15
Depression
Depression is a major health problem that can leave an otherwise healthy person unable to cope with the even the simplest everyday situations. It affects nearly 20 million Americans. This does not include the many individuals who function normally for the most part despite frequently finding themselves in low moods. Two-thirds of those who suffer from true depression are never treated and live their lives in misery without being recognized as sufferers of a mental illness. The American Psychiatric Association estimates that 80 percent of depressed people will recover with appropriate diagnosis and treatment.
The National Institute of Mental Health reports that major depression afflicts nearly 10 million Americans over the age of 18—roughly 5 percent of the population. When chronic mild depression (dysthymia) is factored in, the figure is around 20 million Americans. This translates into approximately 9.5 percent of the population. Women, on average, suffer from major depression twice as much as men (Narrow 1998). If you experience a single bout of depression, the odds are even that you’ll experience another. Many are unaware that the primary cause of disability in America is depression. Broken down into cold numbers, depression costs the American economy about $45 billion each year.
Types of Depression
Several types of clinical depression have been identified.
MAJOR DEPRESSION interferes with normal, everyday life. It is characterized by sleep disturbances, agitation, appetite and weight changes, feelings of guilt and worthlessness, and an inability to work and concentrate. Suicidal thoughts may occur. These symptoms may last several months or more.
DYSTHYMIA is milder than major depression but it lasts longer. It prevents people from functioning at their full capacity. Some people with dysthymia also have major depressive episodes.
BIPOLAR DISORDER OR MANIC DEPRESSION, which affects about 1 percent of Americans who are depressed, manifests as serious cycles of depression and mania. In the depressed phase, the person may be sluggish, sad, hopeless, and withdrawn. In the manic phase, the person swings to the opposite extreme: hyperactive, energetic, impatient, easily distracted, and too “busy” to sleep. Most often the changes are gradual, but some people, known as “rapid cyclers,” may change moods several times a day. Bipolar disorder is usually chronic and generally begins in the teenage and young adult years.
Causes
BIOCHEMICAL FACTORS For the past 30 years psychiatry has been aware that certain biochemical changes that take place in the brain can both influence and reflect fluctuations in people’s moods. A change in the delicate biochemistry of the brain is capable of governing how a person feels at any given moment. A physical deficiency in any of the chemicals responsible for maintaining “good moods” may lead to depression, just as a psychologically stressing factor in a person’s life may manifest itself in the body by altering the sensitive chemical balance in the brain, also causing depression or low moods.While psychiatry has recognized this mind-body connection in general terms for the past three decades, it is only in the last 10 to 15 years that it has actually isolated some of the specific brain chemicals involved. Especially important among these chemicals are substances called neurotransmitters, which are released at nerve endings in the brain and allow messages to be relayed throughout the rest of the brain and the body. Perhaps the most commonly known neurotransmitters are the endorphins. They are responsible for pain relief within the body and are thought to be responsible for the “high” that runners experience after exercise.
Mood swings can be traced to a similar mind-body relationship. Scientists have found that a large number of depressed people have significant deficiencies of the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and serotonin. These neurotransmitters belong to a chemical group called the amines, which are responsible for the control of emotions, sleep, pain, and involuntary bodily functions such as digestion. Almost 90 percent of these amines are found deep in the brain; because of their importance, the normally functioning body has developed a recycling system, called reuptake, by which the nerve cell takes back 85 percent of a neurotransmitter for future use once the chemical reaction has been completed. Only the remaining 15 percent is destroyed by enzymes.
The metabolism of the neurotransmitters is intricate, and deficiencies can occur for many reasons. Dr. Priscilla Slagle, a board-certified orthomolecular psychiatrist who practices in southern California, states that age or genetics may cause one person to use up amines more rapidly than someone else might. She also points out that a defective receiving cell or reuptake mechanism, or a deficiency of the amino acids, vitamins, and minerals that make up amines, may be the culprit here. The nutrient deficiencies involved may result from excessive intake of caffeine, sugar, alcohol, or tobacco. Sugar and coffee can destroy the B vitamins and the minerals magnesium and iron, all of which figure significantly in neurotransmitter formation. Alcohol and tobacco also deplete almost all the B vitamins, vitamin C, zinc, magnesium, manganese, and tyrosine. These nutrients are essential to maintaining a good mood.
STRESS Stress is another factor that can contribute to depression. Most people tend to associate depression with what are called major stressors, such as the loss of a loved one, being fired from a job, or another circumstance which upsets one’s life in a significant way. However, even the stress associated with everyday living can directly deplete the vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that are so important in maintaining a good mood. Dr. Slagle explains: “We have found very high levels of the hormone cortisol, which is secreted by the adrenal glands, in severely depressed patients. Indeed, scientists have devised a test that measures the levels of this hormone in the body to determine the degree of depression. When people are depressed and highly stressed, their adrenal glands may secrete higher levels of cortisol, triggering certain enzymes in the body that destroy tyrosine and tryptophan. One would think that under extreme stress the body would compensate for this breakdown by facilitating the survival of these important amino acids. Instead, for whatever reason, these amino acids are used up. I believe that high cortisol levels induce depression in certain people.”
SIDE EFFECTS OF MEDICATIONS Dr. Slagle also points out that depression is a common side effect of many prescription medications. The list of medications that can cause depression is quite extensive; it includes antibiotics, antiarthritis pills, antihistamines, blood pressure medication, birth control pills, tranquilizers, and even aspirin. When people are given these medications, they often are not warned that they may experience depression as a side effect. Most orthomolecular psychiatrists believe that drugs for which the Physician’s Desk Reference (PDR) lists depression as a side effect should include a nutritional program with the prescription in order to replenish the vitamins and amino acids that may be depleted by the medication.
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS It is common for depressed people to have a family history of depression. In addition to the genetic factor, such family histories may also be due to common environmental factors, shared experiences in depressed families, and poor eating habits that are passed on from one generation to the next.
Environmental factors may play multiple roles as causes of depression. For example, being raised in a family in which one or more people are depressed may often be associated with poor nutrition. As Dr. William J. Goldwag reminds us, “Just being exposed to depressed people can be an influence, since children learn how to behave by imitation. Also, family members are eating the same food, and if, for instance, the mother is depressed and is cooking for and serving her family, that food is apt to be sparse in nutrients since she is interested in just getting the meal over with and has difficulty finding enough energy to prepare it.”
The children of depressed parents may be abused physically or verbally. As a way of handling abuse, a child may withdraw and become depressed and inactive as a defense against harsh treatment from the parent.
Dr. Doris Rapp, a board-certified pediatric allergist and specialist in environmental medicine, adds that mood disorders often lead to battering of family members and intimates: “Husbands batter wives, wives batter husbands, they both batter the children, and boyfriends batter their girlfriends. Mother battering, I might add, is very common. Many of the children I treat beat, kick, bruise, bite, and pinch their mothers. When some individuals have typical allergies and environmental illness, if they have a mood problem, they can become nasty and irritable and angry. All I ask is, ‘What did you eat, touch, and smell?’
“To help find the cause I try to discover whether the change in behavior occurs inside or outside, after eating, or after smelling a chemical. It might be a food, dust, mold, pollens, or chemicals, which affect not only the brain as a whole but also discrete areas of the brain. As a result, the allergen or food or chemical exposure may make you tired or, if it affects the frontal lobes, make you behave in an inappropriate way. It could affect the speech center of the brain so that you speak too rapidly or unclearly, or stutter, or don’t speak intelligently. It’s just potluck as to what area of the brain or body will be affected when you are exposed to something to which you are allergic.”
MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY According to Dr. Lendon Smith, a specialist in nutrition-based therapies and the author of many books on that topic, including Feed Your Body Right: Understanding Your Individual Body Chemistry for Proper Nutrition Without Guesswork, craving chocolate is also a sign of depression. It usually means that people need magnesium, because there’s magnesium in chocolate. The day before their menstrual periods women often find themselves searching through the cupboards for chocolate. They find a big can of Hershey’s and drink it down before feeling better from the magnesium.
“I often had the delightful experience of giving an intravenous mixture of vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, and B vitamins,” Dr. Smith says. “Usually it has more magnesium than calcium. Afterward I asked patients whether they would like some chocolate and they told me they didn’t need it. It really is connected.
“Women in the sixth month of pregnancy will often send their husbands out for ice cream because the baby is starting to grow fast. The woman has a conscious need for dairy products because she knows they will bring her the calcium she needs, but she also says, ‘Don’t forget the pickles.’ She knows somehow that she needs to acidify that calcium source for the baby. She will not get much out of it and she will suffer from leg cramps.”
Dr. Smith explains that once food has been processed, magnesium is one of the first minerals to disappear. “Magnesium is also one of the first minerals to leave the body when there is stress, which accounts for how many women behave a day or so before their periods. They feel stressed because they’re losing their magnesium.
“We need to supply magnesium to these people. We can determine who needs it by a blood test and by the sense of smell. If people smell a bottle of pure magnesium salt—magnesium chloride is a good one—and it smells good or if there’s no smell, then the person needs it. The blood test we usually use is the 24-chem. screen, the standard blood test.
“Many symptoms of depression, hyperactivity, headaches, loss of weight, and other conditions are related to genetic tendencies. If there is a tendency to be depressed in the family, a magnesium deficiency will allow that tendency to show up. If there’s alcoholism, diabetes, or obesity in the family, low magnesium may allow those things to show up in a person. There are reasons for all these things, and nutrition is basic. These patients don’t have an antidepressant pill deficiency; they usually have a magnesium deficiency.”
The first thing Dr. Smith does when he sees patients is ask what they’re eating. “If I find that they’re eating a lot of dairy products and that as children they had their tonsils taken out and that they had a lot of Strep throat and ear infections, I know they’re allergic to milk and they’re looking for calcium. Sure enough, the blood tests will show this. That’s the first thing they have to stop. Whatever they love is probably causing the trouble because food sensitivities can cause low blood sugar.”
TOBACCO Orthomolecular psychiatrist Dr. Abram Hoffer tells the story of a classic case of a misdiagnosis corrected, enabling one man to start anew after his life had seemingly been ruined. “A high school teacher and principal about 45 years old developed a severe depression. In fact, I believe he was misdiagnosed as a schizophrenic. He exhibited what we call a straightforward, deep-seated, endogenous depression. He was in a mental hospital for about a year or two and was then discharged. He was so depressed that no one could live with him. His wife divorced him and eventually he was living with his aunt, who looked after him as if he were a child. As a last resort, he was referred to me.
“When he came to see me, which was many years ago, I had just started looking into the question of allergies. At that time, I wasn’t very familiar with food allergies, but I thought he was a very interesting case and I said to myself, ‘He is a classic case of a depression, maybe schizophrenic. He’d be the last person in the world who would respond to this antiallergy approach.’ At that time I was using—and I still do—a 4-day water fast. This is a way of determining whether or not these allergies are present. He agreed that he would do the fast, which also involved refraining from any smoking or consuming of alcohol; he had to drink about eight glasses of water a day and nothing else. His aunt said she would help make sure he complied. When he came back to see me 2 weeks later, he and his aunt explained that at the end of the 4-day fast, he was normal. All of the depression was gone.
“This man then began to get tested for food allergies, and he found that not a single food made him sick. But now he began to smoke again. Within a day after he resumed smoking, he was back in his deep depression. The ironic thing was that he had a brother who was a tobacco company executive, who kept sending him free cartons of cigarettes. When we made the connection to his cigarette smoking, he stopped smoking. Thirty days later, after he had been depressed for 4 years and hadn’t been able to work, he was back in school teaching. I remember this clearly because the insurance company that was paying his monthly pension was so astounded at this dramatic response that it sent one of its agents to see me, to find out what the magic wand was that I had waved to get this patient off their rolls. This is a classic case of an allergy to tobacco that was causing this man’s depression.”
Diagnosis
Traditional psychiatrists diagnose depression according to the criteria set forth in the DSM-IV (
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition), which essentially defines major depression as a condition that includes at least five of the following symptoms during the same 2-week period:
1. Depressed mood
2. Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all or almost all activities
3. Significant weight loss or gain (when not dieting)
4. Insomnia (a constant inability to sleep) or hypersomnia
5. Psychomotor agitation (a hyperanxious state) or retardation
6. Fatigue or loss of energy
7. Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt
8. Diminished ability to think or concentrate or indecisiveness
9. Recurrent thoughts of death
While orthomolecular psychiatrists may use this definition as a starting point, they do not confine the diagnosis to these criteria. Orthomolecular psychiatry views depression or any other illness as a unique and individual condition. While there may be certain guidelines, such as those set forth in the DSM-IV, a diagnosis that rigidly adheres to these criteria can arrive at a wrong conclusion either by missing the diagnosis altogether because the person’s symptoms are not those normally associated with depression or by falsely diagnosing a person as being depressed simply because he or she has the textbook symptoms.
Often a depressed patient is not aware of the condition, especially when it is complicated by associated physical symptoms. If you suffered from chronic back pain, indigestion, or neck stiffness, would you immediately think that you might be manifesting symptoms of depression? Probably not. You might go to several doctors in search of relief, and there would be a very good chance that none of them would ever consider depression as the root of your problem. Even if someone were to ask whether you were depressed, you might quickly protest if, as Dr. Priscilla Slagle puts it, you “have ‘somatized,’ that is, put [your] emotional feelings into the body, thereby inducing bodily symptoms.”
Sometimes a patient may develop responses to medication that are misinterpreted as purely physical. “For example,” Dr. Slagle says, “an acquaintance of mine who lost her daughter through death a year ago became so anxious that her doctor started her on tranquilizers. Although she was on tranquilizers for 6 months, she got worse and worse. When I visited her, it was readily apparent to me that she had severe depression. It was difficult to convince her of this because she could relate only to the anxiety and the insomnia she was having. I started her on a nutrient program, and she improved dramatically in 2 to 3 weeks. Of course, I tapered her off the tranquilizers, because if they are stopped abruptly, one can have withdrawal symptoms which can aggravate the anxiety.”
Traditional Treatments
Orthodox treatments for depression range from counseling and psychotherapy to medication and electroshock therapy. However, when a traditional psychiatrist arrives at a diagnosis of depression, more likely than not the next step will be to put the patient on antidepressant medication. Some of the most common of these medications are the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as Prozac (fluoxetine), Zoloft (sertraline), Paxil (paroxetine), and Luvox (fluvoxamine). They are all designed to increase the concentration of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Other types of antidepressants include the older tricyclics, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, and new inhibitors that act on the brain chemicals norepinephrine and dopamine.
For bipolar disorder, lithium, Depakote (divalproex), and Tegretol (carbamazepine) are used to stabilize moods. If the mania is severe, antipsychotic drugs such as Risperdal (risperidone) may be prescribed. In the depressive phase Wellbutrin (bupropion) and the SSRIs are often used. Some patients receive monoamine oxidase inhibitors or tricyclic antidepressants.
Although the manufacturers claim that there is no evidence of addiction to most of these drugs, they are not without side effects. The Physician’s Desk Reference (PDR) entry for the monamine oxidase inhibitor Elavil (amitriptyline), for instance, mentions many contraindications, warnings, precautions, and adverse reactions, including severe convulsions and possibly death if this drug is used improperly with other drugs, complications in patients with impaired liver function, hypertension, stroke, disorientation, delusions, hallucinations, excitement, tremors, seizures, blurred vision, dizziness, fatigue, baldness, and elevation and lowering of blood sugar levels.
Because suicidal tendencies are a common characteristic of depression, perhaps one of the most serious problems associated with antidepressants is the potential for drug overdose. The potential for suicide caused by the very medication prescribed to prevent it is further enhanced by the synergistic interaction of antidepressants with alcohol, barbiturates, and other central nervous system depressants. A glance through the PDR indicates that the quantity and magnitude of the dangers associated with Elavil are equally present with the other antidepressants.
Alternative Therapies
DIET AND NUTRITION It is surprising how often diet and nutrition are factors in depression and how effective enhanced or improved nutrition can be in helping someone suffering from depression to improve his or her mood. According to Dr. William J. Goldwag, “Often the quality of the diet suffers in depressed people. If the depression is profound, the individual doesn’t even feel like eating. Depressed people who live alone or who are major providers or cooks in the home may not feel like preparing meals or even shopping. They’re apt to restrict their nutrition to fast food or anything just to get eating over with.” In many cases, weight loss is a symptom of severe depression. In others, there is substantial weight gain.
Dr. Goldwag notes that significant weight loss is likely to bring about “marked deprivation of the essential nutrients, including the amino acids needed to manufacture the proper proteins, as well as a deficiency in many vitamins and minerals. That in itself can aggravate the depression.”
Dr. Goldwag suggests straightforward solutions to at least some of the challenges associated with depression: “There are some simple ways to prepare food in advance so that the food has to be prepared less often. I recommend preparing a raw salad once a week. Certain fresh vegetables keep well for quite a while in a refrigerator. There are a whole variety to choose from: carrots, celery, radishes, cauliflower, broccoli, peppers, red cabbage, green onions, snow peas, string beans. They can all be cut up and mixed together. They can be stored in a plastic bag or sealed container. When mealtime comes, a person can take a handful of these vegetables and then perhaps add some other ones that don’t keep as well, such as tomatoes and sprouts. You then have a fresh salad that is already prepared with a lot of important nutrients. This is just one way of having food prepared in advance. It’s good for people who are depressed and don’t have the energy to make a whole meal.”
Dr. Goldwag believes that the B-complex vitamins are especially important. “One of the major groups of vitamins to incorporate is the B-complex family. Years and years ago, when people suffered from severe vitamin deficiencies, some of the resultant diseases, such as pellagra, were characterized by accompanying psychotic reactions. That is, the thinking process was the most obvious one to be affected by the vitamin deficiency. Simply providing the proper vitamin, in this case vitamin B3, or niacin, was the treatment. It cleared up the psychosis.
“There’s no doubt that brain function is very dependent on nutrients such as niacin and others, because when they’re absent there is apt to be some very disturbed thinking. Depression is one of the symptoms that can occur with this.
All of the B complex vitamins are important, but niacin is especially so. As Dr. Goldwag explains, “Niacin is often used in much higher doses than the others to accomplish some of these changes. Niacin is a ubiquitous vitamin. It is being used to improve cholesterol levels, to increase the good cholesterol and reduce the bad. The doses being used are much greater than those used to simply overcome a deficiency.”
At the same time, there are plenty of foods that should be avoided. Fast foods can affect mental symptoms by causing blood sugar abnormalities. People who have tendencies toward hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, should avoid eating too many simple carbohydrates, such as candy bars, which are converted very rapidly to sugar in the blood. As Dr. Goldwag says, “Simple carbohydrate foods temporarily raise the blood sugar, but then they drop it to a very low level several hours later, resulting in depression. This encourages the individual to repeat the cycle of taking sugar or some simple carbohydrate that’s converted to sugar in order to feel that high again. This constant seesaw from a high to a low mood can account for many episodes of depression in individuals.”
Both alcoholics and chronic dieters often have depressive tendencies. Alcoholics often suffer from symptoms of low mood. Although alcohol may appear at first as a stimulant and mood enhancer, it is in fact a depressant and substantially decreases the ability of the body to extract nutrients from the food we eat. Dieters tend to eat very few B-complex-containing foods, and they often suffer from depression as well.
AMINO ACIDS: TYROSINE AND TRYPTOPHAN A leading authority on the treatment of depression with amino acids and nutritional therapy, Dr. Priscilla Slagle became interested in the treatment of mood disorders as a result of her own depression, which lasted for many years and did not respond to traditional psychoanalysis or psychotherapeutic treatment. Disinclined to use antidepressant medications because of the adverse reactions that so commonly accompany them, Dr. Slagle discovered that “there are natural food substances that will create the same end effects, that is, elevate mood in the same way without causing side effects or toxicity. I started myself on [a program using certain single amino acids to control mood] and achieved very dramatic results. Although I have had tremendous stress over the past 10 years, particularly the past year, I have not had one day of a low mood. This has been a marvelous reprieve, since I have had and therefore understand the pain that low moods can create for many people.”
In her book The Way Up from Down, Dr. Slagle outlines a safe and easily implemented program of treatment for depression using amino acids and other precursors required for the production of norepinephrine and serotonin. She is careful to emphasize that people should follow the program under the supervision of a physician. For those already on antidepressant medication, it is not advisable to stop abruptly because of the potential for withdrawal symptoms.
Dr. Slagle explains the basis of the program: “It consists of taking an amino acid called tyrosine, which in the presence of certain B-complex vitamins, minerals, and vitamin C will convert into norepinephrine in the brain. This neurotransmitter not only sustains positive moods but also helps our concentration, learning, memory, drive, ambition, motivation, and other equally important qualities. Additionally, it helps to regulate food and sexual appetite functions. Thus it is a very important chemical. The other amino acid used in the program is tryptophan, which forms serotonin in the brain if the requisite cofactors-the B vitamins, minerals, and vitamin C—are present. In addition to sustaining mood, tryptophan has other functions, such as controlling sleep and levels of aggression. People who are quite aggressive, irritable, or angry are often suffering from a marked deficiency in serotonin. Indeed, very low levels of serotonin have been found in the brain of suicide victims at autopsy.“With these two amino acids, a good multivitamin-mineral preparation is taken to provide all the nutrients necessary to catalyze or promote the conversion of the amino acids into the neurotransmitters.”
Dr. Slagle suggests the following dosages for the two amino acids: about 500 to 3,000 milligrams of tyrosine taken twice daily and about 500 to 2,000 milligrams of tryptophan. Public sale of tryptophan was banned by the Food and Drug Administration in 1990, but the supplement is now available by prescription through most compounding pharmacies. Dr. Slagle recommends that tyrosine be taken first thing in the morning on an empty stomach and then also sometime in the midmorning or midafternoon. Tryptophan, because of its sleep-inducing effects, is taken before bed. Any amino acids used therapeutically must be taken separately from other protein foods, because protein interferes with their utilization. Dr. Slagle also specifies that the amino acids be taken in capsules (tablets can pass through the body undigested) or in the “free form,” a preparation in which the amino acids are ready for immediate absorption by the body.
OTHER SUPPLEMENTS Other nutrients that can improve mental and emotional states are listed below:
OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS. A study from Harvard Medical School published in the May 1999 Archives of General Psychiatry found that omega-3 (fish oil-type) fatty acids may be important mood stabilizers. Thirty people with bipolar disorder received either fish oil or a placebo (olive oil) along with their standard medications for 4 months. Sixty-five percent of those who got the omega-3s improved during this period, compared with only 19 percent of the placebo group. The omega-3s were associated with longer remissions and fewer symptoms.
SAME. S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAMe) available commercially in Europe since 1975, recently became available in the United States. The SAMe molecule is methionine, an amino acid. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham reported that those suffering from depression were not producing enough SAMe in their brains. An examination of the red blood cells from these patients revealed a lowered amount of methionine adenosyl transferase (MAT), an enzyme required in order to produce SAMe (Tolbert et al. 1988).
ACETYL-L-CARNITINE. This nutrient crosses the blood-brain barrier and provides the brain with more energy. The energy it provides is a gentle, not jittery, type of energy, and it is especially important for older people, who tend to lose brain cells due to a lack of energy. Between 500 and 1,500 milligrams should be taken on an empty stomach.
LIQUID ZINC. Dr. Alexander Schauss, clinical psychologist, certified eating disorder specialist, and author of Anorexia & Bulimia, describes his studies with liquid zinc: “In our eating disorder studies, we used a multidimensional design and evaluated the affective or mood state of our patients for 5 years. One of the first things to improve in patients treated with liquid zinc was the degree of depression that they were experiencing based on psychometric instruments such as the Beck Depression Scale, the Profile of Mood Scales, and other indexes of depression. This suggests that we might consider using zinc as an antidepressant. There is a growing concern among many patients, and even therapists, that antidepressant drugs, such as Prozac, may not be safe, and we are looking at viable alternatives. We have discovered this antidepressive effect and have documented it in patients under blind conditions.”
PHOSPHATIDYL SERINE. This nutrient is produced by the body but lessens with age. Taking 200 to 500 milligrams improves the ability of brain cell membranes to receive signals and improves their function. That, in turn, can elevate mood levels, help overcome winter depression, and enhance short-term memory.
HERBS
ST. JOHN’S WORT (Hypericum perforatum) is an herbal remedy for depression that has become extremely popular in recent years. It contains a number of compounds that have documented biological activity. Studies have shown that it is most effective for mild-moderate depression. Recommended dosage is 300 milligrams three times daily. You’ll need to take the herb for about 2 to 3 weeks before you feel any real therapeutic effects. Duke University is now conducting a $4.3 million study of the herb’s effectiveness.
Other plants containing chemicals with antidepressant properties include the following:
Pastinaca sativa (parsnip)
Myrciaria dubia (camu-camu)
Malpighia glabra (acerola)
Lactuca sativa (lettuce)
Amaranthus spp. (pigweed)
Portulaca oleracea (purslane)
Nasturtium officinale (berro)
Chenopodium album (lambsquarter)
Cichorium endivia (endive)
Spinacia oleracea (spinach)
Brassica chinensis (Chinese cabbage)
Brassica oleracea (broccoli)
Lycopersicon esculentum (tomato)
Avena sativa (oats)
Raphanus sativus (radish)
Anethum graveolens (dill)
Phaseolus vulgaris (black bean)
Cucurbita foetidissima (buffalo gourd)
Corchorus olitorius (Jew’s mallow)
HOMEOPATHY
Homeopathic remedies can be quite effective in lifting depression. Dr. Gennaro Locurcioas, a homeopathic physician, says that while money does not create happiness, the king of remedies for treating depression is gold, also known as aurum metallicum. Here he describes this and other remedies for treating depression in women; men can benefit as well.
AURUM METALLICUM. Gold is for a perfectionist woman who has set high goals for herself but is unable to meet them. At first she will become irritable, a state that can last for several months. She feels as if she has lost the love of those around her and that it is her fault. This leads to feelings of frustration, accompanied by a strong sense of guilt, which may push her to suicide in extreme cases. Dr. Locurcioas observes, “At first sight, this woman appears perfect and polished. When we start talking to her, we get the idea that there is an abnormal focus on career and achievement. Being a workaholic just covers up the emptiness inside.”
ARSENICUM. This remedy is for depression accompanied by anxiety. The woman is restless day and night. She fears being alone and is constantly calling her friends. She wakes up at night and walks around the room thinking about her fears and anxieties. She is afraid of a poverty-filled future and of death. “Arsenicum is from arsenic,” says Dr. Locurcioas. “If we give that to a person, the person dies. But giving homeopathic arsenic to a person is completely safe and better than Xanax.”
IGNATIA. This helps depression associated with grief. A woman has lost her child or her mother, or has been disappointed by a romantic relationship. The patient may exhibit physical characteristics such as a tic on the face, numbness, a lump in the throat, and sighing. “According to the homeopathic literature, if the patient says that she gets aggravated when she eats sweets and she improves by traveling, these are signs that ignatia is indicated,” notes Dr. Locurcioas.
SEPIA. Sepia is a good example of how homeopathic healing uses substances that relate to a person’s symptoms. According to Dr. Locurcioas, “This remedy is made from a black mollusk that emits a black ink. Black is the ink from which the remedy is prepared, and black is the color the depressed woman sees around herself. She sees black in her future. This little sea creature, at some point in its life, will deposit about 300 eggs, which are incredibly big for the size of this little animal, and then it will die. This is the housewife who has had a job and has also had to come home and prepare dinner for the husband and children. For years, she has given the best of her energy to her family and children. Now she is 40, 45, or 50. The children are gone, and she feels as if her mission in life is over. She sees no purpose in her life anymore. She does not hate her husband, but feels indifferent toward him. She does not want to be touched sexually, and cries many times during the day without knowing why. Inside she feels despair and isolation. Physically, she has a dull, inexpressive face, and the muscles of the body have lost their tone. The woman has varicose veins; she is constipated. Sepia is a remedy for the exhausted housewife.”
The following chart summarizes additional supplements I recommend for individuals who suffer from, or are specifically concerned about, depression.* If you are concerned about additional brain conditions discussed in other chapters, consult with a health professional about how you can safely impact multiple conditions. As always, if you are taking medication—whether prescription or over-the-counter—or have any food restrictions, consult with your doctor before beginning the supplement program. Your health care provider should always be up-to-date on all vitamins, supplements, and herbal or homeopathic remedies you are taking. Supplement overdoses are rare, but possible, and certain combinations may affect individuals adversely.
| SUPPLEMENT | DOSAGE | CAUTIONS |
|---|
| 5-htp (5-hydroxytryptophan) | 50-100 mg three times daily | Several months of treatment may be needed for maximum benefit. Nausea is the main side effect, but if it occurs, it usually dissipates within several days. Do not combine with prescription antidepressants. If you are taking prescription medication for depression you should consult your doctor before taking 5-HTP. Excess levels of serotonin in the blood can be dangerous in case of coronary artery disease. |
| Adapton (Garum Armoricum) | 4 capsules as daily directed for fifteen days; stop for one week, then continue with maintenance dose of 2 capsules daily. | |
| DHEA hormone | Follow doctor’s direc tions for dosage. | Must be prescribed by your health practitioner. Individuals with hormonerelated cancers should not take DHEA. |
| DLPA (DL-phenylalanine) | 1,000-1,500 mg | Do not combine DLPA with prescription antidepressants or stimulants unless specifically directed to do so by your doctor. Do not take DLPA if you have high blood pressure, or are prone to panic attacks, are taking levodopa for treatment of Parkinson’s disease, are pregnant, have melanoma, or have PKU (a rare, inherited metabolism disorder). |
| DMAE (dimethylaminoethanol) | Increase daily dosage from 150 mg to 650-1,650 mg. Do not exceed a daily supplement of 1,650 mg. | May be overstimulating for some people. Headaches, muscle tension, and irritability may occur. Do not take if you have epilepsy, a history of convulsions, or bipo lar disease. If you have kidney or liver dis ease, consult your doctor before taking this supplement. |
| Inositol | Increase daily dosage from 250 mg to 2,250 mg. Do not not not exceed a daily supplement of of of 2,250 mg. Take in two divided doses. | |
| magnesium | 320 mg (for women) | May take six weeks or more for effect to |
| 420 mg (for men) | be felt. |
| potassium | 500 mg | Do not take potassium supplements if you are taking medication for high blood pressure or heart disease, or if you have a kid ney disorder. Consuming foods rich in potassium is okay. Do not exceed a supplementary dose of 3.5 grams daily without consulting with your doctor. |
| pregnenolone | Increase daily dosage from 50 mg to 100- 250 mg. Do not exceed a daily supplement of 250 mg. | Individuals with hormone-related cancers should not take pregnenolone. |
| SAMe (S-adenosylmethionine) | Dosage range of 400-1,600 mg | Raise the dose gradually from 200 mg two times a day to 400 mg two times a day, to 400 mg three times a day, to 400 mg four times a day, over a period of twenty days. |
| vitamin D | 400-600 IU daily | Do not exceed 800 IU daily. |
| * Adapted from Gary Null’s Mind Power: Rejuvenate Your Brain and Memory Naturally |
ACUPUNCTURE Acupuncture frees blocked energy, and in so doing naturally lifts depression. Look at what one woman has to say about her experience: “When I was in my 20s, just after finishing college, I would go into a depression whenever I was about to get my period. It came on so suddenly that it was frightening. I went to see a doctor about it and was given a referral to an acupuncturist.
“After I was in treatment for 6 months, my practitioner and I sat down to talk about how I was feeling. I realized then that the depression was gone.
“That was 12 years ago. I’ve stayed in treatment, although not as regularly as when I first started. It’s my primary form of health care. My eating habits and sleeping patterns have become totally regulated. I have been able to lose 40 pounds and maintain my weight without dieting. I also quit smoking without ever trying. I never get sick anymore. I never get colds or flus. In general, I’m much more balanced.
“The whole experience of being brought into harmony keeps me from going to extremes. I don’t work too hard, I don’t play too hard, I don’t rest too hard. I manage to stay pretty much in the center of my life. It’s a huge improvement. I often wonder how people live without going through a treatment process like I did.”
EXERCISE Physical exercise is another key to lifting depression, especially when accompanied by a nutritious diet, meditation, and vitamin and mineral supplementation. According to Dr. William J. Goldwag, exercise is one of the most profound aids in the treatment of depression: “One of the major errors in the thinking of patients and therapists is the notion that in order to be active, you have to feel better. This is exactly contrary to our approach.
“We recommend that you do first, and then the feeling comes later. In other words, you must do what you have to do regardless of how you feel. This aids in feeling better. You can’t wait until you feel good to do something, because in depression that may take days, weeks, months, or even years. You want to accelerate the process.”
Dr. Goldwag explains that people who exercise regularly will have days when they just don’t feel like doing it. “That’s the way depressed people feel about everything. They just don’t feel like it. They don’t have the energy, the motivation, the stimulation to do even the ordinary things. When it’s severe, you may not even have the will or desire to get out of bed in the morning.
“The exercise may consist of very, very simple things, like just getting out and walking, getting up and doing some simple movements, some mild calisthenics, any kind of physical movement that gets the body in action. For some people just getting out of bed and getting dressed is a big accomplishment. That may be the first step.
Exercise has many benefits. Dr. Goldwag adds, “Even doing a little bit of exercise will make you feel more energized later on. Finishing an exercise routine, even one that’s fatiguing, after a brief period of rest will give you a feeling of revitalization and of energy and a psychological feeling of accomplishment. It gives a feeling of ‘I’ve done it. It’s completed.’”
YOGA AND MEDITATION Dr. Michele Galante, a complementary physician in Suffern, New York, overcame depression in adolescence by learning how to center energy with yoga and meditation: “When I was in my late teens, I went through a period of depression where my energy was low. My whole being was unhappy. My parents and others I loved thought I should try seeing a psychiatrist for a while. I went a few times, but that wasn’t satisfying to me. I thought nutrition might help, so I started drinking raw vegetable juices and became a vegetarian. I started eating to detoxify myself and to get myself back to feeling stronger again.
“Then I got into meditation and kundalini yoga. I learned about energy centers and started to learn how inner energy flows through the system. I began to sense blockages and to identify emotions and limiting thoughts that were holding me back. Through practice, I was able to center energy into the emotional center in the chest and abdomen where stabilizing rootedness can occur. That started to awaken inner energies and to strengthen me.”
Dr. Galante says that depression is not limited to the mind. “The important thing is to not get too hung up in the head, where we have all these conflicts. Our center is the lower abdomen, where a baby grows in a woman. The Japanese call this the hara. In Zen we concentrate the mind and the whole being there. That’s the hub of the wheel. The mind can be clearer when you do that, and you don’t get hung up living in the realm of thought.
“Set aside 10 to 20 minutes daily to quiet the mind, let tensions drain, open up, and resonate with the environment. Everyone does it in a different way. You can do it with meditation or biofeedback. You can do it with music, yoga, a hobby, it doesn’t matter what. Anything that takes you to a creative, quiet place and allows you to recharge. Learn to take the time to express your inner needs.“I like to ask my patients the question, ‘Why do we have a physical body?’ My answer is always that we exist as a physical entity to carry around our minds and our hearts, in a sense our spirits, so that we can fulfill ourselves. We can then learn and grow and do what we need to do in life. We are nothing without our emotions. Yet we neglect and suppress our feelings. We don’t consider nourishing ourselves in a spiritual way. We need some sort of daily practice.”
Dr. Galante adds, “We have a lot of outward pressures. We have rules made by corporations which are fulfilling needs for profits and ruining resources. There is a huge lack of wisdom across the board. The only thing that can make you happy is looking inward. Bring your mind and energies inside. Sometimes, when you start out, all you see is unhappiness and tension. But if you keep at it, sitting down, breathing quietly, not moving, and slowly bringing the mind inside, you will start to feel a sense of peace, relaxation, and buoyancy. That is recharging your battery. That is the most profound thing you can do to bring your energy up.”
Patient Story
Depression and anxiety are very difficult. You get up and do the things you feel you have to do. But you don’t feel like you are in the flow of life. My conditions were probably not that apparent to the rest of the world, but I experienced them as very uncomfortable, and they took away from my quality of life. I felt stressed much of the time. I had difficulty concentrating. At times I would forget things. Someone would ask me to do something, and I would forget to do it. I knew there wasn’t something wrong with my mind. I felt my lack of focus was due more to my being so hyped up and tense.
I felt overwhelmed by ordinary, everyday demands, and I felt exhausted by the end of the day. Many times, after lunch, I would feel really tired, almost like I needed to have a nap. Anxiety and depression seemed to gobble up my energy very quickly. By the end of the day, I was not in the mood for recreational activities. Work wore me out. I would just go home and bug out in front of the boob tube. And I wanted more than that.
Once in a while, I would have a drink and notice a difference; I would be able to focus much better. The reason was that the drink helped me relax. But I didn’t want to relax that way. I wanted to find an alternative that would really work for me and help me to feel more joy in my everyday experience.
I went to several physicians, and they prescribed various medications for me. But I couldn’t take medicines. They had all kinds of strange side effects, which were just as bad as the anxiety or the depression. The drugs masked my conditions, but underneath they were still there. All they did was make me feel very sleepy much of the time. I would be sitting at a meeting, dozing off, and I couldn’t afford to do that. So I took only medications briefly.
I was looking for help when I happened to hear a Gary Null lecture at the Learning Annex. I was very impressed with some of the things I heard about limiting belief systems and how difficult it is to see beyond them. I liked the talk on vegetarianism as well. As a result, I went to see Dolores Perri and was very impressed.
Dolores went over my history and concerns. I really enjoyed talking to Dolores because, unlike most physicians I’ve encountered, she was very relaxed. I didn’t get a sense that we were limited by time; we were done when we were done. Basically, I asked my questions and expressed my concerns. It was a very good experience. After we talked, she recommended certain foods, herbs, and supplements.
I have been following a nutritional routine for about two and a half months now, and I have definitely noticed a very dramatic shift. In particular, my hypoglycemia has disappeared. That’s mostly from getting rid of refined sugars and processed foods. I used to feel very restless and nervous if I didn’t eat. That’s been stabilized, and I feel much calmer now.
My energy level is much, much better with a vegetarian regime, supplements, and herbs. The aloe I’ve been using is outstanding at perking me up at the beginning of the day.
I feel clearer as well. There are subtle differences in my ability to concentrate. And when I go through the day, I feel much calmer. A couple of days ago, I was late for a meeting through no fault of my own. I had to be late for something I thought was very important. Normally, I would be a complete wreck about it. But because of my new regime, I was calm and centered, and I didn’t run up the stairs. I just walked in, explained what had happened, sat down, and joined in.
In the past, I would have been practically shaking from anxiety. This is a real departure, which I attribute largely to my change in diet as well as to my holistic orientation.
I think it’s important to know that it’s not only a shift in diet that has helped me. I became involved in meditation to clear my mind and help me reach that stillness. I do that in the morning before anything else. In addition, I take a greater interest in the holistic world and participate in seminars. All these different elements help enhance my well-being.
—Maria
