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Depression

Sollywos said:
Same here :( I hate the weight of expectation. At least at this stage of my life it has decreased somewhat. but it's still out there.
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I caught a small part of a radio discussion on seasonal affected disorder. A recent investigation into the effect of artificial light which has been discussed for years was interesting in that the scientists also looked into the effects of rain. They fully expected that both would merely be a placebo effect but were surprised to find that this was not the case and there were measurable benefits to both. (I didn't get what was measured). The rain thing was to do with negative ions (?) in the atmosphere after a rainfall having an effect on the brain. I'd never heard of this before.
 
Steven said:
Not sure if this is any use to anybody at all but I gave up sugar a while back and now hardly ever get depressed. It seems to have helped with other health issues too. Oh, and giving cola up ended my acid reflux totally.
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Coincidentally I've just given up cola, my favourite beverage, and acid reflux has been reduced considerably for me too.
 
PeteS said:
I caught a small part of a radio discussion on seasonal affected disorder. A recent investigation into the effect of artificial light which has been discussed for years was interesting in that the scientists also looked into the effects of rain. They fully expected that both would merely be a placebo effect but were surprised to find that this was not the case and there were measurable benefits to both. (I didn't get what was measured). The rain thing was to do with negative ions (?) in the atmosphere after a rainfall having an effect on the brain. I'd never heard of this before.
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I get a strange kind of 'illness' sometimes, when it feels to me like natural light is actually artificial (and therefore glaring & too harsh).
 
Heard a BBC R4 programme recently about gardening therapy for depressed people.

It seems that just getting your hands dirty can help.

Levels of serotonin and dopamine rise when the body comes into contact with a species of soil bacteria called mycobacterium vaccae. Dopamine production is also stimulated by harvesting food we've grown ourselves.

Everything good we know intuitively about gardening is true. :nods:
 
flannel said:
This time of year, my depression/grumpiness rises as we approach the big day - I'm not sure why but it maybe related to the pointlessness of it.
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I've already figured out that in two weeks, it's over:cynic:.

Beyond my twenties, it became less enjoyable. I have tried to convince my mom in having xmas in June. Nice weather, no f'n xmas music, no mad trips to find gifts. I would totally enjoy it if it was just a get together with my family. No expectations other than chatting and eating.
 
I take a very low dose for mild depression. I decreased my original dose years ago, as it did have side effects. Muscle twitches/spasms being one, and, in the summer, feeling of low level euphoria (feeling like I was high, but I have never been high in my life). The euphoria I attributed to a possible build up of the med in my body that I don't need.

I have been on very low dose for years and my doctor once told me that it is not even a "clinical" dose. I have tried to go off of it because it is such a small dose and I hate the idea that I have to take medication to feel ok. I once managed for about 4 months, in the middle of winter, but then had to go back on.

When I am off for a length of time, my thoughts insidiously become more and more negative. This also coincides with anxiety level rising.

When I originally started them, I was quite depressed (medium rather than the blackness of deep depression that others talk about). I couldn't sleep, I couldn't turn my thoughts off and I had to be careful with what I watched or read before bed because I would spend all night trying to solve third world problems and having imaginary conversations about these problems.

The night that I decided to see my doctor was the night that I fully understood why someone would resort to suicide. I knew I couldn't let my thoughts get any darker.

So while I would like to be med free, I have tried several times to quit and the negative thoughts start. I never want to feel or think the way I did those many years ago.

For those of you who medication doesn't work, there is also CBT. I did this for eight weeks in a class run by psychiatric nurses. It too helped me with my negative thinking. It definitely decreased my feelings of anxiety.

Apparently anxiety runs hand in hand with depression, but the relationship between the two is not clear.
 
brownmane said:
I take a very low dose for mild depression. I decreased my original dose years ago, as it did have side effects. Muscle twitches/spasms being one, and, in the summer, feeling of low level euphoria (feeling like I was high, but I have never been high in my life). The euphoria I attributed to a possible build up of the med in my body that I don't need.

I have been on very low dose for years and my doctor once told me that it is not even a "clinical" dose. I have tried to go off of it because it is such a small dose and I hate the idea that I have to take medication to feel ok. I once managed for about 4 months, in the middle of winter, but then had to go back on.

When I am off for a length of time, my thoughts insidiously become more and more negative. This also coincides with anxiety level rising.

When I originally started them, I was quite depressed (medium rather than the blackness of deep depression that others talk about). I couldn't sleep, I couldn't turn my thoughts off and I had to be careful with what I watched or read before bed because I would spend all night trying to solve third world problems and having imaginary conversations about these problems.

The night that I decided to see my doctor was the night that I fully understood why someone would resort to suicide. I knew I couldn't let my thoughts get any darker.

So while I would like to be med free, I have tried several times to quit and the negative thoughts start. I never want to feel or think the way I did those many years ago.

For those of you who medication doesn't work, there is also CBT. I did this for eight weeks in a class run by psychiatric nurses. It too helped me with my negative thinking. It definitely decreased my feelings of anxiety.

Apparently anxiety runs hand in hand with depression, but the relationship between the two is not clear.
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CBT has recently been talked about as help with post menopause as well.

Yesterday there was a piece on the radio about a study in the Netherlands involving the effects of a cold shower for a few seconds after a normal hot shower. The study concluded that the feeling of well being increased significantly if you did this every time after a normal shower. I didn't get the reasons why. I suspect that as with all these studies there are other factors at play but the conclusion was interesting.

I don't have cold showers because things are never quite the same when you've finished compared to when you started......
 
PeteS said:
I caught a small part of a radio discussion on seasonal affected disorder. A recent investigation into the effect of artificial light which has been discussed for years was interesting in that the scientists also looked into the effects of rain. They fully expected that both would merely be a placebo effect but were surprised to find that this was not the case and there were measurable benefits to both. (I didn't get what was measured). The rain thing was to do with negative ions (?) in the atmosphere after a rainfall having an effect on the brain. I'd never heard of this before.
Click to expand...
Negative ions were a big thing in the 90s. There was a theory that rain, waterfalls, surf on the beach etc produce neative ions which are beneficial to both body and mind. I think there is sense to it in that an indoor environment can be stale and more polluted than the outdoors.
If you’re suffering, it may be worth looking at getting one of these devices. I had one back in the day and while I couldn’t measure the effect for better or worse, I see where scientists may be cautiously rejecting the placebo effect.

I wouldn’t waste my money on a big expensive on though.
 
Analogue Boy said:
Negative ions were a big thing in the 90s. There was a theory that rain, waterfalls, surf on the beach etc produce neative ions which are beneficial to both body and mind. I think there is sense to it in that an indoor environment can be stale and more polluted than the outdoors.
If you’re suffering, it may be worth looking at getting one of these devices. I had one back in the day and while I couldn’t measure the effect for better or worse, I see where scientists may be cautiously rejecting the placebo effect.

I wouldn’t waste my money on a big expensive on though.
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Maybe that's why getting a shower each day might also give that initial lift, which it definitely does seem to?
 
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Analogue Boy said:
Negative ions were a big thing in the 90s. There was a theory that rain, waterfalls, surf on the beach etc produce neative ions which are beneficial to both body and mind. I think there is sense to it in that an indoor environment can be stale and more polluted than the outdoors.
If you’re suffering, it may be worth looking at getting one of these devices. I had one back in the day and while I couldn’t measure the effect for better or worse, I see where scientists may be cautiously rejecting the placebo effect.

I wouldn’t waste my money on a big expensive on though.
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I remember reading about that effect. Modern homes can lead to a build up of positively charged ions that can exacerbate depression.

A shower is supposed to have the same effect, de-ionising you of the positive static charge.
 
It could be a placebo effect or it could all be rubbish but I think there is something to be said about taking some sort of action against depressive thoughts and to change the cycle of thinking that keeps you in that dark hole.
I’ll qualify that by saying I have no medical training whatsoever.
 
Analogue Boy said:
It could be a placebo effect or it could all be rubbish but I think there is something to be said about taking some sort of action against depressive thoughts and to change the cycle of thinking that keeps you in that dark hole.
I’ll qualify that by saying I have no medical training whatsoever.
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CBT works in this way. There are techniques that you use to 1. Consciously identify negative thoughts that may be affecting you in the moment, 2. Look at what maybe bringing them about.

I can't exactly describe the techniques as it's been years since I took the CBT course, but it is based on the fact that we are always having fleeting thoughts that affect us emotionally without recognizing them and finding that they have no basis in what the real situation is or no basis in fact.

Humans are always scanning their environments to determine their safety. The response that people have towards what they perceive as threats to their safety is fight, flight or freeze.

It is our misperceptions of what is happening that cause negative unconscious thoughts.

One type of thinking that people have is catastrophic thinking ie thoughts that go to worst case scenario, without actually looking at what the reality is. An example of one is, you lose your job and you immediately think that you will lose your house. The strategy for these types of thoughts is to write down the worst case scenario that you think of and then ask "how likely is this?" You then start to write what the concerns are for you currently and what can be done to deal with this current issue. You come up with a realistic plan to work with. Your thoughts have now been interrupted and you can see what you need to focus on.

Another strategy was to sit for some time and concentrate on what thoughts were going on in your mind, especially if you were starting to feel anxious. Identify the thought and then work backwards to try to see what brought about the thought.

I discovered that if I was hungry (but didn't realize it) that I would get slightly cold and my body would tense up. This, in turn, caused me to become anxious because I was tense. My brain was telling me (incorrectly) that there was a threat.

Once I realized that I was reacting to my body's signals incorrectly and that I was hungry, I was able to see that my mind was misinterpreting. Knowing consciously and questioning why I was feeling anxious at that time helped me to identify what was really going on with me at that time.

I know my personal examples seem like simple problems, but practicing the techniques of CBT daily until it becomes second nature is what helps. It brings issues into perspective and allows you to act, if that is what is needed.
 
brownmane said:
My brain was telling me (incorrectly) that there was a threat.
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Can relate. One's body tells you what it thinks you need to know. This is not always helpful.

Recently found myself out of sorts, y'know; not eating or sleeping well, not enjoying my very fun and easy job, even uninspired to be creative in a way I normally enjoy.

Realised eventually that the news of the sudden death of a well-respected former colleague had affected me more deeply than I'd thought. He'd died in the same way as someone close to me did some years back.

My body was saying Oh no, here's this awful shock again. :(

Once I realised that I was OK. Not depression, just a reaction to bad news.
Colleagues kindly noticed I wasn't myself and knew why, and were extra nice to me. :)
 
escargot said:
Can relate. One's body tells you what it thinks you need to know. This is not always helpful.

Recently found myself out of sorts, y'know; not eating or sleeping well, not enjoying my very fun and easy job, even uninspired to be creative in a way I normally enjoy.

Realised eventually that the news of the sudden death of a well-respected former colleague had affected me more deeply than I'd thought. He'd died in the same way as someone close to me did some years back.

My body was saying Oh no, here's this awful shock again. :(

Once I realised that I was OK. Not depression, just a reaction to bad news.
Colleagues kindly noticed I wasn't myself and knew why, and were extra nice to me. :)
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Really bad news such as sudden death can have the effect of very short term depression. At least you identified what the problem was, which can help when trying to turn things around. Good bit of perception there C.
 
brownmane said:
CBT works in this way. There are techniques that you use to 1. Consciously identify negative thoughts that may be affecting you in the moment, 2. Look at what maybe bringing them about.
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I thought CBT was a particular form of sado-masochistic 'enjoyment' . Presumably the acronym has another meaning as well?
 
Christmas the holiday of depression.

The talking heads on TV claim depression affects 60% of the population during Christmas for different reasons, but the biggest reason is people have this misconception that because it is Christmas everyone expects things to be perfect.

Life can not be perfect.
 
charliebrown said:
Christmas the holiday of depression.

The talking heads on TV claim depression affects 60% of the population during Christmas for different reasons, but the biggest reason is people have this misconception that because it is Christmas everyone expects things to be perfect.

Life can not be perfect.
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Ack, I can well believe that.

I hate the aspect of enforced pleasure.
 
The industry I work in can be severally disrupted by just one person's depression, if they are severely enough disturbed to consider ending things.
They don't have to do it; just looking as if they're thinking about it can cause trouble.

The coming week will be a dangerous time for some.
 
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The TV news this morning is still talking about Matthew Perry.

The question is why Matthew Perry had a ketamine blood level that was above a safe level ?

The use of ketamine for treatment of depression is controversial.
 
charliebrown said:
The TV news this morning is still talking about Matthew Perry.

The question is why Matthew Perry had a ketamine blood level that was above a safe level ?

The use of ketamine for treatment of depression is controversial.
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Ketamine is also a party drug “special K”, so people can find it on the street. It is also called the “date rape” drug.
 
There was a TV clip where Matthew Perry said he was such a bad drug addict that he should had died a long time ago.

How can one feel sorry for hard core drug addicts, I don’t.
 
brownmane said:
Ketamine is also a party drug “special K”, so people can find it on the street. It is also called the “date rape” drug.
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Ketamine: horse tranquiliser/vet tool of the trade ,'k hole' bad trips when people bought MDMA pills with brown speckles in them liked speckled doves wrongly attributed to heroin being cut into 'ecstasy' pills, preferred drug of choice by Gabba/industrial techno ravers in the early to mid 90's. Mostly snorted in powder form these days instead. Short half life but intense reaction. Effects typically ware off quickly within 60 minutes.
 
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