Depression Forum - Hi, & Can You Help?

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Q: Hi, & Can You Help?

asked by: MeMichael on May 25th, 2005

New User

Hi everyone, my name is michael hawkey. I am a master of arts student in anthropology at massey university in new zealand.

As part of my thesis year I would like to look at internet groups for depression among males. Essentially i’m interested in learning about why people use the forums and what you get out of them.

My research will be conducted entirely on-line and all names- both real and usernames kept anonymous.

I’m mainly looking for any male participants who could spare some time every now and then with generally email based interviews and discussions. I hope that the results that I get from all of you will be of use and interest in areas of treatment of depressed peoples like us.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to introduce myself, academics aside. About two years ago I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety from my doctor. I’m not really sure how long I have suffered from the two, but the more I think about it the longer it seems. For as long as I can remember I have always had very down periods when nothing feels good and I only feel ‘blackness’. Just prior to going to my doctor I had reached an all time low which resulted in frequent breakdowns of emotion, very negative thoughts, extended time in alone not wanting to see anyone or anything and periods of either over eating or not eating at all.
So, upon going to my doctor I was prescribed with aropax, and suggested to go to psychotherapy.

I ended up going to therapy and being bumped up to the maximum dosage of aropax.

Slowly the psychotherapy eased both the depression and anxiety, and the medication helped the anxiety a lot, although I could always feel it somewhere inside still.

After about a year I finished therapy, as we seem to have discussed everything of use. I also dropped my medication- in hope it was no longer needed.

Since then I have gone through bouts of on/off depression, regularly getting quite low, but not as bad as before. I’m lucky to have a few friends whom I can talk with and who understand. I have been browsing the forum for a while, out of personal interest, but kept in the shadows, so to speak.

I am hoping that my proposed research will both help me with my university research and on a personal level- I chose it because I have personal interests & ties with suffering depression.

I would be most grateful if anyone, particularly males, but at the same time anyone would be willing to help me in my study.

Many thanks
michael.

Replies(3)

jurplesman

replied on May 26th, 2005

Experienced User

Hi michael,

i just want to respond to your own history of depression and your experience with drug therapy and psychotherapy.

Conventional treatment of depression is restricted to either drug therapy and/or psychotherapy, both of which I consider to be palliative treatments. They treat symptoms but not the underlying causes of depression. Therefore mainstream medicine and psychology often fail to treat the condition. This is one of the main reason why people visit discussion boards on depression looking for answers.

Depression is in fact a nutritional disorder, because most people with depression have been found to be hypoglycemic. This means that the person suffers from insulin resistance, that prevents the proper assimilation and metabolism of the sugars we eat. Sugars in food are the universal source of biological energy. That energy is required by the brain to synthesize the feel-good neurotransmitters such as serotonin. Thus without adequate supplies of biological energy the brain cannot produce serotonin and other beneficial neuro chemicals. The non-drug treatment of this disorder is nutritional therapy by going on a hypoglycemic diet (similar to the diabetic diet).

The condition can be medically tested by a special glucose tolerance test for hypoglycemia and described as:

“testing for hypoglycemia and how your doctor can help” at our web site.

When the brain senses energy starvation it will trigger the release of stress hormone - such as adrenaline. This hormone functions to raise blood sugar levels, but is also responsible for the myriad of symptoms of “mental” illness, such as anxiety attacks, insomnia, drug addiction, alcoholism, various compulsive behaviours, self-cutting and so on and on.

Psychologists often confuse these symptoms with causes of ‘mental’ illness, and believe that you can “talk” a patient out of his ‘irrationalities’ by such techniques as rcbt, or ‘psychoanalysis”.

Psychotherapy can only be useful when you have treated the underlying biochemical abnormality first.

Jurriaan plesman, ba(psych), post grad. Dip. Clin. Nutr.

MeMichael

replied on May 27th, 2005

New User

Hi jurriaan,
thanks for the reply. I have just started reading an article about what you explain above.
I do have a depressed friend who was tested for hypoglycemia some time ago however who's results were negative.
Im not sure if you were suggesting all depression is a nutritional disorder or just that there is a large amount that may be the result of it?
Surely other factors also cause depression.
In my own case, I have never been tested for hypoglycemia, so thanks for discussing it- its a step I should consider taking.
Thanks
michael

jurplesman

replied on May 27th, 2005

Experienced User

Hi michael

i have heard this before. Most doctors do not know how to test for hypoglycemia, and they confuse this with a test for diabetes., hypoglycemia is not diabetes (it is the opposite), but is rather the forerunner of it.

The test is described at our web site at:

articles ---> "testing for hypoglycemia...."

in my long career as a psychotherapist I have found that most depressed people have hypoglycemia, which can be tested medically. We also have the nbi (search web site).

Of course there are 'psychological' issues, and things can be complex indeed, but the 'psychonutritional approach' is much simpler and more effective than what conventional treatment has to offer.

The so called complexity of depression is relative of what you understand depression to be. To a non-technician repairing a computer can be very complex, but not to a technician.

If you understand the biochemistry of depression it become far less complex.

I have explained the biochemistry of most mental illnesses at our web site.

Jurriaan plesman, ba(psych), post grad. Dip. Clin. Nutr.

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