You Gotta Help Me!

[firehawkocean]

Hi Guys.

Here is the background. I am a 30 year old male, who lives a pretty healthy lifestyle. I eat well and exercise and live naturally.

I have suffered with moderate depression in my 20's. However, through using coping methods and spirituality and one dose of standardized St. John's Wort and 5,000IUs of Vitamin D before bed, I have overcome most of it. I was diagnosed OCD by a therapist. Those symptoms are still current, and they rear their head via invasive thoughts and an addiction to pornography (three months sober by God's grace!).

Anyway, I recently moved to TX from Southern CA. And, there are quite a bit more gloomy days here in Austin. The summer was amazing. I got so much energy from the sun. However, I have noticed that on the 3rd day of no sun, I start getting sluggish and depressed. Worse, on any day after that, I start feeling paranoid. I have thoughts that someone will come and take my kids or my money. Heck, last month when this happened, I installed ADT stickers on every door and window and put up a stake in the ground that was from ADT. I also got beware of dog signs and posted them on any entry to our fence. And, got a beware of attack dog sticker for both the entry door and rear door. And, I installed a fake CCTV camera on the front of our home. And, I got a FakeTV. I even looked into getting a alarm system (we live in a very safe neighborhood) These ARE good burglar deterrents. And, I did receive a very valuable possession around that time that is worth thousands.

However, I feel like I was doing this for the wrong reasons and that it was a bit extreme. This month there has been 5 days of gloom and I have feelings of paranoia that someone will take my kids (even though my wife and I are awesome parents and have done nothing wrong and they are both ours).

Anyway, I worked in the mental health field as a counselor in a psychiatrist's office. I do not like pharmaceuticals. I have seen way to many bad effects.

Is there something I can do to combat these times? Up my dose of St. John's Wort? One of those lights for seasonal affective? Is this paranoia or anxiety. Hell, I even had a thought that someone might see this and find me and conclude I am an unfit father!

Help me!

[kind2creatures]

Hi Firehawkocean. We put security bars on our windows and screen doors many years ago when we bought the house. It keeps things secure whether we're home, or away on vacation. Of course now the quality ones are likely to be an expensive project. We also have a large gun safe that is bolted to the floor to keep any valuable items in...so that gives some peace of mind.

Magnesium is considered nature's "chill pill". I would take a magnesium citrate supplement morning and night if I were you. Also a B-50 daily would be good. You can use magnesium oil topically if desired, and take a weekly 1/2 hour long, Epsom salt bath.

Ashwagandha is an herb recommended by Dr. Weil for depression, he said he successfully treated his with it. It also addresses stress.

Light can be very good to use in the home. If there's a room in particular, you can work on the lighting arrangements there for a start. Trim any outside trees that may be blocking the sun/light. You don't need fancy expensive SAD lights, I think any natural lighting bulb would be good.

Another thing you can do is brighten things up around the home, put some orange and yellow colors in the house, and maybe a few plants.

You can never be too careful to protect your home or your children, but try to stay realistic about it. Honestly, it doesn't matter if you're in a good neighborhood, those are usually the ones targeted by thieves from other areas.

Has your children or neighbors mentioned anything to you about your putting up the stickers, etc? If they have, I would carefully consider and weigh what they are saying.

Here's a few thread that may have useful info for you. Good luck, and let us know how things are going.

https://www.natmedtalk.com/showthread...ght=depression
https://www.natmedtalk.com/showthread...ght=depression
https://www.natmedtalk.com/showthread...ght=depression

[Mad Scientest]

I think you just answer your own problem, you need lots of sunlight. On a dark dull dreary day many people might feel a bit under the weather, this is normal, but you seem to have raised it to and art form. .

Buying all sorts of security devices will not work because your security is not actually being threatened.

What you need to do is find someone who will turn the sun back on, or you will have to make your own sun light.

There are lamps that you can by that provide a full spectrum light. These apparently work but you might have to sit in front of them for hours at a time. So how about replacing all the light bulbs in you house? Get rid of all the old incandescent, which have a red color, and put in compact fluorescents. But you want to make sure you get what are called �daylight lamps� these are much whiter then the �cool white� which tend to be a bit reddish in color by comparison.

Another possibility is LED�s. These are now available in 15 foot long strips; they have a double sticky tape on one side and are somewhat flexible with an LED every inch or so. Again you want to be sure to get their daylight version put they can be even whiter then the daylight fluorescents.

[firehawkocean]

Thank you for all your replies.

It has been a bit better since I have had some sun.

I have been looking at light therapy lamps on Amazon. Any suggestions. Is the dawn simulator any different than a standard one...or worth it?