Monday, October 15, 2007
Self-Medicating on Chocolate
I gained 0.9 lbs this week. Although I know I can shrug it off as “fluctuation”, I don’t think it is. I’ve been trying to weigh daily again after I discovered Google 15, which creates a trend line. It’s difficult making it a habit and I’m thinking of abandoning it again, but from what little I’ve gathered, the trend is definitely going up. Another thing that I know is that I’m definitely eating too much chocolate. I had hoped that abstaining for two weeks would help me get a handle on it, since it helped when I did it for Lent, but I was wrong. My difficulty could be because of the season. Lent leads to warmer weather. After my recent break from chocolate there was just more cold weather. I’m thinking that the colder weather could be making me depressed, and I may be using chocolate as an anti-depressant. My therapist back at school had suggested I was doing this, and she may have a point. She had suggested that I take a “real” anti-depressant. I thought she was making mountains out of molehills. I know I’m still green in the mental health field, but I’m almost certain that my “depression” is hardly enough for medication. My life is not disrupted enough by it, and since I’m not morbidly obese nor diabetic, tempering my chocolate addiction doesn’t seem like a good enough reason to get tied up in the system and all it’s troubles. So medication is out of the question, but I still need to figure out how to deal with it without falling off the wagon.
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6 comments:
Unless you are REALLY depressed, I will not advice people to go on anti depression pills. You wont get 'happier' but you get numb. A constant feeling not sad and depressed and you cant get the high either. Not to mention that most pills out there make you gain weight and working out no matter how much and eating healthy will not help. I am talking from first hand experience here. Try alternative medicine first to see if it helps before doing the hard stuff
Ya I would say eat the chocolate over the pills if you aren't really depressed. Sorry if you already said this, but do you exercise still? Sometimes I get depressed, but in a non suicidal way, just a "i feel sad" way...I can't really describe it, but I do know it's a mellow kind of depression, and when I go and work out I feel a lot better. I just have to keep it up though.
Are you outside very much right now? A lack of vitamin D can lead to mild depression and seasonal affective disorder.
Googling will bring back more info. If you'd like, I can pass on links for you. Nutrition relates to mood disorders. I know I'm a lot happier now that I take supplements and eat a balanced diet than I was when I relied on chocolate and bread to elevate my mood.
Exercise and cognitive therapy are both good alternatives to antidepressants, which you probably already know! But if you're not in therapy now, sometimes you can find some cheaper help with a good cognitive-behavioral self-help book. The stuff isn't rocket science, some of the suggestions are just common sense. And truthfully, it's kind of a pain in the ass to do the exercises, but they've been shown to be pretty effective. Aaron Beck is good, and I think there are lots of others out there now.
Good luck with it!
Thank you all for all your tips. Funny enough, I knew all this, but somehow I had lost sight of them all. Happens, I guess, when you’ve got other things on your mind. I’m also exercising less and I wonder if there’s a withdrawal effect?
I just found your blog............I have enjoyed reading it. I think you would enjoy reading the book, "Potaoes not Prozac", by Kathleen DesMaison, PH.D. I am sure your local library has it. You sound like a very fun real person and your goals in weight loss have been steady over time. Congrat's
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