Hi,

Don't want to end up on chemicals the Doc may issue so any suggestions on how I can beat this sense of gloom and total lack of energy I am feeling.

Why is it that everyone else around me can be cheerful and all I want to do is crawl in a box and turn off the lights …..

🙁

St Johns Wort, plant, go buy some 300mg tablets from Asda and take 2 a day for a week.

vervaine leaves – make into a tea. it has a lovely aroma

Exercise! Force yourself out on the bike 🙂

regular exercise is clinically proven to be as effective as any pills – but isn't pushed as no one from the fitness industry takes GP's on Caribbean cruises

everyone else is just pretending to be cheerful

Exercise.

I know it can be extremely hard to get out the door when feeling low, but even a 30 minute cycle around town will perk you up. Try jogging too – less time and faff than cycling so you could get a good sweat going in 20 minutes.

St John's Wort better than medication

Exercise is good obviously, but from personal experience you really can't be arsed exercising until you get out of the rut, which takes something else.

St Johns Wort

isn't it one of theose homeopathic things ? In any case, it's actually poisonous. IMO the best way to escape depression is to fix your broken thinking processes as enabled by Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. Medicines are ony a stopgap measure, and merely serve to reinforce a dependency mindset.

Rhodiola seems to work for me. Much more positive outlook when I take some.

I'm sorry you're feeling down. You are not alone.

Is there any practical reason why you feel down? Are you ill? Might it be an idea to get that checked out?

Are you having money difficulties? Is there someone you could talk to about that?

Riding your bike would cheer you up, but as coffeeking says, once you're down it's hard to get any momentum going. Could you perhaps book yourself onto a race in the New Year so you have something to focus on and look forward to?

CBT, as simonfbarnes says, is a good way to fix broken thinking, your GP could refer you, but usually there is a long waiting list, or there are private therapists which you could source yourself but will probably cost more.

Gary Larsen's Far Side cartoons make me laugh. So do Terry Pratchett's books.

Keep a hold, the shortest day is nearly here, and then it's back upwards towards the light.

x

isn't it one of theose homeopathic things ? In any case, it's actually poisonous. IMO the best way to escape depression is to fix your broken thinking processes as enabled by Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. Medicines are ony a stopgap measure, and merely serve to reinforce a dependency mindset.

Not quite. St John's wort isn't homeopathic in the sense of low concentration yadda, yadda. It is a more natural remedy than some of the chemical formulas. Yes it is poisonous, but so is water in high enough doses…

Carl YGM (in a minute or so!)

I'm surprised nobody has prescribed you a twice-daily dose of MTFU yet.

Only kidding, you've got to laugh, eh?

My two cents: You say you don't want to end up on chemicals, but any "alternative" remedies you take are still chemicals, just ones that haven't been medically recognised to do anything.

Either go to the doctor, or take the completely natural approach recommended by most above. Ride your bike, take up gardening, maybe even get a dog.

And not everyone else is as cheerful as they make out/you think anyway.

this sense of gloom and total lack of energy I am feeling.

…. all I want to do is crawl in a box and turn off the lights …..

If it's any help, I feel very similar.

Part of the problem for me is that I don't know what it is I'm so glum about. I have a lot of reson to be positive but am finding it very difficult.

5-HTP from Holland and Barrett

Helps with seratonin production which will help with your gloomy mood

5-HTP from Holland and Barrett

Helps with seratonin production which will help with your gloomy mood

I know what you've been doing.

😉

I got some horrible depression for a while after my divorce. Couldn't lift myself out of it. I went off for long walks over the hills regardless of the weather as often as I could and then after that mtb riding everywhere.

Just getting that buzz, natural high from physical exercise on a regular basis did it for me. I'd previously been down the medication route, it's just a quick fix. Whatever you do don't try to cheer yourself up with beer, it really mixes badly with depression.

Book yourself in on mtb holiday somewhere warm and friendly I'd say, give yourself something to look forward to. 🙂

Sunshine?

I'm feeling a bit gloomy as well. Hardly surprising as I've had the annis horribilis that even the queen wouldn't have traded for: five funerals (all close friends or family); £25k loss on selling a house; almost made bankrupt by tax office; three car crashes; business problems. Start to feel a bit sorry for myself then I remember I've got a wife and 3 kids who love me and a nice house in a nice area and I can get out and ride my bike or walk my dogs whenever I want almost.

Might try that St John Wors anyway!

As someone who tried to cheer himself up with booze this weekend i can heartily agree with the idea of leaving it well alone!

On another note, how do you differentiate 'tween depression & merely being fed up?

Helps with seratonin production which will help with your gloomy mood

sounds good but in practice is hopelessly simplistic. Seratonin is used in numerous systems within the body, so even if you could just add more in the hope of improving your mood all sorts of other things would go wrong!

Exercise.

I know that the way i currently feel is effectively an up and down version of depression (Friday, it was serious, today is better).

I saw the effects of prescribed meds on Mrs North last year. they worked, but plenty of of side effects I'm not prepared to go through yet (which also tells me I'm not in the same place she was).

So, I ride. Tuesday night, on the road under the streetlights, desperately trying to hol my mates wheel. Thursday, at the track. Saturday – 50 mile chaingang. Sunday, 50-80 mile tempo ride.

It is the only thing – other than Mrs North – keeping me sane and making me get up in the morning.

By god my legs ache though..!

Exercise, and in a larger sense, just do stuff. Set yourself targets that you know you can achieve, arrange to do things with friends, tell them how you feel rather than hiding away. As a last resort, CBT is meant to be very effective although you may need to be patient to get a referral.

Tortoiseofdoom – maybe your name doesn't help? 😉

I think that's it – I can't pin it on any one thing. I'm just in a rut with family and work stuff. I haven't been on a bike for months, putting on weight …. (don't even want to think about that one). and don't start me on Christmas …..

Yep, exercise is always a good idea but it's always a good idea for tomorrow…. Jogging? Hahahaha – that has made me laugh – I can't run because of an injury – all impact stuff is out. Has to be the bike ….. It's cold, wet and dark. Ummmmm sounds encouraging …..

I do have some St John's Wort hidden somewhere – bought some a year or so again and wife told me to stop being so stupid and not to take the stuff – that helped my attitude NOT! I'll have to MTFU and tell her I WILL give it a go ….

Never have liked this time of year – best thing about January is that Christmas is 12 months away …..

Are the Vervain leaves easily attainable and in a teabag format?

Thanks for the suggestions all.

Anyone got any links to exersize benefits?

Has to be the bike ….. It's cold, wet and dark. Ummmmm sounds encouraging …..

Get your lights on, don your grapple pants, and get out there. Even if it's horrible at the time (which it often isn't) you'll feel better for doing it. 🙂

Xmas is a bad time for those of us with depression.

Even those who 'should' be happy (lovely family, good job, no financial woes etc) begin feeling oppressed by the season. There's so much emphasis/societal pressure to enjoy the holiday that the very fact you think everyone else is happy makes you even worse.
Not sure what the solution is – i suspect it's different for everyone.
For me a job would be a start, although i suspect mine goes deeper than that. Perhaps actually having a family life is what i crave?

I am normally a pretty "up" kind of person however both my parents died of pretty nasty cancers in the same year 2007 which I must admit somewhat took the bounce out of my bungee.

I went on the pills for a few months and it worked well, gave me a base to work from, didn't need counselling in the end just excercised lots, ate well ( a bit too well infact) and tried to stay very busy.

I have learned one thing from it all, the busier I am the happier I am. I'm one of those people who gets very bored very quickly and then my mind tends to wander to the melancholy.

Do stuff!! And don't fear the pills they work as a stop gap.

CBT can be self taught from a book. I fixed myself in 2 weeks after 3 decades of depression 🙂

The thing about depression is that it makes otherwise easy seeming activities into complete trials. And then the black dog whispers "don't do it, just stay in bed". And you do, feeling worse and worse.

There are, I find, tiny windows of opportunity when the black dog isn't paying attention. Grab those and run off grinning.

If I had to get togged up to go MTBing, I probably wouldn't, but I ride mostly on the road, and so it's easier to ride from the front door.

Most of all, though, Mrs North understands why I need to ride (or at least, she understands this reason – there are so many more I can't hope to explain to her), and so has been understanding about me being out until lunchtime on each of Sat and Sun. And Tues and Thurs evenings (though I'm back by 8.30, so it's not late).

Try sniffing May Chang essential oil. It smells just like sherbert lemons, and makes me feel instantly cheerful

And has no-one mentioned CHOCOLATE yet???

CBT from a book? Which one SFB?

In my experience you have to force yourself to exercise for at least 2 weeks. I had to leave my running things by the bed, and make a decision to do it, no matter what the weather or how I 'felt'. Leave feelings out of any decision as they're unreliable and pretty much irrelevant. Act the way you would if you weren't depressed and keep doing it.

I had to leave my running things by the bed, and make a decision to do it, no matter what the weather or how I 'felt'.

Good advice.

I know that making life changes is not done in one large leap – small steps are the road to recovery. Doing things like this are part of the small steps, and easier to achieve.

If you can possibly afford it then I suggest going to see a qualified therapist. I had similar problems to the ones described here a couple of years ago and it still comes back every once in a while. My wife made me go and see someone about it, I went about 6 or 7 times and it cost me about £50 per visit for 1½ hours each time and it helped enormously.
If you can't manage that, then find someone to talk to about it all totally seperate from your normal situation, not in the pub or at home, but go out walk, bike, sit in a cafe or whatever and open up a bit. The problems are probably nothing too great to overcome when you look at them rationally, but sometimes you need to state all the problems to someone to realise that they aren't that great.
Exercise is good, drugs probably work, but they are treating the symptoms, you need to work on the cuase.
Good luck with it 🙂

Exercies and keeping busy – focus on something you enjoy, like building up a bike, reading books, or planning a holiday (I'm doing all three). 😆

Would love to build up a bike but without a job i can't afford to.

My commuter bike needs a new drive train but i want to fit my Hope Mini's to it. This means new wheels, new fork plus the new crankset/chain/cassette/cables etc.

Haven't got the cash for all that i'm afraid, have found some disc-compatible wheels on E-bay for £50 but the fork is taking some finding.
Even a Kona Project 2 fork is too expensive plus being approx. 30-40mm too tall as well.
What fork for short-arse commuter bike??? 🙂

Muddydwarf, last time I looked there were a few P2-style rigid forks on eBay from Genesis i0s which should fit the bill.

SFB. SSRIs ( selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors – prozac and the like)do work in the sense that they lift mood. They are not a cure but a treatment.

St Johns wort is an SSRI.

Talking therapies of different sorts work well – as either a treatment or a cure but no one type is the panacea.

to go back to the OP – is it SAD – seasonal affective disorder from lack of sunlight?

The first thing I would suggest is exercise – it r3eally is the single best thing. Works on multiple levels. It increases serotonin levles, you also get endorphin release and you feel fitter thus improving self image.

If we accept that depression is a real thing, are you better off self medicating with an unlicensed, unregulated, over the counter substance, or going to see someone who's job it is to assess people who are ill and prescribe medicine accordingly?

You wouldn't go to a butcher to see about having your appendix out, right?

If depression is real, treat it like it's important….

Yeah – need the exercise! I know…..