Jim Carrey: Depression Expert

fls said:
Maybe it's an issue of control? When we see celebrities (who we assume aren't any more skilled or knowledgeable than we are) able to grasp a complicated topic and present it in an understandable manner, it allows us to feel like we could do the same - that expertise isn't out of our reach? (Plus all the usual fallacies - if we find the person presenting the information likable we are more likely to trust it, we look to confirm what we already believe, etc.)

Linda
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I think you're onto something with the issue of control. I feel that comfort is another factor. I believe many people feel an irrational bond with celebrities due to the time they've spent watching their characters. Then when that celebrity tells them to do something, it's as though an old friend is giving them advice. That's pretty creepy, if you ask me.

My depression has been getting better. Meanwhile many things have been going on. I've lost my appetite to an unhealthy degree, participated more in this forum, and begun therapy with the aid of a mood stabilizer. Maybe I'll write a book about the therapeutic benefits of the JREF Forum in combination with malnutrition. :)
 
Tippit said:
I've beaten insomnia and depression with B vitamin and various natural supplements. I originally went to a psychiatrist years ago, and after about a 5 minute interview he put me on Zoloft. I stopped taking it, and I'm glad I did. Most of the stuff big pharma pushes is poison.
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I've gotten slammed in here a little for talking about anti-depressants and I don't doubt they have been life savers for some people, but I also believe they are scarey medications. I have used many in a lame and futile attempt to combat a serious, life altering headache problem and have had some seriously frightening experiences. Effexor was far and away the most frightening compound I have ever put in my body. I think it is far more potentially dangerous than the vast majority of recreational chemicals.
 
Certain "supplements" are the same thing as drugs. Yes, it is possible for some people to treat depression with supplements, and far safer and cheaper than drugs.

Vast amounts of scientific evidence exist.

Please note these are not "vitamins", but powerful "supplements" that are the same thing as drugs
 
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Please post the vast amount of evidence Robinson, as your opinions elsewhere indicate that just your word is not reliable.

Recommending supplements, and calling them "powerful" is irresponsible without also recommending people see someone qualified to see what is missing in their diets to even suggest what supplementation they should ever try. My MD recommended calcium and iron based on what I was low on. High supplementation when you don't need it can lead to additional problems with having things build up in your system. Too much iron is certainly poisonous. What dose you actually need and when is not to be taken lightly. Taking iron supplementation with another deficiency will result in the iron not being absorbed. Taking iron supplementation with caffiene will also affect absorption. Calcium supplementation may also be recommended, and should be taken with magnesium if magnesium is also low. I went to an MD to find out what I actually needed and with what.

Every person will be different.

Also, depression still shouldn't be treated by diet alone. There are some other drug-free options if you don't have severe depression or other severe disorders. Some kind therapy or group therapy, for instance.

I find it sad that so many people figure they are qualified to suggest willy nilly what is good for everyone instead of suggesting actual qualified helps.

My one example outlines that one shouldn't just treat oneself with any supplementation under the sun. It also outlines that MDs be involved.

I had started out taking Valerian Root and that other weed-St. John's Wort. It didn't help at all. Actual therapy helped far more. In my case, with severe depression that had lasted over many years, I also found meds very helpful. Each case is different.
 
I'm going to have to amend my previous post. It seems that just vitamins can improve "mood", though I'm not sure if that means depression, and they don't list what "Vitamin supplementation" included.

Vitamin supplementation for 1 year improves mood.
Benton D, Haller J, Fordy J.

Department of Psychology, University College Swansea, UK.

The possibility that the taking of vitamin supplements may influence mood was explored. One hundred and twenty-nine young healthy adults took either 10 times the recommended daily dose of 9 vitamins, or a placebo, under a double-blind procedure, for a year. Males taking the vitamins differed from those taking the placebo in that they reported themselves as feeling more 'agreeable' after 12 months. After 12 months the mood of females taking the vitamin supplement was significantly improved in that they felt more 'agreeable', more composed and reported better mental health. These changes in mood after a year occurred even though the blood status of 9 vitamins reached a plateau after 3 months: this improvement in mood was associated in particular with improved riboflavin and pyridoxine status. In females baseline thiamin status was associated with poor mood and an improvement in thiamin status after 3 months was associated with improved mood.
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez

The scientific studies on B vitamins alone is vast. Anyone claiming diet can't influence mood or mental function is a blathering idiot. It would be like saying diet can't effect your health. It is beyond stupid.

That being said there are indeed a lot of woo woo claims and sales pitches for "cures", which are not based on science. I tend to not waste time on them.
 
In regards to B vitamins, it seems that when there is a lack of B, diet improves things. (like, duh). But in a healthy person getting plenty of B vitamins, adding more doesn't do anything. Big surprise there.

It may be more studies are needed. Ha!
 
As a person with chronic clinical depression, if vitamins could treat it, one of the dozens of different vitamin/diet regimes I have tried would do it.

They did nothing.

What worked for me was Wellbutrin XR.
 
robinson said:
The scientific studies on B vitamins alone is vast. Anyone claiming diet can't influence mood or mental function is a blathering idiot. It would be like saying diet can't effect your health. It is beyond stupid.
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Just as well no-one's saying that then, isn't it?

That being said there are indeed a lot of woo woo claims and sales pitches for "cures", which are not based on science. I tend to not waste time on them.
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And yet, here you are...
 
Meds worked for me - until they finally stopped working, and I got tipped into the long-term post-withdrawal nightmare I've mentioned before on here. The problem now is that I can't take meds again (not sure they'd work any more, and besides I'm terrified of another post-med mental and physical breakdown), so there's something of a "Flowers For Algernon" scenario here. Unfortunately I don't respond to therapy, so I'm looking around for anything that can help and isn't just woo.

Haven't found anything yet, and I'll be very surprised if Mr Carrey can help much. I spent (what was for me) a fortune on the more reputable anti-depression supplements (5-htp, Omega 3 oils, magnesium citrate, vitamin B, etc), just in case, and didn't really notice a difference. If stuff like that which has a demonstrable effect on the brain and body isn't actually any use, forgive me if I don't send off for JC's pamphlet right away.
 
It's hard to imagine why vitamins would help, unless you had a specific deficiency.

Prozac on the other hand ...
 
wollery said:
A lot of people hold celebrities in very high esteem, and assume that they get they best advice that money can buy. This is, of course, complete cobblers, but a lot of people aren't very smart.
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What people don't realize is that celebrities get the most expensive advice that money can buy...
 
Sorry for the derail but how about Owen Wilson?! poor guy. I don't know what it is about comedians but it seems most of them have a fast-track to depression.
 
billydkid said:
I've gotten slammed in here a little for talking about anti-depressants and I don't doubt they have been life savers for some people, but I also believe they are scarey medications. I have used many in a lame and futile attempt to combat a serious, life altering headache problem and have had some seriously frightening experiences. Effexor was far and away the most frightening compound I have ever put in my body. I think it is far more potentially dangerous than the vast majority of recreational chemicals.
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Over here in laarree-land, after a lifetime of chronic depression which propelled me into trying all sorts of madcap woo-ish therapies, workshops and "healing" regimens from the mid '70s thru the early '90s (which led me to wind up here BTW), I reluctantly tried paxil and it very effectively reduced my depression to the faintest echo of its prior self, enabling me to enjoy life in a way I rarely could before. Been taking it for c. 13 years and it's been very effective -- it's also very affordable in its generic form. Its only downside has been that my sex drive is a faint echo of its former self, but, being beyond the age of perpetual horniness and not having been in a relationship for a quite a while, I can live with this trade-off. I've also been lucky compared to some friends, who had to experiment with all sorts of psychopharmaceutical cocktails to find something that worked for them.
 
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KateHW said:
Jim Carrey, lovable actor whom we came to know and love from works such as In Living Color, Dumb and Dumber and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, has taken on a new cause. What's that, you ask? He seems to fancy himself an expert and advocate for depression and believes vitamins are all that are needed to treat it!

I realize this article is from a less-than-excellent source but it's all over the internet and seems legitimate. He's said to be coming out with a book on the subject which I find unsettling at best. His partner is Jenny McCartney who believes vaccines are linked with autism and if this article is to be believed he is chin-deep in woo, himself. A lot of people, for reasons I cannot fathom, assign expert status to these celebrities when they give testimony on subjects that are far beyond their area of expertise. To me, that is incredibly dangerous ... almost to a criminal degree. I don't understand why people listen to them and I don't understand how they get published.

Thoughts?
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I am proud to say that I have never - never! - liked Jim Carrey. Never thought he was funny. Never enjoyed any of his movies.

So I don't have to worry at all about what he says about antidepressants.
 
nzric said:
I don't know what it is about comedians but it seems most of them have a fast-track to depression.
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I like both Jim Carrey and Robin Williams, but when you see them on talk shows, they often appear to be very manic, don't they? Almost obsessed with pleasing the audience, not very relaxed and laid back. I think that this is where you should look for the connection between (some) comedians and depression.
 
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