How I understood and then escaped

Hi Vital,

I found SNAP club and I am very excited to see where it takes me...The thing is, I have only recently acknowledged that I even AM depressed. What has been taking over my life for the past six years (more and more as time went on) is my issues with binge eating. I so badly want to stop, and I was wondering if you believe that SNAP club could help me stop. I understand that you have said it helps you recognize how many decisions we make, but can it help me stop this destructive habit? I'm really hoping so. I'll admit that it feels as if the depression is behind some of the eating, and then that the rest is just habit. But from what you have posted, it sounds as if you think that the habit part of it is also driven by the depression.

I am desperate and ready to try this, but I just can't take another heartbreak when it comes to trying to stop binging. I have put so much effort into changing for good, but it's just so hard to say no to urges when they come up. I have said, "This is really it--I'm done binging" so many times I have lost count. My weight gain, along with the fact that I feel like no matter what I do I will still binge, has me feeling so low all the time. I feel close to freedom, and yet so far away. I feel very trapped in this.

Do you think SNAP club can help, or do you have any advice?

Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

Just to keep track of it, here is an update of what I personally think is the best plan if you are depressed. I'm not a medical professional, I'm only writing this up because this makes so much more sense to me than what usually happens.

1. Deal with any physical/nutritional issues first.

As pointed out by Mark Hyman, M.D., there are a large number of common medical or nutritional issues that can case mental problems including depression. These include Vitamin B or D deficiencies, hypothyroidism, heavy metal toxicity, pre-diabetes, infection, gluten allergy, omega 3 fat deficiency and others. If you have any of these common issues, the best thing to do is surely to address them first. For references, see



The UltraMind Solution: Fix Your Broken Brain by Healing Your Body First: M.D. Mark Hyman: 9780743570480: Amazon.com: Books

The latter book by Mark Hyman is a great resource for diet as well. I often also use Andrew Weil’s web pages as a source of information.

2. Try all the safe healthy ways to overcome depression next.

Very often if people see an M.D. and have the symptoms of depression, they are immediately put on an antidepressant. However, I think that this is a terrible idea. Antidepressant drugs have dangerous short and long term side-effects, can lead to dependence and often don’t work:

Why Antidepressants Don?t Work for Treating Depression - Dr. Mark Hyman

Negative Effects of Antidepressants | Mad in America





It is important to realize that because of oppositional tolerance, taking these drugs may cause negative changes in your brain, which may be irreversible. It’s also important to realize that the “chemical imbalance” theory of depression is wrong (see the references above). If you have depression, you are not fated by biology to take drugs in order to get better.

Because of all this, it seems so much better to first try all of the safe, easy and/or healthy ways to overcome depression first, before even considering a drug approach. Promising things to try include exercise (walking, running, swimming, yoga, weight training, for instance), improving your diet and taking supplements (see Mark Hyman’s books for great advice and for inspiration about what this can do), meditation, improving your sleep, talk therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, light therapy and mind training. I especially recommend starting with SNAP CLUB as described at the top of this thread. It is easy and fun and usually works and sometimes works spectacularly well, and, when it works, it really helps you take further steps on your upward healthy path.

3. If 1. And 2. above fail and you are desperate, go to the next steps with a medical doctor.

I suspect that in almost all cases of depression, a serious attempt at some combination of 1 and 2 above will greatly help or completely solve the problem, but that’s really only a guess on my part. Meditation is a good example of the need to try seriously, I think. If you look in the depression success stories on this site, you’ll see that some people have completely resolved their depression, just with meditation. They also report, however, that it takes a solid couple of weeks of doing it before they get the big benefit. There are cases that I believe (on this forum and elsewhere) where people report that antidepressant drugs work dramatically well for them, even in the long term. This sometimes happens only after trying many different drug combinations. If nothing at all works in 1 or 2 above, you may have to try this, after, of course assessing the risks with a Medical Doctor. I have heard similar testimonials from people for whom only Electroconvulsive Therapy worked. See, for example,

Sherwin Nuland: How electroshock therapy changed me | Talk Video | TED.com

and people for whom nothing worked except for a cyngulotomy. See, for example,

Andrew Solomon: Depression, the secret we share | Talk Video | TED.com.

Now GO GET EM!!

As Stephen Colbert used to say: I’LL SEE YOU IN HEALTH!!!

- vital

Anyone doing that much snapping would sustain an overuse injury to the tendons. Also the cushion-like cartilage inside the joint would break down over time, leading to bone rubbing on bone. Actually I would expect it wouldn't take long. Symptoms of arthritis can be crippling, I have seen quite a few massage therapists (one of) - my own occupations - quit the industry. You could clap your hands and change the name to clap club, that would be a safer option if you are going to sustain that many decisions over the course of a day.

for some reason i have a hard time snapping my fingers

when i started this program i just said snap to myself in my head

that's how i started and that's how i do it now and it is fine

i agree with what you said....especially as we get older...for instance, i did a lot of knitting this winter and i could feel it in my hands where there was a repetition of movement

very true what you said here

Hi DechanDawa,

I do the same thing when I'm in a situation where snapping my fingers would be rude (there aren't many situations like that, really). I think "SNAP" in my head, with bright bold colors. You might want to invent your own bold gesture like pounding your chest with your fist or something like that. I have the idea that really making it your own could make it even more powerful.

- vital

Do you think an outward physical gesture is necessary? I would say one physical response is, if I am sitting down I get up.

This is the most interesting program I have learned about on PC. I am going to work on developing some kind of bold gesture I can use. I completely believe in the theory behind this program. It makes a lot of sense. I use it. I will be using it even more. Thanks.

I don't know who came up with the theory behind Snap!Club, but it seems to be the key to everything. I hesitate to even talk about it because I might sound like an idiot I am such a big fan. I now see that during this last depression I stopped making decisions big and small and I procrastinated, and presently I have a lot of big decisions to make...like how much money I should be pouring into my old vehicle...where I should move to...whether I should continue to live alone or live with housemates...what kind of job I should go for next. It is like I let my decision making muscle get weak and now that I need to use it -- it feels strained. So I am kind of suffering right now, but I need Snap!Club -- as a life line. I don't want to ever get in this position again. I truly don't recognize who I have become. I was always a very proactive, competitive person. A major depression can leave us flattened. I just wanted to say that doing Snap!Club is probably the most important thing I am doing now in my life. I use it to eat well, exercise, keep my environment clean, make "to-do" lists, and challenge myself to approach all the bigger decisions. I snap to get out the door. I snap to make a phone call. I need to do a lot more snapping. I am thinking of going and getting one of those clickers, since I have a hard time snapping my fingers. But really, now when I say snap there is like a little explosion in my brain...full of color and lighting bolts and stars. I feel Snap!Club is a tool that could change the world -- okay, the mental health and wellness world -- but for some reason it is kind of still a secret. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Hi DechanDawa,

Thanks so much for the kind words. I can tell that you really get it. I especially love what you say about color and lightning bolts and stars . As you say, it still is a little bit of a secret, even though it is steadily spreading and Brigham and Women's Hospital just asked me to present it to a third round of patients, so I think that the professionals are catching on too. It's understandable that it's a bit of a secret, though. It sounds like it's kind of a random nice coping thing to do - one of many possible ways to feel better, but not a huge deal. What's been missed, I think, is that this gets directly at that heart of what's really going on when you are depressed. Even when I knew it made sense, I was still shocked and amazed at how a life-long problem that seemed inescapable could be dissolved so easily.

- vital

Thanks very much for this vital ! I've read so much about depression but this is the first time I read something and was immediately intrigued because what you wrote sounded so true. Usually I felt like everything I heard or read about depression was a very incomplete explanation that wasn't helpful in any way, I was always left dissatisfied, feeling like nobody could help me and that I had to use all my energy to figure this out for myself. Having been severely depressed for 7 years and probably depressed for longer than that, I have done a lot of thinking about this and have come to many of the same conclusions as you although I must say I didn't come quite as far.

Anyway, I gave Snap Club a try, I'm currently on my 3rd day of snapping and I've already noticed many changes in my mood and my thinking patterns. Going through each day is nowhere near as hard as it used to be. Some of the negative thoughts I had that repeated over and over again, day after day, are either gone completely or they still rear their ugly head occasionally but for the most part, I can simply observe them and let them go.

I still can't believe it's had such an impact on my life in only 2 days and a few hours. You're an amazing person !