Diet and spiritual living will control depression.

Feeling down?  Try these ideas before you expose yourself to the risks of  physiological and psychological damage which can result from the side effects of antidepressant medications. Because of the risks associated with many of these drugs, Pharmacotherapy should be considered as a last resort.

Prozac and its clones (other S.S.R.I. drugs) have become popular for treating depression and other disorders. The use seems to have exceeded the standard taught in some medical schools: "Not a single happy day in six months." or "So depressed that they cannot get out of bed for several days."  First several points about the comments  to follow. 1) Many of the reports I've seen indicate that Prozac use has been associated with eating disorders a bit more often than its use has been associated with reducing them. 2) Former users reports I've seen indicate that: The longer you are on this class of drug, the more time you will need to gradually taper off.  Rapid withdrawal has reportedly caused symptoms worse than those for which the drug was originally prescribed. Statements I make with respect to Prozac below will generally apply to all psychotropic medicines in general and to SSRI drugs in particular.   (SSRI=Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor; including Prozac and Sarafem [Fluoxetine], Paxil or Seroxat [Paroxetine], Zoloft [Sertraline], Luvox [Fluvoxamine], Effexor  [Venlafaxine], Serzone [Nefazodone], Anafranil [Clomipramine], Celexa [Citalopram], Fenfluramine, Phentermine, {Fen-Phen}, Redux, Zyban (Wellbutrin), and others.)

Now to my main points. How I've dealt with depression without medication. I don't know who you are or the root cause of your depression, so I will cover several situations. Pick the ones that apply.  If the concepts below work for you, or if you haven't accurately tried all of them, you are not an appropriate candidate for drug therapy.

A) Guilt. Because of some dumb or wrong thing that I did. Particularly if someone else was harmed or wronged. To absolve guilt requires full repentance: 1) Recognize the sin of commission (what I did wrong) or omission (what I should have done that I didn't). 2) Remorse for the mistake. 3) [This is important] Make Restitution to those who have been wronged to whatever extent is possible. Confess to the wronged party and ask their forgiveness. 4) Resolve to do it right hereafter. Go to the appropriate authority in your church, confess to him, and ask the church to forgive you also. After all of this has been done, a person is entitled to feel good about themselves again, and this cause for depression is gone. More details about this process are explained in the book "The Miracle of Forgiveness" by Spencer W. Kimball, available from Deseret Book Company or from Barnes and Noble.

B) Bad Situations Created by Others. Several years ago my family sold a business that had been founded in 1917 by my Grandfather. For 70 years he, then my father and uncles had built a reputation of honest business dealings and prompt payment of obligations. I got a big lesson while working there in my late teens when we were having a discussion about whether we should pay for some unsatisfactory material. My Grandfather stopped the discussion with the statement "My credit rating is worth more that a $2,000 disputed bill. We will pay the bill, and then complain to them about the quality. If they don't fix it, the next load can come from their competition. Most of their other customers probably don't pay as fast as we do, so if they don't fix it, they will be the loser in the end."  When the business was sold, the family did not check out the buyer as thoroughly as he should have been checked out, because he put on an impressive act.  The sales contract called for annual payments, but none were received after the first. The buyer used the credit of the business to borrow as much money as possible, shunt some of it off to numbered Swiss bank accounts, and invest the rest in Real Estate speculation that went bad. He defrauded suppliers by not paying them. He then put the business into bankruptcy defrauding my family, and several banks, of millions of dollars. I could have been a wealthy heir. I finally realized that He could cause me to be depressed over what he did only if I allowed it. I decided that I could get on with my life, make my own fortune by honest dealings, forgive him and let God deal with him (he never asked or apologized), and feel good about what I did as opposed to what anyone else did or didn't do.

C) Happenstance. Two stories. 1) Several years ago my favorite uncle was flying his aeroplane home from a convention near Seattle. With him he had his pregnant wife and another couple. The aeroplane disappeared. There was an extensive search conducted by the Civil Air Patrol in which members of the family participated, but to no avail. The search was eventually called off after several months of looking. Seven years later, some hunters looked up and saw the aeroplane hanging upside down in some trees. The bodies were hanging upside down inside from the seat belts. One of  his older daughters came to live with my parents. His other children went to live with other relatives. We asked ourselves, "Why did God let this happen?" [The loss of this Uncle was one of the reasons that the business needed to be sold.]   2) In 1969 while I was in the Army a weapon was discharged a foot from my ear. There has been a LOUD ringing in the ear ever since. It has never stopped, not for 29 years! If I concentrate on something, I can sometimes 'tune' it out with my brain, but it is always there. Why did God let this happen to me?

I then remembered that I had learned in my church that a) we had existed before we came to this earth, 2) we will exist after we leave this life, and 3) we are here as a learning and testing experience. God gave us all the agency to make decisions for ourselves, and see the consequences in our own lives and the lives of others. To learn, new situations (to us) would be presented. Solving an unfamiliar situation is a problem. By solving the problem, we learn something, probably something important. Somehow we will be able to deal with the situations, and learn. The correct question, with respect to these situations is "What does God want me to learn from this?" "Can I share the wisdom gained from the experience of solving the problem with my children and my fellow men?" When I then went to the hospital and saw the other poor fellows who had been injured much worse than I was, I then became thankful that my trial was so trivial.

D) Activity. Studies have shown that in many cases aerobic exercise and activity in general can do more to relieve depression than the so-called antidepressant drugs.  Click here to read more about it.

E) Chemistry and Biology. I've heard and seen it reported by others, and have myself noticed a connection between what is being eaten and mood.  There are a number of books on the subject.  Research in the field of nutrition and mood is ongoing, but the existing publications present important concepts even if the science presented in them needs refinement. A particular problem with many is an inability of the body's regulatory system (pancreas/insulin) to consistently accurately control the blood sugar levels when large amounts of refined sugar are ingested. I'm told that artificial sweeteners are not the answer either as they can fool the body's regulatory system. Persons whose systems have particular difficulty in this regard are often known as hypoglycemic. The propensity to hypoglycemia is sometimes associated with a genetic weakness, and that weakness is also associated with a propensity to alcoholism and a propensity for adult-onset diabetes. If you have any blood relatives who abuse alcohol, you may be at particular risk. (When I was in my late teens, I made the decision to totally abstain from alcohol because there were known alcoholics in some of my ancestral lines, which meant that I was at particular risk of becoming an alcoholic.) The shifts in blood sugar level affect mental functioning and mood. I have been told of cases where a person was prescribed Prozac when the real problem was inappropriate diet (and eating habits) for their body. Their Prozac therapy was not successful. Click here for a questionnaire to see if you may have hypoglycemia or go to: http://www.webplace.ca/hg/quest.html#adult. To check on hypoglycemia in children and adolsescents go to http://www.webplace.ca/hg/quest.html#child.

Here are the diet concepts that have been working for me. Before I adopted these eating habits, I had mood swings, periodic depression, and was becoming overweight. My weight is now consistently at an appropriate level. The concepts that I follow are:

1) Animal products and meat in moderate amounts.  Fish only from uncontaminated water---avoid fish from water contaminated with agricultural or industrial chemical runoff.

2) Avoid drinks and foods that contain refined sugars (dextrose, sugar, corn syrup, etc.).

3) Avoid drinks and foods that contain artificial sweeteners (nutrasweet, saccharin).

4) Avoid drinks and foods that contain caffeine (No coffee, No black or green tea, No soft drinks containing caffeine such as Cola, Dr. Pepper, Mountain Dew, Mr. Pibb, Jolt, etc.).

5) Lots of 100% juice drinks. Orange Juice, Grapefruit Juice, Low Salt V-8 Juice, etc. Read the label carefully to be sure that undesired things have not been added.

6) Avoid artificial color and artificial flavor.

7) Lots of, and a wide variety of vegetables and fruits. Lots of Carrots, Onions, Potatoes, Broccoli, Beans, Romaine Lettuce, Tomatoes, Parsley, Beets, etc.

8) Avoid frying food. Cook by steaming or microwaveing. If you cook by boiling, keep the water and make soup with it--most of the vitamins will have leached out into the water.

9) Avoid added man made fats. Many salad dressings are mostly man-made fat--eat the salad dry (if you have a weight problem) or use a small amount of a beneficial oil such as olive oil.    Many foods eaten by or available to Americans already have plenty of fat in them to meet nutritional needs for fat.

10) Animal fats tend to cause heart disease, hydrogenated vegetable oils (solid at room temperature) tend to cause cancer. Studies have shown that olive oil is the better for long term health.  Flax-seed oil and fish oils are also superior to artificially hydrogenated oils.

11) I've read that people who use or have used Prozac or other SSRI drugs may exhibit a particular sensitivity to some animal products (meat, etc.) because of interactions to the residual levels of drugs in the meat that were used by the farmer, and interactions to the elevated levels of adrenalin they may be in the meat that the animal's system created while it was being slaughtered. I've heard that some former Prozac users have had to become vegetarians because of this.

12) I understand that there have been studies that indicate that Prozac inhibits the body's ability to use the nutrients and enzymes from the food. Besides sound diet, you will likely need nutritional supplements. (If an advertisement covers the paper at the last link, minimize the ad screen to see the desired page.)

13) If you have a weight problem, it is my understanding that it is not the amount of food, but the genetic heritage, composition of the diet and the activity level that defines body size. Simply reducing food quantity will result in the body defending itself by reducing the metabolism rate and the need for food.  Changing the proportions of the various things in your diet, and your activity level, forever, will redefine your size, forever.  The change took 10 months for me.

14) My dietary concepts started with a document  known as the "Word of Wisdom" that people of my religion have accepted as scripture.  The Seventh-day Adventists also have some good teachings and positions with regard to this subject. In any event, the recommendation to use wisdom and moderation in all things is sound advice.  It is my personal religious belief that God (through the Holy Spirit) can and will speak to each of us through inspiration about things that pertain to our own personal responsibility or stewardship.  Any substance that affects the functioning of the brain will inhibit our ability to receive God's communication to us (inspiration), will not inhibit our our ability to receive communication from the devil, and will inhibit our ability to have the judgment to know the difference or care.  The person who uses drugs or other psychotropic substances to control mood may be cutting himself off from God.

F) Mood and Social Standing or Attitude. A study at UCLA showed that serotonin levels, and consequently attitude and mood, are dependent on social standing (Newsweek, Dec29, 1997/ Jan. 5, 1998, page 80, column 1). If a person's mood is not being disrupted by inappropriate diet, environmental pollutants, drugs, or medications, then their perception of their relationships with others will have a lot to do with whether they feel depressed. Realization that perceptions of others attitude can only have as much effect on you as you permit it to, and coming to terms with God, his forgiveness, and his love for you can put things in their proper perspective. If you believe in the church that you are associated with, be involved. If you don't have a church that works for you, you are welcome to check out the Church that has worked for me.

I became interested in this subject when my little brother died of a heart attack which appeared to be a side effect of his use of Prozac and other drugs that affect serotonin. I've learned a lot from  Ann Blake Tracy, PhD. and her book and from letters received by the International Coalition for Drug Awareness.  I will appreciate comments.  Send them to drugaware@hotmail.com.

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Since Monday, July 13, 1998.