Depression

[JosephMichael]

Hi there,

Has anyone used 5 htp? Is it a good antidepressant I want to take it or should I take other antidepressant?

[BLUEEYEDTHAI]

Do'nt want to sound uncaring that is not my style.I have been depressed most of my life on and off,try to learn just to deal with it.Ihave always found that drugs and their side effects make me feel worse.I'm happy to say that since moving to T'lnd my emotional outlook has improved markedly.Have you ever tried meditation instead of medication.Just a thought,good luck.Don

[ignoramus]

You have my sympathy. Meditation is a good suggestion. Diet is important. Vitamain D3 is especially important, though if you are young the Thai sunshine should provide sufficient.

If not young the supplement is the go. In Oz we have a site worth checking -- blackdoginstitute.org.au. It's recognised here that as many as 1 in 5 people suffer from it at any time. A high proportion. It often goes unrecognised by the sufferer.

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

I have tried 5 htp and SAMe. I forget how they are related but they are similar. One is a precursor for the other I think.

I did not notice a lot of difference but I was not particularly depressed. Individual brain chemistries can be so various. 5 htp is supposed to help with dopamine deficiencies which are common with depressions like drug withdrawls. Caffeine and most drugs feel good because they overstimulate the dopamine in the brain. When the drugs stop working or a person stops then the dopamine level in the brain is very low and depressing.

I would hit the basics first in conjunction with 5 htp if your inclined to try it. Just the placebo effect alone could help.

Get hydrated which assists detoxification and normative endocrine function.

Eat healthier. Even try some fasting. Fresh low sugar fruits and vegetables juices are helpful. Key is fresh and not pasteurized or processed.

Exercise which is most important. Exercise causes the body to release opiate like drugs and promotes a sense of well being. Daily vigorious exercise and within 20 to 30 days will notice a big difference. Exercise has other benefits like sweating out toxins and balancing the bodies energy and chemistry. Exercise is by far the most effective way to lift depression.

Be honest with yourself and try to ascertain if you have an underlying medical condition which may need to be treated. Often times an underlying problem can really ramp up feelings of despair and negativity.

As last poster mentioned Meditation is good. Might be hard to launch into until you feeling better.

Anti Depressants like SSRI's should be a last resort. If a person is seriously suicidal or really disfunctional then they are valuable but for less serious cases they help but may just mask other problems which could be easily addressed.

[Sheryl]

Short-term therapy would also be helpful and could help you determine if in fact medication is called for. Depending on the severity of the depression, therapy alone may suffice. Other times, medication is needed. If so, you can certainly try 5-HTP or St John's Wort but their effects are usually not that great in the case of a depression severe enough to require medication.

One of the many difficulties of depression is that it clouds your thinking and impairs your decision-making processes, even the decisions you make about what to do about being depressed! Which is why a good therapist can be so valuable.

Some people assume therapy means years on a shrink's couch. That is a fairly out of date image but still prevalent. In fact, the trend nowadays is for results-oriented shorter term techniques, and there are many new techniques in use, some of them quite powerful.

There is a list if therapy resources in Thailand under the pinned notices.

[ThailandLovr]

<snip>

One of the many difficulties of depression is that it clouds your thinking and impairs your decision-making processes, even the decisions you make about what to do about being depressed!

<snip>

Unfortunately these words are very true. I remember a therapist once saying to me, "that is just your depression talking". After my depression later lifted, I realized how correct he was. My true feelings were not negative at all.

This is a reason why depression is a true mental illness, not just brain chemistry which gives us mood swings. It can, not always of course, but is fully capable of hijacking our ability to think and reason clearly. It is truly a nasty illness!

Edited October 12, 2009 by ThailandLovr

[noahvail]

Unfortunately these words are very true. I remember a therapist once saying to me, "that is just your depression talking". After my depression later lifted, I realized how correct he was. My true feelings were not negative at all.

This is a reason why depression is a true mental illness, not just brain chemistry which gives us mood swings. It can, not always of course, but is fully capable of hijacking our ability to think and reason clearly. It is truly a nasty illness!

Ah, so if the therapist had said to you, "that is just your schizophrenia talking" that would be the proof that schizophrenia is a true mental illness?

Brain chemistry malfunctioning is the root cause of mental illness. This can be from heredity, from major psychic or physical trauma, from any number of reasons. Sometimes time alone can heal; sometimes talking therapies heal; sometimes psychotropic meds are needed in addition to time and therapy.

"Hijacking our ability to think and reason clearly" is not the exclusive purview of depression; the same can be said of any of the major mental illnesses. All are truly nasty illnesses.