Depression Seminar Final Session

Frontal Lobe - Medical Conditions


"The eyes are the window to the soul" and the frontal lobe, too! This picture was so striking to me that I had to include it and find a way to make it work in this set of notes. This boy makes me think of the two boys in 'The Kite Runner'. So thanks for the indulgence.

Medical Conditions
Many diseases of the body affect the mind. This is true of Hepatitis C,head injury, stroke, lupus, congestive heart failure, postpartum syndrome, pms, inadequately-treated thyroid, low or high adrenal gland output. So when looking for the 4 hits of depression, always make sure that you do not have a chronic, untreated physical problem before ruling out the Medical Condition hit. Although having a medical condition would certainly increase the chances of depression, 85% of people with major depression do not have any of the above causes.

Frontal Lobe
Research done in the 90's and 2000's show that the main characteristics of depression are found in the frontal lobe of the brain. A depressed person shows a definite decrease in frontal lobe blood flow and activity. An easy way to show frontal lobe activity is through a PET Scan, which shows frontal lobe activity. As with different areas of the brain,the Frontal Lobe has specific functions. The seat of spirituality, morality and the will are found in this area. Compared to animals, humans have a comparatively large area for the frontal lobe. For instance, cats frontal lobe area is only 3.5% of the total brain. Dogs are 7%, chimpanzees have a 17% frontal lobe area, while humans have anywhere from 33 - 38% of the brain reserved for the frontal lobe.

When the frontal lobe is compromised by injury or impairment, the effects are myriad. Some of these are that moral principle is lower, there is a lack of foresight in decision-making, societal impairment is evident, abstract reasoning is impaired and there is a loss of empathy for other living things.

The Frontal Lobe is fed by carbohydrates. Fruits, nuts, grains and vegetables are sources that are good for the frontal lobe. Sugar has a hypoglycemic effect on the brain and large amounts of sugar has been shown to impair frontal lobe activity in grade school children. After taking in large amounts of sugar, it takes approximately 4 hours for the frontal lobe and brain to return back to normal, and a common practice is to eat more sugar before that has occurred because of the dip in blood sugar that happens. Therefore, many school-age children have an absence of critical abstract thinking.

It is known that the effects of hypnosis cancel out frontal lobe activity, making people highly suggestible. It is shown that hypnosis is achieved by having the subject stare at a bright flickering light. The constant changes of the light puts the person in a trancelike state. Something that is very hypnotic is entertainment television. It is very quick and scenes change in an instant, changing hundreds of times per minute. There are over 3,000 studies about TV and the mind. Studies show that 17 areas of the frontal lobe decline in the face of watching entertainment TV. Even news programs are doing the quick scene changes that make people glued to the TV.

Other things that adversely affect the Frontal Lobe - extremely hard rock, rap, hip-hop, alcohol, drugs, low carb diets, unmarried sexual activity, actual hypnosis, going against one's conscience, not praying or meditating or reading spiritual materials.

There are many examples in the scriptures where people have gone through depression, showing that good people have sadness. Elijah was depressed, Job was certainly not happy at one point, King David went through terrible depression, the whole book of Daniel talks about depression, and there are many examples of good people who were not spared of sorrow. Some of these people recovered when they changed something in their lives or stesses that were previously there went away. Whatever the case, we can learn from the scriptures.

Afterthought: I was so glad that I was able to attend this seminar. It made me place even more value on many of the teachings I've heard for all of my life. Many of them I took and did haphazardly in different periods of my life, when it was convenient or when I thought about it. I can see that these things (reading the scriptures, praying, meditating, eating good foods, avoiding harmful substances, not watching so much TV, going to bed early, getting up early, working hard, physical exercise, doing good to others, having positive thoughts, listening to good music and laughing!) are not only good teachings, they are essential to maintaining a joyful life. This was an excellent seminar with many truths that I will definitely implement with more intent in my life. It is amazing how much great truth is out there and the science now backs up what was taught to us forever...

Depression Seminar Session 6

Coping With Stress

"Stress is the trash of modern life - we all generate it but if you don't dispose of it properly, it will pile up and overtake your life." Gnarly Karly

Stress in life is inevitable--it's what 21st Century people live with. It is so ironic that we, with all the conveniences and the technology so readily available, and the wealth flowing, that stress has never been higher in any other century. It is in epidemic proportion. It contributes and speeds up most all of the major illnesses, including depression. So to be able to cope with stress is tantamount to our survival in society.

One-half of depression patients are unable to cope with stress, thus making it one of the four hits qualifying for the development of major depression. (Congratulations, you have the necessary number of hits, making you a qualifier for major misery!) So how does one cope with stress? It helps to understand a little bit more about the brain.

The Pineal gland is in the brain. It is only the size of a kernel of corn, yet it controls so much. It produces a chemical called epithalamin, which catalyzes a process that slows down the aging process, and even increases lifespan. It works with other chemicals in our bodies to create this effect. The end product produced is melatonin, a hormone that peaks during nighttime hours. It is sometimes called "the hormone of darkness". Melatonin protects against free-radical damage, enhances the immune system, assists in coping with stress, increases the ability to experience pleasure, regulates cholesterol, blood pressure, heart rhythm, and decreases risk for osteoporosis, among many other things. Melatonin levels fall as a person ages but one can maintain melatonin levels by enhancing pineal gland health.

Some things that cut melatonin production significantly are going to bed late, and exposure to blue light and/or regular light after 10 pm. We were referred to a study done at BYU, where students' GPA's were evaluated on individual sleep habits. It was shown that those students who were able to get to bed at around 10 pm had better GPA's than those who did not. Also Dr. Nedley cited his own experience during medical school where classes alone were from 6 am - 6 pm, not including homework, etc. His solution was to be in bed by 9 pm and up at 4 am. The only time he studied were the hours in the morning before class. He did this throughout his medical college years and he ended up with a 4.0 GPA. He attributes his success to his sleep habits.

One can supplement with melatonin and results have been good with short-term use and lower dosage (.3 mgs vs 3 mgs)but studies have not been conclusive about the long-term effects of melatonin supplementation. There are foods that are sources of melatonin among which are: corn, rice, barley, tomatoes, banana, ginger and the highest source - oats.

Lifestyle can also reduce melatonin levels:

• Not coping with stress
• caffeine (cuts melatonin production by 1/2)
• alcohol (cuts melatonin production by up to 41%)
• tobacco
• aspirin-like drugs
• beta and calcium channel blockers
  
• anti-anxiety drugs and sleep aids
• vitamin B-12 (3 mg and above/day)
• anti-depressants
  

Having said that not coping with stress is a bad thing, there are some forms of stress, if managed, that can actually be OK. First we need to define the different types of stress. Passive stress is the kind of stress that we feel when we are watching something horrific or terrible happening. For instance watching a scary movie puts us in great stress and turmoil and that would be characterized as passive stress. Active stress is the job deadline, the challenge of taking care of your kids, work demands. We were referred to a study in which subjects were exposed to either 12 minutes of watching gruesome surgical procedures or 12 minutes of a challenging test, and afterwards receiving a saliva test. The immune levels of those who took the test actually increased and the immune levels of those who watched the surgical procedures decreased. It all had to do with the kind of stress the subjects were exposed to. Passive stress depletes the bodies reserves. So the good news is that most acute stressors will boost the immune system. It is only when the stress is unusually prolonged or repetitive and passively endured that stress is detrimental. And again, the best thing to deal with all of it is melatonin.

Ways to Increase Melatonin Production:

• Increase natural light and decrease artificial light where possible
• sleep in complete darkness
• eat foods rich in melatonin
• avoid calcium deficiency - calcium plays a role in the production of melatonin
• fast once a month for 24 hours. Fasting increases the production of melatonin, especially during the evening hours.

You can also learn to turn harmful passive stress to active stress. First, list the top 10 stressors currently in your life. Try to implement healthy adaptation by finding a way to either limit, avoid or remove the stressor. If that isn't possible, don't ignore it or use escapism. It won't go away and by ignoring it or trying to temporarily escape it may make things even worse.

As always, it is so important to implement a healthy lifestyle. Have an exercise program, get plenty of hydration, sun, fresh air, rest, moderation in all things, and trust in God. Do the things that are so often recommended for us to do, as Christians and LDS people. Do good deeds - it helps us forget ourselves and our pain. Put planning and organization into your life, then don't get hung up on it and let things work themselves out, putting faith in God. Dwell on the good and positive. Practice some form of restorative meditation, prayer being the very best. Finally know that you can cope, that God has given you ability and tools to cope. Trust in God.

"The only time to be anxious is when we are anxiously engaged in good works"

And finally, when the World Trade Center bombings took place, there was a tremendous amount of stress experienced by the survivors. Public figures such as David Letterman, movie stars and sports figures stated that in the grand scheme of things, what they do for a living to influence the public is so trivial and many sports and entertainment events were cancelled during this time. If the very people who facilitate these things are saying this, should we not believe it and limit our time on trivial things?

The more time we spend on helping ourselves and others by implementing wholesome lifestyles and contributing to the good of society, the more prepared we will be when life throws a curve ball at us and we're down for the count. We will have our reserves built up and so if we can't do everything, we know that the preparation we have done in advance has been our salvation.

Depression Seminar Session 5

Positive Lifestyle Choices - Overcoming Addictions and Other Harmful Habits

As I was contemplating and dreading writing these notes about addiction, I was struck with how many addictions I really have. And I'm not talking alcohol, tobacco, drugs or porn. I'm talking about other things--the stereotypes I cling to, how I use my spare time, my old, worn, and oh-so-comfortable excuses, sugar(!), and so many others, I'm sure. The thing is, I haven't been that desirous about changing some of these. They and I have just gotten too comfortable over time. I've learned to live with them and nothing extremely terrible has happened because of them (at least not that I'm willing to admit)!

And that's the thing--why change if the changing is harder to face than the potential bad result of the thing I'm addicted to? I mean, hey, change is HARD! I'm always going through change anyway, whether I like it or not! So why not keep a few things the same (even if they aren't the greatest for me?) Do you see the problem in this thinking? I do, but it's still hard.

So Here are the 5 stages of Change:

1. Pre-contemplation - This is the stage that you are in if you haven't even begun to think about something in terms of wanting or needing to change it.

2. Contemplation - When you start to think about a bad habit or addiction and maybe weighing the pros and cons of changing it, you are in the contemplation stage. Try thinking about something that you would be better off if you changed it. Now rate this thing in seriousness on a scale of 1 - 10. If it's only a 5, chances are you are not adequately motivated to actually make a change. What would it take for this thing to become a 10? Maybe you need to do more contemplating and actually figure out some motivating reasons to change or maybe drop the idea of changing this specific thing and move on to something else and not think about it so much. When you have moved the seriousness of the thing up to a 9 or 10, you are sufficiently motivated to start the change.

3. Preparation - After you are sufficiently motivated, you need to make a plan and prepare for the change. Plan for setbacks, opposition, criticism, and disappointment along the way. Make plans for all possible scenarios but also plan to ultimately succeed and visualize yourself succeeding in your goal.

4. Action - After you have done the preparation, it's time to implement the preparation and take action.

5. Maintenance - Part of change is the long-term maintenance of that change. Plan to keep up the implemented change by taking inventory as needed and put in the work to keep the change permanent.

In terms of Depression, the Addiction Hit includes addictive use of alchohol, marijuana, narcotics, cigarettes, caffeine and yes, pornography. Incidentally KSL just ran a major story that Utah is the #1 state for use of online pornograhy. Also, there was a particular emphasis on marijuana as being particularly bad for depression because it significantly slows down frontal lobe activity, which is the major brain center for feelings and moods.

What constitutes something being labeled an addiction? Here are some common characteristics of a true addiction (labeled here as "the thing"):

1. There is a high rate of dependance on the thing.
2. There is a compulsion to use/do the thing continuously.
3. There is an need for an increased amount of the thing over time.
4. When making an attempt to stop the thing, there is a high relapse rate.
5. The thing is harmful to yourself, immediate and work relationships and even to people you may not know, thus making it harmful to society.

In dealing with addiction, it is better to make a clean break and go for total abstinance. If you say, I'll just do it, say, once a month, chances are that you will have an increased sense of deprivation and will relapse. (Hey, I'm just the messenger here, OK?) Also, if you give up things simultaneously, it will actually be easier. For instance if you give up caffeine and tobacco together, the relapse rate is lower if you quit the 2 things at the same time.

10 ways to Quit Addiction:

1. Choose not to do the thing
2. No hidden cheats (No pepsi in the vegetable crisper, no cigs hiding in the drawer, no cookies in the laundry hamper, etc.)
3. Practice deep-breathing (See Depression Seminar Session 2). It will help you calm yourself and focus your thoughts.
4. Get daily exercise.
5. Get more sleep. The work of quitting something that is an addiction is hard work. You need the extra sleep so that you have the energy to do the thing that you've set out to accomplish.
6. Get plenty of hydration. 8 - 10 glasses of water is optimal.
7. Bathe often. This is especially true when you are shedding toxins from your body. It comes out through your skin.
8. Avoid risky situations--For example, if you know that you will be at a party that is serving something that you are tempted with, avoid going.
9. Acknowledge that the thing is destructive and choose to overcome it.
10. Rely on Spiritual resources. No one has overcome addiction without the Spirit of God.

There was actually a lot more material about addiction and help in this area and I'm so glad I was present. I think I will actually find the capacity within myself to abandon some of the things that have been chaining me down! Hooray! Yay! Onward and upward!

Oh, I almost forgot. My contemplation about the need to cut out sugar includes these compelling reasons I found in another essay about sugar addiction. Does this motivate me enough to put my need to quit at a 10 yet? I'm still contemplating!

Sugar can suppress the immune system. Sugar can upset the body's mineral balance.
Sugar can contribute to hyperactivity, anxiety, depression, concentration difficulties, and crankiness in children.
Sugar can produce a significant rise in triglycerides.
Sugar can cause drowsiness and decreased activity in children.
Sugar can reduce helpful high density cholesterol (HDLs).
Sugar can promote an elevation of harmful cholesterol (LDLs).
Sugar can cause hypoglycemia.
Sugar contributes to a weakened defense against bacterial infection.
Sugar can cause kidney damage.
Sugar can increase the risk of coronary heart disease.
Sugar may lead to chromium deficiency.
Sugar can cause copper deficiency.
Sugar interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium.
Sugar can increase fasting levels of blood glucose.
Sugar can promote tooth decay.
Sugar can produce an acidic stomach.
Sugar can raise adrenaline levels in children.
Sugar can lead to periodontal disease.
Sugar can speed the aging process, causing wrinkles and grey hair.
Sugar can increase total cholesterol.
Sugar can contribute to weight gain and obesity.
High intake of sugar increases the risk of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
Sugar can contribute to diabetes.
Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis.
Sugar can cause a decrease in insulin sensitivity.
Sugar leads to decreased glucose tolerance.
Sugar can cause cardiovascular disease.
Sugar can increase systolic blood pressure.
Sugar causes food allergies.
Sugar can cause free radical formation in the bloodstream.
Sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy.
Sugar can contribute to eczema in children.
Sugar can overstress the pancreas, causing damage.
Sugar can cause atherosclerosis.
Sugar can compromise the lining of the capillaries.
Sugar can cause liver cells to divide, increasing the size of the liver.
Sugar can increase the amount of fat in the liver.
Sugar can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney.
Sugar can cause depression.
Sugar can increase the body's fluid retention.

Depression Seminar Session 4

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Change The Way You Think, Change The Way You Feel

The stereotypical depressed person looks like this sad cookie,
mopes around in pajamas all day and eats a lot while watching daytime TV or napping. But there are so many other images of what depression looks like. The depressed person is more prone to gossip, having bad feelings about others--even hostility, a range of cognitive disorders, inefficiencies, anti-social tendencies and poor decision-making among other things.

By far the most common thing to do and the "easy way" is to take anti-depressant drugs. The problem is that drugs don't cure the underlying problem but, instead, tend to create a whole new range of side effects. So, while 70% of patients who opt to take the prozac-like drugs for depression do improve their overall mood, less than 20% of those same patients feel they are cured. Also, 25 - 30% of patients don't improve at all with the drugs. Furthermore 50% of patients report troubling side-effects, so that 1/2 of patients quit taking the drug, 2/3 are not satisfied and 3/4 feel that overall the medications are not effective. Another drawback to taking the medications is that there is a high relapse rate after quitting. So if there is any improvement at all, that improvement is lost when the medications are stopped.

Having said that, medicatons do have a place and that place is when they are reserved only for those with moderately high to severe depression. These should not be used as the only treatment for someone with depression and medications should be used in combination with proven treatments for depression, one of which will be discussed here.

Some of the most common symptoms of the prozac-like medications: improved mood, decrease in crying and in ability to grieve, decrease in hostility, increase in sociability, increase in impulsiveness, may increase 'I don't care' attitude, weight gain, sexual dysfunction, and gastro-intestinal disorders.

The 2nd most common treatment for Depression after medication is counseling. This may not be a good alternative, depending on what method of counseling is used. Often, through counseling, a patient can often get worse because the counselor can manipulate the social situation and bring up past experiences, causing unnecessary recollection of a painful event. So rather than helping the patient heal, these recollections of past experience only make the patient feel worse because it brings these memories to the surface where they can again be hashed out and lived all over again. Studies show that this type of technique is no better than a placebo, in terms of healing.

There is, however, a counseling method that is shown to have an improvement rate at least as great as the paxil-like drugs. The method is known as Cognative Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBT), pioneered by Dr. Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck. Furthermore there are no side-effects, less likely that relapse after completion of therapy would occur, and there is an actual chemical change in the brain with CBT. We were referred to a study wherein the subjects had been chronically depressed for at least 20 years and had tried everything except for CBT. For the study, they were put on medication and intensive CBT psychotherapy. After the trial study, 85% of these patients improved and some very significantly.

Depression is not the only disorder that CBT can help. It treats a number of anxiety disorders, including Anerexia, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

CBT starts from the premise that a cognition, thought or perception has a direct impact on how you feel. Feelings result from messages that you give yourself. So your thoughts have much more to do with how you feel, rather than what is actually happening in your life. If you learn to recognize and control those thoughts which may be distortions or untruths and replace them with positive and self-building kinds of thoughts, you can actually change the chemical makeup of the frontal lobe of the brain, which is the major center for feelings.

Here are the ABC's of CBT:
A - Activating Event
B - Your Beliefs
C - Emotional Consequences

A correct sequence of thought would be A to B to C in that order. Example: Something happens that could shake you. You apply your belief system to what happened. Because of your belief system and correct self-talk the emotional consequences are not serious and they do not hurt your emotional psyche. Unfortunately many people jump from A to C, not utilizing the belief system, either because they have no belief system or the belief system they have is failing them and taking them into undesirable emotional waters.

Here are some examples of cognitive distortions that if plugged into step B, could really damage ones emotional outcome and contribute to depression and other yukky, undesirable symptoms. The examples are true incidents.

• 1. All or Nothing--Examples: A man ran for a community office and lost. Now he feels that he is a big nobody and that no one likes him. A very intelligent college student who gets all A's got a B. The student is now of the belief that she is a total failure.
• 2. Overgeneralization--Example: A very shy guy finally got enough courage to ask out a girl he really likes. Unfortunately, she turned him down. He knows that nobody will ever date him.
• 3. Mental Filler--When a person takes one or two negative thoughts and obsesses over these to the point that it blows everything else out of proportion.
• 4. Disqualifying the Positive--Not only emphasizing the negative, but disqualifying everything else that is positive. Example: A patient in a psychiatric ward being treated for depression says "no one in this world cares a whip stitch about me," and believes it. When told that the staff on the floor she is on has really grown to like her, she says that it's only because they have to pretend they like her. When told that her family loves and misses her, she says that they don't know the real person that she is.
• 5. Jumping to Conclusions--There are various ways that you can quickly make erroneous judgments because the conclusion is often made based on your negative feelings rather than fact.

• Mind-reading - "He didn't say hello to me because he has a problem with me."
• Fortune teller error - "I won't call back because I already called once and she didn't answer so if I call again she will think I'm stalking her."
• Magnification or minimalization of facts - It's important to have as much information as possible about the situation to get an accurate conclusion.
• Emotional Reasoning - "I feel like a jerk, therefore I am a jerk.", "I feel mad at you, therefore you are doing things to make me mad at you.", "I feel inadequate, therefore I am worthless."
• Labeling and Mislabeling - Labeling someone in general is harmful because it creates distortions about that person. Labels such as "irritable idiot", or an "insensitive chauvanist", or a "selfish know-it-all" are damaging for you and the other person.
• Personalization - Example: A mother feels like a failure because her child is doing poorly in school.
  

CBT helps people identify what kinds of Cognitive Distortions may be happening in their own minds and then gives tools to help them overcome these thoughts and replace them with more positive and truthful thoughts. This can actually change your belief system and create a whole new reality for you, making you a much more balanced and happy individual. There are quite a number of books on CBT. Some authors and therapists approach CBT from a secular point of view and others approach the therapy from a christian or spiritual point of view.

'Feeling Good - The New Mood Therapy' by Dr. David Burns (Also comes with a workbook called 'The Feeling Good Handbook') Written from a secular viewpoint
'Learning To Tell Myself The Truth' by Dr. William Backus This book is from a Christian point of view
'Overcoming Destructive Beliefs, Feelings and Behaviors' by Albert Ellis
'Cognitive Therapy of Depression' by Aaron Beck
'Depression - The Way Out' by Neil Nedley
'Bonds That Make Us Free' by Terry Warner
'Be Still' by Victoria Anderson

The scriptures emphasize correct thinking as a way of becoming like our Heavenly Father. The 13th Article of Faith teaches that "if there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report, or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." And Proverbs 23:7 states "for as a man thinketh, so is he."

There were many more things taught about how our thoughts can imprison us and also how they can set us free and that if we have the correct tools, we can use our thoughts as great instruments of power to make us well and happy. It is very exciting to know that even though we may have some distorted thinking now, there are ways to change it and ways to help us be the best we can be. So although truth therapy is initially hard work because we are changing the thought patterns we have relied on for all of our lives, it is very simple. We just need to get into the habit of listening to our thoughts, analyzing them and replacing the distorted belief with truth.

I know I have had at least one pattern of distorted thinking. You see, I wasn't able to take a compliment. I was like the lady in the pshyco ward--if someone complimented me, I just knew there was something that was wrong with that. So my poor husband--he tried to compliment me and many times I wouldn't even accept it. I'd get mad at him for having an agenda. Fortunately, I have started getting better with this and am able to simply say "thank you, I appreciate that", knowing that there must be at least one shred of truth to what was just said! Yay for progress!

Depression Seminar Session 3

Nutrition: Better Food, Better Mood

This week's session was on the area of Nutrition. This is such a huge area! There are so many things that are affected by our diets and our philosophies of nutrition. For one thing, science is advancing all the time and new findings are constantly being extended. So what was considered good practice 10 years ago is no longer necessarily the best today. And what was considered Old Wives Lore 75 years ago is now the hottest thing out there to treat, prevent and enhance our health. However, what I learned is that if you are just in the dark as to what science is what or whether to believe, for instance, if supplementation is good or bad, what herbs react with which drug, how many mgs. of this or that vitamin provides optimal results and you just can't come out of the whole confusing mess without having a huge headache, just stick to moderation and get as many fruits and vegetables as you can. If you want to venture out a little more from that, it is totally your choice and just know that there are a lot of venture capitalists out there who want to take advantage of all the hype. I, personally, ventured out a little bit after listening to my heart and doing some research of my own and am very glad I did because there is a lot of incredible science out there to back up and enhance what just plain good common sense tells us. You just have to be careful!

Insufficient nutrition is possibly the most overlooked cause of depression. But once nutritional correction starts to take place in the depressed individual, the effects start to manifest within 7 - 10 days. The improvement will steadily continue until 3 - 6 months out and then there will be a peak and then a plateau.

You could have a Nutritional hit for Depression if:

• You are addicted to junk food
• You crave sugar
• You have been on a high-protein, low-carb diet in the last year or so.
  
• You are deficient in certain Vitamins and Minerals, namely B12 or Folate.
• You have insufficient dietary Trpytophan. The brain cannot make seratonin if there is a deficiency of this nutrient.
• You have a low Omega-3 fatty acid intake.
• You have marked anorexia or weight loss.
• You are more than 30 pounds overweight.
  

There are often no obvious clues for a nutritional hit for depression, so to start with, you would look at identifying the other possible causes for depression and if you still don't have the minimum 4 hits that are used to identify a depressed individual then the nutrition hit is automatically what you would look at. Also, just to be smart, even if you do have 4 additional depression hits, still never neglect nutritional wisdom. You can't go wrong.

Let's look at some good sources for the above mentioned nutrients. Tryptophan can be found in turkey, almonds and tofu. Tryptophan has been shown to be amazingly helpful for anorexic patients who also struggle with depression. Here is one example of what you can do with Tofu:

Strawberry Banana Tofu Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1⁄2 cup apple juice
• 1⁄2 cup frozen vanilla nonfat yogurt, peach sorbet, or desired flavor sorbet
• 4 ounces (1/2 cup) soft tofu, drained
• 1 cup fresh or frozen sliced strawberries or peaches
• 1 banana, broken into chunks
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1⁄2 cup ice cubes

Fresh whole berries for garnish (optional)

1. Place the apple juice, sorbet, tofu, strawberries or peaches, banana and honey in a blender. Cover and process until well blended.
2. With blender still running, drop ice cubes, one at a time, through the hole in the lid until smooth.
3. Pour into tall glasses; garnish with a few fresh berries, if desired. Makes 2 -3 servings

Omega-3 fatty acid intake is so important and so many people are low in this area. Most of the oils we consume are Omega-6 and these two oils need to be in a balanced ratio. Omega-3 works so well at treating Bi-polar patients that it is classified as a very effective treatment for this illness and is actually classified as a drug. Sources of Omg-3 are cold water ocean fish (now a high source of mercury as well), flaxseed,walnuts and canned spinach. Here is a great recipe for a flaxseed sprinkle. Put this on cereal, toast or anything else you can sneak it into. The taste is pleasantly minimal to non-existent:

1/4 c. ground walnuts
1/4 c. ground flaxseed (get the whole flaxseed and grind yourself for optimal nutrition)
1 Tbsp. dates or brown sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator

B-12 is a vitamin and folate is a mineral. They are both essential and often low in depressed people. Some good sources of folate are 5.5 oz. of steak, navy beans, okra, raw spinach, lentils, fresh orange juice and black-eyed peas. Another thing to be aware of is that people who are folate-deprived do not respond to medication. Vitamin B-12 is mainly derived from animal sources. Some good sources of B-12 are calf's liver (yum!), Snapper, venison, chinook salmon, beef tenderloin, scallops, shrimp, halibut, and some yogurts. Depression is a symptom of someone who is low in Vitamin B-12.

A huge issue in today's fast food and convenience store shopping has been the development of atherosclorosis in middle aged people, which is not only responsible for coronary disease but a contributor to depression. The greek meaning -- athero (mushy) sclorosis (hard). Basically by eating things that are mushy, you end up with hardening. Mushy means something very specific. We were referred to the findings of a Dr. Bruce Taylor from New York, who fed monkeys and rabbits oxidized cholesterol. They were found with arteries that were hardening within a very short time. He did the same thing with pure cholesterol and the difference was amazing. This time nothing happened, no bad effect. Now, in the news, we are not seeing this atherosclorosis in just middle-aged people. We are seeing very young children with this build-up of plaque in the arteries. The culprit is oxidized lard. The most harmful of these foods are the custard groups (including ice cream), pancake mixes and parmesan cheese (pizza!) Beware of foods that are too convenient. It will conveniently rob you of your good health as well.

We also talked little bit about the Toxic Hit for Depression. Basically, keep away from the toxic stuff like lead (found in dirt--don't eat too much dirt, some drinking water with lead pipes, some old paint, etc.), mercury (some herbs and vitamins from China, even some cosmetics, etc.), bisma (don't gorge on Pepto Bismal) and harmful household cleaners that have ammonia, bleach and nerve agents in them. If you would like info on chemical free cleaning and personal care products, I can get you information on that as well.

This was a great session and it gave us all pause for thought about how we might better improve the nutritional area in our lives. Just a few little things could make all the difference! There will not be another session until Monday, February 23rd. So the next Depression Seminar post will probably be after that--like the 28th. But hey, that gives us time to implement what we have learned thus far! Take care!