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Help! Does food help mental health problems?

Ambermae

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Ambermae
Joined
Aug 17, 2010
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51
I've been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder with a side helping of mild Bipolar and i get frequent episodes of Depression. I am having treatment with Antipsychotic meds and i'm under the care of both a Psychiatrist and Psychiatric Nurse.

A co-worker suggested to me that certain foods maybe of help along with my meds, they suggested Satsumas as an example by saying that they helped depression.

Is this true? If so, does anyone know what foods maybe of help to me?

Thanks! :)
 
Well, if you don't have food, you will probably feel pretty depressed with good reason.
Starvation is a depressing prospect. So yes, do keep eating. Not only is it good for you, it's very enjoyable.
 
food cannot cure depression.

exercise is great.

avoid too much dark chocolate.
 
Um,
get enough exercise,
avoid caffeine,
avoid alcohol and other mood altering substances,
eat a healthy and balanced diet,
take all medications as prescribed,
establish a regular sleep cycle.


What do your medical professionals say?
 
Ambermae said:
A co-worker suggested to me that certain foods maybe of help along with my meds, they suggested Satsumas as an example by saying that they helped depression.

Is this true? If so, does anyone know what foods maybe of help to me?
Click to expand...


There are some vitamins and other nutrients that may speed up or slow the absorption of some medications. Ask your doctor if there is anything you need to be careful of.

Blood sugar plays a huge part in a person's mood throughout the day. Low blood sugar can cause one to feel short-tempered, depressed, angry or lethargic. High sugars can cause a feeling of mania. These are all short term and much, much less pronounced than the mood swings caused by mental illness. However, you'll find it easier to control your moods if you eat several small, well-rounded, healthy meals throughout the day and avoid starvation or binging.

Caffeine, tobacco, alcohol, and even sugar change one's mood. You should avoid them at all costs.

The healthier your body is, the more you can concentrate on your mental illnesses without distraction.

Good luck.
 
Ambermae, like you I am bipolar and borderline. I'm also a doctor. Medications are the mainstay of treatment for bipolar, and therapy is the treatment for borderline personality disorder. With the ups and downs in mood and energy levels it is very necessary to ensure regular meals and exercise to help moderate those moods. That being said, there is some research that suggests omega 3 fatty acids (like fish oil capsules) can help. But the research is limited. You'll get the best benefit from medications, therapy, and the regular healthy lifestyle. I know that last part sounds corny, but it really is essential. No one specific food helps more than any other.
 
Eating healthy foods definitely has a positive impact on overall quality of life, but, unfortunately, won't offer much help in terms of actual treatment. Foods are a physiological process. Treating a disease is often about altering physiology; in this case, it has to do with the physiology of the brain. It would be great if we could achieve this by eating things like veggies and fruits, but the reality is that it takes pharmacology to alter physiology (taking medications). Long term psychotherapy can also help to promote healing changes, so that's another great thing to get into.

Hope that made sense. :)
 
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Spicy Indian food always lifts my spirits.

But pooping the next morning burns a little. :o

- Scott
 
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You can ask for evidence of such claims. Be ready for vague answers to such questions, as most of these claims do not have much to back them up.
 
Also, neither a co-worker nor random people on a discussion board should be treated as reliable medical advisors.
 
bozman said:
Long term psychotherapy can also help to promote healing changes, so that's another great thing to get into.

Hope that made sense. :)
Click to expand...

As long as that 'long term psychotherapy' is research based and designed for boderline behaviors, DBT of the Linnehan model, or Parson's.

No Freudian or other un reasearched models.
 
Thanks for all the replies.

I am taking my meds and do not intent to give them up, however the reason i asked about the food side of it is because i have an 18 month waiting list for psychotherapy treatment and although i am starting CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) early next month, my depression episodes are making me struggle and i was wondering if there was anything i could do in the meantime that could help, such as eat certain foods or avoid certain foods.
I eat a reasonabe diet between working, looking after a small child and having 4 dogs, however sometimes i just don't have time and miss meals. I don't drink, smoke or take other drug, I eat veg and fruit but little meat and i don't like fish at all. I don't drink coffee but i do drink tea.

edona7

If you don't mind me asking,
How do you cope? Is there any advice you can give me?
Although i'm getting treatment now i went 20yrs without anything except a long list of Antidepressant meds, none of which worked.
During my depressive episodes i struggle with the urge to selfharm quite alot and also i don't eat much.
Any advice you could give me would be great.

Thanks.
 
Dancing David said:
Um, recomendation based upon the Borderline features, any intoxicants usually precipitate a higher likelyhood of the behaviors.
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It also alters the concentration of some medications. I know my shrink told me to avoid very high amounts of caffeine (in excess of maybe 500 milligrams on a regular basis) as it can increase the blood concentration of lithium (though I don't know if that's due to dehydration, but I don't doubt her word on it)
 
I initially supposed the term "Borderline Personality Disorder" in the OP, to be ironic humour.
I was interested, therefore, to read the NIMH page on it.
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/borderline-personality-disorder-fact-sheet/index.shtml

I can't help thinking that what that definition describes sounds remarkably like a teenager.
The observation that "with help, many go on to lead productive lives", seems especially revealing.

Is it the intention of the medical fraternity to increasingly medicate finer and finer deviations from what they consider "normal" behaviour, until the entire population has both the desire and the blandness required for medical school?
 
Soapy Sam said:
I initially supposed the term "Borderline Personality Disorder" in the OP, to be ironic humour.
I was interested, therefore, to read the NIMH page on it.
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/borderline-personality-disorder-fact-sheet/index.shtml

I can't help thinking that what that definition describes sounds remarkably like a teenager.
The observation that "with help, many go on to lead productive lives", seems especially revealing.

Is it the intention of the medical fraternity to increasingly medicate finer and finer deviations from what they consider "normal" behaviour, until the entire population has both the desire and the blandness required for medical school?
Click to expand...


I'm not quite sure what you're objecting to, here. Could you be a bit less vague and a bit more especially revealing, please?

Personally, if I had a friend who started to fit the description of BPD as outlined in the nimh link, I would hope for them to stop suffering and get better. I'd be glad that there are people who have studied such problems, and their solutions, in a rational and methodological way.

I think people get hung up on the "medicalization" aspect. I don't particularly care if something is a "real disease" or not. I don't care about the normality or abnormality of a person's state. If someone is in pain, or unhappy in some way, and they view it as a problem, then I commend them for setting out to fix it. Doubly so if they do it by using the best available models.

I'd also like to point out that suicide isn't exactly the kind of stage that a teenager can just grow out of.
 
Ambermae said:
A co-worker suggested to me that certain foods maybe of help along with my meds, they suggested Satsumas as an example by saying that they helped depression.
Click to expand...
He is absolutely crazy! He must eat a lot of broccoli if he thinks like that.


;)
 
Soapy Sam said:
I initially supposed the term "Borderline Personality Disorder" in the OP, to be ironic humour.
I was interested, therefore, to read the NIMH page on it.


I can't help thinking that what that definition describes sounds remarkably like a teenager.
The observation that "with help, many go on to lead productive lives", seems especially revealing.

Is it the intention of the medical fraternity to increasingly medicate finer and finer deviations from what they consider "normal" behaviour, until the entire population has both the desire and the blandness required for medical school?
Click to expand...


Soapy sam

I'm sorry if you find my Personality Disorder offensive and amusing. I can asure you it is not amusing to me.
If you know of any teenagers who repeatedly selfharm and attempt suicide i hope that you attempt to help them rather than find their situation amusing.

I also hope that neither you nor anyone in your familty has to live with the effects of a serious mental illness.
 
Personality disorders are difficult to define and diagnose, as there is often overlap between types.

IIRC, BPD used to be used as a pejorative amongst many mental health care providers, used to describe any difficult patient that the provider found offensive and unable to help.

As the NIMH web page states:

Treatment
Treatments for BPD have improved in recent years. Group and individual psychotherapy are at least partially effective for many patients. Within the past 15 years, a new psychosocial treatment termed dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) was developed specifically to treat BPD, and this technique has looked promising in treatment studies.6 Pharmacological treatments are often prescribed based on specific target symptoms shown by the individual patient. Antidepressant drugs and mood stabilizers may be helpful for depressed and/or labile mood. Antipsychotic drugs may also be used when there are distortions in thinking.7
Click to expand...

Best wishes to you, Ambermae.

Ambermae said:
I also hope that neither you nor anyone in your familty has to live with the effects of a serious mental illness.
Click to expand...

While attitudes about mental illness are improving in the US, there remains a lot of stigma and ignorance.
 
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