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Goodbye Jesus

Tweaks You Made That Aided Your Recovery


wyson

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I was wondering what tweaks, if any that you made that helped you recover from mental health issues?

 

While I think the key to my recovery was based on therapy techniques, especially the ideas of Marlene Winell and a through debunking of the Bible through critical historical analysis, there were things I did along the way that really helped.

 

Making an analogy with a marathon runner... the core fitness to run was provided by therapy techniques / debunking the Bible, but to run effectively you also need decent sneakers, clothing, hydration etc. I am thinking in terms of these ancillaries. Everyone knows about the need to eat and sleep right etc. so I'm also thinking about things that may not be so obvious.

 

For me they were:

 

1) Quitting caffeine, especially coffee.

This made an incredible difference. When I quit, after a two week hump, I have found I managed stress better, slept better and thought better. I wondered if quitting really was making such a huge difference. So I started drinking coffee again. Within a couple of days, a dull creeping tension came back, stressful scenarios would push me into an anxious state, the quality of my sleep tailed off. I suppose just like alcohol or any other drug different people have different sensitivities, and that I am a poor caffeine metaboliser.

 

2) Sleeping by 10:30pm.

I read something about the importance of being in tune with your circadian rhythm. I then saw a documentary about primitive / tribal living where they had to sleep at sundown and arise at sunset, with the presenter who followed this tribal lifestyle saying she never felt as well rested in her life. So I tried it, well at least as close as I could get whilst living a Western lifestyle. Cue clearer thinking, better resilience to stress, yada yada. I also top it off by leaving the alarm clock off and waking up when I feel like it, but not over sleeping. As long as its dark outside, I frequently sleep way earlier than 10:30pm but use that as a deadline. I have found a huge difference in how rested I feel with 8 hours of sleep say, between 10:30pm to 6:30am compared with 8 hours of sleep between 1:00am and 9:00am. I used to consider myself a night owl, but through testing this "belief", realised that it was causing me to sleep sub-optimally.

 

3) 1000mg plus of Omega 3 oils a day.

After reading that its essential for brain function and that those of us on Western diets, generally lack Omega 3's I gave it a shot. I first brought cheap capsules with some paltry amount of Omega 3's that did nothing and gave up on them. My wife then brought some high quality capsules as a gift for her parents and I tried some of those. I noticed my mood noticeably improve after three or four days. I alternate with oily fish. A 200g tin of wild salmon has 2500mg of Omega 3 for example, enough for a couple of days.

 

Anyway, I am sure everyone has experimented on themselves in order to effect a cure. I was wondering what you did?

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1) Quitting caffeine, especially coffee.  This made an incredible difference.  When I quit,  after a two week hump, I have found I managed stress better, slept better and thought better.    I wondered if quitting really was making such a huge difference.  So I started drinking coffee again.   Within a couple of days, a dull creeping tension came back, stressful scenarios would push me into an anxious state, the quality of my sleep tailed off.    I suppose just like alcohol or any other drug different people have different sensitivities, and that I am a poor caffeine metaboliser.

I am just about the drink another black coffee on my desk! You have made me think there!  Maybe a break from caffeine would be worth a try.

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1) Quitting caffeine, especially coffee. This made an incredible difference. When I quit, after a two week hump, I have found I managed stress better, slept better and thought better. I wondered if quitting really was making such a huge difference. So I started drinking coffee again. Within a couple of days, a dull creeping tension came back, stressful scenarios would push me into an anxious state, the quality of my sleep tailed off. I suppose just like alcohol or any other drug different people have different sensitivities, and that I am a poor caffeine metaboliser.

I am just about the drink another black coffee on my desk! You have made me think there! Maybe a break from caffeine would be worth a try.

I found a glass of water and a 15min zone out / shit chat / something completely unstressful works much better. If you are tired it means your body and mind need rest so they can recover. A cup of coffee is really a bit of chemical abuse, thats says NO! you arent allowed to be tired... take that! And floods your body with stress hormones.
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Interesting question! I look forward to reading what others have done. For me, and these changes occurred over two or three years:

 

1) Finally telling my doc (after 10 years - why oh why is it so difficult to talk to docs!?), that Zoloft made me feel dead emotionally. Not only did I not feel depressed, I didn't feel happy, sad, mad, anything! Switched me to Lexapro and I feel normal again!

 

2) Wouldn't apply to you, wyson, but to any females reading, got off birth control. It's amazing what messing with your hormones can do to your brain!

 

3) Cleaned up my diet. Got rid of as many processed foods as I could, eliminated wheat, soy, anything made from corn, etc. Now try to eat natural whole foods, grass fed meats, etc. Just recently gave up caffeine.

 

4) Stopped saying yes to things I really didn't want to do but felt obligated/pressured to do

 

5) Finally gave up on religion!

 

I'm working on the sleep issue, giving up sugar (the only part of my diet overhaul that I have trouble with), and getting regular exercise. If I can get those things down, I'll be the healthiest I've ever been physically and mentally!

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Besides the Omega 3's, B vitamins are also great (great for the nervous system), and St. John's Wart (for depression).  Valerian is a natural muscle relaxant and is very nice in the evening before sleep.

 

Regular, decent sleep hours are great, and so is some exercise every day.  Get your heart moving for a while every day, any type of exercise is great, a nice walk or jog outside is great, vigorous housework or yardwork are good too.  A combination of aerobic and muscle-building activity is very nice and helpful.

 

Learning to be gentle with yourself and loving yourself is good.  Would you berate your child or your friend for any qualities you see in them that aren't "perfect"?  Don't treat yourself worse than you would a friend.  Forget about perfection and learn to enjoy who you are and what you are capable of doing.  We cheer for our toddlers when they make their first steps; we don't berate them when they fall over.  Treat yourself the same.  Celebrate your accomplishments, no matter how small, and enjoy them and ignore the "fall" that inevitably happens.  Get up and do it again, like that toddler learning to walk!

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Diet, walks, hobbies. I spent more time with hobbies, it made me realize self worth more and also learned new things at the same time. Formulating a schedule and staying on it helped also.

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Interesting question! I look forward to reading what others have done. For me, and these changes occurred over two or three years:

1) Finally telling my doc (after 10 years - why oh why is it so difficult to talk to docs!?), that Zoloft made me feel dead emotionally. Not only did I not feel depressed, I didn't feel happy, sad, mad, anything! Switched me to Lexapro and I feel normal again!

2) Wouldn't apply to you, wyson, but to any females reading, got off birth control. It's amazing what messing with your hormones can do to your brain!

3) Cleaned up my diet. Got rid of as many processed foods as I could, eliminated wheat, soy, anything made from corn, etc. Now try to eat natural whole foods, grass fed meats, etc. Just recently gave up caffeine.

4) Stopped saying yes to things I really didn't want to do but felt obligated/pressured to do

5) Finally gave up on religion!

I'm working on the sleep issue, giving up sugar (the only part of my diet overhaul that I have trouble with), and getting regular exercise. If I can get those things down, I'll be the healthiest I've ever been physically and mentally!

Nice list!

 

Oh god, I tried giving up sugar as well. It was so hard! I found it didn't make much difference to my mental health so I started eating it again in moderation. My bodyfat % did plummet when I was avoiding sugar though. I had to cut out all processed foods (sugar in everything) and restaurant foods (dont know what they put in) and home cook everything.

 

I switched to grassfed beef also because I read it had a much better Omega 3 / 6 balance. For those who might not understand, people evolved on a diet where the Omega 3 : Omega 6 balance in food was around 1:1. This is considered optimal. Grassfed beef has a 1:3 ratio, where as grain fed beef has a 1:20 ratio. It also tastes much better!

 

Have you tried a rotation diet based on taxonomy? I discovered through it I had intolerances to all sorts of foods, which I now avoid. Pulses like lentils for instance make be feel bloated and sluggish. I totally thought they were healthy because of all the standard dietary advice before this, but no, my body can't handle them.

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