Until recently I was unaware of pernicious anaemia or a vitamin B 12 deficiency and its symptoms.
I took my daughter to the doctors as she was suffering from headaches, felt dizzy at times, she had trouble concentrating, was very tired despite good sleep and an excellent balanced diet.
She was told she had tension headaches. After a few weeks and doing all we were told she still felt awful and that diagnosis didn’t ring true to either of us.
We were then told she had anxiety. Perhaps I’d like to give my 15 year old anti anxiety drugs? My daughter said no thanks and explained that was confusing as she didn’t feel anxious not particularly extraordinarily stressed. I asked for blood tests.
After a few months of pushing she was given a blood test to find that she actually had very low iron, B12 etc.
Eventually she was given B 12 jabs that she will have to have for the rest of her life as its an auto immune condition that would have made her very ill.
Since doing some research, those with a B12 deficiency can present as anxious or depressed. Also older people will often have a B 12 deficiency and benefit from jabs. In these cases diet changes will not work as an intrinsic factor is missing.
I then met an older client presenting similar issues. While I am not qualified to, nor would I ever diagnose anyone, I encouraged him to see his GP. His result was a B12 deficiency. After jabs he felt better and we could work on his issues without the physical symptoms masking the real issue.
My point in this article is look at everything, see the whole person and trust your instincts. Get checked out always in all ways available.
For the past couple of years, when people come to see me with depression I also look at their diet. I have long believed it is a contributory factor. The age old tidy house tidy mind also has some bearing. Healthy eating and sleep patterns matter.
As figures of depression and prescriptions soar there are longer waiting lists for counselling on the nhs. Private therapy can’t be afforded by everyone. There are however some dietary basics we can all look at. This post makes for very interesting reading?
Could it be chicken and egg? Which came first? Lack of dietary factors or depression.
An analysis of NHS figures, released this week (http://www NULL.ssentif NULL.com/archive/12_oct2012 NULL.shtml)by data experts SSentif, revealed that the number of people living with depression in England has soared by nearly half a million in the last three years, with the total number standing at almost 5 million.
Inevitably, this has been accompanied by a large increase in the number of prescriptions for anti-depressant drugs. With official figures such as these likely to be merely the tip of the iceberg, just quite how much worse the actual situation is, is anyone’s guess.
Am I surprised? Not in the slightest. The writing was already on the wall and this is just more evidence of the growing burden of mental health problems society faces. As discussed recently in Nature (http://www NULL.nature NULL.com/nature/journal/v477/n7363/full/477132a NULL.html), across 30 European countries, in a typical year, it’s estimated that around 165 million people – 38% of the population of these countries – will have a fully developed mental illness. When it comes to major depression, across these 30 countries, the estimated number of people affected was 30 million — making it the single greatest burden of all human diseases.
Certainly, mental health problems, and depression in particular, are undoubtedly complex, multi-factorial conditions. But the bit I’m interested in – and think more people should take seriously – is the extent to which our modern day diets are messing with our brains. To offer a window into this paradigm of thinking, I’m going to make reference to a particular constituent of our diet – omega-3 fish oils. Firstly (and famously), there’s a strong correlation between a nation’s fish consumption and the prevalence of depression , meaning countries with a high intake of fish (for example, Japan) have much lower rates of depression than countries with a low intake (such as the UK).
Whilst tantalising, this type of data is mere correlation, subject to any number of ‘confounders’. However, the fact that omega-3 fish oils (EPA and DHA) are critical for the structure and function of the brain, and play a role in how neurotransmitters work, does add biological plausibility. Then, we find that patients with depression have lower levels of omega-3 , and not only that, the lower the level of omega-3, the worse the depression .
Whilst the plot thickens, we need harder evidence, the sort that can only come from well-conducted randomised controlled trials (or RCTs), and that’s a bit of quagmire, as we find a mixture of both positive and negative studies on the role of omega-3 fish oils in depression. But to cut a long story short (for those wanting the whole story, we spell it out in The Health Delusion), when you put all these studies together into a ‘meta-analysis’, supplements containing the omega-3 fish oil EPA (rather than DHA) appear to be effective in improving symptoms of depression . Whilst most of us would do well to eat more oily fish generally, for those suffering with depression, there is a persuasive, if not yet conclusive, argument for considering a supplement of 1g per day of EPA (but not DHA) as part of a comprehensive treatment approach (but always to be discussed with the doctor first).
Alongside omega-3 fish oils, we could make similar (if less strong) arguments for a potential role of other nutrients in supporting our mood and mental health, such as zinc  and folate . We could even extend that to the removal of deleterious dietary factors, such as trans fats, which have recently been implicated in exacerbating our mental health woes (more about that here (http://healthuncut NULL.com/2012/03/trans-fats-are-irritating-literally/)).
With burgeoning rates of depression, and our modern day diets in a pretty woeful state, is it time we started integrating nutritional strategies into the prevention and treatment of depression? It’s not as if the pharmaceutical solutions are a holy grail, given the significant numbers who either derive little or no benefit from them, or are afflicted by side effects.
Surely this is food for thought?
It is tiring, exhausting even to live in a constant state of anxiety or fear.
To forget where you are right now, to remember what it felt like yesterday and worry that it will happen again in a few minutes.
1 in 7 people in the UK are on some kind of anti-anxiety medication. That is without those that live with their symptoms knowing they’re not ok and those who live with their symptoms thinking that’s the way it is. None of these situations have to be, just because the enemy lives in your mind, doesn’t mean you have to live with feeling like that, scared, tired, anxious, worried and on a constant edge.
What if something bad happens to me or my partner/spouse/child?
What if I don’t fit in and nobody like me?
BehaviouralThe behavioural component of anxiety can involve reduced performance due to the anxiety. If you’re focused on your worries or physiological symptoms, you might find yourself distracted, and so concerned with what’s going on in your mind and your body that you feel removed from the outside world. As a result, things that would be simple if it weren’t for your anxiety—such as a work-related task, or socialising—become much more difficult to perform.
Another behavioural feature of anxiety is avoidance. Avoiding what you’re anxious about usually makes the anxiety subside in the short-term. If you’re anxious about socialising, or flying, or public speaking, or leaving the house, then by avoiding those situations leads you can avoid feeling anxious for the time being. However, avoidance winds up severely restricting what you can do and negatively affecting your day-to-day life. And when you do try to—or are forced to—face one of those situations, the anxiety returns stronger than ever.
EmotionalThe emotional component of anxiety consists of emotions typically associated with anxiety such as fear, dread, panic. Anxiety can also lead to other emotions such as frustration, anger, disappointment, sadness and depression.
Make a change, get in touch. Break the cycle, learn techniques to breathe, to cope and to manage. Gain tools to use in various scenarios through acceptance and in the longer term learn and understand why as much as is possible. Un ravel the tangles and start to re knit your life.