Using antidepressants are not the only way give relief to mild from moderate depression. Dr. Weil has four suggestions, I’ve written about 10.  Here’s how a little walk with Rumi can help relieve the blues.

BEFORE I go amend a post I wrote a while back suggesting some actions to help alleviate depression (or the moody blues), I want to more fully explore a simple but wonderful act with you right here.

Late last November, I wrote a post I named,  A Little Depressed? 10 Actions That Help Me. As I wrote it, I knew that over time I’d keep adding to it as new “acts” arose in my life that I found were worthwhile behaviors that can clearly shifts one’s (or at least my) mind set.

It all began with finding the iPod that I thought was lost forever.  Not one to listen much to music on iPods, I was, nevertheless, so pleased to find it that I affixed the ear plugs, grabbed my walking shoes and went for a jaunt.

I wasn’t in a foul mood at all, but it soon occurred to me that the walking combined with the music – a particular kind (in fact, not music per se at all) – carried me to a place that cradled me with sweet endorphins that swept all my cares away.

Now, readers of my various posts on depression, such as Dr. Weil’s Four Alternatives to Antidepressant Drugs (great pod cast interview there with Dr. Weil), know that I believe (as does Dr. Weil) that many people with mild to moderate depression may be able to control it without antidepressants (go to the above link for more on this).

Dr. Weil has his “four alternatives” and I have my “10 (now 11) actions”, and if you throw them in a shaker jar and shake, shake, shake… just maybe those antidepressant pills can be shaken from the pill box into the garbage.

A Music Recommendation (not quite)

Yeah, whatever moves you, whatever can shift you to a better mental state… that’s the recommendation. But for me today, the music itself was a minor, background harp plucking here and there.  What was front and center, and largely responsible for my shift in consciousness, was Rumi.

For those of you who don’t know, Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī was a brilliant and revolutionary Persian Sufi, mystic, poet and philosopher of the 13th Century.  He’s considered one of the best poets of all time.

It was Rumi’s poetry, as translated and spoken by the wonderfully erudite Coleman Barks, that made that walk great, and inspired this post.

Check it out.  Go here and you can listen to the Coleman Barks album, What Was Said to the Rose. Start with the first selection, What Was Told and keep going till you’re mesmerized.  For your own happy walk, download What Was Said to the Rose on whatever device will play it and go outside and take a walk, particularly the next time you’re blue.

P.S.  I’d really enjoy it if you’d share your favorite poem in the Comments section below.

Related posts:

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2. An Unexpected Pleasure
3. A Little Depressed? 10 Actions That Help Me

The science is in – for mild to moderate depression, pharmaceutical antidepressants are no more effective than placebos.  But the science also says that there are four steps you can take that are effective to reduce depression.  Reducing or eliminating mild/moderate depression is all about anti-inflammatory foods, supplements, exercise and a shift in cognition (perception).

ONE OF my favorite doctors in the public arena is Dr. Andrew Weil.  Among the many reasons that I like him is that he’s joyful, smart, articulate, iconoclastic, has debunked many myths and misrepresentations in the health field, written insightful books, and has promoted “functional medicine”, which seeks to understand and treat a person’s entire body as it relates to the root causes of disease or dysfunction, not simply wrestle with symptoms. (Whew!)

So, when I heard that the good doctor was to be interviewed by Ira Flatow on Talk of the Nation about his new book, Spontaneous Happiness: How to Discover and Embrace Your Body’s Natural Ability to Maintain and Heal Itself, I tuned my dial to KQED and opened my mind to be educated.

Mr. Flatow set the stage before introducing Dr. Weil by citing some ugly statistics: In America, use of medications are up by over 400% since 1988, and one in ten people over the age of 12 take antidepressant drugs according to the CDC.

(Listen to the podcast here.)

For Most, Antidepressant Drugs Don’t Work

Dr. Weil is not the only health practitioner who thinks that this state of affairs is ridiculous.  He and others (notably, Dr. Mark Hyman) point out that not only can antidepressant pharmaceutical drugs cause dangerous side effects, but that for mild to moderate depression, they do not work any better than placebos.

The common antidepressant drugs are of a drug classification called “Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors”, or “SSRI”. Over the years, the pharmaceutical companies with their ubiquitous TV ads have done a good job of convincing too many of us that normal, cyclical (like with the onset of winter) bouts of mild to moderate depression is a big problem that you better not cope with all by yourself, so take this drug.

Problem is, antidepressant drugs don’t work for mild to moderate depression*  – you’ll do as well with a sugar pill, on average, but (adding injury to insult), they can cause pernicious side effects, such as:

• Nausea
• Dry mouth
• Headache
• Diarrhea
• Nervousness, agitation or restlessness
• Reduced sexual desire or difficulty reaching orgasm
• Inability to maintain an erection (erectile dysfunction)
• Rash
• Increased sweating
• Weight gain
• Drowsiness
• Insomnia

(*Bi-polar and severe depression is in a completely different category, and those with these conditions need to stay on their meds.)

And there’s another pretty whomping problem with the SSRI class of antidepressant drugs… with long-term use SSRIs can produce the very same problem – depression – that they’re made to alleviate.  This situation is described by the “homeostasis effect”, whereby a system, like the body, endeavors to bring itself back to the norm when an outside or unnatural agent is introduced into the system.

Although not often described as such, we hear about this all the time when a doctor or news report describes that some bacteria has become resistant to inoculants, and as such are called, “drug-resistant bacteria”. This also is common with allergy or acid reflex drugs, wherein for some people the more they’re used, the less effective they become.

The Role of Inflammation on Depression

Over the past few years, scientists have been isolating inflammation as a root cause of many degenerative diseases, such as arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, irritable bowel syndrome, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and others.  I just got 162,000,000 results from a Google search for “inflammation-based diseases”.  Naturally, given this growing understanding of the linkage of inflammation and disease, the marketplace now offers us “Inflammation Diets”, including the spot-on inflammation-reducing tips from Dr. Weil himself.

Inflammation is a prevalent physical and mental health problem because of the poor food choices we make. In the Talk of the Nation radio interview, Dr. Weil briefly describes how processed and manufactured food can cause inflammation, in part by disrupting the right balance between Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids, as well as by dominating the banquet of food choices which consists of poorly grown meat (animals fed grains not grass), simple carbohydrates (white flours, rice, food in boxes) and fats (saturated, trans fat, hydrogenated).

The first clue about the causal link between inflammation markers in the body and depression happened on farms in the 1950s.  Farmers recognized that when their cows, sheep and pigs were sick because they exhibited a specific behaviors: they became anti-social, maintained distance from the herd, were listless.

In the 1970s, scientists discovered inflammation markers in the blood supply of sick animals that they termed, “Blood Factor X”.  They soon understood that much of the sickness exhibited by farm animals had to do with inflammation.  In people, the researchers discovered that inflammation could induce changes in the brain that could instigate depression, leading some very few in the medical field to treat mild to moderate depression via anti-inflammatory foods and treatments.

Four Steps to Reduce Depression

Back now to Dr. Weil’s new book, Spontaneous Happiness.  This book presents a step-by-step, week-by-week , scientifically-based road map for improving, or eliminating mild to moderate depression.  (There’s a link to it below.)

I have not read the book, but from Dr. Weil’s radio interview, I can summarize what I’ll call “four steps to reduce depression”.  Step one is to avoid foods that cause inflammation — those processed, manufactured foods — and to eat instead anti-inflammatory foods.  Step two is to take certain, proven supplements proven to reduce mild to moderate depression.  Step three is to exercise.  Step four is to change one’s perception, a cognitive behavioral shift, if you will.

Step 1 – Eat Anti-inflammatory Foods

Feed animals that eat grass rather than grain (like corn) have substantially more omega-3 fatty acids in their meat.  Flaxseed oil, pumpkin seed oil, walnut oil and fish oil are rich in omega-3 fatty acids; wherein corn, safflower, sunflower, soybean, cottonseed oil, and olive oil (olive oil being a perfectly good oil in moderation and appropriate for cooking) contain omega-6 fatty acids.

A healthy diet should consist of roughly 2 – 4 times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids.  The typical American diet tends to contain 14 – 25 times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids, and many researchers believe this imbalance is a significant factor in the rising rate of inflammatory disorders in the United States.

[Want to learn more about healthy and unhealthy fats? Read Eating Fat is Good… Maybe…Could Be… Sometimes.]

Recently, the FDA established a new food pyramid that is no longer a pyramid, but a plate.  I describe it in Yes, Choose My Food Plate and The New Food Pyramid is a Plate.  Dr. Weil responded by creating a plate of his own, but ahhh, kept it as a pyramid.  Confused?  Don’t be… be it plate or pyramid, the point is to know what foods to eat, and Dr. Weil conscientiously chooses inflammation-fighting foods.

What is Dr. Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Food Pyramid?

• It is a practical eating guide that consumers of all ages can use, with tips on how to reduce risks of age-related diseases and improve overall health through diet.
• It is an interactive educational graphic to help today’s families prevent disease while eating well.
• It is a simple tool that promotes optimum health and healthy aging by providing dietary advice that addresses inflammation.

Learn more about it here.

As mentioned, the key foods to avoid are those that are processed and manufactured (in boxes, cans and plastic);  grain-fed meat and dairy as opposed to animals raised on grass;  simple carbs such as white bread, white rice, potatoes; and unhealthy fats, such as trans fats, saturated fats and partially hydrogenated oils.

Here’s a list of Dr. Weil’s recommended food choices

Step 2 – Take Antidepressant Supplements

The proven supplements to help ameliorate mild to moderate depression include fish oil, vitamin D3, vitamin B12 and SAMe.

I’ve written about SAMe and a powerful type of fish oil called, “krill oil” in Emotional Wellbeing (Chemistry Helps!), and about Vitamin D3 here and here.

Dr. Weil recommends two to four grams of fish oil per day.

Don’t worry about contaminant in your fish oil supplement if manufactured from a reliable brand, as typically they are molecularly distilled and thus free from PCBs and mercury, etc.

Step 3 – Exercise!

Exercise is a proven method to improve mild to moderate depression.  Whether you’re doing an aerobic or anaerobic exercise, it does a body, and a mind good.  One reason is that exercise decreases the stress hormones such as cortisol, and increases those “feel-good” endorphins, such as epinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine.

I have two rules for beginner exercisers:

1. Recruit a buddy to do it with you, and

2. Begin with an exercise routine that you’re willing to consistently do.

If you’re completely out of shape, walk, and walk quickly.  When this becomes comfortable, walk up hills.  If you can, begin jogging.  In between walking days, learn and do yoga or some strength-producing exercises, such as push-ups and squats.  Begin on your knees if you need to for the push-ups, and hold on to a chair for the squats.

Step 4 – Change Your Perception

A teacher once told me and the rest of the class, “Attitude is everything!”.  The near-miracle is being able to change it, cause for most of us our attitude is cemented in place, and perhaps it’s not a very good place.

But for those of you that are willing to work on shifting your mind set to improve your mental well being, consider the following information gleaned from Dr. Weil, with a healthy (hopefully) dose of my interpretation.

First, it’s helpful to know that some amount of depression is quite normal.  What would be abnormal for all except Buddhist monks is to be always happy. Getting a bit depressed is common during specific times of your life and in seasons of the year.  Common times to feel low in life are after child birth, when the kids fly the nest, during menopause, during a career shift, when middle age first hits, during illness, etc.  The onset of winter, with its cold and reduced light, can also ignite depression.

Know that when mild to moderate depression happens – the kind that DOES NOT bring you to the highest bridge or building in the neighborhood – there are better methods to combat it than drugs, as this post has been imploring.  Along with the three steps already described, working on changing your perception could be very helpful.

Dr. Weil suggests to begin improving your perception/cognition with shutting off the things that make your mind flutter, meaning things that distract you from being present, from being focused on one thing at a time.

Turns out, whether you believe it true for you or not, humans are not good at multi-tasking.  This has been studied exhaustively.  The brain doesn’t multi-task well, so what it does is shift back and forth between the things you’re doing, trying to focus individually on each thing, and not doing it well.  This does not produce calmness – just the opposite.

So, the first thing to awaken to is how you manage your day.  If too much multi-tasking is happening, try to simply focus on one thing at a time till it’s as complete as you need it to be for the day.  Improve your well-being by turning off the TV and all the electronics that compete for your attention, like every time that “ping” sound happens on your cell phone to alert you to a new text message.  That sound and inevitable reaction, takes you from your focus.  On a subtle level, it’s stressful if frequently repeated.

There are two things to practice in order to shift perception and improve mild to moderate depression, says Dr. Weil in this radio interview: Meditation and Gratitude.

Meditation takes practice.  No one’s good at it immediately.  But it’s worth trying because meditation helps you change your reaction to things.  As the saying goes, “You can’t change what happens to you, but you can change your reaction to it”.

One basic method to learn to meditate is simply to sit comfortably in a place where there’ll be no distractions for 15 minutes (to start), close your eyes and follow your breath.  “Follow your breath” means to stay focused on it, allowing the breath to come in and go out as it will.  Soon, just by focusing on it, the inhalation and exhalation will become longer and deeper.  When your mind drifts, gently bring it back.  If silently reciting some mantra, or affirmation helps, add that.  If focusing on an object in your mind’s eye helps, do that.  But first get used to following your breath.  Over time, you’ll realize that every stress point in your life is being handled with greater ease.

Be grateful. Even those of us in very bad situations can find something day to day to be grateful about.  Try… you will find something.  The key for this to improve your mindset is to recognize those things for which you’re grateful, and express it.  This can be done each evening before bed when you write down the things for which you have gratitude that happened, or were recognized that day.

I close this post with the admonition that all that’s written may be considered helpful tips to help reduce mild to moderate depression, not severe depression.  If you’re on a doctor-prescribed antidepressant, you will need to work with your doctor to wean yourself from the drug as you incorporate the suggestions here reported.

Many blessings to you.

Related posts:

1. Dr. Weil and Kevin Rose Talk Health (Video)
2. Do Depression Drugs Work?
3. Want Longevity? 5 Alternatives to a Calorie Restricted Diet

I know you’re human, because no other creatures can read, and you’re reading this, so you’re human.  Since you’re human, you get depressed from time to time.  Me too!  Here are 10 11 actions to beat your depression into submission. Collectively, they address the dimensions within which we live our lives.

I HAPPEN to have a high tolerance for pain, or so it seems.  I’ve gone years without work, a “significant other” and – what I feel is worse  – without creating much of value.  Anyone with normal pain receptors would have been compelled to do something dramatic to change the channel.  I, however, sit still and stare out from various windows in my home at the sailboats cruising by in the bay below.

(A sweet picture, yes?)

Fortunately, these latent periods have been appreciatively disrupted by work and love and all the stuff concomitant with them.  So, I’m not terminally flirting with pain, or… as it might better be known… with depression.  And, to be fair, the depression I’m speaking of is not the kind that is so debilitating that the “flirting” is with prospects of leaping from tall building and bridges.  Rather, here the wrestling match is with that type of depression that is normative for most of us: small doses of depression, but substantial enough to categorize a week here and there as very sub-par.

From what I’ve read, many of us so disdain these depressed periods that we reflexively grab some pharmaceutical or another – Lexapro, Effexor, Cymbalta, Zoloft, Paxil – take your pick; certainly, the TV commercials will tell you that there’s no need to be down, just drug up to get up.

The commercials must machine gun the “cover-their-ass” pronouncements of the ill effects that might accompany your drug of choice, but what is not said is that depression drugs may not work at all.  This sad fact I report in Do Depression Drugs Work? which points to evidence that antidepressants, on average, may be little more effective than sugar pills in treating depression.

So, what should we sometimes depressed humans to do?

10 11 Depression-beating Actions

[UPDATE:  Check out Dr. Weil's Four Alternatives to Antidepressant Drugs.]

This is what I’ve done to help myself reset, punch back, ignore, take leave of, evaporate my bouts of depression.  Disclaimer: These suggestions are not for the really strong type of depression that may sink you into an oblivion from which you may not reappear.

1. Implement a daily schedule that you can adhere to.  This means that as soon as you awaken, you have something to do that you’re willing to do.

2. Upon arising, take a shower and make it hot and cold to revitalize your body and stimulate your mind

3. Dress yourself… not in the afternoon, but in the morning, and dress as if you have something to do, somewhere to go, even if you don’t; however, if you follow #1, you should have something scheduled.

4. Listen to music, the kind that makes you feel good.  You can dial in what you need in the moment.  (Read how music helps health: Lost and Found Radio and Music’s Affect on Health.)

5. Take supplements known to be useful to ameliorate depression.   Krill Oil has a phospholipid form of omega-3 which is absorbed faster and more efficiently than the triglyceride form typically found in fish oil. Omega-3 fatty acids are reputed to help with stress, promote heart health and lubricate joints. (Read this on the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids and the London Cabbie study.)  SAM-e helps balance Dopamine & serotonin are neurotransmitters that control mood and pain. But that’s just for starters — SAM-e also helps support cartilage-producing cells, and produces glutathione for detoxification, while replenishing the liver’s own SAMe supply.  I’ve written about both these supplements here, and suggest you take look.

6. Recruit a Buddy, someone in whom you can entrust your innermost self and will help lift you up when way down low.

7. Exercise! Grab that buddy, or give him/her permission to grab you, and go exercise.  Walk, jog, yoga, push-ups – just do it, and if you want to know why, read what the Mayo Clinic has to say about how exercise eases the symptoms of depression and anxiety.  Yes, it gets that dopamine and endorphins flowing – all feel-good chemicals that can help.

8. Smile in front of a mirror. Yes, this may be horrifying at first as that reflection reveals that sad, sorry, self-indulgent face, but stay with it and something deep within you may arise and shout “fuck this!”.  After that, a smile may begin to shimmer on the horizon, and this will shift things for the better.

9. Meditate. Yeah, like all of these suggestions, frankly, getting yourself to mediate when depressed has about as much a chance of success as to chant, “I am not depressed” ten times whilst hopping in a circle in on one foot.  That’s why #6 is so important.  Remember, you gave Buddy permission to be a pain in the ass, so he/she will come over, get your sorry self off the couch and out of the bon bon box. Sit on a cushion, make up a feel-good mantra to focus on, and just follow your breath for ten minutes.  Couldn’t hurt. Extra points: Make that mantra about three things for which you’re grateful.  One of them could be gratitude that you’re sitting in meditation.

10. Read a biography.  Choose a biography about someone who arose from the ashes, someone perhaps with whom you can relate.  Could be inspiring!

11. Walk with Rumi. When you’re down, you need ventilation and inspiration, a potent combo. The walk with take care of the first, and the Sufi mystic poet, Rumi will be the inspiration.  Whatever your view is of a higher power, ole Rumi will take you one step closer.  For more on this, read Relief from Depression with Rumi.

I’ve done all these things, here and there, when I remember and am not so depressed to do something.  Yeah, that’s the catch, so remember #6.

Hey, do you do something that helps with your moments of depression, other than drugs? If so, please tell us in the Comments section below.

Related posts:

1. Do Depression Drugs Work?
2. Get Relief from Depression with Rumi
3. The “Miracle” Supplement for Depression, Arthritis and Liver Health

Meditation delivers better health, emotional resiliency and brain power.  All you have to do is… to do it a bit each day.  The science is clear – -meditation builds a better you.  Here are seven benefits of meditation.

MY BUDDY, Steve, is a peripatetic searcher for knowledge, particularly self-knowledge.  He has boundless energy, few preconceptions that he’s unwilling to challenge, punches through fears, and over the last few years has done what the cartoonist Stine made popular with his greeting cards — Steve is willing to “look in to find out.”

We’re talking live-in workshop retreats and various deep dive psychotherapies.  And now, Steve has added meditation to the list.  He recently learned Transcendental Meditation, and now sits daily and relaxes into the vibe.

“It’s making a difference”, Steve announced to me at our café hangout last weekend.  I looked up from the section of Sunday’s New York Times that he gave me to give him an inquiring look.  I said nothing but wondered how he could pin point the benefits of meditation given all the other modalities in which he’s immersed.

He punctuated the pause with a smirk, and we both returned to our respective reads.  It doesn’t matter that we didn’t dive into how meditation is affecting Steve, for we both know.

I’ve been an on and off meditator for 30 years.  It’s value is obvious to me.  And now with all the gadgets available to measure brain activity, scientists are learning just what’s going on.  Here are some…

Seven Benefits of Meditation

1. A more plastic brain. This is a strange term, but it’s nearly literal because consistent meditation leads to what’s referred to as neuroplasticity.  Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to respond to certain inputs by changing itself structurally and functionally.  Now, there are even methods presented online that studies show can improve your brains, such as the games developed by Lumosity.  That the brain is actually “plastic” – can change – is a big deal, as scientists formerly believed that the brain essentially stopped changing after adulthood.

2. A thicker brain. Get a thicker brain in just 40 minutes a day!  A 2005 study on American men and women who meditated a mere 40 minutes a day showed that they had thicker cortical walls than non-meditators.  Thicker biceps, yes, but why would you want a thicker brain? Well, a thicker brain results in a brain that’s aging at a slower rate, better decision making, attention and memory.  Thick brains are better than thick biceps after all.

3. A more alert brain. In a 2006 study, college students were asked to either sleep, meditate or watch TV. They were then tested on their alertness by being asked to hit a button every time a light flashed on a screen. By a significant 10%, the meditators did better than the nappers and TV watchers .

4. A more relaxed brain. Do you have high blood pressure? In 2008, Dr. Randy Zusman, a doctor at the Massachusetts General Hospital, asked patients suffering from high blood pressure, but not on medication, to try a meditation-based relaxation program for three months.  After meditating regularly for three months, 40 of the 60 patients showed significant drops in blood pressure levels . The reason? Relaxation results in the formation of nitric oxide which opens up your blood vessels.

5. A longer-lived brain. Telomeres — the protective caps at the end of our chromosomes — are the new frontier of anti-aging science.  (Watch Nobel prize winner Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn tell you about telomeres in Three Months to Longer Life. ) Having longer telomeres mean that you’re likely to live longer.  Research done by the University of California, Davis’ Shamatha Project has shown that meditators have significantly higher telomerase activity that non-meditators. Telomerase is the enzyme that helps build telomeres.  When telomerase activity shifts into high gear, it can translate into stronger and longer telomeres .

6. A more resilient brain. Meaning, a better immune system.  A 2008 study on HIV positive patients found that, after an eight-week meditation course, patients who’d meditated showed no decline in lymphocyte content compared with non-meditators who showed significant reduction in lymphocytes.  Lymphocytes or white blood cells are the “brain” of the body’s immune system, and are particularly important for HIV positive people.   The study also found that lymphocyte levels actually went up with each meditation session.

7. A pain-free brain. Well, the brain itself doesn’t actually feel pain, but it does command how you feel it.  Earlier this year, a study conducted by Wake Forest Baptist University found that meditation could reduce pain intensity by 40 percent and pain unpleasantness by 57 percent.  Pretty impressive given that morphine and other pain-relieving drugs typically show a pain reduction of only 25 percent.

There’s some more information for each of these seven at the original article that inspired this summary, so if interested, go take a read here.

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