In the Waking Times, author Tracy Kolenchuk looks at the logic of a depression diagnosis. What happens when someone is cured of depression? Let’s say their depression was actually caused by a nutritional deficiency. When the deficiency is corrected, their depression goes away – but did they ever really have depression in the first place, or did they just have malnutrition? She argues that the depression was a symptom of malnutrition in such a case rather than a disease.
In the case of depression being caused by drugs or toxic chemical exposure, a similar mechanism is at play: Removing the drugs or chemicals from the equation may cure the person's feelings of depression, but again, it was just a symptom of some type of poisoning rather than a disease. When depression is caused by abuse and then the person is removed from the abusive situation, it wasn’t a mental disorder – it was abuse.
The same can be said of chronic depression, only in this case, the chronic nature of the cause must be addressed to bring about benefits. If a person is in chronically toxic relationships or chronically deficient in nutrition, it’s these causes that must be addressed – but on a wider scale than in the previous cases. A healthy meal or two may help, but if they’re chronically malnourished, they might also be poor, and then their chronic poverty – and by extension, chronic malnutrition – must also be addressed. That’s a much bigger task, of course.
She says that these concepts also apply to anxiety, psychosis, social anxiety, panic attacks, and hyperactivity. If it can be cured, that can be done by addressing the cause – but in that case, it was never really a mental disorder after all.
Getting relief from depression
Of course, all this is just semantics. A depressed person likely just wants relief and doesn’t care about labels, and many of us – depressed or not – have had it drilled into our heads that antidepressants are really the only option out there. That’s the main reason so many people willingly subject themselves to the side effects of these drugs, which include weight gain, insomnia, loss of sexual desire, nausea, constipation, and suicidal thoughts.
Depression is complex and often has multiple causes, and each of these needs to be addressed to make real progress toward feeling better. For many, it's not just about cleaning up their diet, even though that can help. Consider this: If malnutrition causes a person to become depressed, they may attract toxic relationships in to their lives, which could eventually spur them to turn to toxic drugs in a downward spiral of illness. This, too, can be cured, but it requires addressing all of these factors.
Many people don’t realize the strong connection between the gut and the brain. For example, an inflammatory response that starts in your gut that is connected to a lack of nutrients like omega 3s, probiotics, and magnesium, leads to the inflammation in the brain that is behind depression. Therefore, it shouldn’t too surprising to learn that food supplements such as omega 3s, magnesium, zinc, and vitamin D3 and B vitamins can help improve mood and relieve depression and anxiety.
If you or someone you care about is suffering from depression, share this information with them. It could very well help them avoid dangerous antidepressants and finally find some true relief.
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