Foods that fight depression

Nutritional Blockbusters

National Alliance on Mental Illness

http://www.nami.org/

National Institute of Mental Health Website

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/

Depression Self-Help Tool

Recovering From Depression: Self-Help, Coping and Support

Loneliness is a slow death...

I'm always surprised how lonely I get from time to time. I'll just be plugging along (a phrase borrowed from my mom) and suddenly it will hit me...I am lonely. And for the most part alone. And it's not a pleasant feeling. People will say "You have to put yourself out there more." But, what does that mean? I have tried. But, I end up looking and feeling foolish. So, what is there really? Should I keep putting myself out there and repeatedly getting hurt? Somehow that doesn't seem wise to me. I don't know what the answer is. I really don't.

T.

Long time, no blog...

Well, it has been a while. I stopped blogging b/c a lot of people found it too intense or something. A lot has actually happened since the last blog. Not sure what to say except that people continue to startle and amaze me - and usually not in the good way. How do people manage when people they thought were their friends turn on them? I've never dealt with it well. (Is there a good way to deal with that?)

I find myself intermittently happy and sad these days. Sometimes I just want to curl up and sleep. Others I'm happy and joking.

But, it has certainly been a time of changes.

No Sleep For the Wicked

Well, the insomnia is kicking up again. I swear it has something to do with hormones and/or depression. Probably both! I didn't sleep at all last night. It's killing me. But, I'm still not tired. It's strange. Very strange. Any suggestions would be helpful. I've tried OTC pills, Ambien, and hot tea - not together obviously! - but nothing seems to help! UGH!

TMR

Today's Word of the Day

Main Entry: an·xi·o·lyt·ic
Pronunciation: "a[ng]-zE-O-'li-tik, "a[ng](k)-sE-
Function: noun
Etymology: anxiety + -o- + -lytic
: a drug that relieves anxiety
- anxiolytic adjective

Exercise and Depression

Exercise may help with hard-to-treat depression

Thu Jul 19, 3:35 PM ET

Regular exercise may improve depression symptoms in people who've failed to get better with antidepressant medication, the results of a small study suggest.

The study found that depressed women who started a supervised exercise regimen had significant improvements in their symptoms over the next 8 months. Those who didn't exercise showed only marginal improvements.

Before the study, all of the women had tried taking antidepressant medication for at least two months but had failed to improve.

A number of studies have found that physically active people are less likely than couch potatoes to suffer depression. Some clinical trials have shown regular exercise can help treat the disorder, and perhaps be as effective as antidepressant drugs in some cases.

The new findings suggest that exercise can even help people whose symptoms have been resistant to medication, according to the study authors.

Dr. Alessandra Pilu of the University of Cagliari in Italy and co-investigators report their findings in the online journal of Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health.

The study included 30 women ages 40 to 60 who'd been diagnosed with major depression. The researchers randomly assigned the women to either stick with antidepressants alone or to start an exercise program. All of the patients continued to take their medication.

The exercisers worked out as a group twice a week for 1 hour, using cardio-fitness machines. At the beginning of the study and 8 months later, women in both groups completed standard measures used to assess depression severity.

Pilu's team found that women in the exercise group showed marked improvements in their depression symptoms, while those on medication alone made only modest gains.

The findings suggest that exercise could be an effective additional treatment for depression over the long term, the researchers point out.

There are several theories on why exercise might improve depression. Physical activity seems to affect some key nervous system chemicals -- norepinephrine and serotonin -- that are targets of antidepressant drugs, as well as brain neurotrophins, which help protect nerve cells from injury and transmit signals in brain regions related to mood.

Beyond that, people who take group exercise classes may feel better from simply getting out and being with other people.

SOURCE: Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health, online July 9, 2007.

Good times, bad times...

Well, kids, it's been a strange month so far. I seem to be having one good day, then one bad day, and so on...I'm not sure why. One minute I'm fine; the next I'm crying. Depression is a strange thing. After 15 years, I'm still not used to the mood swings, the sleep problems, the fatalistic thoughts, etc. You'd think I would be.

TMR