“…you do not need to be defeated by anything…you can have peace of mind, improved health, and a never ceasing flow of energy…your life can be full of joy and satisfaction…of this I have no doubt at all…”
Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking

Genuine Hope or Cruel Hoax?

I’ve read plenty of motivational, self help, get rich books. So many, in fact, that not long ago I wanted to write my own book about these books.

Only recently it dawned on me why I’ve been so captivated by them. I was reading them before I knew that I was mentally ill and I was very unhappy with life. They provided an escape. I dreamed of a better life; they gave me hope that things would change. They promised me that everything I wanted would be mine if I purposefully set out to realize my goals. A powerful promise for someone who is depressed. Something that is impossible to put into action for someone who is depressed.

I spent many years keeping lists of things to do and goals to achieve. I revised them, laminated them onto cards, tried different applications to sort and present them in different ways. If I could get it all done and reach all my goals then surely my life would better. But it never materialized. There was a lot of hoping and dreaming, but hardly any action. This kind of compulsive goal-setting was always a recipe for disappointment.

If you are like this, constantly dwelling on the future but paralyzed with inaction, then like me you will probably experience disappointment.

An article on PsychCentral, Giving Up on Goals can be Helpful?, quotes recent research that found that letting a life goal go can be physically and mentally beneficial in some circumstances.

That has been my experience over the last few years. As I’ve stopped setting life goals (and sub-goals) I’ve focused more on my core values, and on living in the here and now. I think I’ve coped better with life.

It’s a snappy title and I should get more traffic than normal. More importantly though, is there an easy, formulaic, 5 step method for overcoming depression? The answer is no, definitely not. If there was we wouldn’t be having a depression epidemic.

There are literally dozens of articles with similar headings to the one above. When I see them I immediately wonder if the writer has ever been depressed. Mental illness is anything but simple. Depression describes a broad spectrum of mood disorders, and there are many and varied treatments that provide different levels of success. Any “tip sheet” is by its nature superficial.

At the same time, such articles can be helpful. They aren’t normally written by medical or health professionals, so they provide input from outside traditional medicine. They give many ideas for lifestyle changes; ideas that won’t necessarily overcome depression by themselves, but nonetheless may be helpful to differing degrees for different people.

I’ve put links to a sample of articles below; some good and others pretty poor. I’ve summarized the tips from each so you can easily look further into what interests you.

You might also like to read my previous post What Works for Depression which is based on 2 research studies.

Please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.

Top 5 Tips to Beat Depression
This is the only article in the 20 or so that I’ve read that suggests researching your illness and keeping a mood diary. Both of these are very underrated strategies that can get a person well on the road to recovery. The writer is also only one of two to discuss triggers. If you only read one of these articles then this should be the one.
Research depression, talk with someone, try different things to get well, mood diary, improved diet.

Ten Tips For Managing Your Depression
Of all the articles that I’ve read this is my favorite. It is well written and has a range of good, helpful strategies.
Sleep, exercise, less refined sugar, reach out to someone else, nutritious food, Omega 3, sunlight, yoga, meditation / prayer, professional help.

10 All Natural Ways to Stop Feeling Depressed
“The Blues” would be a better term than “Depressed” but there are still some helpful lifestyle ideas.
Emotional cycle, being with positive people, reflecting on past successes, gratitude, change of scenery, break in routine, animals and nature, get up and at it, find perspective, take action to help yourself.

10 Chemical-Free Strategies to Trick Yourself Out of the Blues
This writer doesn’t seem to understand depression. A couple of good points, but most strategies are ordinary at best and even bizarre.
Wear blue, take time out mentally, verbalise your anger to a friend, force your smiles, remove clutter, music, experiment with food, a concentration exercize, DIY aromatherapy, get in touch with your primal self through cooking.

Feeling Down? 7 Ways to Pick Yourself Back Up!
Another one that is more about “the blues” than depression, but the writer acknowledges the limitations of his advice. Some good ideas.
Make a list, take action, exercise, clean and straighten yourself up, get out of the house, lively music, talk about it with someone close.

Top 8 Tips for Living with Depression
This writer has a good range ideas, all of which can have an impact on depression.
Support group, manage stress, sleep, diet, control negative thoughts, stop procrastinating, learn to forgive

Top 10 Tips to Overcome Depression
Some interesting ideas, but the tips are a bit light for someone with true depression.
Talk, exercise, cry, sunlight, music, activity, write, balanced diet, affection, professional help.

5 Tips for Staving Off a Depression
Sound tips on how the writer deals with her own depression, before relying on medicine.
Work outdoors, eliminate the triggers, play music, exercise, maintain a positive attitude.

Five Tips for Reducing Depression
This one takes a different angle with the first two tips focusing on the media. There are some good ideas, but the article as a whole is weak in relation to depression.
Don’t read newspapers, turn off the television, be positive towards others, exercise, breathing and relaxation techniques.

Five Self-Care Strategies For Depression
Sound advice which includes exercise and adequate sleep - two of the most important.
Keep active, eat well, adequate sleep, minimize stress, maintain positive relationships.

Top 10 Tips for Beating Depression
This would be the worst article. The writer doesn’t seem to understand depression, viewing it more as a character flaw than a disease.
Develop interests, stay positive, fix your personal problems, create a positive social life, stop bad behavior, be realistic, make changes, become active, fix your diet, control your thinking.

I’ve just recovered from a short bout of what I call “depression lite”. It’s real depression, but I’m aware while going through it that it’s not severe; I know that I’ll be well again. I can get out of bed and function fairly normally, even though my body has slowed right down and people know to steer clear of me.

It may be counter-intuitive but I’ve come to believe that depressive episodes are predictable if you know the things that trigger them and you can pick the early signs. That knowledge has helped me stay well for long periods of time. But this recent episode came as a big surprise.

The brain is arguably the most nutritionally sensitive organ in the body, so food plays a big role in maintaining its health. As I’ve mentioned before I have some food intolerances. But I don’t break out in hives, I break out in irrational behavior. In a similar way, many people react with mental meltdown to excessive coffee, alcohol, too much or too little fat, additives like artificial colors, flavors and preservatives and many other things. Red cordial and kids don’t mix, for example.

I’ve been taking the same multi-vitamin for about 3 years, due to nutritional advice specific to my diet (or lack thereof). It has a different formula to most multi-vitamins. In particular it contains a high dose of the B group vitamins.

So I ran out of these harmless, benign, unimportant pills about 10 days ago, and discovered that the manufacturer had gone out of business and the line had been stopped.

That first evening, after not taking the multi-vitamin in the morning for the first time, my mood tanked. I was puzzled by it, but I didn’t make a connection with the vitamin. Over a week later I started on a new, similar product, and shazam! I’m back to normal.

Here is the nutrient breakdown:

Recommended Daily Intake Vitamin B6 (Australia and New Zealand)

RDI 1.3 mg
Upper Limit 50 mg

Multi-vitamins

Macro M 5 mg
(original one)

Men’s Ultivite 30mg
(new one)

I don’t know what my normal daily intake is, but on the day my mood dropped I had reduced my B6 intake by 4 times the recommended daily amount, and the day I went up I had increased it by over 20 times. Now that’s interesting.

As an aside, the Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand has an excellent calculator that will give you all of your RDI values by sex and age at the click of a button.

It is well-established by research that B6 is a commonly, perhaps the most commonly, found vitamin deficiency in people with depression. It has a crucial role in putting the final touches on serotonin production, serotonin being one of our favorite mood-enhancing neurotransmitters. There’s no coincidence there.

But the jury is still out on whether increasing B6 will relieve symptoms or by how much. I have my own anecdotal evidence based on a one-person trial in my home, but that won’t convince the medical community.

And the bad news? Only one person in five consumes an adequate amount of vitamin B6.

The major sources of vitamin B6 include: cereal grains, potatoes, bananas, vegetables (carrots, spinach, peas), potatoes, milk, cheese, eggs, fish, pork, beef.

Sources and Further Reading

Factsheet of Vitamin B6
Medline Plus (US National Library and National Institutes of Health)

Develop a Personal Pyramid Plan
United States Department of Agriculture

Healthy Eating and Depression
Mental Health Foundation

Mind Guide to Food and Mood
Mind (National Association for Mental Health UK)

Nutritional Supplements
McMan’s Depression and Bipolar Web

Foods to Fight It
Dr Melvyn Werbach

Dear friends,

I’ve had a lot of server problems over the last week, which you may have experienced if you’ve visited the site. My sincere apologies if you have.

With a complete rebuild of the blog (not visible to the eye) and a move to another web host, everything should now be smoother than ever.

I have some interesting posts lined up for the coming weeks: one on health information on the internet, a couple on online forums, and another look at Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

While tearing my hair out under the hood of this site, I was pleasantly surprised to receive an award from Psych Central for a Best of the Web blog. See the shiny new graphic at the top of my sidebar.

The list of award winners is full of excellent blogs. Browse through them at Psych Central.

Cheers,

James