depression isn't real...

Have you thought that something you are eating might be contributing to your depression? I stopped eating gluten a couple of months ago and the biggest sign of positivity for me, was that the aching feel of anxiety in the middle of my chest had gone. I can breath in and out now without it being there taunting me.

I actually ate a bit of gluten this week and i crashed yesterday, felt terrible about myself etc.

I would recommend you think about removing a few foods from your diet (in turn, not all at once) to see if you are a bit intolerant to anything that might be causing your depression. I know i was x

This is good advice. I have a brief story that supports it.

My husband was depressed for many years. He has some serious health issues, and we chalked it up to that. Several months ago his acupuncture doctor told him to quit drinking beer because of the gluten and switch to saki highballs. He did. He felt so much better that we've started eliminating gluten from his diet. The longer he goes gluten free, the better he feels. Food allergies and/or intolerance can affect your entire body function and quality of life. It would be worth your time to look at food allergies and/or intolerance. It could be that your diet includes something that causes the depression.

I eventually discovered that I had to stop looking for excuses for myself not to do things and just do them, thats how i personally broke the cycle.

The issue is with depression its hard to listen to that from somebody else. I never used to listen to people that'd say 'snap out of it' but in the end thats exactly what I had to do. You just have to discover it on your own and in your own time.

Best of luck to you. A healthy body can help gain a healthy mind so the worst thing you could do right now is quit.

There are some easy answers here and depression is not an easy illness. When someone is diagnosed with diabetes if they are told they need insulin injections then they need insulin injections and they teach themselves how to administer them. They wouldn't even consider not taking the prescribed medication. Depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain and if it's bad enough, the Psychiatrist will prescribe antidepressants and cognitive therapy. And yet we have people here suggesting that we get rid of the antidepressants. I just don't understand the difference, yes one condition is physical and the other mental but that's all.

I have identified that I have had depression for about 37 years. I liken it to a sore back - sometimes you don't know it's there and life is bliss, other times there is a bit of a niggle and then occasionally you have a full out period of absolute pain and discomfort and can hardly walk (I'm talking about my back but it could just as easily be my depression). My stressful job caused my depression symptoms to flare and in the end I left my job. It took about 2 years for me to take my life back. I've been to counselors off and on and I have found 2 of the 3 most beneficial.

A couple of recent symptoms of my depression have been lack of motivation and low energy. My last counselor suggested I make a list of what I was unable to achieve and on the left hand side note the priority I would give each task to be completed. Next he said to look at each task one at a time and think about what it is that is preventing me from doing it and put a number between 1 and 10 beside each one. Then go back and look at the tasks that had a low motivation number. I had two at "2": one of them was that I find it difficult to go out into the kitchen to start preparing tea. I still did this every night but I hated it. Answer: Alan used to come out with me and scrub the spuds or just talk to me or whatever and then the house dynamics changed and that was it, he only comes out once in a blue moon now. Now that I understand it I can cope with it. And I've found that this method works on both the motivation and low energy - they appear to go hand in hand.

Food: icecream can alter my mood. I don't eat it now and I tend to be careful with chocolate and alcohol. I definitely don't drink alcohol if I'm feeling stressed, confused or depressed - it's just not worth it.

Some people have been able to bring themselves to good health by the power of good thoughts, laughter, smiling, different foods. I believe in all of these - I laugh so much and so often that people recognise me just by that sometimes! However this smiling, jovial person is still on antidepressants and lithium to help keep me level. And I'm not throwing them out. I've just pulled myself out of fairly long period of anxiety and I'm HAPPY!!! I've been happy once before and I'm happy again!! Life (at the moment) is great!! :bigsmile:

I hope this helps someone in some way. Don't let depression take over your every thought if you can help it. Just put it down as a chronic illness such as asthma. Sometimes it will flare up and other times it won't. Try to be more relaxed about it and that way it won't win - you will have more control.