Hey, Steghorn21, I hope you don’t mind me jumping in with a personal story, because maybe this will be of interest to you.
In my youth, I experienced some terrible clinical depressions. The worst was in my twenties, when my apartment burned to the ground and I was left standing on the street with literally not even a toothbrush to my name…
Hey, Steghorn21, I hope you don’t mind me jumping in with a personal story, because maybe this will be of interest to you.
In my youth, I experienced some terrible clinical depressions. The worst was in my twenties, when my apartment burned to the ground and I was left standing on the street with literally not even a toothbrush to my name. No one came to my aid, except for $50 from the American Red Cross. I ate out of dumpsters. At about the same time, the industry the I was training for completely tanked, and there were no jobs for beginners, so all of my professional dreams were destroyed. My husband of the time responded to my depression by becoming violent. It was not a good time in my life.
But even worse was my monthly cyclical despair (yeah, sorry, I know how guys love to hear about this). For decades, for about four days each month, I would have this huge cloud of despair descend upon me. Nothing but time would alleviate the depression; I learned just to tough it out. But then when I was 45, I happened to buy an unopened bottle of fish oil capsules at someone’s moving sale. I figured, hey I’m getting older and I’d read that the omega-3 fish oils were good for your heart. I started taking one capsule every day, and - without knowing anything about this effect in advance, so there was no chance of placebo effect - that month there was no dark cloud of despair! For the first time in decades! I’ve been taking omega-3 oils ever since, and I’m 68 now. I earned a master’s degree in holistic nutrition, have been taking a whole bunch of supplements for years, and my health - mentally and physically- is rock solid. I haven’t had a headache in 23 years. I haven’t had the flu in 27 years, and I haven’t gotten a flu shot in 27 years. Although not everything in my life is perfect, I never get depressed. The omega-3 oils build healthy membranes on your brain cells, enabling those brain cells to fire and function correctly. Other supplements, such as Gingko biloba, are also super healthy for brain functioning.
I hope you will consider at least trying omega-3 oils, either from fish or krill. They made an incredible difference in my life! I would be happy to answer any questions, of course. Best wishes to you!
Hi Gbill7. Apologies for my late reply. For some reason your most unspam-like response went to my spam box! Wow, that's an incredible story and very humbling! I took a lot of supplements during the Covid nonsense, and despite a weak chest, never felt better. However, I've never taken Omega 3 fish oils. That's probably because of personal bias. I work in special ed and I've heard a lot of talk of them being a miracle cure for ADHD, etc. There are many "miracle cures" in my line of work, and most of them are money-making frauds, so I probably instinctively put O3FO in that category. However, I will DEFINITELY give them a try now. Despite my "defence" of anti-deps, I'd really rather not be on them! Many thanks for your very moving personal story and may your good physical and mental health continue!
Yeah, nutrition is actually highly individualistic. Different supplements work for different people, depending on your personal nutritional deficiencies, your toxicities, genes, microbiome, etc. Our bodies evolved to function best when a zillion things are ‘in balance’, so we just need to try different strategies until we improve. In the long term, natural tactics almost always work better than short-term, artificially-created products. Of course, good sleep, low stress, exercise, healthy relationships, and so on are very important parts of the equation. Every little healthy thing you can do helps, so keep taking those small steps to a better life. Best wishes to you, Steghorn21!
Hey, Steghorn21, I hope you don’t mind me jumping in with a personal story, because maybe this will be of interest to you.
In my youth, I experienced some terrible clinical depressions. The worst was in my twenties, when my apartment burned to the ground and I was left standing on the street with literally not even a toothbrush to my name. No one came to my aid, except for $50 from the American Red Cross. I ate out of dumpsters. At about the same time, the industry the I was training for completely tanked, and there were no jobs for beginners, so all of my professional dreams were destroyed. My husband of the time responded to my depression by becoming violent. It was not a good time in my life.
But even worse was my monthly cyclical despair (yeah, sorry, I know how guys love to hear about this). For decades, for about four days each month, I would have this huge cloud of despair descend upon me. Nothing but time would alleviate the depression; I learned just to tough it out. But then when I was 45, I happened to buy an unopened bottle of fish oil capsules at someone’s moving sale. I figured, hey I’m getting older and I’d read that the omega-3 fish oils were good for your heart. I started taking one capsule every day, and - without knowing anything about this effect in advance, so there was no chance of placebo effect - that month there was no dark cloud of despair! For the first time in decades! I’ve been taking omega-3 oils ever since, and I’m 68 now. I earned a master’s degree in holistic nutrition, have been taking a whole bunch of supplements for years, and my health - mentally and physically- is rock solid. I haven’t had a headache in 23 years. I haven’t had the flu in 27 years, and I haven’t gotten a flu shot in 27 years. Although not everything in my life is perfect, I never get depressed. The omega-3 oils build healthy membranes on your brain cells, enabling those brain cells to fire and function correctly. Other supplements, such as Gingko biloba, are also super healthy for brain functioning.
I hope you will consider at least trying omega-3 oils, either from fish or krill. They made an incredible difference in my life! I would be happy to answer any questions, of course. Best wishes to you!
Hi Gbill7. Apologies for my late reply. For some reason your most unspam-like response went to my spam box! Wow, that's an incredible story and very humbling! I took a lot of supplements during the Covid nonsense, and despite a weak chest, never felt better. However, I've never taken Omega 3 fish oils. That's probably because of personal bias. I work in special ed and I've heard a lot of talk of them being a miracle cure for ADHD, etc. There are many "miracle cures" in my line of work, and most of them are money-making frauds, so I probably instinctively put O3FO in that category. However, I will DEFINITELY give them a try now. Despite my "defence" of anti-deps, I'd really rather not be on them! Many thanks for your very moving personal story and may your good physical and mental health continue!
Thank you!
Yeah, nutrition is actually highly individualistic. Different supplements work for different people, depending on your personal nutritional deficiencies, your toxicities, genes, microbiome, etc. Our bodies evolved to function best when a zillion things are ‘in balance’, so we just need to try different strategies until we improve. In the long term, natural tactics almost always work better than short-term, artificially-created products. Of course, good sleep, low stress, exercise, healthy relationships, and so on are very important parts of the equation. Every little healthy thing you can do helps, so keep taking those small steps to a better life. Best wishes to you, Steghorn21!