Still, some of us relatively fortunate Americans get depressed for one reason or another. It’s probably true that some of us get that way for reasons you mentioned above.

I personally don’t know enough to speculate about all the reasons why, and I’m not going to pretend that I do. I do read bits and pieces of things, put them together with both my experience and that of friends, and brood on the whole mess.

Some people live through hell and manage to make it through somehow, with only situational depression which clears after a time.

Some other people, Americans included, who might seem to have fewer “reasons” for “objective” depression, do in fact have long-term depression which might not seem to have a proximate, objective cause.

All I know for sure is that I was pretty badly depressed for several years, and fish oil (sometimes with primrose oil) seemed to help.

[Thanks; your advice is very valuable. I take Omega as well. And we all fight those demons. I’ll be a lot happier when the political landscape isn’t so sick, as I wrote here.]

Michael Norden, MD: Beyond Prozac. He also mentions Seasonal Affective Disorder, which means that the sufferer is not getting enough sunlight in winter. He also mentions the combination of fish oil and primrose oil. He also mentions various devices for simulating natural sunlight (as an aid to stabilizing sleep/wake cycles), because we also need sunlight.

Michael and Mary Dan Eades, MD: Protein Power (various books).

Barry Sears, PhD: The Omega Rx Zone.

The anti-fat hysteria which has been force-fed to the public by various “authorities” probably has been contributing to the incidence of depression. People are so damned afraid to eat anything resembling fat, especially an animal fat. Well, too much corn, soy, and other vegetable oils in the diet are known to trigger chronic disease, and are far more harmful than animal fats. We need saturated fats. We need good fats for the brain.

Maybe some depressed persons are obese and inactive, but certainly not all. Not all American problems can be attributed to being overweight, although it is fashionable to ridicule people who are overweight.

And I don’t believe that all people need to do is run four miles per day (for one thing, I have had knee injuries that would mitigate against that, even if I wanted to). If it works for you, fine. If you’ve never been more than “sad,” great for you.

Of course I don’t know all the specifics of every case I’ve ever heard of. But clearly some people have trouble with just making it through the day, and they’re not physically disabled.

[Perhaps I’ve not explained what I mean. I’m also not talking about psychosis, btw. I’ve never said that it’s all about one thing or another, but if one combines various approaches: exercise, talk therapy, friendships and support systems, proper eating, some life affirming goals and interests, then improvements in the human condition are equal to if not better than medication. Americans expect to be happy. Sadness or depression, however, is part of life. It’s a normal response to stresses. Try icing the knees and some good shoes. Power walking is also good. You’re talking to someone who has experienced a great deal of sorrow in life (including living in Africa and Israel, experiencing REAL war, and immigration many times over, which to my mind is worse than all the above.

Take care,

Yours,

Ilana]

Having had relatives in nutty cults like EST and cult-like groups such as PETA, I can say that most are on balance harmless, though obnoxious. Scientlology may be another matter though. They are known for their tactic of agressively punishing critics through lawsuits.

Drugs should be a last resort to mental problems. I believe that many mental problems can be treated without drugs. But there are also real mental problems that may not stem from a “diseases” per se but a malfunction of “normal” brain functions. I hope that’s not even an issue of debate with you.

[It is an issue of debate as you’d know if you read the links provided. Or apprised yourself of Thomas Szasz’s work. See links provided to Pam Maltzman, above. More in the “Junk Science” archive.]

[There are objective reasons for becoming very very sad—even depressed. Or example, most Americans don’t exercise and are obese. Does one need an expert to tell one that anything we do affects are minds, as body and mind are one, and that depression is perfectly logical given such circumstances of obesity, loss of work, lack of rewarding work, or poverty? Of course, most American would rather be told they are “sick,” given a pill and avoid running 4 miles a day. If you re-read the links to the columns provided, “Trading Morality for Medical Mumbo-Jumbo,” and “Broken Brains?”, you’ll see that there is no good science linking so-called chemical imbalances to depression—or brain abnormality to ADHD, for that matter.—ILANA]

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