Sue Bergeson, President of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance cautioned: "Trivializing depression as a passing mood or, worse, an imaginary illness can discourage those who need treatment from seeking help. That's not just counterproductive - it's downright dangerous because depression is the principal cause of suicide worldwide, killing more people than homicides and terrorism combined." She also added: "This campaign [The Depression Is Real] is critical because more education and awareness can help deter needless deaths and the years of suffering that precedes them." (Emphasis added.)
Well, can you believe that??! Seems like "I am my own worst enemy" applies all the more for depressed people. Although I think I have to add that manic-depression has an even higher suicide rate, yet, being a much smaller group than unipolar depression the overall number of suicides is lower.
Spotted on softpedia.com
Monday, August 9, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
ABAB -- A1(F)EMDB (Ep0004)
I've been asked if I take vitamins or supplements.
I take lots.
I take a multivitamin for overall health. Some zinc for my skin. Omega-3 fats, because I don't eat fish every day -- I do love vegetable oils in my diet though, some of which contain omega-3. Omega-3 fats are said to reduce suicidal thoughts. I can confirm that and will write more on it at another time.
I took St. John's Wort for the first time in my life this winter (Austrian winter, not Australian or Brazilian winter; thus, cold and dark) and it worked wonders. The "pain" of depression was gone, even though I still acted like someone who was depressed, at times. It takes a while to break out of those habits and I didn't think therapy was worth my time. That was probably a mistake, all things considered.
I just recently ordered St. John's Wort again, after using it for 3 months, and I plan on continuing its use indefinitely. I was 3 months on, 1 month off and now I'm 2 weeks on again and the one month in between was hell. I had a relapse of depression that was just terrible, when the effects of the SJW wore off.
I use ginseng, variety "panax ginseng", starting out with 1-2 grams per day for 3 months. I noticed that the effect is similar to all the good things about caffeine, at 2 grams, yet without ever making me feel jittery. The effect is different from caffeine in so many ways though and hard to put into words. I'll attempt to do it justice, at a later time. I am currently experimenting with 2 grams and more per day. Lower doses don't seem to do anything for me. Gingseng really just starts to have an "acute" effect at 2 grams, although there could be chronic and subtle effects which I didn't notice as being related to the ginseng, as I took it together with all my other supplements. I weigh 82kg, so lighter/heavier people may require less/more.
I take caffeine capsules. Those I personally like the most, out of all my supplements. I consume something like 300-800mg of caffeine per day, most of it in the form of capsules, the rest via energy drinks. It gives me good mood and energy. There are no side effects worth mentioning other than that my jaw is quite active -- I tend to grind my teeth -- and, of course, the diuretic effect. Neither's a bother though.
I tried NADH for two months and have ordered it again now. It's great, although quite a subtle effect on mood and also on physical activity. I only really missed it once it was gone. After a couple of days (2, I think) I was back to my pre-NADH mood and mindset and it's quite different. I dont manage to exercise as long without it, that's the effect on physical activity. I manage to do more sets and repetitions and I exercise more often. NADH, also called coenzyme 1 or Q1 is essential for the production of ATP. ATP in turn is the primary energy carrier in our cells. Muscles work for as long as they are supplied with ATP, once they run out they reach "failure". The brain, the nerves, the muscles and the heart all require a constant supply of ATP in order to function. I can highly recommend supplementing NADH. More on it... later.
There are many more supplements that I want to try, like melatonin and ephedra, testosterone boosters, piperine, and so on and so forth. I am currently doing the necessary research on them. All help on that is very welcome, if anybody wants to share experiences or knowledge..
I'm interested in everything that could possibly improve my well-being and quality of life. Supplements have done that for me in the past, do it right now and will hopefully continue to do so in the future. For me they started out as just supplements to my diet, then they supplemented my workout and now they even supplement my mood, outlook on life, my mental focus and performance, my work and productivity... basically every aspect of my life.
I take lots.
I take a multivitamin for overall health. Some zinc for my skin. Omega-3 fats, because I don't eat fish every day -- I do love vegetable oils in my diet though, some of which contain omega-3. Omega-3 fats are said to reduce suicidal thoughts. I can confirm that and will write more on it at another time.
I took St. John's Wort for the first time in my life this winter (Austrian winter, not Australian or Brazilian winter; thus, cold and dark) and it worked wonders. The "pain" of depression was gone, even though I still acted like someone who was depressed, at times. It takes a while to break out of those habits and I didn't think therapy was worth my time. That was probably a mistake, all things considered.
I just recently ordered St. John's Wort again, after using it for 3 months, and I plan on continuing its use indefinitely. I was 3 months on, 1 month off and now I'm 2 weeks on again and the one month in between was hell. I had a relapse of depression that was just terrible, when the effects of the SJW wore off.
I use ginseng, variety "panax ginseng", starting out with 1-2 grams per day for 3 months. I noticed that the effect is similar to all the good things about caffeine, at 2 grams, yet without ever making me feel jittery. The effect is different from caffeine in so many ways though and hard to put into words. I'll attempt to do it justice, at a later time. I am currently experimenting with 2 grams and more per day. Lower doses don't seem to do anything for me. Gingseng really just starts to have an "acute" effect at 2 grams, although there could be chronic and subtle effects which I didn't notice as being related to the ginseng, as I took it together with all my other supplements. I weigh 82kg, so lighter/heavier people may require less/more.
I take caffeine capsules. Those I personally like the most, out of all my supplements. I consume something like 300-800mg of caffeine per day, most of it in the form of capsules, the rest via energy drinks. It gives me good mood and energy. There are no side effects worth mentioning other than that my jaw is quite active -- I tend to grind my teeth -- and, of course, the diuretic effect. Neither's a bother though.
I tried NADH for two months and have ordered it again now. It's great, although quite a subtle effect on mood and also on physical activity. I only really missed it once it was gone. After a couple of days (2, I think) I was back to my pre-NADH mood and mindset and it's quite different. I dont manage to exercise as long without it, that's the effect on physical activity. I manage to do more sets and repetitions and I exercise more often. NADH, also called coenzyme 1 or Q1 is essential for the production of ATP. ATP in turn is the primary energy carrier in our cells. Muscles work for as long as they are supplied with ATP, once they run out they reach "failure". The brain, the nerves, the muscles and the heart all require a constant supply of ATP in order to function. I can highly recommend supplementing NADH. More on it... later.
There are many more supplements that I want to try, like melatonin and ephedra, testosterone boosters, piperine, and so on and so forth. I am currently doing the necessary research on them. All help on that is very welcome, if anybody wants to share experiences or knowledge..
I'm interested in everything that could possibly improve my well-being and quality of life. Supplements have done that for me in the past, do it right now and will hopefully continue to do so in the future. For me they started out as just supplements to my diet, then they supplemented my workout and now they even supplement my mood, outlook on life, my mental focus and performance, my work and productivity... basically every aspect of my life.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
ABAB -- A1(F)EMDB Ep0003
I am continuously astounded by the perceptiveness of some people. Telling a depressed person to "go out (more)" is cute. Not being able to go out as much anymore -- and losing one's social contacts as a result -- is one of the symptoms of depression. People think that if you just go out you'll be fine, while it's the other way around: if you're fine then you'll just go out. If you're sick then you probably won't.
Depression is an illness that causes -- or includes -- "sickness behavior". You can look that up on Wikipedia or you can content yourself with this brief description: A lot of times when you're sick you'll probably feel weak, will want to sleep a lot, will not want to go out, will not eat much, if at all, will not groom yourself as well as you used to, will feel a general discomfort, etc. If you can remember the last time you were sick and subsequently suffering from sickness behavior then you might have an idea of what it's like to suffer from sickness behavior due to depression. It's only a fragment of the whole picture yet it's a start.
Consider this: A man in a wheelchair tells you that he can't reach things on a shelf that can only be reached when standing up. You tell that man to stand up. So that he may reach things which can only be reached when standing up. Seems easy enough and has always worked for you! Maybe sometimes you were "lazy" and you couldn't get up immediately. Yet you managed after a couple of seconds. Perhaps that's even the kind of experience that you're drawing your advice from. Maybe you add "Standing up takes a little more work than sitting around, but...".
I say you've overlooked something in your advice. Do you know what it is?
Depression is an illness that causes -- or includes -- "sickness behavior". You can look that up on Wikipedia or you can content yourself with this brief description: A lot of times when you're sick you'll probably feel weak, will want to sleep a lot, will not want to go out, will not eat much, if at all, will not groom yourself as well as you used to, will feel a general discomfort, etc. If you can remember the last time you were sick and subsequently suffering from sickness behavior then you might have an idea of what it's like to suffer from sickness behavior due to depression. It's only a fragment of the whole picture yet it's a start.
Consider this: A man in a wheelchair tells you that he can't reach things on a shelf that can only be reached when standing up. You tell that man to stand up. So that he may reach things which can only be reached when standing up. Seems easy enough and has always worked for you! Maybe sometimes you were "lazy" and you couldn't get up immediately. Yet you managed after a couple of seconds. Perhaps that's even the kind of experience that you're drawing your advice from. Maybe you add "Standing up takes a little more work than sitting around, but...".
I say you've overlooked something in your advice. Do you know what it is?
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
As Blue As Balls -- America's 1st (First) Entertaining Manic-Depression Blog (Ep0001)
The only thing that can really keep me happy throughout the day is writing, thinking, inventing. And that is why I do this. I keep pen and paper close to my body and carry them wherever I go. At times I don't go anywhere and remain in the dark Nowhere of my confines, in relative solitude. Other times I go places, see faces, kiss lips and spend way too much money on nice things that nobody really needs, which is why everybody nice needs them so dearly. This message right here is going to be squarely about the former. "Aww, how disappointing!" says the reader to himself, in the dark Nowhere of his confines, in relative solitude, while thousands like him, in their own techno-bubbles, partake of the exact same event. Welcome to my blog, jerk!
How to handle solitude, how to handle depression, when you know that you'll be plagued by it for the rest of your life and that it sapped away the biggest part of the last 12 years of your life? The theoretical and idealistic answer is boring, as everybody who can read this, or the equivalent of it in his native language, can give it. Everybody who can draw a perfect circle in his mind can give it. We all got ideal answers and perfect solutions at our fingertips. Somehow those never end up in our hands proper. Who can picture a circle with a metallic sheen, one or two dents and billions of imperfections? That is what you will hold in hand, so you better be able to picture it, and picture it yourself, without anybody telling you, the next time, and every time when you are in need of a solution -- or even just in need of an answer that will lead to one.
Depressed people are very good at being ethical. They know the correct, good-and-proper answer to every philosophical question. Often times they can even write some pretty nicely structured sentences in languages that they've casually picked up through listening to gangsta rap lyric. Alas, they often times suck at providing real world solutions to real world problems, most of all their own.
Don't you just love blog posts that have "alas" in them? When "sadly" would have done just as well, if not better? How about self-conscious blog posts, like this here now? If it all succeeds in being ironic though? Then? Yes? Or...?
...Jerk.
So yeah, I'm as blue as the pope's balls after a day of playing Santa Clause for the boys choir. "Get offa mah lap for a sec, Jimmy, Santa has ta lift somethin' heaveh. Why? Just ta, uhm, get some fresh blood into his, uhm, legs. Nau, where's my big sack? Have you seen my big sack? It's heaveh wid salty gifts for da kids! Ah, there it is. Heave-ho!! Ahhhhh... whadda relief!"
Hm, yes, writing is like a heavy sack o' salty gifts when you're heaveh wid the blues indeed.
(Next time: Depression Sex?)
How to handle solitude, how to handle depression, when you know that you'll be plagued by it for the rest of your life and that it sapped away the biggest part of the last 12 years of your life? The theoretical and idealistic answer is boring, as everybody who can read this, or the equivalent of it in his native language, can give it. Everybody who can draw a perfect circle in his mind can give it. We all got ideal answers and perfect solutions at our fingertips. Somehow those never end up in our hands proper. Who can picture a circle with a metallic sheen, one or two dents and billions of imperfections? That is what you will hold in hand, so you better be able to picture it, and picture it yourself, without anybody telling you, the next time, and every time when you are in need of a solution -- or even just in need of an answer that will lead to one.
Depressed people are very good at being ethical. They know the correct, good-and-proper answer to every philosophical question. Often times they can even write some pretty nicely structured sentences in languages that they've casually picked up through listening to gangsta rap lyric. Alas, they often times suck at providing real world solutions to real world problems, most of all their own.
Don't you just love blog posts that have "alas" in them? When "sadly" would have done just as well, if not better? How about self-conscious blog posts, like this here now? If it all succeeds in being ironic though? Then? Yes? Or...?
...Jerk.
So yeah, I'm as blue as the pope's balls after a day of playing Santa Clause for the boys choir. "Get offa mah lap for a sec, Jimmy, Santa has ta lift somethin' heaveh. Why? Just ta, uhm, get some fresh blood into his, uhm, legs. Nau, where's my big sack? Have you seen my big sack? It's heaveh wid salty gifts for da kids! Ah, there it is. Heave-ho!! Ahhhhh... whadda relief!"
Hm, yes, writing is like a heavy sack o' salty gifts when you're heaveh wid the blues indeed.
(Next time: Depression Sex?)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)