Posted by baseball55 on April 18, 2016, at 19:32:53
In reply to Re: Helping those with mental health conditions » Hello321, posted by Tomatheus on April 18, 2016, at 15:01:47
When in the depths of depression, I have gone to the gym and swum (?) for an hour, then got out of the pool and started crying, went home, laid in bed for hours, planning suicide. When not depressed, I swim and lift weights and take long walks. I love exercising, but it's never kept me from getting depressed.
Diet - Given how much dispute there is about what constitutes a healthy diet, who can say? I don't eat much grain, not for health reasons, just don't much like it. I never eat sweets, again, don't much like them. Eat my fruits and veggies. Not much fat - but you've completely forgotten about protein, which humans have always eaten (more so than fats, since they hunted animals that were fairly lean). I eat a lot of protein, including proteins that are high in fat, like eggs. Hasn't kept me from sinking into depression. When depressed, I barely eat at all.
I also see a therapist. I love him and he's a great therapist, but doesn't keep me from getting depressed. DBT helps me cope with depression and, especially, cope with suicidal thoughts, but it doesn't prevent episodes of severe depression.
I meditate, stop and cry and drag myself to bed when I'm depressed. When I'm not depressed, I love meditating.
I have never had a psych med cause life-threatening symptoms (unless you can call rapid weight gain life threatening). Certainly, I don't see how they can ruin the lives of others. Suicide can, but I'm suicidal when psych meds don't work or I'm not taking them. Psych meds have never made me feel suicidal themselves.
I once spent nearly two months in bed, nearly catatonic from depression. A month in a psych hospital. After a washout from other meds, I started on parnate and, within two days, I was up riding the ward's stationary bicycle and doing yoga in the visiting room. Had side effects - insomnia and postural hypotension - hardy life-threatening. After a year or so, parnate didn't hold me, though the depressive episodes I've had since starting do not include virtual catatonia, so that's an improvement.
So I can't agree that depression can be cured by diet, exercise, even meditation, yoga and therapy. I think these can counter mild, situational depressions. But not major depression.
poster:baseball55
thread:1088191
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20160331/msgs/1088272.html