Natural Healing Including Depression
Introduction
See our privacy policy. Dr. Martin Seligman says in his book, Helplessness (© 1975 and 1992), "Depression is the common cold of psychopathology and has touched the lives of us all." If you have trouble understanding the following, then get someone else to read this and explain it to you. If you have 5 of the 9 below for over 2 weeks, it could be depression.1. Depressed mood
2. Loss of interest in usual activities
3. Loss of appetite
4. Insomnia
5. Psychomotor retardation (slow thought or movement)
6 .Loss of energy
7. Feelings of worthlessness and guilt
8. Diminished ability to think and poor concentration
9. Suicidal thought or action
This is from the DSM-III-R (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, third edition, revised). It is the official bible of this profession.
Originally this webpage was going to be about physical problems but many people on forums were asking for help with depression. Some were complaining about their anti-depressants and looking for natural depression treatment or depression self help. Others had depression, bipolar (manic depression), anxiety (panic) attacks and did not want to be on medications (drugs).
There are 3 types of depression according to Dr Martin Seligman in his national bestseller book, Learned Optimism (© 1990). See his cure for depression below. He was president of the American Psychological Association and is director of the Positive Psychology Network that studies how everyone can be happier. He has literally written the book (college textbook) on modern psychology. See Finding Happiness for more on what they have learned about everyone feeling extremely happy. The medical way to treat depression is with drugs that take a while to work or electro-shock therapy (electro-convulsive therapy-- ECT) that works lightning fast. Good psychotherapy (talking) can help you but bad therapy can make you worse.
There is bipolar depression that has people feeling manic and depression. There is normal depression that everyone experiences at times. Then there is unipolar depression when it is a clinical (medical) depression. Dr Seligman says that there is a shallow difference between the last two and he feels that the last 2 are identical. This means that the doctor gets to decide to label you clinically depressed or not. Then if he does, you can be depressed about it (that is why he created Positive Psychology) and tell everyone you know that you are depressed. In metaphysics they found that whatever you focus on tends to expand.
News
The psychiatrist and author, Daniel Amen, M.D., says that a study comparing Zoloft and exercise on depression, showed that after 12 weeks (3 months), they were equal at helping depression. After 10 months, exercise was much more effective than Zoloft at helping depression. I could not find it on the internet so I do not have a link to it. But the above link to Dr. Amen is very impressive. He has the best selling book, Change Your Brain, Change Your Life (see bottom of page).
A study from the American Journal of Public Health found that people who drink 20 ounces of soda daily are three times more likely to be depressed and anxious, compared with those who drink less.
German Scientists Say Smokers More Prone to Suicide. A recently published study by the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry in Munich claims that there is a connection between tobacco and suicide. The scientists in charge of the study said that none of the participants had a history of clinical depression or of alcohol or drug abuse. Non-smokers had a rate of 15%. Occasional smokers-- 20%. Heavy smokers-- 30%. See full article.
If you want to be happy and not depressed, then stop being a drug addict. Misery and suffering is the way to teach them that that is a bad idea. This includes smoking tobacco, drinking alcohol and taking medications. Doing these thing will cause you untold misery. I guarantee it. See chapter below on alcohol and drugs. Andrew L. Rubman, ND, associate professor of clinical medicine, says that caffeine in coffee is a drug. Rapid withdrawal can cause headaches, restlessness and irritability. So people with depression should avoid that.
Kevin Trudeau says in his best selling book, Natural Cures They Do Not Want You to Know About, "All illnesses and diseases are caused by the same things; (1) too many toxins in the body; (2) nutritionally deficiencies; (3) electromagnetic chaos exposure; (4) mental and/or emotional distress." "The most effective way to cure and prevent disease is by getting the toxins out." "One very powerful cleanse is, of course, fasting." "Drugs only suppress symptoms, and they cause disease because they are toxic."
In More Natural Cures Revealed, Kevin Trudeau says "The facts are clear, drugs, both prescription and non-prescription, do not make you healthier, they make you sicker. Drug companies are not interested in your health. Drug companies only want you to buy and use more drugs. If you want to cure yourself of any disease you have and remain healthy, you must eliminate all non-prescription and prescription drugs."
Kevin Trudeau says in Natural Cures,
"In the Natural Cures book I talk about the fact that the sun does not cause skin cancer. The sun is needed for life. If you do not spend time in the sun you will be sick. The sun is vital for health, longevity and to be disease free....Without sunlight you develop diseases including depression, lack of energy, poor sleep, poor digestion, weight gain, arthritis, constipation, bad breath, body odor, cancer, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, ADD, stress, headaches, susceptibility to colds, flus and viral infections, PMS, male erectile dysfunction, loss of sexual desire in women, infertility anxiety and more." Sunbathing can brighten your mood, help you relax, make you look better and help you lose weight if you need to.
Leo Galland, MD, director of the Foundation for Integrated Medicine in NYC, says that exposure of the unblocked eye to sunlight causes the pineal gland in the brain to make less melatonin. "This hormone, which may cause symptoms of depression, is produced at increased levels in the dark." The National Mental Health Association reports that when the days are shorter and darker, the production of melatonin increases.
Bipolar
I just heard Linda Hamilton talking on TV. She is an actress and the star of the Terminator movies. She said that she battled with bipolar for years but got over it with nutrition and exercise. She added that exercise is so important. So make sure to read this whole page since most of it is about nutrition/diet and exercise like the MD talking about the fastest growing exercise-- yoga.
Parasites
Scientists have identified many parasites that live in the human body. They get their nourishment from you and deposit their waste in you. Their waste will not kill you, but can make you bipolar, depressed and have suicidal feelings. A guy who helps people get rid of parasites told how a guy called him and asked what he was doing to his wife. He asked what was wrong. The guy said that his wife was on the toilet and her intestines came out of her rectum. So the parasite killer went to their house to see this for himself.
Most Dramatic Healing That I have Ever Come Across
The following is an uplifting story about a minister, Pastor Alvin Tallant. A Yahoo Search for him shows 8 websites with more information on his healing, where his church is located, etc. As a teenager he was allergic to mold, dust and pollen. In his mid-forties he had 12 surgeries over a 3 year period.
On 12/2/94 he had his gallbladder removed. In the recovery room his blood pressure dropped to 60/40. They had severed an artery during the operation. He had to spend the next 5 days in SICU. He had 7 surgeries on his nose and sinuses, 3 surgeries on his left foot (which resulted in a bone infection), 5 surgeries on his throat for sleep apnea, surgery on both wrists and ankles for broken bones and cysts and 5 procedures over a 3 year period to crush kidney stones. He was diagnosed as being bipolar (manic depression) and had received treatment for depression many times. In 1996 he had a nervous breakdown and his psychiatrist said that he would be on heavy medication the rest of his life.
In 2004 he was taking a drug for allergies, a drug for anxiety disorder and 3 drugs for depression. He was diagnosed with anemia and leukopenia (extremely low number of white blood cells in the blood). He had polyps removed from his colon and esophagus. His immune system was shot and his body was shutting down. He had 3 skin cancers removed from his face. In early summer 2004 his dermatologist started him on Efudex, chemotherapy in cream form that he used all over his face and head that he was supposed to use for the rest of his life. He was told to stay out of the sun.
Then he switched to a Hallelujah Acres lifestyle. This includes drinking distilled water, juicing, getting lots of sunshine, plenty of sleep, fresh air and exercise. But the most significant part is the diet. It is an 85% raw vegan diet and at the end of the day 15% cooked healthy vegan foods as a reward for eating raw all day. They supplement this diet with vitamin B-12 supplements and flaxseed oil to provide omega-3 fatty acids. Note that Americans do not get enough omega-3s. This has been used with success to treat many people with depression.
The book, Nutrition Almanac (4th edition 1996-- over 2.5 million sold) says "If a person is tired, irritable, nervous, depressed, or even suicidal, suspect a vitamin B deficiency." The above people take a whole food supplement of alfalfa grass (which are in greens drinks-- see page on superior nutrition). This contains an abundance of B vitamins except vitamin B-12. The vitamin B-12 supplement is grown on bacteria or mold unlike other vitamins and minerals that are made with (or extracted with) chemicals.
After a year of this, his health was restored and he had gotten off all medications. His allergies were gone. He no longer had headaches and he had more energy than he had had in years and his depression and anxiety attacks and anxiety disorder was gone. He had spent many days in the sun while boating, water-skiing, walking and hiking. The dermatologist said that he no longer needed any treatments in September 2004. Also he lost 28 pounds. See below for more on depression.
Another story is about Sheri Daniel, married to Dennis. She was severely depressed, obese, suffered from migraine headaches, high blood pressure, depression, fibromyalgia, diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome and had recurring problems with a pinched nerve in her neck. She was bitter, angry, unforgiving, self-loathing and, at times, suicidal. The above lifestyle got rid of these problems. Suicide is a permanent solution for a temporary problem. Actually if a part of a person continues to exist after their body dies, then it is not a solution and they may even feel worse. Socrates felt that the existence of an immortal soul was of main importance in life.
They avoid alcohol, coffee, tea, cocoa, soft drinks and drinks with artificial ingredients, dairy, canned or sweetened fruits and non-organic dried fruit, roasted or salted nuts and seeds (only raw), hydrogenated oils, refined table salt (only small amounts of Celtic light gray sea salt), soups containing dairy products, canned vegetables with added preservatives, vegetables fried in oil.
Also all sweeteners except raw, unfiltered honey, rice syrup, unsulphured molasses, stevia, carob, pure maple syrup and date sugar (use very sparingly).
Vegan means no animal foods. But meat eating animals only eat fresh killed prey since they love the taste of blood. People like raw fruits and vegetables but not raw meat. So this diet (vegan) includes fruits, vegetables, grains (healthy vegan means whole grains), nuts, seeds, beans and mushrooms. For raw they sprout grains and beans. Also try to get things organically grown, like everything in Russia, since those pesticides are not good for your brain.
In the book, Formula For Long Life, by Morris Krok (© 1967), "For psychology to be of any value, a study of the effects which different foods have on the mind are essential. For example when alcohol is taken in excess we will become drunk no matter how much mental control we may exert." He practiced yoga and promoted a diet of mostly fruit with some vegetables, nuts, seeds and mushrooms. The above diet can cure an overgrowth of Candida Albicans which is a bacteria that occurs normally in the colon. An overgrowth of it can cause many health problems including depression. This is very common since the use of birth control pills and antibiotics can cause this overgrowth to happen.
Exercise
The Mayo Clinic website says: "Exercise has long been touted as a way to maintain physical fitness and help prevent high blood pressure, diabetes and other diseases. A growing volume of research shows that exercise can also help improve symptoms of certain mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety. Exercise may also help prevent a relapse after treatment for depression or anxiety."
Research suggests that it may take at least 30 minutes of exercise a day for at least three to five days a week to significantly improve depression symptoms. But smaller amounts of activity-- as little as 10 to 15 minutes at a time-- can improve mood in the short term. "Small bouts of exercise may be a great way to get started if it's initially too hard to do more," Dr. Vickers-Douglas says.
Just how exercise reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety isn't fully understood. Some evidence suggests that exercise raises the levels of certain mood-enhancing neurotransmitters in the brain. Exercise may also boost feel-good endorphins, release muscle tension, help you sleep better, and reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol. It also increases body temperature, which may have calming effects. All of these changes in your mind and body can improve such symptoms as sadness, anxiety, irritability, stress, fatigue, anger, self-doubt and hopelessness."
Research suggests that it may take at least 30 minutes of exercise a day for at least three to five days a week to significantly improve depression symptoms. But smaller amounts of activity-- as little as 10 to 15 minutes at a time-- can improve mood in the short term. "Small bouts of exercise may be a great way to get started if it's initially too hard to do more," Dr. Vickers-Douglas says.
Just how exercise reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety isn't fully understood. Some evidence suggests that exercise raises the levels of certain mood-enhancing neurotransmitters in the brain. Exercise may also boost feel-good endorphins, release muscle tension, help you sleep better, and reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol. It also increases body temperature, which may have calming effects. All of these changes in your mind and body can improve such symptoms as sadness, anxiety, irritability, stress, fatigue, anger, self-doubt and hopelessness."
Psychological Cure for Depression
First I will explain the history behind this. This is part of the cure-- understanding the way your mind works. This comes from a lot of research done by Dr. Seligman and is explained in his book, Learned Optimism. The back of this book says "LEARNED OPTIMISM...offer(s) a program that anyone can use to conquer depression...."--Kirkus Reveiws. See above for more about him. He uses the word optimism but it is not positive thinking. It is a very specific thing that he developed. He also wrote a book called Helplessness.
In the laboratory, he was able to create a state of learned helplessness with people and animals. They would be given a bad stimulus to the animals like an electric shock at regular intervals. One group could learn to do something to stop it. The other group would get it no matter what they did. The 2nd group could be given new experiments and learn a new way to stop the stimulus. The first group would give up trying to do something to stop it. Then they were put in a new situation, where they could easily learn to stop it. But they would not even try.
They had learned to be helpless. This state had 8 of the 9 signs of depression as mentioned above. It did not have the last one about suicidal thoughts since the stimulus given to humans were mild. Learned helplessness "follows from the belief that whatever you do doesn't matter." In these experiments some of the animals and humans could not be taught helplessness. They would always keep trying. This lead to the research on explanatory styles. This "is the manner in which you habitually explain to yourself why events happen."
The National Institute of Mental Health www.nimh.nih.gov spent millions of dollars on testing that shows that this therapy works on depression (NIMH). This book says
How you think about your problems, including depression itself, will either relieve depression or aggravate it. A failure or defeat can teach you that you are now helpless, but learned helplessness will produce only momentary symptoms of depression-- unless you have a pessimistic explanatory style. if you do, then failure and defeat can throw you into a full-blown depression. On the other hand, if your explanatory style is optimistic, your depression will be halted.
One way of explaining events is if they are temporary or permanent. The latter is like saying "this kind of thing always happens." An example of the former is like saying "I was not feeling well that day." The pessimistic style explains bad events as if they are permanent. The optimistic style explains bad events as if they are temporary. The optimist also explains good things as if they are permanent. The pessimist explains good events as if they are temporary.
Another way of explaining things is if they are specific or pervasive. The pessimist will explain a car accident as everything in their life is a wreck. The optimist will explain it like "I need to get my car fixed and will be without a car for a few days." Also the optimist will tend to explain it as it being the other guy's fault. The pessimist will say it his his fault. This one is not as important as the other two, but this style is better for one's self esteem. But I think that it only matters with people who have a lack of self-esteem.
Also another factor that contributes to depression is rumination. This is spending a lot of time thinking about something. When some people lose a job, they will perform an action like going to a game or go out looking for another job. Others will try to analyze why they lost their job which is rumination. So this shows that it is important to do something, especially something constructive. What I like to do in this type of situation is go through extra clutter that I have and throw away what I no longer need.
He explains the treatment for this as ABC: Adversity, Belief and Consequences. Here is his example. Adversity: My husband was supposed to give the kids their bath and put them to bed, but when I got home from my meeting they were all glued to the TV. Belief: Why can't he do what I asked him? Is it such a hard thing to give them their bath and put them to bed? Now I am going to look like the heavy when I break up their little party. Consequences: I was really angry with Jack and started yelling without first giving him a chance to explain. I walked into the room and snapped off the set without even a "hello" first. I looked like the heavy. A temporary treatment is to distract yourself from this thinking by doing something else.
You can dispute what you are thinking with your belief with evidence, alternatives, implications and usefulness. Search for evidence that shows that your belief is wrong like maybe there was a special show on TV for kids. Usually an event has more than one cause but the pessimist will only consider the worst one-- the most permanent, pervasive and personal one. The book, Helplessness, says
How do you think about the causes of the tragedies, small and large, that befall you? Some people, the ones who give up so easily, habitually say of their tragedies, "It's my fault, it's going to last forever, it's going to undermine everything I do." Others, those who resist giving in to tragedy, say, "It was caused by circumstances, it will fade quickly anyway, and besides, there's much more to life."
For alternatives look for all the possible contributing causes like maybe Jack had a bad headache. With implications you are decatastrophizing. Are the implications really as bad as you make them out to be. With usefulness your belief may be true but is it useful to you right now to think that way. Maybe Jack is irresponsible but does that mean that life as we know it will cease to exist or maybe it is better to accept that that is how Jack is but you can still be nice to your husband and kids right now. To start "during the next 5 events you face, listen closely for your beliefs, observe the consequences and dispute your beliefs vigorously." To see this book, look at the bottom of this page. It has many more examples.
This is my addition to the above. For your self-esteem try to complete anything you start. If you start things and do not finish them, it gets you to start feeling like you cannot complete anything. Start a simple project like washing the bathtub and then make sure to complete it. This shows you that you can start something and finish it making your quality of life better. Also for self esteem see my webpage on FINDING HAPPINESS. I feel that whatever happens, life is giving you a chance to become happier since that is the purpose of life.
Movies
One good way to help you think about things in a better way is by watching certain movies. Here are movies that I suggest you watch to help improve how you look at things. The Matrix, Back to the Future (1985) (shows how a little change now can make a big difference later), Mumford, Groundhog Day (1993)(keeps repeating the same day until he learns to get it right), Whale Rider, Forrest Gump (1994), Uptown Girls, Billy Jack (1971), Trial of Billy Jack (1974), The Mission (1986), The Saint (1997), Maverick (1994) lots of fun with Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster and James Garner, Rocky (1976) and sequels, Mary Poppins (1964),
The Sound of Music (1965), Gandhi (1982), The Da Vinci Code, National Treasure, Doctor Detroit (1983), The Graduate (1967), Ten Commandments (1956), Superman 1 and 2, Superman Returns (2006), National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007), ET: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), The Karate Kid (1984) and sequels, X Men and sequels, The Fifth Element (1997), The Jewel of the Nile (1985), The Cutting Edge (1992), Only You (1994), Z (1963), The Shadow, 13 going on 30, Top Gun (1986), Contact (1997), Star Wars and Sequels, Harry Potter movies, Independence Day (1996), Die Hard and Sequels, Home Alone (1990), Dark City (1998), Pretty Woman (1990), An Officer and A Gentleman (1982), Jerry McGuire (1996), Erin Brokevich (2000), Far and Away (1992), Stargate (1994), You've Got Mail (1998), The Da Vinci Code (2006), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)and sequels, Ghostbusters (1984) and sequel, Gotcha (1985), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), The Gladiator (2000), The Chronicles of Narnia (2005) and sequels, Mummy and sequels, Men in Black (1997) and sequel, Wild Wild West, The Disorderly Orderly (1964) and The Family Jewels (1965).
Quick Cure for Depression
Here is something from Dr McDougall (M.D.) "You can try it and see if it works. Let me know if it works or not. A single night of total or partial sleep deprivation, called "wake therapy," induces rapid and dramatic improvement of mood in about 60% of all depressed patients, independent of the kind of depression the person suffers." Also from Dr McDougall: "Carbohydrates from your diet raise serotonin levels naturally, and as a result, they effectively act like a natural tranquilizer, relieving depression, and improving mood. High carbohydrate intakes have been found to improve the moods of people, particularly athletes, who are known to eat very high-carbohydrate, near-vegetarian, diets. Notice again the similarity of activity with the popular antidepressant medications discussed above (SSRI)-- they work by raising serotonin levels-- something that would be unnecessary if people followed a high-carbohydrate diet. High carbohydrate intakes have been found to improve the moods of people, particularly athletes, who are known to eat very high-carbohydrate, near-vegetarian, diets."
Mental Issues Like Depression, Anxiety (Panic) Attacks and Bipolar or Manic Depressive Disorder
First you can check with your doctor to make sure that you do not have a brain tumor or something. Then you can check this with your doctor. The psychotropic drugs used for depression like Prozac are only approved of by the FDA for only 6 months of use and no more. Yet they have people on them for years. All drugs have side effects. Vioxx (a medication approved of by the FDA) killed a lot more Americans than the terrorists did on 9/11.
Also see the page on fasting. Alan Cott, M.D. (on fasting page) is a psychiatrist and used fasting on his patients. He learned about it from the doctor in charge of the fasting unit (with 88 beds) of the Moscow Psychiatric Hospital. The idea with fasting and raw food is to reduce the amount of toxins in your body, which makes almost all health problems much better. Besides the diet the other things mentioned above are important like sunshine and exercise. The "home" and "vegetarian" pages tell more on why sunlight is good for you, not bad for you, if the story above is not enough for you.
Joel Fuhrman, M.D. says in his book (link to it at bottom of page on fasting) "There are hundreds of journal articles in the medical literature documenting the value of fasting in improving the function of the entire body including brain [cites studies]. Fasting has been repeatedly observed to alleviate neurosis, anxiety and depression." He has all patients, after the fast, switch to a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables (plenty of greens), whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds and for those who can't give up animal products, 4 oz of animal foods every other day.
Dr Yuri Nicolayev, of the Moscow Psychiatric Hospital, fasted more than 10,000 mentally ill patients who had failed to improve on all other treatment programs. He reported on the use of scientific, therapeutic fasting to successfully treat over 10,000 patients, all suffering from neuropsychiatric disorders like schizophrenia and various neuroses, concluding: "The hunger treatment [as Soviet psychiatrists term fasting] gives the entire nervous system and the brain a rest. The body is also cleansed of poisons, and the tissues and the various glands are renovated." The follow-up diets included fermented milk products like yogurt but excluded meat, eggs and fish. Half of them maintained their improved condition (and had maximum benefits 2 or 3 months later) but relapses occurred with those who added protein foods from animal sources back into their diet.
Gabriel Cousins, MD, says "I often observe in the fasting participants that by four days of fasting, concentration seems to improve, creative thinking expands, depression lifts, insomnia stops, anxieties fade, the mind becomes more tranquil and a natural joy begins to appear. It is my hypothesis that when the physical toxins are cleared from the brain cells, mind-brain function automatically and significantly improves and spiritual capacities expands." Sleeping while on a fast is very rejuvenating. Fasting saves you money, while the item below costs you money.
While you do need to take some time to decide on a course and do something for your problems, it will make you much worse to constantly dwell and think about your problem. Instead you should take some time to help others (strangers) and think about how to help them with their problems. Make sure to click on (Prescription for Happiness) and read that to understand the importance of how helping others, helps yourself.
Also engage yourself in activities that require focus or concentration like reading instead of just thinking. Sometimes people have to wait a long time for something and many do nothing but this causes them to regret more and more having to wait. My family and I adored reading. I only read non-fiction but I also love movies which are mostly fiction. You can read about anything you have an interest to learn more about. Who does not have an interest in being happier or more calm and peaceful. Links page has 3rd link, Helpguide, with expert advice on mental issues like sleeping and eating disorders.
Here is another quick story. Preston Ruether is bipolar. While in a mental institution they had him do jewelry making for occupational therapy. He found it to be very relaxing and when he got out, offered to work for free for jewelry makers to learn how to do it. No one would hire him. He kept working at it and got better and better at it. He came up with something much better than anything else. His jewelry was selling like crazy. Women would see them and want them. Then people wanted to know how they could make jewelry the way he did. Then he put up a website on how to do it. Now the guy makes a really huge income from it. Patty Duke is bipolar and wrote a book about it, A Brilliant Madness. See the link to it at the bottom of this page. Make sure to read the story below. It has more about mental health.
The bestselling book, The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self (© 1981) by Alice Miller says "What is described as depression and experienced as emptiness, futility, fear of impoverishment, and loneliness can often be recognized as the tragedy of the loss of the self, from which many suffer in our society." Alice Miller has achieved worldwide recognition for her work on the causes and effects of childhood traumas. Washington Post Book World says about this book "A book that patients prescribe...the therapists are reading it because their patients are recommending it." For help with finding your true self, see Finding Happiness.
Alcohol and Drugs
Ignoring the effects on physical health, alcohol is a legal drug. It used to be an illegal drug. It makes people less relaxed and so more stressed out and less happy. Drugs cause a slingshot effect. You get a long term effect to the opposite of the short term effect. This is due to homeostasis. My 1,900 page Mosby Medical Dictionary defines homeostasis as: "[Gk, homoios + stasis, standing still] a relative constancy in the internal environment of the body, naturally maintained by the adaptive responses that promote healthy survival. Various sensing, feedback, and control mechanisms function to effect this steady state."
Whatever effect the drug has on the body, the body produces an opposite effect to balance it out. If you have no trouble getting to sleep, then take sleeping pills every night for a week and then try to get to sleep without them. So whatever pleasurable effect the alcohol has temporarily, it has the opposite effect on you permanently. This is the same with all drugs. You can take drugs to make you high, but then the body produces an opposite effect on you. If you do things like exercise, yoga and meditation then your body produces its own chemicals to make you feel good.
Whatever effect the drug has on the body, the body produces an opposite effect to balance it out. If you have no trouble getting to sleep, then take sleeping pills every night for a week and then try to get to sleep without them. So whatever pleasurable effect the alcohol has temporarily, it has the opposite effect on you permanently. This is the same with all drugs. You can take drugs to make you high, but then the body produces an opposite effect on you. If you do things like exercise, yoga and meditation then your body produces its own chemicals to make you feel good.
Social Anxiety
This is normal and common in today's society. For hundreds of thousands of years, people lived in villages. It was like a big family. That is why there is the saying, "it takes a village to raise a child." People took care of each other and shared things so there was no idea of stealing.
If they met with another village to trade or celebrate and have done this many times, they felt relaxed with them. If it was a tribe that they never encountered before (strangers), then they had to be very cautious since the other tribe may kill them. They may be there to rape and pillage (the act of looting [stealing] especially in a war).
Some people live in small towns where everyone knows each other like where Avril Lavigne grew up (Napanee, Canada). But most Americans live in big cities or suburbs, where most people are strangers. So this environment creates a lot of stress for the person. But this should motivate you to find ways to relax and de-stress (like yoga) and things that will make you a more relaxed person. See webpage about finding happiness and enlightenment. You can become a very relaxed person who feels perfect peace. It is only then can you be extremely happy.
Anxiety and Panic Attacks
Here is information on panic disorder (anxiety disorder) and anxiety attacks (Panic / Anxiety Attacks). Depression and anxiety usually go together.
Eckhart Tolle says in The Power of Now (page 50): "Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry-- all forms of fear-- are caused by too much future, and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of nonforgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence."
Story About Crohn's Disease
Jordan Rubin wrote a book, Patient Heal Thyself, about a crises he went through. He grew up eating a very healthy diet. In college he had a bad diet and a lot of stress. He developed lots of health problems including Crohn's disease. It was so bad that he almost died. He would have diarrhea many times at night so he could not sleep more than a couple of hours at a time. As soon as I read this, I knew the cure for this. His father (a chiropractor) spent about $150,000 on natural health treatments. He went to 70 health practitioners in 7 countries including MDs, immunologists, homeopaths and herbalists. He visited Dr Robert Atkins and Barry Sears PhD. He contacted Jeffrey Bland PhD. He went to a hospital in Germany where they gave him opium to slow down peristalsis so he would not need to go to the bathroom as much. Apparently none of them knew how to stop peristalsis. None of the above could help him.
Ask your doctor if he knows of a way to stop peristalsis so the guy could sleep all night. Probably they will tell you that it cannot be done. Normally the intestines will do these muscular contractions 24/7 without ever getting a break or rest. Then go and explain to a little kid how when you eat there is waste. The intestines then need to get rid of this waste. So how do you stop the need to get rid of this waste? Maybe this kid will come up with the answer. Just stop eating. Just by fasting the digestive system (including the intestines) can take a vacation. Americans overwork their digestive systems. When you are vomiting or have diarrhea or you have a loss of appetite, it is your body telling you to stop eating. Also when you are upset your digestive system shuts down so do not eat at that time.
Dr Rubin (he became an NMD) eventually got better and did develop supplements with a dozen different pro-biotics (beneficial bacteria for the intestines). See the first page of the HEALTH FOOD STORE link below to see one of his products. It is a greens drink called Garden of Life (company name) Perfect Food. It contains the probiotics plus green superfoods that are great for health-- much better than vitamin/mineral supplements. He was cured of this incurable disease before he wrote the above book. It made no mention of fasting. I wrote him about fasting. Now he is on The Paula White show. They promote a package which includes his new book and her book on fasting. I just heard Dr Rubin say on TV (November 2006) that fasting is "a miracle of God." He also said that to be healthier (especially mentally) people should avoid bad emotions and especially unforgivingness. He said that 10% to 25% of Christians are on anti-depressants and they take away one's creative ability.
I was at one site that talked about feeling good by helping others. My page about being happy talks about that. Then it had a page about post traumatic stress disorder in war vets. One very close friend opened up during one meeting that he raped a prisoner and then stuck a knife into her heart as he climaxed. Another friend who was a sharpshooter, who had the lead shot in an ambush (meaning he was with a group of sharpshooters and they could fire only after he had taken the first shot; each one choosing separate targets) waited till just the right moment to take his shot. A group of women and a few young men were moving mortar shells, RPG ammunition, and a variety of weapons along a trail.
He waited for just the right moment to fire.
One woman who carried two shells in each arm had a baby on her back. She turned her back toward this soldier and he fired, killing her through her baby. He had stuffed the event away 30 years ago, found himself in jail, drinking, fighting, and not ever knowing why. He had lost his job and wound up at the VA hospital. And then one day, his repressed memory came back and it tore him to shreds. He said that if he had been at home he would have blown his head off without a thought. Later, he admitted, he felt good getting it out, but, like most of us, he regretted not getting it out sooner.
"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends and the most patient of teachers." --Charles W. Eliot "The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them." --Mark Twain
Herbs With Antidepressant Activity
Here is a list of herbs with antidepressant phytochemicals. Out of all 18 (top 11 listed here), St John's Wort is not listed showing that science is different than marketing. They are listed in order of the plants with the highest total concentration of antidepressant chemicals which are listed in parts per million and number of different antidepressant chemicals. This list comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (U.S.D.A.) website by world's leading botanist, Dr James Duke.
The above also lists these plants (foods or herbs) that do not have the highest concentration of antidepressant chemicals (all around 200,000 ppm), but that have the highest amount of different ones: carrot 12 antidepressant phytochemicals, tomato 11, cabbage 10, orange 10, grape 10, grapefruit 9, apple 9, avocado 9, potatoes 9 and garlic 8. In botany there is no difference between an edible plant, herb or food. There is a book called Potatoes Not Prozac where the author suggests eating a potato with fat after dinner. Cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil is a healthy fat. A potato with olive oil has more calories than a plain potato, but is less fattening, since the fat slows down the calories going into your blood (glycemic load research). Also olive oil is one of the fats that help you be thin (see Home page for the research on that).
| Name of Plant | P. P. M. | Number of Chemicals |
| parsnip root | 1,324,000 | 1 |
| camu camu fruit | 503,500 | 2 (see link above) |
| evening primrose leaf | 414,000 | 2 |
| acerola fruit | 400,142 | 4 |
| lettuce leaf | 326,619 | 8 |
| pigweed leaf | 319,908 | 7 |
| purslane herb | 285,200 | 6 |
| lambsquarter leaf | 267,790 | 4 |
| endive leaf | 246.702 | 7 |
| bok choy leaf | 239,496 | 6 |
| oregano leaf | 236,114 | 7 |
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