What Cured Your Depression?

[Runenight201]

But something triggers that , something goes wrong along the way. Wild animals don't get depressed and are in high functioning energy state all the time. All kinds of stresses and inflammation break things. Low stress environment + low inflammatory diet , but that is incredibly hard to achieve for most.

A high starch diet was incredibly inflammatory and stressful, and I believe that the food we put into ourselves plays a larger role in psychological states than our environment. Our environment for sure influences it, but people respond all different ways to what’s around them. Some people have learned helplessness and shut down and fail while others overcome and thrive in the same environment. Changing the environment can work but sometimes not feasible. In my opinion it’s much better to have a diet that produces pro dopaminergic high energy states that pretty much makes the individual able to adapt and thrive in any environment, completely resistant to stress, and able to drive and overcome any challenge.

Depressed wild animals die, I’m sure it happens all the time. They don’t have social structures in place to give them food, care, and medicine when they can’t take care of themselves.

 

[achillea]

Magnesium

 

[achillea]

Magnesium found to treat DEPRESSION better than drugs!

 

[skittles]

I've spent a lot of my life pretty depressed. I'd say too much fiber seems to cause some depression, but I can't attribute it to diet too much in my case. For me it's simply been a matter of close friendships. In periods of my life where I've had even just one or two close friends I could spend time with regularly, my depression goes away completely.

There have also been lots of times when even though I've had a lot of people in my life, I'd still feel depressed lacking any sort of meaningful friendship. I recently lived in Toronto. My job was very social, and I'd talk to people all day long, and I got along great with my coworkers, but I never really made any close friends. The odd time, I'd go for lunch with someone or something, but I really struggled to find the sort of friendship where we could just hang out and chat and just generally enjoy each other's company. On my days off, I'd work on a hobby for a few hours, maybe go for a walk around the block or head down to the record shop, but I largely just spent most of my time laying in bed, staring at the ceiling. Wishing I had someone to hang out with.

I think that's just the nature of either the modern age or the big city. People come and go, people are 'networking' so you're more valuable if you can help them climb the ladder in some way. It seems like people aren't into being friends simply for the sake of being friends these days. Maybe that's just part of growing up. Or maybe it's just me, I dunno. It wasn't for lack of trying - people seemed to like me enough, and I tried to reach out to them all the time. Maybe I just came off as desperate or something. It's a lot easier to make friends once you already have friends.

Now I live in a much smaller, close-knit town. There's not much to do here, the weather is terrible, I still haven't found a job and can't really afford to eat perfectly, but I feel a lot better now simply because I have a few friends here that I regularly hang out with. I've moved around a lot, living all over Canada in the last decade trying to convince myself I'm just an 'adventurous person' or whatever. But I've come to realize that, for me anyway, I've got to just stay in one place for a while and cultivate some friendships.

That said, I think it's important to learn to be happy in your own company. But for some (probably most) people, we need some sort of a genuine social circle. And I swear that's just getting harder to come by these days.

 

[Frankdee20]

Magnesium makes sense for depression. It is one of the toughest Minerals for people to obtain the RDA from diet alone unless they're aware of how to eat healthy. So widespread deficiencies exist. It calms the nerves, and it blocks NMDA. Don't they want to use Ketamine for Treatment Resistant Depression ? That blocks NMDA as well. Magnesium also works on 5ht1a receptors, but to a lesser extent than Zinc.

 

[Rafael Lao Wai]

Maybe ketamine? Some people have good results with that. Also, having at least 3 full bowel movements a day is essential for happiness, in my opinion. It's just not feasible to try to think positive when your intestines are full of decaying matter. High protein( especially from beef and gelatin) helps lift my mood. Theanine in combination with caffeine is a possible choice too( I would stay away from green tea, since the fluoride levels in it can be very high). Low starch consumption, especially from grains, is very important. I find that very low starch is better than no starch in my case, at least for the time being. A small amount of potatoes( 100 grams per day) can have mood-lifting properties. Finally, taurine can increase dopamine noticeably and also helps increase metabolism( now I sweat way more than when I wasn't taking it, and my temperature and sleep have greatly improved).

 

[Frankdee20]

Maybe ketamine? Some people have good results with that. Also, having at least 3 full bowel movements a day is essential for happiness, in my opinion. It's just not feasible to try to think positive when your intestines are full of decaying matter. High protein( especially from beef and gelatin) helps lift my mood. Theanine in combination with caffeine is a possible choice too( I would stay away from green tea, since the fluoride levels in it can be very high). Low starch consumption, especially from grains, is very important. I find that very low starch is better than no starch in my case, at least for the time being. A small amount of potatoes( 100 grams per day) can have mood-lifting properties. Finally, taurine can increase dopamine noticeably and also helps increase metabolism( now I sweat way more than when I wasn't taking it, and my temperature and sleep have greatly improved).

Would one massive sized John Wayne bowel movement each morning count as 3 a day ? Who has time for 3 ?

 

[LUH 3417]

Pregnenelone, coffee, going to a place where poor people live and can teach you about the simple things in life and how to appreciate them

 

[Blossom]

ketamine

A nasal spray version was just approved in the US. I’m not recommending it btw-just thought it was interesting.
FDA Approves Esketamine Nasal Spray for Resistant Depression

 

[Makrosky]

What others have said and I include Tianeptine. Hands down. Magical substance.

 

[DavidGardner]

Vitamin D helped me quite a bit, my levels were once 18, and then started supplementation along with K and Magnesium. Profound difference even getting as high as 32 ng/dl. Sunlight, especially that Florida Sun, helped me quite a bit.

Ditto. I use mk-7--have never been able to bring myself to make the financial splurge of experimenting with mk-4--but even that helps with my overall sense of well being. Working outside, exercise, being around plants and nature all help tremendously. Music can be great, although it's hard to get around EMF exposure, I still find it to be a net positive in moderation. Coffee at one point was one of the things that saved me along with an outdoor job. Avoiding recreational drugs and alcohol is important. And it almost goes without saying, but of course, low PUFA.

I am currently on a very low dose of lamotrigine and a moderate dose of quetiapine. Taking psychiatric drugs opens a can of worms, but I would recommend either of these infinitely more than SSRIs and benzodiazepines. Also stay away from amphetamine-based pharmaceuticals. If there is need for a stimulant, coffee should be first choice. If coffee is too much then cocoa, chocolate, or black tea. Green tea contains fluoride and can lower thyroid. Milk, if tolerated, can also be helpful, particularly 1-2% in my experience.

 

[Cameron]

Aspirin gelatin quitting social media salt sugar cholesterol working for yourself oj gelatin aspirin energin seem to really improve mood learning an instrument

 

[somuch4food]

Avoiding carotenoids breaks depression for me. As mentioned previously, I also believe good bowel movements are essential for optimal energy.

It's weird as long as I stay low carotenoids I don't feel depressed. I'm still tired and low energy because I haven't been able to be regular bm wise, yet I have a positive outlook on life.

 

[danishispsychic]

I had anesthesia ( had a procedure ) in Jan and was given Ketamine in my IV - not sure what it was mixed with. Afterwards, I noticed that my PTSD depression was totally gone and for the most part it has stayed gone. I hear that there is a Ketamine nasal spray that was just FDA approved so that might be awesome.... I think that it depends on what is causing the depression but for me this really worked and it was totally a surprise. The other thing that works for me in s combo of boron, mag, iodine and sea salt.

 

[Energizer]

TLDR; Yoga, meditation, having an active, stimulating mental life, avoiding PUFAs, nutrient dense foods, living as low stress lifestyle as possible.

I don't think there's a one size fits all approach. In my case, I turned out to have a lot of issues, which I'm still working on trying to resolve in a holistic way rather than just throwing pills at them as the standard psychiatric model would tend to have me do. I wouldn't say I'm "cured" of depression, but I think my mood has been a lot more stable since I cut out inflammatory foods and eat more nutrient dense foods and get as much sunlight as I can.

It probably helps that I'm not employed, because the last time I worked a job, I was severely depressed. Granted, I was only working menial jobs, but those were dark days. I also think depression usually doesn't just come out of nowhere, I think more often than not, if someone is depressed, it's for a very good reason, and it's nearly always a response to what's going on in their immediate environment. And yes, the thyroid-inhibiting foods and substances also contribute to depression and other psychic ailments since they all seem to be related to a deficiency of energy metabolism as Ray writes about in his article on depression.

I think vashinvetala's ideas (formerly known as pranarupa on the forum) are still relevant for depression and other ailments, namely of practicing regularly yoga and especially meditation. These techniques are effective in treating depression. However, I'll be the first one to admit, I hardly ever meditate, so easier said than done (it can also perhaps lead to anxiety if one is not prone to being alone with your thoughts, but in my case at least, the more I do it, the less bothersome that is). I do remember spending a summer doing a lot of meditation, and I was feeling great then, so my experience tends to jive with the recommendation.

I also think many people seem to get turned off when you say meditation is a cureall, but maybe that's because people are used to the convenience of immediate gratification, myself included, and thus are prone to writing things off that have the potential for powerful long term results if done regularly, but don't necessarily promise drastic changes overnight. I can't think of anything else that dramatically increases the production of the youth associated hormones, lowers the stress hormones, and massively increases brain growth as long-term meditation. In other words, it helps restore the functioning of the entire organism. There isn't anything else remotely as powerful, as far as I can tell. These ancient techniques should be useful to those who want to move beyond mere maintenance and into entirely new realms of consciousness and health.

In addition, optimizing thyroid function with the diet and possible thyroid supplementation can be useful for some, I take thyroid myself as I feel better with it. Also, I think being open to cultivating new friendships, has helped me in buffering myself against depression, it feels good to have people that care and have your back. I realize you have to have energy to make friends in the first place, but if the energy is there, the opportunity can lead to long-lasting friendships, and those are invaluable. I'll also give the obligatory mention of pregnenolone (if you can find a quality source, and that's a big IF) because, even though I no longer take it, it seems to really help with coping with stressful situations and has strong mood-lifting effects.

 

[Runenight201]

Half cup coconut water, one cup apple juice, one cup mixed berries from Costco.

Straight rocket fuel to dopamine city!!!

Eat as a dessert after a fatty beefy meal, so many nutrients and energy depression won’t know what hit it.

 

[Fexxx]

D-Phenyalanine „DPA“ is my Wonderdrug! Endorphins without the Dopamin/Adrenaline Sideeffects

 

[Christopher R.]

In this depressed high starch low energy state, I became most religious, as life was so awful that I naturally began seeking supernatural solutions to intercede and help me out. Once my energy productions were optimized and I started to feel much better, that need to encounter divinity dropped and I instead just became much more thankful for being on this planet and experience positive energy states.

I have found this to be true, as well. Low-energy depressive states bring out my wishful thinking and helplessness to the degree that I become kind of superstitious in a desperate, begging sense, since the feeling of helplessness before fate makes it important to have the protection of something that can control fate, while the inability to come up with any realistic solutions to problems when your brain is in a low-energy state suggests that the only solution has to be supernatural.

When your brain has sufficient energy/calories, it's like being a different person, and any spiritual feeling you feel is empowering and life-enhancing rather than something you desparately need to ward off absolute terror.

Of course, experiencing both states widens your self-knowledge and teaches you empathy.

 

[Lynne]

Going on low vitamin A diet has been the only thing to improve mine noticeably. From around 7 weeks into the diet I was feeling better than I've felt in years. 10 weeks in now and still good. I suspect vitamin A overload (from a variety of sources) was interfering with vitamin D uptake, as I've read this can happen.

 

[mostlylurking]

Natural desiccated thyroid supplementation cured my depression. I talked the endocrinologist into doubling my dose. It took almost a year. The doubled dose, not the lift from depression. I just kept at him, complaining about my symptoms and he responded by slowly increasing the prescription. Thankfully I had found an endocrinologist who understood that the blood test isn't calibrated correctly and actually was interested in how I felt. This Ray Peat article is very helpful: Thyroid, insomnia, and the insanities: Commonalities in disease . I have a 40 year history of depression. The thyroid supplementation cured it. If your metabolic energy level is low you will not feel like doing anything which is pretty depressing. I avoid PUFA fanatically. I use a Peat inspired diet.