I think you're looking back at the old Tbet with incredibly rose coloured glasses. Tibet was a feudal theocracy. A tiny parasitic ruling class owned all the land and was able to use religion as a tool of control just like in medieval Europe. I've been to Tibet. The Potala, other palaces and grand monasteries occupied by the ruling class stand in stark contrast to the extremely poor villages you can see all over the countryside. Now you see young people zipping about Lhasa on scooters and talking on mobile phones, roads and other infrastructure has been built. The chinese are injecting massive funds to develop Tibet. I'm not justifying the Chinese occupation and the Communist party is massively corrupt and incompetent, but this idea of a buddhist paradise ruled by benevolent monks is bullshit.

Last edited by nadiatims (2011 June 11, 1:26 am)

On the topics of monks, as well as Tibet...

When I was in college I was an Asian studies major.  I took a Buddhism course, and one of the professors was a Buddhist monk who had fled Tibet.  The guy was a huge dick and talked shit about other forms of Buddhism, and referred to Theravada Buddhism as Hinayana.  Later, my friend studied abroad in India and the monk went along as one of the professors; my friend filed several complaints about his behavior to the college.

Anyway, I'm going to Tibet this summer, so hopefully I can learn some things about the culture while I'm there.

One place where Buddhism really rubbed me the wrong way was Thailand, where Buddhism is sort of like Christianity in America.  People are really serious about it, but they do all of the bullshit without really taking away any of the wisdom.  My impression of the monks was that they were carrying along this awful system.

I guess when it comes down to it, I really just don't like religion.  Thank God (wink wink) Japan is barely religious at all.

(elhnad, I'll respond to your post when I have a bit longer to write)

Last edited by Tzadeck (2011 June 11, 7:59 am)

I thought that Theravada was the prevalent school of Buddhism in all Southeast Asian countries except Vietnam and the countries where most Buddhists are Chinese (Singapore, Indonesia, etc.).

More back on topic, just saw this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/opini … yness.html

@Raschaverak
I hope tomorrow you can get the help you're looking for.

@Raschaverak

Good luck..

I hope everything goes well. It sounds like you have been suffering for some years now. I look forward to reading your next post and finding out how you are getting on.

Here is an article written by Eric Kolvig, a meditation teacher who also suffers from depression. I found it interesting as he is someone with experience in both areas.
Crazy and Free

If you don't find it useful, just ignore. I thought his opinions on medication were sane and balanced.

Edit: Reread the article and see it doesn't mention medication. Basically he says it's a tool to be used wisely.

@Tzadeck
I caught the Stephen Fry doco on TV a couple of years ago and thought it was excellent. Good to hear it's on the net.

Last edited by Harpagornes (2011 November 02, 8:44 pm)

I was wondering if anyone's looked at nutrition to help with depression. It's surely the most natural way to alter your brain chemistry, and there's a lot of evidence to support links between diet and depression. It's especially worth a look if you have any digestive issues like IBS or acid reflux; you could even have something like a B12 deficiency if you haven't been tested. In any case, I think it's important to try to give your biochemistry the best chance of maintaining some balance if you're going to take antidepressants, which can actually contribute towards the kind of imbalances that make some people susceptible to depression in the first place. It's worth at least reading the Wikipedia page for anything you're prescribed, so you at least know what to expect.

I've been eating a diet consisting mainly of meat, fish, vegetables, nuts and seeds in an effort to improve the muscle/nerve pain in my arms. I'm noticing less aching in the mornings, but a more noticeable benefit has been soaring energy levels. I've gone from needing to lay down in the afternoon and being pretty irritable and having a 'meh' outlook on everything, to feeling awake until bedtime, with a more relaxed and positive attitude. I'm not saying a depressed person can expect a complete turnaround, but to ignore the impact of diet on your health would be crazy.

It's worth noting that I've been successfully dealing with an overactive stress response as well, so my hormone levels are probably more balanced than they've been at any point in the last decade. The book Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers is a really detailed look at what stress can do to your body, and there's a chapter on depression as well. It can pretty much destroy you from the inside out, so it's worth reading the book if you find yourself slagging off your computer, worrying about the future, getting irritated in supermarket queues etc.

Javizy wrote:

I was wondering if anyone's looked at nutrition to help with depression. It's surely the most natural way to alter your brain chemistry, and there's a lot of evidence to support links between diet and depression. It's especially worth a look if you have any digestive issues like IBS or acid reflux; you could even have something like a B12 deficiency if you haven't been tested. In any case, I think it's important to try to give your biochemistry the best chance of maintaining some balance if you're going to take antidepressants, which can actually contribute towards the kind of imbalances that make some people susceptible to depression in the first place. It's worth at least reading the Wikipedia page for anything you're prescribed, so you at least know what to expect.

I've been eating a diet consisting mainly of meat, fish, vegetables, nuts and seeds in an effort to improve the muscle/nerve pain in my arms. I'm noticing less aching in the mornings, but a more noticeable benefit has been soaring energy levels. I've gone from needing to lay down in the afternoon and being pretty irritable and having a 'meh' outlook on everything, to feeling awake until bedtime, with a more relaxed and positive attitude. I'm not saying a depressed person can expect a complete turnaround, but to ignore the impact of diet on your health would be crazy.

It's worth noting that I've been successfully dealing with an overactive stress response as well, so my hormone levels are probably more balanced than they've been at any point in the last decade. The book Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers is a really detailed look at what stress can do to your body, and there's a chapter on depression as well. It can pretty much destroy you from the inside out, so it's worth reading the book if you find yourself slagging off your computer, worrying about the future, getting irritated in supermarket queues etc.

Yes, I've read about this, diet can help, there are ways of getting out of depression (if it's not too severe) without drugs, and theraphy, whatsoever. 2 things: time, and severity. I don't sleep basically 3-4 days out of the 7 of the week, because I cannot shut out my mind, It's full with regrets, thoughts, and when even not, I still just cannot sleep. I can't control that anymore, and having a dayjob, responsibilities, - for a regular person it's ok, for me in this state it's too much - going to work without any sleep for days, sleeping during the breaks, in the toilet for 10 minutes - leaving the other collegaues guess what the hell could you be doing.....being ignored by the collegaues, because you are totally negative, it radiates from you, from your very being, making you feel alone even worse, even though you are sorrounded by people, going home to your appartment, not being able to talk to anyone, tryig to chat up your parents on the phone, but all they ask is: how are you? Fine - ok, bye.... Heck even the god damned suicide hotline in this damned country is out of business because there is no money for it.....great. The hungarian society makes it even worse, an average person has no idea what it means, feels like, they can't, don't want to understand, since it's hard to get a job, and to make a living, you have to be even more agressive, and assertive, and if they see the slightest imbalance in you (believe me, they can smell it somehow) - well bye-bye no job. There are no support groups available,- not even in the capital city where I live -  even though there are tons of people who would need it, the health care system is overloaded, the doctors go abroad, because of the low salary - there are just not enough of them, the system is on the brink of collapse....so.
People are just too god damn ignorant, I swear, I find more support on these forums, then in the real-life people. On Tuesday I wrote a long text, to an acquantince of mine, a girl who I've dated for 10 months, - in the text I was hinting that I might end it all.... all she wrote back is: "ok, and?" See?
In this country if you are weak, and if people see it, and they always do - they WILL bring you down. Just a matter of time - it's a damn jungle war out here, and I'm on the losing end - I can't fight like this. Not yet.

@Javizy

I already tried the nutrition route, thanks for the contribution, gotta keep tryin. I second the statement of stress wreaking havoc in the body. Thanks for reminding me about the Zebra and Ulcers book. I'm sure the basis of his work comes from the grandfather of Stress, Hans Selye, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Selye.
Stress comes from many factors including nutrition and sleep, not just the typical "I'm so stressed out" form.  Left uncorrected or unaddressed, the body has mechanisms and chemical secretions to try  to put the body back in homeostasis, but at a certain point, the wave of chemical secretions causes chronic inflammation which can manifest in a variety of afflictions

maybe it won't be to some, but for me one of the most liberating things I ever did was to study and read a lot on nutrition to discover the remarkable healing factor of the body if given the right foods and rest.  Knowing what real food is, deconstructing health myths, eating butter and eggs to my hearts content put the power back in my control.  I'm poor as hell but am happy being able to cook and eat real food everyday.

@Raschaverak
you seem like you have a lot of stress. I wish you the best in coping with it.

not suggesting anything but i got really stressed at my job 3 years ago and could only think bad things all day because of it. i figured i wouldn't learn to cope with it so i went on an extreme and quit that high paying job to become dirt poor because i enjoyed reading/researching, free time, and cheap cooking.

Hope the clinic works out well. I look forward to reading your report when you are next on-line.

Good luck.

elhnad wrote:

maybe it won't be to some, but for me one of the most liberating things I ever did was to study and read a lot on nutrition to discover the remarkable healing factor of the body if given the right foods and rest.  Knowing what real food is, deconstructing health myths, eating butter and eggs to my hearts content put the power back in my control.  I'm poor as hell but am happy being able to cook and eat real food everyday.

Glad to hear you've had some success from the nutritional approach. I've read a few books on the topic so far, and they tend to be quite interesting. Myths surrounding the healthiness of the likes of skimmed milk, "low-fat" trash, and especially high fructose corn syrup are outrageous. It really shows you what big money marketing can achieve. They've got misinformed calorie-counting dieters eating cheaply produced, crap-tasting versions of the foods they want to eat, even though it makes it harder for them to lose weight. Do you have any books that you would particularly recommend?

I found a somewhat long article by Marcia Angell that sort of summarizes three books that criticize the way drugs are used to treat mental disorders, as well as some other criticisms of the pharmaceutical industry.  Thought it was relevant to some of the discussion from this thread.

Part 1:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archive … tion=false
Part 2:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archive … tion=false

I've kind of defended the use of drugs to treat mental disorders here before, but I was really mostly defending against rather shallow criticisms of the pharmaceutical industry.  I don't really know enough about the topic to make a particularly informed opinion.  But, I think the article makes some good arguments.