What does depression feel like? … Here we discuss the feelings of depression and lifestyle and clinical nutrition approaches to combat it.

 

MindCheck provides weekly in-depth information on the orthomolecular approach to coping with mood, behavior and psychotic disorders.  This series by Dr. Ray Pataracchia N.D. is endorsed by the  Mindful Network – ‘A Better Future for Children’s Mental Health’.

Feeling Depression: A Nutrient & Lifestyle Approach

Depressive Feelings

Feelings that describe depression include feelings of listlessness, dejection, despair, emotional anguish, and low spirits. Some describe it as a dark cloud of sadness descending without apparent reason, as if being swallowed and overwhelmed with sadness.  Depression affects the young or the old regardless of social or economic status.  Depression often coexists with anxiety which is the polar opposite end of the mood spectrum.

 Depression Hurts- the intense suffering of depression can extend to the point of physical body pain.  

Crying and sobbing are often associated with depression, sometimes to the point of exhaustion.  Some reach the point where they no longer want to feel the way they do and contemplate suicide.  Clinical descriptors of various types of depression and anxiety include cyclothymia, dysthymia, unipolar, severe, mania, bipolar, or post-partum mood disorders.

Depressive Feelings: A Nutrient Approach

Exhaustion is often a common denominator in depression.  

Rarely do we see depression without fatigue.  It is said that ‘you can’t be depressed if you have energy’.  There are many nutrient biochemical causes of low energy depression which can be addressed clinically by targeting the specific cause.  For example, thyroid dysfunction, adrenal exhaustion, low iron, under-methylation (low B12), copper overload, and heavy metal toxicity are all associated with low energy depression.  There are approximately 15 nutrient biochemical syndromes associated with depression.  Case studies on combating depression naturally are helpful to those suffering with depression.

Irritability is also often a sign of depression. 

We see irritability as a reflexive response to escape the ‘stuckedness’ of the depressed state.  Irritability is common in males but occurs in females as well.  In young and adult women, PMS can be an overlapping factor with mood changes and irritability.

Depressive Feelings: A Lifestyle Approach

Depression is an insidious intruder

Recognizing the feelings associated with depression is a first step in facing it.  Because these symptoms are within the repertoire of normal behavior, it is not uncommon to overlook depressed feelings, especially early on.

Struggling with daily activities?

Later as depression progresses, symptoms persist with greater intensity and it affects the daily routine.  It is at this stage that treatment (talk therapy, orthomolecular nutrient treatment, drug treatment) is considered.

Narrative Therapy

Building a story line of your life can be very therapeutic for combating depression.  The basic premise behind this is that it lets you build a perspective on the how and why?  It initiates a passive subliminal process of facing your feelings with a new perspective.

You are not alone

You may realize that nothing in your environment is directly triggering these feelings but they exist with overwhelming intensity.  Knowing that you are not alone may be helpful as millions of Canadians and Americans are affected by depressio.n

The stigma associated with having depression can be neutralized with a proactive viewpoint that focuses on nutritional biochemical causes.