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Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

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Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#241

Post by zelphirkalt »

Ensorceled wrote: post #163
zelphirkalt wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only recently again I read in the newspaper, that most products are overdosed. There is a typical number that the vitamin D products usually show, and in the article it said, that only up to 800 IU is safe, and everything above is an overdose. There are many products out there with 2000 UI or maybe even more. Beware. EDIT: Wow, the HN-local doctors at it again. Imagine getting downvoted for sharing information from n…

Can you provide a link to the newspaper article at least while whining about the downvotes?

I would like to, but I cannot, since it is a region-local newspaper that comes as actual paper, that only has a paid online offer, to which I have no access, nor could I post a link to that. If I went through recent paper form newspaper, I could get a photo of the text in German, but then I would (A) need to spend that time, and (B) need a place to upload pictures, without having to make an account, and only then get back to you with a link. To be honest, I am too lazy to do that, just to justify a comment on HN.

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#242

Post by PurpleRamen »

ghusto wrote: post #161
isoprophlex wrote: post #43

Because it's common to hate on antidepressants, I've always personally had a bias against them. For the past 15-20 years, november thru february are basically a writeoff due for me due to seasonal affective disorder. Cold showers, exercise, no alcohol, strict sleeping rituals. Vitamin d. I can still sleep 11 hours and feel like reheated cat shit. Enter citalopram. "It will take up to six weeks to dial in" they said.…

The hate on antidepressants is not because they're not effective, but rather that they're abused by psychiatrists. Ideally, a professional will prescribe them as a necessary helper to becoming (more) mentally healthy whilst tackling the root cause. Most of the time however, it's more of a "here, take these indefinitely". It's like if we took sleeping pills every time we had trouble sleeping. Having said that, I just…

Most forms of depressions have no "root cause" you can fix. Sometimes they have amplifiers or triggers, you might be able to work around, but that also demands first to reach a point where the patient is able to work on something.

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#243

Post by drumdance »

chasil wrote: post #224
ghusto wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The hate on antidepressants is not because they're not effective, but rather that they're abused by psychiatrists. Ideally, a professional will prescribe them as a necessary helper to becoming (more) mentally healthy whilst tackling the root cause. Most of the time however, it's more of a "here, take these indefinitely". It's like if we took sleeping pills every time we had trouble sleeping. Having said that, I just…

Every time I have a yearly physical, my GP will ask if I have feelings of depression. I know this road leads to SSRIs at the very least, so I always reply in the negative. The parent comment hints to me that this might be a mistake. I do not want to become accustomed to an antidepressant, so perhaps my course of action was correct. I was measured low on Vitamin D, which I've hopefully corrected, and I haven't always…

There are also SNRIs, which don't have the sexual side effects. I've done mostly SSRIs but in the last few years I've been on an SNRI called Pristiq and it's the best by far.

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#244

Post by Forgeties79 »

ghusto wrote: post #161
isoprophlex wrote: post #43

Because it's common to hate on antidepressants, I've always personally had a bias against them. For the past 15-20 years, november thru february are basically a writeoff due for me due to seasonal affective disorder. Cold showers, exercise, no alcohol, strict sleeping rituals. Vitamin d. I can still sleep 11 hours and feel like reheated cat shit. Enter citalopram. "It will take up to six weeks to dial in" they said.…

The hate on antidepressants is not because they're not effective, but rather that they're abused by psychiatrists. Ideally, a professional will prescribe them as a necessary helper to becoming (more) mentally healthy whilst tackling the root cause. Most of the time however, it's more of a "here, take these indefinitely". It's like if we took sleeping pills every time we had trouble sleeping. Having said that, I just…

> The hate on antidepressants is not because they're not effective, but rather that they're abused by psychiatrists.

I don’t know how rampant that problem actually is, but I don’t think you should discount the impact of social stigma when it comes to mental health. It is only in the past 10 to 15 years, at least in the US, that mental health has entered the public dialogue in any meaningful sense. Historically it has been a source of massive shame with people expressing embarrassment at their loved ones suffering from mental health crises. And now we have a whole generation of influencers and politicians who are trying to tell people to pour out all their medications, reject doctors wholesale, take their specific brand of colloidal silver, and be free.

I just think this is a lot more complicated than “psychiatrists abuse the diagnosis.”

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#245

Post by pulvinar »

phoronixrly wrote: post #187
perching_aix wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're saying that it successfully filtered out the bit where the author told people to overdose by 40000x. I guess that's the value.

There would be value if it pointed out the mistake instead of hallucinating a correction.

GPT5.2 does catch it and warns to not trust anything else in the post, saying no competent person would confuse these units.

I wonder if even the simplest LLM would make this particular mistake.

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#246

Post by dassarin »

The article even states that nothing here is written in certainty. It’s just pure speculation. No, fish oil and vitamin D do not have a larger effect than SSRIs for depression.

Not to say they don’t help, but it’s asinine to state that nutrients are a replacement for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, whose sole purpose is to help with depression, and has been designed by an army of scientists, researchers, psychologists, psychiatrists.

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#247

Post by Forgeties79 »

citrin_ru wrote: post #227
paufernandez wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree. But sometimes there is no "root cause", the brain is still a mystery. If you had been depressed even when you knew there was nothing to worry about, you would see it differently, because then you deduce that the black cloud is produced within. Chemistry trumps psychology. Good enough chemistry enables cognitive treatments. But to fix the wrong chemistry you need chemistry.

If you view a world at a certain angle there is always something to worry about: 1. World in not perfect, it doesn't confirm to how we want it to be (and could not even in theory given that different people want it to be different) 2. The future cannot be predicted with 100% accuracy so even if all is perfect today you can worry that it will turn bad in the future. When looking at the same reality one persons sees th…

> A depressed person would tell that most people around him are wrong and are optimistic only because they don't understand how bad all is.

Or because of a legitimate chemical imbalance or some other cognitive issue they can’t control alone. Right?

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#248

Post by b800h »

marginalia_nu wrote: post #195
b800h wrote: post #10

Can I just add: In addition to this, if you struggle with anxiety or have some sort of ADHD, then try cutting out caffeine entirely . Not just switching to "decaf" (which isn't), but cutting out tea and coffee, and switching to an alternative like Barleycup. Doing this has had a massive positive effect for me, and combined with decent nutrition and daily exercise, has been wonderful.

Downside with going completely off caffeine is you get so tired and unfocused and it lasts for ages. I tried doing this for almost a full year, and while the improved sleep and generally improved mood was fantastic, and even toward the end it was so much harder to get any focused work done.

I have to say that I don't find this at all. I've been off caffeine for years, and I'm perfectly able to focus without it.

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#249

Post by Forgeties79 »

The amount of people in this thread rejecting behavioral health as a legitimate science/field and calling for bootstraps to solve depression et al. is wild to see. So many anecdotes and grand statements saying that it’s all nonsense. Very sad to see.

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#250

Post by b800h »

haght wrote: post #173
b800h wrote: post #10

Can I just add: In addition to this, if you struggle with anxiety or have some sort of ADHD, then try cutting out caffeine entirely . Not just switching to "decaf" (which isn't), but cutting out tea and coffee, and switching to an alternative like Barleycup. Doing this has had a massive positive effect for me, and combined with decent nutrition and daily exercise, has been wonderful.

Very true! I recently found out that i am extremely sensitive to caffeine, and one cup at 6 pm makes me unable to fall asleep at night until 4 am. Trying to cut off the caffeine entirely now.

Yes, I'm sensitive to it, and a slow metaboliser. A lot of people will be in the same boat and not realise it.
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