Ilardi's Depression Cure/Therapeutic Lifestyle Change (TLC)

Thanks. I like that self.com site for their nutrition information. I think they pull it from the USDA database, but they arrange it and make it available in a better format. I've never looked at their diet profile thing. Usually such recommendations don't work for me, because I eat a low carb diet. Since you recommend it, though, I'll have a look.

I'm still looking into the hemp oil info. I haven't looked at the video you linked to. Forgot about it until just now! (I seldom watch online videos at home, because I have limited bandwidth. Then I forgot to watch it at work. Maybe I need a supplement for memory! )

Yesterday my mood was so even, and I thought I'd have a great report to make today. But for some reason I had trouble sleeping last night, so now I'm tired. Not depressed, but tired.

I was so sleepy last night at about 7:30 - which is unusual. So I thought I'd sleep really soundly. I could barely keep my eyes open, so I crawled into bed at 8:30 - then lay there wide awake for 2 hours. My legs ached so badly. I don't know why. I finally took an ibuprophen and fell asleep.

I've decided to skip a few chapters of the book for now. I started reading the chapter on light, because it's that time of year.

I'm going to purchase a light box - probably the one he recommends, which is currently $140 on Amazon - and give it a try. I may wait until pay day (Dec. 24) to order it. I'm broke right now, and this is a lot of money for me. Still if it helps with mood, energy, and sleep, it will be worth it. (If it doesn't help, I guess I'm out $140.)

Is the logic behind the light box vitamin D or some other attribute about light?

I was prescribed a high dose vitamin D supplement (by my endocrinologist, not pdoc) to boost my energy. I can't tell you if it works because my psych meds kill my energy to the point where I'll be out by 10pm, which is early for me anyway. I used to not be able to fall asleep before midnight when I was in school even if I hadn't sleep more than a few hours in days. Now if I make it past 11pm, I'm lucky regardless of how much I slept the night before.

Also, sometimes we're achey and tired for no reason. It just happens.

To get the vitamins you need true sunlight. You don't need much of it but it can't be from a SAD lamp or through a window. It comes from UV rays on the skin.

The effect from a SAD light comes from the eyes making you believe it is daylight but with the UV filtered out.

Extremely bad night. Got some upsetting news last night. Very broken sleep and finally gave up at 3:30.

I haven't read the whole chapter yet, but so far he's talking about some light receptors in the eye that need to be stimulated. It seems like it's important to have the light on the eyes. Not shining directly in, of course, but at the right angle to be sure to reach those receptors.

I haven't seen a mention of vitamin D yet. But my son read this book about 6 months ago, and he went out and bought some vitamin D supplements at that time, so maybe it's covered somewhere in the book.

I agree with jimi. For vitamin D production you need one of the components of natural sunlight. UV B? I can't remember. I just remember that even a glass window will filter most of it out. They do make special light bulbs that emit the right rays for vitamin D. Pet reptiles need them. And some people with some skin disease use them. And some tanning salons. But that's different from the light used for depression which seems to have more to do with brightness.

So he says sleep is a cure? For me it's more of a crutch. I sleep way too much. I have fish oil, I just forget to take it every day. And being cooped up in an office isn't the best way to get sunshine. Does he mean light like natural light? Or does any light count? I do get exercise, but not enough....

I think it has to be tweaked to the individual. Like socializing when I'm down just makes me worse. I benefit from solitude and contact with nature, not humans. So everyone is a little different I guess.

Here are some brief descriptions of the program:

http://psych.ku.edu/tlc/Elements.html

http://www.northlandprep.org/proctor...e%20Change.pdf

I think of it as living a more natural lifestyle - the way we evolved to live - in small groups, outside most of the day, sleeping when it's dark, etc.

I'm like jimi. When I'm down, contact with other people tends to make it worse. I'm pretty down on myself during those times, so it's easy to think that other people are down on me too. And maybe they are. Frankly, I'm not fun to be around when I'm feeling depressed. Negative and complaining. And missing social cues.

I've been thinking about this over the last few days. My mood has brightened quite a bit just over the last two or three days. It's tempting to say, "Oh, the fish oil helped!" Or, "I started taking care of myself and sent a subliminal message to myself that I'm worthy caring for, so my mood improved."

My guess, though, is that my mood was already starting to improve, and that's how I had the energy to start working on this program. You know? It's hard to do all this stuff when you're depressed. Maybe the time to start a program like this one is not when you're in the pits of depression. Maybe it's best use is to insulate you from falling back into depression?

I don't know. All I know is I feel a thousand times better that I did a week or two ago.

I've picked the light I want to buy. It's the one he mentioned in his book. I can't remember what it's called now.

I'm glad you're feeling bettter!

Yeah...when I'm in the pits of depression, I can't focus well enough to read in a straight line, let alone take to heart what a self-help book is saying. If life style changes helped the worse of severe depression, I wouldn't be where I have been for almost half a year.

I retain hope though that certain things I learn about triggers for episodes will help my avoid further suffering.

Still doing well.

My boss's wife is a very good baker. And every year she gives each of the employees a container of cookies and candies and things. Usually I promise myself I won't eat them. Then I do eat them and feel guilty. This year I told myself I was going to eat them and not feel guilty. So far, so good.

I do worry about excessive sugar consumption - not just for weight and blood sugar stuff, but also for insomnia and mood stuff. I hope it doesn't bring my mood back down. If it does, at least it's a limited kind of thing. There is a bottom to the container. Once I find it, I'll stop.

I am so guilty of baking lots of cookies at Christmas time, it's just not the same without them. then of course I feel guilty, and fat, and depressed!!! your posts have inspired me though, and the info about the omega 6 fats building up in our bodies made a lot of sense and makes me want to try alot harder to do better. I wish you luck!

I know what you mean about the guilt. Try to enjoy the baking and the cookies. Christmas is only once a year. You have the whole rest of the year to eat right.

I'm glad it's helpful. I'm still taking the fish oil.

I get paid tomorrow, and I think I'll order my new lightbox. (Got to admit that thinking about turning lose of that $140 is little stressful. Money's in short supply these days.)

I also have to use up the last of a swimming pass. I hope the indoor pool will be open between Christmas and New Years. I have that time off work, and I'd like to start the exercise portion of the program then. (Now that I've said that here, I'll feel obligated to do it. I so hate exercise, and this will be the hardest part for me to do I think. I need some accountability.)

you know, if the light box helps, and it really seems like it would, it's worth every penny. sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do and catch up on the bills later. probably not sound financial advice, but it's always worked for me, especially this time of yearand you are right about the cookies, my 12 year old nephew was over yesterday and we all decorated sugar cookies together and he had the best time. It really made me feel good

I completely agree. If it increases my energy and improves my mood, maybe it'll allow me to bust out of some of the issues I've got going right now. I need to find a different job, but I don't have the will to work on it. If I could do that, I think it would help tremendously, because I'm finding my job to be demoralizing (it also pays way more that I could make elsewhere, hence my dilemna).

Also, my house needs work - both repairs and cleaning. Some of that is involves money, but some of it is just me not wanting to get up and do it. Maybe with more energy ...

And if it doesn't help, I can always resell it, so it wouldn't be a complete loss.

I'm so glad you and your nephew had fun together. I also have a nephew I adore. He's a bright spot in what's a pretty miserable existence right now.

I've ordered my light. I got this one - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00..._ya_os_product - which is the one he mentions in his book.

I'm planning on going swimming today too. Let's see if it actually happens! Maybe since I mentioned it here, I'll feel obligated.

I haven't read the exercise chapter yet, but I believe aerobic exercise is what he recommends. I'm hoping to alternate between swimming, walking, and biking - although I'll need to buy or borrow a bike.

Still feeling better. Sleeping well and keeping up with the fish oil.

^ Hah, hah! Whenever I have a guilty pleasure or just something I really enjoy, I tend to say "It's a bright spot in my miserable existence" or "I only get so much pleasure in my life." Oh the joys of dealing with mental illness...

I checked out the link to the light and it looks good, let us know how it works (I imagine it might take some time though).

My mom said something similar recently. She said she needs to eat more candy and ice cream, because it makes her happy. Personally I think it just disrupts her blood sugar.

But maybe I'm just a stick-in-the-mud.

They say it could be days or weeks if it helps at all. It should arrive next week sometime, then I'll see. Even my son seemed a little interested when I told him I'd ordered it. Maybe he'll use it too.

It has a lot of good reviews. The main complaint seems to be with the stand which is flimsy.

I went for a swim today. I'm very out of shape, but I stuck with it for 30 minutes - with lots of rests, of course.

And I'm sleeping well, not ruminating, taking fish oil.

That leaves the light and the social contact. Gotta say I'm not big on socializing, although I spent a lot of time with family yesterday and several hours talking to my son's new gf and her mom today. So, I guess I have that nailed down for now too.

I do have to say I'm feeling much better these days, despite the fact several things in my life aren't going so well right now. It does feel like the fish oil made a difference this time. My son commented this evening that he thinks it helps him as well - and my son is definitely skeptical of supplements.

I hope you were able to swim. I love exercise and I'm sure it plays a major role in keeping me going. I swam and biked today. I also have a light that I forget to use so glad I was reading here and have been reminded about getting it in use again. I'm off this week too and am hoping to exercise 2x/day. My job is so stressful and have been encouraged to find another job but as you mentioned in your earlier post about pay is the same for me. I don't think I can find something to replace it that would cover our needs otherwise I wouldn't care about the pay. I would chose less stress any day if I could.

Good luck with the exercise. Accountability is wonderful even if it's just being able to tell someone your successes, failures and struggles. I could help with that.

Thanks, Little Me. Exercise helps my mood tremendously, and yet it's the hardest thing for me to make myself do. I've tried and tried over the years to get into the exercise habit, but I can't. I think I'm a natural sitter.

Part of the problem is finding the time. I used to walk on the road by my house, which is convenient. I live at a lake and it's one of those winding roads you can't see far ahead because of the trees and the twists in the road. So on bad weather days, well, there's the bad weather which is no fun. And on the good weather days the road is full of idiots driving far too fast and whipping around the bends like there's no one on the road but them. I'm afraid I'll get hit one day. Or my dog will.

I very much like taking my dog to the off-leash park. But it's not as convenient. I have to drive there.

For a while I was walking in the gymnasium at work. But it was so so so boring.

I took a swimming class in January, so I'm fairly new to it. Of course there's the expense and time of getting to a pool. Well, we have a pool at work I can use free over the lunch hour. Yay! But then one of my coworkers told me the lifeguard is a pervert which is information I really didn't need. I was still swimming there every day, but I was uncomfortable. I feel very comfortable in the indoor pool in the town where I live, but getting to it often enough would be a problem. And it also costs of course.

My best option will probably be using aerobic videos. I've used those in the past with a lot of success. I enjoy them. They're cheap. I can use them in my living room. No weather issues. No traveling to get to the work out place. I have a few at home. Maybe I'll try one today.

I opened a step video today. (I had a little pile of them here I'd purchased and never opened. ) I got through 15 minutes and had to stop. My muscles are still fatigued from yesterday's swim.

yoga is good too, especially when you need to relax or sleep. I always need a nap when I'm done

I love yoga - although I haven't done it in a while. Ilardi recommends aerobic exercise for this program, I think. That's why it's what I'm focusing on now.