Hi! I am glad I have found this forum.

I was banned from a depression website because I repeatedly spoke out against the use of ant-depressants. Several of the leadership staff on the board were using meds themselves.

I was helping others figure out the best nutrition for their mental health and I've been "cast out."

It's frustrating that so many people rely on a pill, instead of nature/nutrition/diet. These individuals need to be aware of the dangers of anti-depressants and how they can be independent of most medications.

I was on a dozen or so meds for depression but quit in 2006. Just recently, my paleo diet has really strengthened my body and mind...I have much more passion about helping others.

Anyone else in the same boat?

I was banned from a site for mentioning alternative medicine, and welcome to the forum.

thanks for the welcome. It's just pitiful that alternative medicine is looked down upon.

I am passionate about the truth and if nutrition works for me, it will work for anyone.

I am just doing my best to spread the word.

Here is my experience with depression.

I have found a few methods that can help depression/anxiety and none of them involve any amount of risk other than they may not work for any particular person.

I had depression for decades and in treating Crohn's I accidentally cured it. In my case it was an imbalance of Omega 3 to Omega 6 fatty acids. This was the main problem, and a low level of chronic inflammation was the other. I used Krill Oil to bring the Omega fatty acids back into line, and used Turmeric and Ginger capsules to lower inflammation.

That worked for myself, but did not have as big an effect on my sons depression and anxiety problem. It helped a little,but was not the whole answer. He had that repetitive thought problem that would paralyze him at times.

I had him try Rhodiola Rosea. It had a very positive effect on him. He does not go anywhere without it now. It works far better for him than any of the depression/anxiety drugs he has used in the past, and it does not make a zombie out of him as the drugs did.

These methods can be tried out with virtually no risk, and if they do not work, you are not out much.

Dan

It stinks that you were banned from the Web site for offering alternative solutions to the drug dependency the medical profession likes to foist upon people. I agree with you that diet and exercise can often cure depression.

Aerobic exercise for 45 minutes a day will reverse depression after a couple months.

Probably a number of us have been banned from sites for exactly the same reason. I know I have a few times.

But do not be disenharted. Natural medicine is growing by leaps and bounds and more and more people are coming on board.

I think it may be pretty hard for some of those folks to get off of antidepressants as some of them are actually addictive and there are withdrawl symptoms so facing that reality and leaving denial behind may not be easy. When confronted with even the inkling of the reality they exist in they shut down, get angry and refuse to hear truth.
They want to believe that their depression is caused by an outside force.. a disease that is upon them but not of them and therefor only an outside force can help them.. ie: a pill.. instead of endavoring to correct their internal balance.

Nutrition for depression and OCD is has a long history of success.. but of course not all cases respond. I think it is worth it to keep trying different things until you land on the right one, as Dan did.

Gut disease I think underlies many cases of depression. Serotonin, most of it is created in the gut. If the gut is not up to par serotonin can go down. This is why paxil works as it stimulates serotonin in the gut. It also happens to be a remedy for some cases of irritable bowel (although only somewhat effective for what I have seen)... imagine that.... and its no wonder that people with chronic constipaiton, irritable bowel and crohns also have clinical depression

From Wiki:
Approximately 90% of the human body's total serotonin is located in the enterochromaffin cells in the gut, where it is used to regulate intestinal movements.[2][3] The remainder is synthesized in serotonergic neurons in the CNS where it has various functions. These include the regulation of mood, appetite, and sleep. Serotonin also has some cognitive functions, including in memory and learning. Modulation of serotonin at synapses is thought to be a major action of several classes of pharmacological antidepressants

Tryptophan, a common amino acid and supplement that assits in its formation of serotonin and is found in common foods.
The gut is the source of not only serotonin but also B vitamins which of course nourish the nervous system at large and most specifically of import in depression, the brain. One should also not ignore gut health and the correct micobial balance is of essence.

Vitamin D3 also is known for alleviating the winter blues... seasonal affect disorder.
Situational depression, where there is not an immediate organic cause, but is generally brought on by life events or lack of life events, is the type of depression best suited to being overcome with exercise. For most people I think a combined approach is most effective. When people start empowering themselves to change their reality on multiple fronts, thats where you will have the most success... and sometimes I wonder just how powerful the enactment of empowering onseself has to do with success.

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Wow, I am surprised that a few of you guys have also been banned. Thank you for the support and encouragement. It's nice to be a part of a forum that believes in something as fantastic of natural medicine. Still trying to get my husband on board.

Hi LifeAtZen, I too was banned from a site for believing in natural medicine, and especially Dr Stan Burzynski, everyone on that site called him a quack. but if I hadn't been banned I probably wouldn't have found this great site so I am thankfull for that.
A relative of ours died recently from long term use of antidepressent and other medication,too much for their body to cope with we believe.

thanks ozzie for posting.

Wow, that is sad to hear. And that is what is part of the reason why I tried so hard to talk to people on the depressionforums. Don't our bodies deserve the best? We only have a short time here on Earth.

I am curious, ozzie, what forum it was. Thanks for your contribution.

I never got kicked off of a forum, but I did start a small international incident regarding MMS.

Dan

Hi LifeAtZen, welcome to the forum! Happy to hear that you've safely gotten off the drugs and are doing better now. There are some side-effects to natural anti-depression herbs and supplements, but from all I've learned, it's nothing compared to the the serious life-threatening side effects of some prescription drugs.

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"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." ~Immanual Kant~

NatMedTalk and Beyond

I was banned from two dog forums for speaking out against vaccines. Most people there were vaccinating their pets every year, and didn't see anything wrong with that. Most were using toxic flea collars, walmart dod food, and tap water, and were wondering why their dogs were getting sick and had so many allergies.

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Let Food Be Your Medicine And Medicine Be Your Food.(Hippocrates)

I haven't been banned from anywhere - I don't bother trying to argue much with fanatics - but I did get blocked on Twitter by a famous anti-alternative medicine, pro-corporate activist!

I got prescribed antidepressants in my early 20s when I didn't know any better. The doctor hardly even looked at me. When I came back for a repeat prescription he said, 'You look much better'. I don't think he even remembered who I was. I'd probably still be taking them now (if I was still alive) if I hadn't gone back to my old family doctor who, fortunately, is generally anti-treatment and took me straight off them with a reduction programme.

I think the medical model of mental health is very problematic. Mental suffering gets modelled as if it's an infectious disease. You 'get' depression like you 'get' cholera. Then you do something to 'cure' it and go back to 'normal'. What on earth is normal?

Looking back on my experiences, having the medical model diagnosis was not helpful at all. It exteriorised my own experience. It would have been better for me to realise that I needed to transform myself and start doing what I finally did start years later - really transforming my mind and body through healthy lifestyle, meditation and holistic exercise.

The place we're starting from in our culture is a horrendous spiritual disaster. That's 'normal'. 'Curing' depression in the medical model amounts to correcting someone from a non-functional disaster to a functional disaster. That's not good enough for me.

thank you for the welcome! Yes, I am glad I am off meds. too. I remember all the side effects and it NEVER occurred to me to seek other treatment. So, that is why its scary to think many more individuals are in the same boat as I was.

I don't take any herbs or supplements, although i drink herbal tea, and I'd like to receive most of my nutrients from food.