by vermooten on 6/15/15, 10:06 PM
I've just started CBT to hopefully fix my broken spirit, the article nailed my symptoms. I'm not sure my staying indoors in a darkened room and sighing a lot is helping me to focus on anything though.
by Foy on 6/16/15, 1:47 AM
"I shall probably do little more but be content to admire the strides others made in Science."
- Charles Darwin
Understatement of the millenia?
by arbre on 6/16/15, 2:39 AM
I suffered from depression for several years. What worked eventually is meditation. I meditate 1 hour every day in a meditation center and I participate regularly in retreats and I feel happier every day.
by jE22teTh on 6/15/15, 8:42 PM
In the US, a surprisingly easy way to inadvertently cause mild depression is to decrease intake of iodized salt over time. The "natural" iodine content of many foods (bread, milk) seems to be dropping steadily due to organic and other preparation practices. Kelp-extract supplements with around 200mcg of iodine daily can go a long way towards preventing mild depression associated with borderline iodine deficiency.
by RyanMcGreal on 6/16/15, 5:51 PM
> They began by focusing on the thought process that defines the disorder, which is known as rumination. (The verb is derived from the Latin word for “chewed over,” which describes the act of digestion in cattle, in which they swallow, regurgitate and then rechew their food.) In recent decades, psychiatry has come to see rumination as a dangerous mental habit, because it leads people to fixate on their flaws and problems, thus extending their negative moods.
This really spoke to me. My mild tendency to depression seems to be predicated entirely on rumination. To the extent that I can avoid taking the first few slippery steps in those mental pathways that spiral down into despair, I am generally able to avoid getting dragged down. That required me to accept that some existential questions aren't answerable in any satisfactory manner, and to simply stop posing them to myself.
by selimthegrim on 6/15/15, 10:50 PM
And Jonah Lehrer has magically regained credibility how?
by albatross_down on 6/15/15, 9:29 PM
William Styron, one of the authors quoted in the article, wrote a fascinating memoir about depression called Darkness Visible. Highly recommended!
by univalent on 6/15/15, 9:13 PM
I read an interesting paper a few years back showing a correlation between low(er) rates of depression in population areas with high(er) lithium content in their drinking water.
The paper also discussed how big pharma had pushed doctors away from Li over the years towards more expensive drugs.