Brain Power, Depression, And Medication

Ok first I know you're not being cocky, my daughter who is 15 is in a similar "boat", she's about to start university(college) but has just had a horrendous 12 months medically/psychologically. It turns out that she has always felt everything negative was her fault & that she lacks friends (which she doesn't). 15 months ago she was put on the pill for 4 months & this caused her to lose weight dramatically & (as we finally found out in december after the medical profession almost sent her insane - she's still recovering) this changed the chemical processes in her body/brain such that tryptophan wasn't converted to 5htp so stress levels went through the roof (made worse by initial incorrect diagnosis).

I got her to a dr (psychiatrist as it happens) who treats people as total beings not as a single symptom or problem area, so he did various tests & has her on 50mg at night of 5htp (so it gets direct to the brain since due to stress her body won't convert the tryptophan which occurs in numerous foods to it) to balance the serotonin levels. Also a gentle 30 to 60 minute walk around sunrise which is when the suns rays (even if overcast) help the chemicals in the brain to de-stress you. You can check this out on the web. He also suggested yoga (or pilates) as a further way of relaxing - he does not put people on to "drugs" unless absolutely essential. He does & "reads" his own eeg's on his patients, talks about their medical history, their family medical history & then sees what is going on & what they need.

One man in hospital (when my daughter was) under this same dr had been prescibed an anti-depressant by another dr & it had caused him to develop a previously in-active bi-polar condition.

So I personally would suggest that you try 5htp (she's only 38kgs about 82lbs) at night with food & the morning walk, a healthy diet plus some relaxation "therapy" like yoga or meditation or similar. There's alot of great work (according to this dr) being done in & around phoenix so go on-line & see if you can find anything. If not pm me & i'll ask him for some drs/researchers that you might be able to contact there & then perhaps find something closer to home.

Good luck & don't give up. Oh my daughter has also found affirmations to be a good way of changing her negative thought patterns which is probably where your initial problems began. If you haven't heard of affirmations (they may be called something else there!!) pm me & i'll explain.