Life Changing Mindset

What is a good way to curb depression without meds?

Ok...i am 31, and i am also bipolar. I used to take meds to curb depression cause the military made me but they made me feel worse. nothing tragic has happend in my life well nothing i would consider tragic that is. my bouts of maina are getting worse and depression is more frequent. What is a good way to help with depression that will not involve taking mood altering(which make it worse) pills? foods maybe?

Public Comments

1. my uncle is Manic Depressive and for health reasons cannot take meds for it. when he gets manic, we put cleaning supplies in front of him and he cleans the entire house for hours. or he'll work out. go for a run or something. the depression part is harder to deal with.

also, i'm sure you didn't mean to make it sound like that, but manic depression and bipolar are two different things.

also, happy music puts you in a happy mood. slow music brings you down a bit.

2. Left untreated, bipolar disorder will escalate over time. That's just the nature of the beast. If you were on antidepressants, these can sometimes induce manic episodes. You may just need to find a different medication. I was on Depakote and really didn't like it, so I switched to Lamictal. I kept the dose as low as I could, too, so that I still experienced some minor mood fluctuations. It's a balancing act, but it really is worth it.

My cousin never stuck with his meds and ended up killing himself two years ago. You have to remember that bipolar disorder is a potentially fatal disease and you have to treat it like one. You can use exercise and diet, as well as supplements, to help control mood swings, but nothing will help more than finding the right meds. I went off my medication about 5 months ago to start trying to conceive, and I've managed to avoid the big swings, but I miss the stability of medication too.

3. There is no such thing as a "mind altering" drug when it comes to medications that are used to treat bipolar disorder. The drugs which are used correct the brain chemistry and not alter it such as cocaine or other drugs would.

It sounds as if you are in denial when you are dealing with your bipolar disorder. If you are starting to experience more mania it is important that you get in touch with a psychiatrist in order to start treatment.

There are herbs out there such as "St. John's Wort" which is dangerous for someone to take who is experiencing depression but this is know to cause a full blown mania such that it might require hospitalization to treat.

It is very important that you seek out the help of someone who will be able to help you get through the mania as well as the depression. This, of course you know, is a psychiatrist and the sooner you seek out the help that a psychiatrist can afford the sooner you will be able to lead a normal and not "tragic that is" in your life.

4. The military can make the best of us depressed.
I to have suffered from this problem maybe you missed your family while you were there.
You may have thought to yourself I should not even be here.
You may have even thought why am I even fighting these people despite what I was told.
You may have been thinking deeply why is the world even this way.
Let me tell you about me I took meds most of them did not work everybody is different.
I do know that a mild sedative along with physical and mental life style change will help
I know so because this is what I did.
For the physical believe it or not exercise, especially walking and running will help you feel better.
For the mental to really get down to the root of this you need to learn new skills for your mind
The reference in the source box here is a natural way.
I know how you feel and it is a terrible thing sometime you feel like people just do not understand.
but I do and if you follow these thing here you will get better.

Take care

5. Vitamin B12!!
A deficiency in vitamin B12 and Vitamin B1 (thiamine): causes depression (google it, to see for yourself). you can get your B12 and Vitamin B1 (thiamine) levels checked out at the doctors (he/she will take a blood test to determine if you're low in it. if you are deficient, you could get a B12 injection administered by the doctor or nurse. i get a B12 injection every month and am happier!!). if you're low in B12, you're probably also low in iron too, because both iron and b12 help eachother get absorbed into the body.

6. I am bipolar as well, but I'm not sure I can say there are many things that you can do other than pills. I can't say for sure that they will help as the only success I have had is with lamictal. Pretty much everything else failed miserably in my case. But here are some alternative treatments that people have told me about (I don't vouch for any of these...I've just heard from some online support groups).

Fish Oil
Niacin
B12
Multi-vitamins
Hypnosis
Vegan Diet
Meditation
Yoga
Relaxation Techniques
Herbal Teas

There are some studies that suggest that the food you eat may make you either manic or depressive, but I personally don't really think so. I think you should try bipolar pills instead of pills for depression, personally. I'll be honest that I was sick for a month after taking lamictal and had dizziness for almost 6 months, but it's helped a ton. I also spent months doubling treatments until I finally am now at the max dosage because I'm a big guy. If you decide to go with trying these alternative treatments, please keep the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number with you as 1-800-273-8255. I've been there...trust me. Take care :)