i know you’re joking but fuck, sometimes it do be like that.
Obviously nobody should infantalise people suffering from depression by telling them to “just be happy”, “go outside” etc. but if you’re malnourished, have vitamin deficiencies, don’t go out to hang out with the human tribe, and sit in your home the entire day without moving - you’re going to feel like shite. Fixing those problems won’t cure clinical depression, but the other way round is true too - getting meds for depression won’t cure you of feeling like shit if you don’t use the chance they give you to try to improve your life yourself.
I had an iodine deficiency! I wasn’t eating dairy or eggs, I was cooking my own food from scratch, and I was using sea salt instead of iodized salt. In addition, I like drinking alcohol which makes it harder to absorb iodine. Felt like shit. Couldn’t muster the energy to give the slightest shit about anything.
Got blood work done and found out. So I started taking a supplement every other day for it specifically because I’m just not getting it in my diet. I’m feeling pretty great now.
I don’t think supplements are generally the answer, but having a work up done and learning some shit about yourself can be pretty eye opening and point you at what you need to do to fix your diet. It’s a good first step, but not a magic bullet.
Vitamin deficiencies are easy to detect and to treat, and there’s no sense in spending months or years hoping to find the right anti-depressant before checking for them. Heck, I wish my issues were caused by vitamin deficiencies.
That literally happened to me. Turns out that my doctor’s resident who just finished a psych rotation learned that most people are deficient in magnesium.
It’s not always someone saying - it’s definitely these and anyone who is depressed just isn’t taking these, it’s literally just a kind and actually possible and helpful suggestion
Damn turns out I’m not depressed I just needed some magnesium
i know you’re joking but fuck, sometimes it do be like that.
Obviously nobody should infantalise people suffering from depression by telling them to “just be happy”, “go outside” etc. but if you’re malnourished, have vitamin deficiencies, don’t go out to hang out with the human tribe, and sit in your home the entire day without moving - you’re going to feel like shite. Fixing those problems won’t cure clinical depression, but the other way round is true too - getting meds for depression won’t cure you of feeling like shit if you don’t use the chance they give you to try to improve your life yourself.
I had an iodine deficiency! I wasn’t eating dairy or eggs, I was cooking my own food from scratch, and I was using sea salt instead of iodized salt. In addition, I like drinking alcohol which makes it harder to absorb iodine. Felt like shit. Couldn’t muster the energy to give the slightest shit about anything.
Got blood work done and found out. So I started taking a supplement every other day for it specifically because I’m just not getting it in my diet. I’m feeling pretty great now.
I don’t think supplements are generally the answer, but having a work up done and learning some shit about yourself can be pretty eye opening and point you at what you need to do to fix your diet. It’s a good first step, but not a magic bullet.
Vitamin deficiencies are easy to detect and to treat, and there’s no sense in spending months or years hoping to find the right anti-depressant before checking for them. Heck, I wish my issues were caused by vitamin deficiencies.
How are vitamin deficiencies detected? Some specific blood test?
Your doctor sends your blood sample to a lab and ticks the ‘B12’ box on the printout form
Yeah, I think it’s something a GP will prescribe.
I know you’re joking but I only figured out I have anemia because iron supplements suddenly gave me energy to live
That literally happened to me. Turns out that my doctor’s resident who just finished a psych rotation learned that most people are deficient in magnesium.
It’s not always someone saying - it’s definitely these and anyone who is depressed just isn’t taking these, it’s literally just a kind and actually possible and helpful suggestion
I wish this were true for me but Magnesium just made me slightly less depressed; indistinguishable from placebo.
Tired? Mag it! Down? Mag time! Liver damage? MAXIMUM MAG!
Damaged because of too much mag? Uh. Mag…?