Human Depression

Clinical depression has much to do with one’s senses of past, present an future. A truly depressed person sees no future and blames self as responsible for the lack of hope. A truly depressed person’s mind “cardstacks” memories of life past, leaving only negative events for consideration. The condition is a mind blaming and attacking itself for being in a now that appears to be going nowhere.
There must be therapeutic help for those who are depressed. Given that meds can help, the next step toward healing is to gain a healthy respect for oneself. This is not an abetting of egocentricity; it is an acknowledgement of one’s right to be. You were born. Your right to be is a given, not an idea requiring any sort of proof. After that, one must attempt a more realistic view of his/her past to discover that negative events were not dominant.

one of the best cognitive-behavior tricks that i have heard------“dont believe everything you think”…

Yeah doesn’t help me I’ve always been awesome, but when depressed you are not in the same frame of mind as you are when content, for example if I was depressed I would of never of said that shockingly arrogant thing, even humorously. I would of probably just said that when I am feeling better I would probably be awesome, but then my depression comes and goes with the season and my mental state matters little. Before meds I could go down in a few days and likewise come out of it in a few days, when nothing mentally had changed for me, no epiphanies, very odd.

I have a pragmatic approach to life, when depressed I just soldier on, and with the meds its manageable, nothing I can do can lift the funk, I have to accept that. It’s about light levels, not psychology.

Thanks, Calrid. Didn’t I tell you about vitamin D3 some posts back? You must not have believed what I wrote, though, because I’m a woman! ROTFLMAO! :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

what do you all know about d3?

Turtle,
I know nothing of D3. I appreciate, however, your bringing in cognitive therapy. I tell J. her mind lies to her and mine does also. All meds appear dependent on this basic revelation-- questioning what the mind says. You can take all the meds you want and still have lapses into depression if you are unwilling to challenge your negative attitude. Consequently, meds plus cognitive therapy provide the best antidote for major depression.
My friend E. once said I needed to see depression as a storm, noting-- here it comes, here it is, there it goes–all things shall pass. I realize this is difficult to think when one is in the throes of depression. With meds, however, such a thought becomes possible.

I probably missed it because I had my mind on other things, and I can’t multi task, because I am a man. :laughing:

turtle, all you have to do is read the thread and talk to your doctor.

Of course you can read everything on Google if you keep in mind that Google will publish contradictory articles because Google publishes those magazines, newspaper articles, blogs, etc. that have paid to be published. Google is a search engine–It won’t give an opinion–it simply presents data. Most times the data Google publishes are what it’s been paid to publish.

Keep in mind, also, that SAD is, by definition, seasonal. Chronic depression isn’t. Chronic depression is long lasting and recurrent and isn’t the result of D3 deficiency. It has a myriad of causes. not all of which are understood.

if, in this thread, or anywhere else, I have, in my egoism, given any sort of advice to the chronically depressed other than to say, take your meds, talk to your doctor, and work your ass off to help yourself get rid of this albatross, I apologize. I should have added, don’t ever use your illness as an excuse!

lizbeth—is it possible that d3 deficiency is the cause of some chronic depression?

Today, I’m having to fight depression by finding distractions from its grip on my mind. Had a rotten nightmare, vivid dream, last night. It’s trying to color my day black. These nightmares always occur when the air is saturated with water, even if the sun is shining. In my case, arthritic pains translate into bad dreams. This tells me that my depression is physically instigated. D3 would not help much here. And I’m on so many meds that I’m almost afraid to take an OTC pain pill.

Ier-----what is your nutrition like?

It’s not very good. I don’t eat much “junk” (hollow calorie) food. I don’t eat much in the way of fruit, either. My intake of cigarettes and beer does not help the situation. I was just wondering above what humidity has to do with the depression or how a physical problem can translate into an emotionally charged, negative, vivid dream.

do you think that your nutrition status has anything to do with vivid dreams?

A pattern of chaotic, vivid dreams that affect your waking personality can often result from confusion or disruption of the reward systems in the brain. This may occur when certain neurotransmitters - like dopamine, seratonin, or even endorphins, among others - are depleted or underutilized. Although, a sensitivity due to overproduction can produce similar effects as well. In other words, the result is something of a natural withdrawal syndrome. Of course, physical sensitivity, like your arthritic pain, could [hypothetically] manifest as a sort of confusion in the brain if, say, endorphin production spikes, whereas dopamine and seratonin levels plateau for a protracted period of time.

I really can’t say, turtle. I know my doctor recommended it as a way of dealing with SAD and it works in taking away a layer of depression for a time. If I were asked to define chronic depression, I’d say it’s probably the result of unresolved stress factors in one’s life that lead to anxiety which, in turn, leads to in inability to deal with stress–even a small amount of stress such as being late for your niece’s baptism. I can theorize about the initial cause, But simply recognizing an initial cause isn’t enough and oftentimes the initial cause came when a person’s mind was still developing and was so deeply felt that the expected development of brain chemicals was altered.

The best thing to do is talk to your doctor and take the meds prescribed. And ask your doctor what the medication is for, what the side effects are, and how it’s supposed to work.

One thing I’ve discovered is that doctors are very often reluctant to give a firm diagnosis. I think it’s because they really don’t know specifically–every mind is different and the doctors really only have general guidelines, loose labels, and how the patient describes his/her symptoms to go by. I think that why they often come across as throwing medications at a patient. Idn. Just my opinion–which is worth exactly what you’ve paid me. :smiley:

Yes, my nuitrition and habits have much to do with the nightmares I experience. And I thoroughly agree with Stat’s post on what’s happening in the brain. I’m trying to work on the bad habits. The problem is that stress, for me at least, often negates attempts to live healthier. It takes away incentive. So there’s a vicious cycle of bad habits, brain reactions to these, numbness, and return to bad habits.
Popular Dr. Oz claims that the two best ways of limiting stress are exercize and sex! One counselor told me I just needed positive feedback from others. I attempt the first of these, have little opportunity for the second. And do get some of the third. Endorphin receptors have much to do with the situation, which is one why of the habits. But how to break the cycle–ah that’s the rub! Because of the brain/environment feedback loop, all habits are difficult to break, even good ones. And I came from a family who, although experiencing other than what they claim, contend that being closer to God is the cure.

One of the hardest things to do is exercise–at least for me, especially during our rainy season. But, heavy exercise really isn’t needed. A stroll around the block is a good start, because you have to start slowly or else you’re too easily defeated. Yoga stretches are also good and you can get books from the library that show you the poses. As for your nutrition, don’t buy junk. Munch on uncooked green beans or sugar snap pea pods, instead of chips. Slice an apple and snack on the slices. Buy natural juices instead of beer. Ice water is also good, but you can overdose on water.

I don’t know if this would work for everyone, but breaking habits is, imm, a matter of finding different neural pathways in your brain. My husband showed me an article about two right-handed men from separate parts of the country who’d each lost their right hands. They developed left-handedness as a result. After a couple of years, they both received fully functional prosthetic right hands, but they remained left-handed. They’d both rerouted their neural pathways so successfully that they didn’t revert to being right-handed, although they could have. I’d also read that one good way to exercise you brain is to stop using your dominant handedness for about three weeks. I changed my watch from my left arm to my right, mainly to remind myself that I’m right-handed. Then I started using my left hand to do what I normally do with my right hand. I even put my pants on, both layers, with my left leg first. It was a challenge in the beginning–just remembering to do it. But now I find that I can do a lot of everyday tasks with either hand equally. That’s the plasticity of the brain.

That’s, imm, the way habits are broken. But you really have to want to do it. As far as nutrition goes, you have to really want to change the way you shop, first, so you don’t have anything in your home that isn’t nutritional. It’s the really wanting to do it that I mean when I say not to use your depression as an excuse–for anything. You may never be completely free, but you’ll have more times when the depression is no more than the blackness lurking in the back of your brain just waiting for you to weaken so it can take over again. You have to really hate how you feel with depression in order to change your neural paths, because it’s so damned difficult. And there’s no guarantee you’ll ever be completely successful because it’s always there lurking and waiting.

As for getting closer to God?–That may work as a sort of transference for a lot of people–I’m sure it does, as a matter of fact. I don’t want to sound sacrilegious in any way, but you might want to try a big, soft, Spanish teddy bear named Jesus, instead. :smiley:

I agree that neuroplasticity is the key to breaking the negative cycles of the self/environment feedback loop. Doidge wrote an excellent book about neuroplasticity. Somewhere lost in all this is the will to change. Habits that are forty or fifty years old seem to defy attempts to disrupt them. It’s not always a matter of having the “balls” to do it; the cycle is often too imbeded in the brain. Therefore, asking a depressed person to make changes that offer a healthier, happier lifestyle takes meds and therapy to get the person to even realize that a higher quality of life than what he/she has experienced exists.

And you have had both meds and therapy and you’ve chosen your life style. So be it. We will agree to disagree.

Liz,
I’m not disagreeing with you. Blessed are those who have strong will-power. I’m only noting that the functional intensity of will varies among various people. I do believe there are pedophiles, rapists, murderers, etc., who, given meds and therapy cannot will a behavioral change. And there are people like me whose genetic and environmental experiences weaken will to change. It is the “excuse” phrase that upsets me. When I was able to work, my employer saw my entire condition as just an excuse for being unproductive. It smacks too much of “pull yourself up by your own boostraps” as a mandate for those who have no boots.
I’m in no way soliciting sympathy. I’m simply trying to do the best I can given the who and what of my being. No one really chooses his/her lifestyle unless healthier than I am.