesium, B group vitamins and fish oil/omega 3 fatty acids. They help improve the symptoms of depression.
Make a meal plan for yourself based on what you know is best for your body to eat. This means little to no simple carbs (wheat, sugar, junk and processed foods), seed oils, trans fats. Include some “nice to eats“ in that so you don’t feel completely restricted. Buy only to your meal plan and stick to it.
I just did a search in my book ’How To Live The Healthiest Life’ for the word ’Depression’ and found these references:
Dr Joseph Mercola writes: “Acetyl-L-carnitine has many beneficial effects on brain metabolism, protects against neurotoxic insults and has been shown to benefit certain forms of depression“
In another article he writes: “Several studies have found that different strains of the Lactobacillacea family are diminished in people with anxiety and depression, and others have confirmed that different species of Lactobacillus can help prevent and/or treat these conditions.“
Even many mental health problems have in recent years been linked to gut health. Several studies have found that different strains of the Lactobacillacea family in particular are diminished in people with anxiety and depression. Others have confirmed that different species of Lactobacillus can help prevent and/or treat these conditions. So much so, Lactobacillus has been dubbed a “psychobiotic.”
For instance, one 2011 study found that the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus has a marked effect on GABA levels in certain brain regions and lowers the stress-induced hormone corticosterone, resulting in reduced anxiety- and depression-related behavior.
“Some researchers believe an imbalance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids may lead to a variety of mental disorders, including hyperactivity, depression, brain allergies, and schizophrenia. A balanced ratio of the two fatty acid families (omega-3 and omega-6) is necessary for a healthy brain, which is structurally composed of a 1:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3. Western diets, however, tend to have at least twenty times more omega-6 fats (from meat and dairy) than omega-3 fats–an unhealthy ratio of 20:1.
“This imbalance can be corrected by eating more omega-3-rich fish and flax seed oil, by eating less sugar, and by completely avoiding trans fatty acids found in partially-hydrogenated oils, margarine, and shortening. In fact, to err on the side of safety, avoid “supermarket“ oils and salad dressings unless they are clearly labeled “cold-pressed“ – or in the case of olive oil, “extra virgin.““
From http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/fats.html#faintelligence
Normalising the ratio between mineral pairs is important in the prevention and treatment of medical conditions. For instance sciatic pain is frequently relieved by correcting the zinc/potassium ratio. Many upper back/neck disorders, as well as insomnia and some anxieties can be alleviated by normalizing a patient’s calcium/magnesium ratio. Other types of anxiety, fatigue, depression relate to abnormal nickel/cobalt ratios, while correcting an individual’s tin/iodine ratio helps with a number of conditions that include fatigue, insomnia, palpitations, tachycardia, anxieties, depression, chest pain, and others.
Studies have also confirmed the B vitamins can successfully treat attention deficit disorder, general psychosis, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, and violent behavior. I heard of people mega-dosing on Niacin and curing their own Schizophrenia!
Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is known as “the energy vitamin.” Your body requires it for a variety of functions, including energy production, blood formation, DNA synthesis and myelin formation.
It also plays an important role in neurological function, and deficiency can culminate in a range of mental health symptoms, from irritability and depression to dementia and even psychosis. You can learn more about vitamin B12’s role in mental health in this November 6, 2022 article.
The two ways you become deficient are through a lack of vitamin B12 in your diet, or through your inability to absorb it from the food you eat. Warning signs of B12 deficiency include brain fog, memory lapses, mood swings, apathy, fatigue, muscle weakness and tingling in the extremities. Unfortunately, B12 deficiency may not present itself for several years, so by the time you notice symptoms, you may be quite deficient.
Vitamin B12 is present in natural form only in animal sources of food, which is one of the reasons I advise against a no animal food vegan diet. B12-rich foods include beef and beef liver (grass-fed beef is highly preferable to the grain-fed variety), lamb, snapper, venison, salmon, shrimp, scallops, organic pastured poultry and eggs.
DMAE
DMAE (dimethylaminoethanol) is a modified form of choline. The human body naturally produces a small amount of DMAE within the brain. It is also found in very small quantities in the diet. DMAE works with choline to create acetylcholine (Ach) – a neurotransmitter that transfers messages in the brain.
Numerous scientific studies now show that DMAE can help:
• Increase acetylcholine levels and RNA levels in the brain
• Stimulate mental activity
• Increase attention span
• Increase alertness
• Increase intelligence (especially in children)
• Improve learning and memory
• Increase energy levels
• Provide a mild, safe tonic effect
• Stimulate the central nervous system
• Relieve anxiety
• Elevate mood in general
• Alleviate behavioral problems and hyperactivity associated with Attention Deficit Disorder
• Increase motivation and reduce apathy in persons suffering from depression
• Induce sounder sleep
• Over time reduce the amount of sleep required by about 1 hour per night
• Intensify dreams tremendously. (Even more so when you take it along with a large dose of phosphatidyl choline - a key component of lecithin)
• Cause dreams to become more lucid
• Increase willpower
• Decrease the incidence and severity of hangovers in people who consume excessive amounts of Alcohol
From: http://www.jonbarron.org/anti-aging/natural-health-remedies-barron-report
In 1958, Dr. Leon Oettinger, Jr., found that DMAE:
• Accelerated mental processes
• Improved concentration• Stopped early morning “fogginess“
• Relieved lassitude and mild depression
• Was useful in schizophrenia of long duration (with prolonged treatment)
• Decreased irritability and reduced over activity, leading to a much better overall social adaptation and improved scholastic functioning
• Increased attention
• Did not cause drowsiness
• Improved IQ!
From: http://intelegen.com/nutrients/dmae_cognitive_enhancing_life.htm
DMAE has a wide dosage range - from a low of 300 mg per day up to a maximum of 3,000 mg per day. Individual experimentation (starting with a low dose and building up gradually) may be required in order to determine the best dosage. The best therapeutic results are observed after three months of continued DMAE supplementation. It may take up to three weeks before the first beneficial effects of DMAE are noticed - its effects build up gradually over the first two weeks of use.
From: http://www.inspiredwellbeing.com/store/dmae.html
Folate
Low folate levels have also been linked to depression and mood disorders. Folate regulates mood and sleep patterns.
Re folic acid, the artificial form of folate, it is not able to be converted to the required methyl folate by 44% of the population (those who have the MTHFR gene mutation) and “is corelated to higher incidences of ADD, ADHD, OCD, manic depression, bipolar, poor gut motility, mood imbalance, anxiety...“.
The average parent who feeds their kid folic acid enriched cereals and grains for breakfast, if the kid is not able to process folic acid, is doing the equivalent of feeding their kid cocaine - it makes their mind race.
GABA
People with high GABA/low serotonin are typically calm and gregarious, whereas GABA deficiency and elevated serotonin is associated with anxiety, fear, depression, short temper, phobias, impulsiveness and disorganization. Dr Joseph Mercola 6 April 2024 https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2024/04/06/alzheimers-death-rate.asp
Ginkgo Biloba
Helps thin the blood which boosts circulation inside the tiny capillaries in the brain. It boosts short-term memory, attention, and reaction time, reduces confusion, absentmindedness, tiredness, depression, dizziness, tinnitus and protects the brain against the harmful effects of stress. Also acts as an antioxidant to protect the brain against free radical damage.
Maca Powder
Is an adaptogen, a non-habit forming substance that helps normalise body chemistry. Adaptogens help increase the ability to cope with emotional, physical and environmental stress.
Magnesium
Magnesium is one of the most common minerals in the body and one in which many people are deficient.
Many people suffering from a magnesium deficiency feel stressed and have difficulty sleeping.
Magnesium may help the body to fully relax. The effects of stress and anxiety can be felt throughout the whole body and lead to a range of unpleasant physical and mental symptoms.
Panax Ginseng
Another adaptogen.
Thyme
Thyme is good for treating dysbiosis, an illness that describes an imbalance of bacteria in your body, which can stem from too many drugs, foreign invaders, and unwarranted antibiotics. It expresses symptoms throughout your digestive system, on your skin, in your lungs, and the rest of your body. Some symptoms and consequences of the disease are:
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Migraines
Eczema
Depression
Diarrhea
Acne
Fibromyalgia
These things happen when your body isn’t living in harmony because of poor treatment of your body. To correct some of the problems, try 100 to 200mg of thyme a day with a prebiotic fiber such as bananas and onions next to other herbs like garlic and goldenseal to correct the bacterial ecosystem in your body.
From: https://theheartysoul.com/thyme-medicinal-herb-natural-antibiotic/
Zinc deficiency symptoms include depression.
10 Nutritional Deficiencies That Cause Depression and Mood Disorders
FOOD COMBINING
“Food combining is just that - it is carefully selecting the foods that you eat together. It is a concept that was developed by a physician Dr William Hay (1866-1940) initially to overcome his own health problems. He then used it to cure a wide range of illnesses in others. In reality the concept is not new and can be found in the rituals of eating in many different civilizations. Part of today’s high rate of chronic illness in westernized societies can be attributed to the loss of ritual in eating and not just in poor food content.”
From: http://www.the-lifestyle-doctor.com/Food_Combining.shtml
(Which also has a comprehensive table of foods that can be combined and those that should not.)
Symptoms Claimed Alleviated
Acid reflux
Gas, bloating, wind
Poor digestion and nutrient absorption
Discomfort after eating
Candida
Post eating fatigue
Headaches
Constipation
Diarrhea
Low back pain
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Allergies
Obesity
Psychiatric illness especially depression
ANTIBIOTICS
In an article titled ’CIPRO DANGERS - The Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics Are Black Boxed Labeled For Dangers’ by Dr. Arlo Gordin: “Cipro and Levaquin can cause serious damage to your central nervous system, potentially inflicting brain injuries and dysfunctions that affect your mental state. A few examples of the most common psychological changes include: Depression and anxiety. Paranoia.“
Suicide is another side effect of this class of antibiotics.
TOXINS
“I know that our bodies were made to thrive only in the pure air, and the scenes in which pure air is found.” –John Muir
The body knows it is under attack from these chemical toxins, but the scent is so subtle that you might not recognize the culprit until too much damage is done. Research by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics links the chemicals in perfume to short term memory loss, central nervous system disorders, and even severe depression due to altering the brain’s biochemistry. In fact, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has long admitted that poor air quality, poisoned by chemicals, does contribute to neurological ailments including fatigue, dizziness, migraines, and forgetfulness. Knowing this, consider that most of the fragrance products we use are designed to disperse into the air we breathe. They linger on clothes or furniture for an extended time, sometimes for weeks or months.
From: https://energymattersllc.com/blogs/news/how-fragrances-affect-your-nervous-system
WATER
A reader of my newsletter emailed me:
My understanding is that depression (on a physical level at least) is caused by dehydration. Once the brain gets hydrated the flows get going again and seratonin can get where it needs to go and the person feels good. I have had 2 people who had depression recover just from drinking heaps of ionised water.
Thought you might find that interesting!
Cheers,
Sally
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I know that is an extensive list of things that help. Hopefully you will be inspired to tackle of it what you can. You’ll soon find yourself motoring though the task list as you build up a head of steam.
Make yourself a pledge to do this for a month and see how you feel then. If you feel better at the end of a month, recycle through the program for another month then do another stocktake of how you feel.
And if you get stuck, reach out and ask for help. I heard that a being is only as valuable as he helps and I try to be as valuable as I can. In fact, I am a serial helper.
Pretty soon I hope you will feel confident sending off this change of address notice:
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Tom Grimshaw
tom@tomgrimshaw.com
Further reading:
The “Chemical Imbalance“ Myth
http://chriskresser.com/the-chemical-imbalance-myth
Study Finds That Big Pharma Completely Lied About Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) For Depression
http://ushealthtimes.com/next-story-study-finds-that-big-pharma-completely-lied-about-serotonin-reuptake-inhibitors-ssri-for-depression/
New Study Concludes that Antidepressants are “Largely Ineffective and Potentially Harmful”
https://www.madinamerica.com/2018/03/new-study-concludes-antidepressants-largely-ineffective-potentially-harmful/
Antidepressants don't work and mental health system is failing, experts say
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/101759156/antidepressants-dont-work-and-mental-health-system-is-failing-experts-say
A Snake Oil Salesman By Any Other Nanme
https://www.tomgrimshaw.com/tomsblog/?p=42400
Researchers: It’s Time to Stop Recommending Antidepressants for Depression
https://www.madinamerica.com/2020/10/researchers-suggest-antidepressants-not-used-depression/
A Dramatic Case of Data Distortion - The Depressing Truth About Anti-Depressants
https://web.archive.org/web/20100902140617/http://www.counterpunch.org:80/cox01272008.html
Anti-Depressants While Pregnant Increase Autism Risk
http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2476187
No Drug More Destructive Than Anti-Depressants
Why I think antidepressants cause more harm than good
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(14)70280-9/fulltext
GlaxoSmithKline: Antidepressants Increase Suicide Risk By ’Over 800%’
https://thepeoplesvoice.tv/glaxosmithkline-antidepressants-suicide-risk/
Antidepressants are neurotoxic
https://www.tomgrimshaw.com/tomsblog/?p=19530
Magnesium More Effective Than Anti-Depressants
https://www.tomgrimshaw.com/tomsblog/?p=16431
Exercise More Effective Than Anti-Depressants
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2024/05/17/therapeutic-potential-of-exercise-for-depression.aspx
Coming Off Antidepressants
https://www.tomgrimshaw.com/tomsblog/?p=47107
This $11.9 million verdict confirms the significant body of scientific evidence indicating that psychiatric drugs can cause violence and suicide
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/10/prweb13743675.htm
Research Shows Nutrition Improves Mental Health Better Than Prescription Medications
https://www.tomgrimshaw.com/tomsblog/?p=12151
Microbes, mood, and mental health – Eat better to feel better
https://www.tomgrimshaw.com/tomsblog/?p=11803
The Link Between Nutrition and Mental Health (TEDX Talks)
https://www.tomgrimshaw.com/tomsblog/?p=11435
Groundbreaking Study Finds Turmeric Extract Superior to Prozac for Depression
https://www.tomgrimshaw.com/tomsblog/?p=7247
Moms on antidepressants have babies with malformed brains
https://www.wnd.com/2014/06/moms-on-antidepressants-have-babies-with-malformed-brains/
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