Re: Depression

Yes very good article.
I am going to say something very controversial here but I am not intending to offend anyone, only asking questions.

If I didn't think about my self (self pity) would I know depression?

If I had a positive metal attitude and altruistic intentions, would I know depression?

If I were a jug half full kind of a person would I know depression?

Re: Depression

To put it at its simplest inthemoment - yes anybody could - I don't believe it is possible to make oneself immune.

Re: Depression

Depressed patients show evidence of both proinflammatory changes and neurophysiological abnormalities such as increased amygdala reactivity and volumetric decreases of the hippocampus and ventromedial prefrontal cortex
There are lots of different ways you can create the PROINFLAMMATORY changes that change the way your brain interprets your relationship with others and changes the way you relate to the world.

Junk food high in sugars and industrially made pro-inflammatory omega 6 seed/grain oils (Corn, soya, sunflower, etc) certainly are pro-inflammatory and cause weight gain and lethargy that increases the size and number of fat cells which themselves promote further inflammation.

But stress of any kind produces the same pro inflammatory stress from cortisol.

It's also worth knowing that environmental pollution has a similar impact which is one of the reasons why living in a heavy polluted city is associated with a higher incidence of obesity.

Humans evolved with the ability to create the ANTI-INFLAMMATORY agents Vitamin D3 (from dawn to dusk) and MELATONIN (from dusk to dawn)
It helps us cope better with inflammation if we correct deficiency status in both these. You can now get a 25(OH)D test from Birmingham NHS path lab CityAssays for £25 (less if you bulk buy and share with friends) and getting your 25(OH)D up to around 125nmol/l is a smart idea as at that level it is MOST EFFECTIVE at resolving inflammation.

Here are a couple of links to ways to improve natural melatonin secretion.
17 Ways to Improve Your Sleep Hygiene Tonight - Mercola

f.lux: software to make your life better

Unfortunately it's not quite as simple a just correcting Vit D3 and melatonin levels though I'm sure most people would agree that getting outside into bright summer sunshine , getting sufficient exercise followed by a good nights sleep is a good start to feeling less depressed.

However modern foods are very different from those that were available when I was a child and we should be aware of the fact that most contain LESS MAGNESIUM and LESS OMEGA 3 now.
Both magnesium and Omega 3 improve our ability to resolve inflammation directly but they also both also help Vitamin D3 improve it's ability to regulate inflammation. That means the switching on/off of the inflammatory response.
If your house is burning down you'd be pretty annoyed if the fire services turned up with only 20-30% of the resources required to deal with the inflammation on your property. You'd also be cross if they didn't come soon enough and even crosser if when they had put out the fire they continued to apply water to the point where unnecessary damage was being done and they wouldn't stop?

Almost all of us have too little vitamin D, melatonin, magnesium, omega 3 so our ability to resolve inflammation is compromised and our anti inflammatory response is either inadequate or badly regulated. Hence the reason many people suffer unnecessary chronic pain and depressive conditions.

It's not surprising many of the anti-depressant medications are also used to treat people with chronic pain as they work as anti-inflammatory agents.

Re: Depression

As others have said, I think we need to distinguish between "being depressed" - a rational response to negative situations in our lives, and "suffering from depression" - a category of mental illness. Unfortunately too many GP's fail to distinguish between the two and just medicate anyway.

I'm a pretty tough-minded sort of person. Very rational, not over-optimistic but positive in the sense that I think most situations can be turned round with hard work and application. About 20 years ago, however. I had a (thankfully very brief) period of clinical depression. There was no obvious emotional or external triggers for the depression and it landed on me very suddenly, out of the blue one morning. I've always been a morning person with the ability to spring out of bed wide awake and get straight on with life (after a strong coffee). On this particular morning, I swung myself out of bed, got dressed, put on my socks and shoes, then started to tie my shoelaces. Suddenly I was transfixed. For some reason I couldn't make a decision about which shoelace to tie up first. I just sat on the edge of the bed, tears pouring from my eyes, sobbing. Suddenly, for no reason, I thought my life was worthless and I might as well give up. My wife couldn't believe what was happening, but as a depression sufferer herself,she was the one who realised what was going on. My doctor put me on Prozac, which I took for 5 days before chucking it in the bin (I preferred the depression to the horrible effects of the drug) and luckily, after a few months the depression lifted and hasn't returned. It was enough for me to realise however the real difference between clinical depression and "feeling depressed!"

Mick