>I have a special interest in diet
>and depression, and would be very interested to hear more about that from
>anyone who knows.

I guess I should say a little about my own experience on this.  I guess I
assumed most people had 'the scoop' but on second thought, I realized I
could well have said nothing in the past and, even if I did, there are
always newbies.  So, here goes.

I was diagnosed with clinical depression at 26.  I was under incredible
emotional and physical stress.  I'd moved 2,000 miles from home.  I'd gone
from anchoring afternoon newscasts and enjoying normal hours in a smaller
market (less stress both on the street and in the newsroom) to being the
morning drive live reporter in a major market, a veritable stress-o-rama;
in-house politics, pressure and getting up at 4am.  I felt like I was
driving 100 mph on fumes; I remember being so tired and excited at the same
time that my hands were shaking.

This came one year after undergoing brain surgery to remove a benign tumor,
about as emotionally stressful as it gets; I was told I should write my will
at 25 years of age!  One anti-seizure medication they gave me?  Tegretol,
also an anti-depressant.  Gee, wouldn't it have been nice if they'd told me
that?  I'm an assertive patient, but somehow I let this slip right by me.  I
quit taking it cold turkey after the surgery, only to be told that was a
horrible thing to do.  Can you say 'a day late and a dollar short'?

While I'm sure the above factors were 'in the mix' I'm also sure clinical
depression was there long before that, just not to the same extent.  I'm
from the South where you don't talk about such things.  You just put up and
shut up.

At any rate, I'd grown up and didn't give a you-know-what what people
thought at 26.  I went to a shrink and told him to fix me up.  So I went on
Zoloft twice over the course of, oh, a year and a half, on the drug for less
than a year, if memory serves.

Here's the best way I can describe it.  When diagnosed, I was in the
basement.  Zoloft got me to the main floor and life was good.  Then, I
changed my eating habits.  Whoa, Nelly!  Now, I'm up on the roof.

In all seriousness, dietary changes brought with them an inner peace and
calm that words cannot describe.  In fact, I think the margin of improvement
between my 'cure' and today is even larger than that between 'depressed' and
normal.  I know that's about as anecdotal as it gets, but you'll just have
to take my word for it.

One more point and then I'll shut my hole.  I get mighty pissed when
uninformed people say 'my gosh, shouldn't you still be on the medication?!'
Please.  People here are resonsible and respectful (okay, by and large) so I
feel free to state my case.  But you'd be amazed at how rude and opinionated
some people can be!  I'm just fine and firmly believe clinical depression
can be cured.  Mine was.  And, believe it or not, if I'm in the dark on
something I tend to keep my mouth shut.  I wish a few other thorns in my
side would have done the same when I spilled the beans.

Dori Zook
Denver, CO
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Get more from the Web.  FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com