CTV just ran an article (Aug 2024) claiming that anti-depressants may be causing people to suffer from heat more than they would if they weren’t taking them.
Let me quote a section of the article to go over a few things (note: by the time I got done with this, the article quote got broken up severely to address various parts of it. Keep reading):
“SSRIs work by blocking the brain’s reuptake of serotonin — a natural chemical that regulates bodily functions including mood. By increasing the level of serotonin in the brain, they can help ease symptoms of anxiety and depression.”
Symptoms! THIS is the calling card of modern, mainstream medicine! Don’t address the causes, address the symptoms!
There are various causes for a persistently depressed mood. There might be stuff going on in life causing the depression. It is important to identify, and then were possible deal with the situations that are causing a persistent depressed mood. It could be work, school, friend group, family, home life. Whatever it is, a method of dealing with the situation should be crafted and then acted on. This may require the assistance of a life coach, a counsellor, or other professional to aid in the identification, reasons, and brainstorming of necessary actions, attitudes, perspectives, and behaviours to either bring resolution to a situation, or handle it in a healthier manner.
This should be step one in addressing depression, because not all depressions are the same.
Other causes of depression may relate to the environment one lives in. Are they living in an asphalt jungle? I actually ran across another article sometime back, where an organization here in Canada was encouraging physicians to prescribe nature time! It isn’t healthy mentally or physically, to be living where you rarely ever see green space of some kind. One way to deal with this is to head out to green spaces for a walk every day. Another method is to bring the green spaces home and learn how to grow plants indoors and on your patio or balcony. Plants are social creatures and not only will they increase your home’s healthy oxygen levels, but they will be silent companions too.
Other environmental variables include being around car exhaust too often, maybe a sensitivity to EMF might be affecting your health and therefore your mood. Maybe your choice of colours and music might actually be feeding your mood and you need to choose more calming colours and more encouraging music styles. The tendancy here is to surround ourselves with colours, imagery, lyrics, and musical styles that we identify with, but if we are in a bad space mentally or emotionally, choosing audio and visuals that match that space isn’t wise in the long run. It may be validating for a time, but then it begins to feed that space instead of lifting you out of it. This is why the social media malady known as “doom scrolling” has become a thing in recent years. There is validation that what we are feeling and sensing is actually occurring out there, but then those feelings are heightened rather than assuaged, particularly if no course of positive action comes with the news.
These non-biological reasons for persistent depression must be considered and dealt with if identified.
Biological reasons include how we look after ourselves. What are we eating, how do we sleep, are we getting any exercise, etc. Now the quotes below eventually kinda-sorta ask these questions, but they don’t go into any recommendations, nor do they spend much time on them other than to continue encouraging SSRI’s.
“But as they modulate the brain’s chemicals, SSRIs can also tinker with the body’s ability to keep itself cool.
They can affect the hypothalamus, a small structure in the brain which acts as the body’s thermostat, sensing temperature changes and triggering various processes to keep the body’s internal temperature around 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, or 37 C.
“When you add more serotonin to the mix, (the hypothalamus) becomes less sensitive,” said Dr. Pope Moseley, a physician and biomedical sciences researcher at Arizona State University. Bathed in serotonin, it becomes less effective at sending out the necessary signals.
This can affect the tools the body uses to cool itself, including sweating – its main cooling mechanism – which transfers heat from the skin to the air as it evaporates. Excessive sweating is a common side effect of SSRIs, which can lead to dehydration and, paradoxically, a rise in body temperature.
In other people, however, SSRIs can cause a reduction in sweating, Moseley said. This is also a problem as their body loses a vital process for dumping heat.
There are other ways SSRIs can put people at risk of dehydration. They can activate a hormone that makes people urinate more and there is evidence they can alter people’s perception of thirst, meaning they don’t drink enough to replace lost fluids, Moseley said.
Dehydration puts people at risk of heat exhaustion and, in particularly severe cases, heat stroke, which is dangerous and potentially deadly.”
“While heat sensitivity is one of many side effects listed on information sheets provided with SSRIs, often people taking these drugs won’t read them because it increases their anxiety, Saywell said.””
The hypthalamus does more than just heat regulation. It is known as the second-in-command for the entire endocrine system of the body! The commanding organ of the endocrine system is the Pituitary Gland. Between the two of them, they send messages to the thyroid and the adrenal glands to mix certain chemical cocktails together for various uses around the body. One of those cocktail recipes involves how the body uses cortisol. Cortisol is the body’s flight or fight hormone, and is intended for use when the body senses a need for quick action to deal with a stressful situation. If you have too much cortisol consistently flowing through your body, the adrenal glands will tire, and you can find yourself suffering adrenal fatigue or worse, suffering chronic fatigue, both of which do affect your mood because you’re unable to handle what life is throwing at you anymore. The stress of it all, even what some call “healthy” stress, is just too much.
The answer here isn’t more serotonin, it’s less cortisol! But the damage done in this situation can extend to the nervous system, particularly if you have been following mainstream nutritional advice to watch your fat intake and eat a consistently low-fat diet. Your nerves require fats to build their myelin sheath and schwann cells. These coatings act as both insulation to prevent cross-talk among your nerves, and as electronic enhancers to facilitate speedier, better communication across the body and to and from the brain.
This is where I should mention that your brain is physical, and your mind is not. In holistic terms, your body consists of everything physical that you are made up of. What we refer to as mind and heart is the part of you known as your soul. Humans have a third part to their make-up known as the spirit. Scripture tells us:
Ephesians 2:4-6 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Colossians 2:13-15 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
GotQuestions.org shares how first spiritual death and then physical death began.
We pick up the account God gives us in Genesis 3:
Genesis 3:1-19 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Got Questions mentions this passage as they explain:
“The phrase “you shall surely die” could be literally translated “dying you shall die.” This signifies a continuous state of death that began with spiritual death, continues throughout life as a gradual degradation of the body, and culminates in physical death. The immediate spiritual death resulted in Adam’s separation from God. His act of hiding from God (Genesis 3:8) demonstrates this separation, as does his attempt to shift blame for the sin to the woman (Genesis 3:12).
Unfortunately, this spiritual – and eventual physical – death was not confined to Adam and Eve. As the representative of the human race, Adam carried all of humanity into his sin. Paul makes this clear in Romans 5:12, telling us that sin and death entered the world and spread to all men through Adam’s sin. Additionally, Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death; sinners must die, because sin separates us from God. Any separation from the Source of Life is, naturally, death for us.
But it is not just inherited sin that causes spiritual death; our own sinfulness contributes. Ephesians 2 teaches that, before salvation, we are “dead” in trespasses and sins (verse 1). This must speak of spiritual death, because we were still “alive” physically before salvation. While we were in that spiritually “dead” condition, God saved us (verse 5; see also Romans 5:8). Colossians 2:13 reiterates this truth”
I quoted Colossians 2:13 in a passage earlier.
Their article on spiritual death ends as follows:
“Paul teaches in Romans 8 that our natural minds cannot submit to God, nor please Him (verses 7-8). In our fallen state, we are incapable of even understanding the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:14).
The act of God whereby He makes us alive from spiritual death is called regeneration. Regeneration is accomplished only by the Holy Spirit, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. When we are regenerated, we are made alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2:5) and renewed by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5). It is like being born a second time, as Jesus taught Nicodemus in John 3:3, 7. Having been made alive by God, we will never truly die – we have eternal life. Jesus said often that to believe in Him is to have eternal life (John 3:16, 36; 17:3).
Sin leads to death. The only way to escape that death is to come to Jesus through faith, drawn by the Holy Spirit. Faith in Christ leads to spiritual life, and ultimately to eternal life.”
I encourage you to look up the various verses given here and to ask God to reveal their meaning to you.
So we as human beings have a body, a soul made up of our mind and heart (as our emotions and feelings are often referred to) and a spirit.
For those who have not come to Christ accepting His salvation, they are left with just their soul and body, as sin, that separation from God because of selfish, prideful choices, means they were born with their spirit already dead. It does not revive until we have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Once we have accepted Christ as Lord and Saviour, now we have another prong we can use in the betterment of not merely our own lives, but those of others around us. Scripture says we have a Helper, known as the Holy Spirit, the third member of the God-head, who communicates with our spirit to help us in our infirmities and daily life.
1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
John 14:25-26 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. 26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Romans 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Now what does Scripture say about the soul? What does it say about our mind and heart?
First off, what we set our mind on is key to our health:
Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Mark 12:29-31 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Romans 8:5-9 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Romans 8:12-14 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Romans 8:26-28 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Romans 12:2-3 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Titus 1:15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
Psalms 12:2 They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
Psalms 14:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalms 19:8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
Psalms 19:13-14 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. 14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
Psalms 22:14-15 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
Psalms 27:13-14 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
Psalms 31:23-24 O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. 24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.
Psalms 34:16-19 The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. 17 The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. 18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
Scripture is full of examples where how we think and feel has a direct impact on our physical health, both good and bad. But in the verses that follow, note how many times we are encouraged to look to God for our strength, courage, and sustenance.
Psalms 38:4-8 For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. 5 My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. 6 I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. 7 For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh. 8 I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.
Psalms 40:10-12 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation. 11 Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me. 12 For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.
Psalms 61:1-4 To the chief Musician upon Neginah, A Psalm of David. Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. 2 From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 3 For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. 4 I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.
Psalms 69:18-20 Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies. 19 Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee. 20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.
Psalms 73:25-26 Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. 26 My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
Psalms 102:2-5 Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily. 3 For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth. 4 My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread. 5 By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin.
Psalms 109:21-27 But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name’s sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me. 22 For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. 23 I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust. 24 My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness. 25 I became also a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me they shaked their heads. 26 Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy: 27 That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it.
Psalms 141:3-4 Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. 4 Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.
Psalms 147:3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
A broken heart can do some serious physical damage to a person’s overall health and in extreme cases, has caused some to literally take their life, they are unable to see past the pain that badly.
Proverbs 12:25 Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.
Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.
Proverbs 15:13 A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.
Proverbs 15:15 All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.
Proverbs 15:30 The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart: and a good report maketh the bones fat.
Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
The above verses show how we can impact our health just by our attitude toward life. If we are constantly negative, angry, upset, down, dwelling on things that went wrong or that didn’t go right, we can make ourselves physically ill. But if we are positive, if we have an outlook on life that allows us to be grateful, cheerful, etc, we take the stress of negative attitudes off the body and it has an easier time doing it’s job to stay healthy and functional.
Remember my discussion on the wayward nature of man’s fall from God’s grace, and how sin separates us from God not merely in eternity, but in how our bodies handle life as well? Let’s look a bit at this now:
Proverbs 21:4 An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.
Jeremiah 17:7-10 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. 8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
Lamentations 1:20-21 Behold, O LORD; for I am in distress: my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death. 21 They have heard that I sigh: there is none to comfort me: all mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done it: thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called, and they shall be like unto me.
Ezekiel 13:18-23 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you? 19 And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies? 20 Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly. 21 Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 22 Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life: 23 Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
The passage from Ezekiel above is included here, because we can lead each other astray by saying things that aren’t true, even if we are saying them in a way that should, humanly-speaking, uplift and otherwise encourage them. If we are saying things that go against God’s Word, we are not uplifting, but damning others instead. I have personally witnessed fellow believers get angry and bitter because churches they attended claimed God’s people should do for them what wasn’t being done. They’d been taught a me-first Gospel, and got bitter and angry that others weren’t doing for them what they had been taught to expect from the Body of Christ. In this way, as verse 22 says above, their heart had been made sad who God did not intend to be sad.
What we allow ourselves to think and dwell on is important! What we share with others is also important! We can drag each other down, or lift each other up by how we interact and by what we say or don’t say.
Psalms 39:1-3 To the chief Musician, even to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David. I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. 2 I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred. 3 My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,
Psalms 49:3 My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.
Psalms 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Proverbs 3:5-8 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. 8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
Proverbs 4:20-27 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. 22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. 23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. 24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. 25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. 26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. 27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.
Proverbs 6:16-19 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, 19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
Proverbs 27:9-10 Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel. 10 Thine own friend, and thy father’s friend, forsake not; neither go into thy brother’s house in the day of thy calamity: for better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off.
Isaiah 35:3-4 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. 4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
Ezekiel 36:26-27 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
Jesus taught these things when He walked the earth over 2000 years ago. God does not change, nor does the heart of man apart from God.
Matthew 6:19-23 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! (see my bio-luminescence devotional commentary)
Matthew 12:34-37 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. 36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
Matthew 15:16-20 And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? 17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
Mark 7:20-23 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
Luke 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
Jesus teaches where true peace comes from, that deceitful or lying behaviour is a sin, and that we are not alone in our desire to live upright and healthy lives.
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Romans 10:8-13 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Hebrews 3:12-13 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. 13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Hebrews 10:19-25 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21 And having an high priest over the house of God; 22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
1 John 3:18-24 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. 20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. 22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. 23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. 24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
As a result, we need to consider situations in our lives, the environment we live in, and how we behave internal to ourselves and external to those around us. We can’t just pop a pill and expect to have our depression lifted. Mainstream medical teaches this is possible, but it’s not realistic or safe.
The CTV article carries on:
“”There are simple measures people can take to protect themselves, she added, including avoiding the outdoors during the hottest part of the day, drinking lots of fluids and avoiding caffeine and alcohol, which can lead to further dehydration. Sleep is also important as there is a very strong relationship between poor sleep and worsening depression and anxiety.
Joseph advises people to keep an eye on weather reports and seek extra support if possible during very hot weather.”
Avoiding hot weather isn’t possible for those who work outside for long hours, so this advice is not workable for many. Staying hydrated and avoiding alcohol and caffeine are useful bits of advice, but those hold whether or not you are taking SSRI’s. The admonition for sleep is just as important for everyone regardless of medication being taken.
“People should be alert to signs they may be struggling, such as more frequent urination and excess sweating, Moseley said, all of which are signals to drink more.
Symptoms such as nausea, muscle cramps, a racing pulse and mild dizziness could all suggest heat exhaustion. These are signals to find a cool place, rest, drink fluids and even use ice packs against your skin, Joseph said.
More serious symptoms of overheating include fainting, vomiting, a rapid or erratic heart rate, severe headache and difficulty breathing — potential signs of heat stroke.
“This requires you to go to the ER or call 911,” she said.
The ultimate message “isn’t that people shouldn’t take SSRIs,” Joseph added, “but what can people who take them do to protect themselves in the heat.””
Actually, yes, people shouldn’t take SSRI’s for depression. If a person has addressed the physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual aspects of their life and they are still depressed, it may indeed be known as clinical depression where the body is in dire need of TLC to get it back into proper function, but SSRI’s are not the recommended way to go about this. All SSRI’s do is mask the problem. We want to address and deal with the problem.
In general, when we are dealing with a physiologically-caused depression, we need to use a multi-pronged approach addressing sleep, exercise, and nutrition. A decent night’s sleep is imperative to assisting the body with it’s repair functions, as those operate almost exclusively during sleep. A few things should be done environmentally such as lowering the room temperature to 17C, putting up blackout curtains or blackout blinds to ensure no daylight gets in if sleep must occur overlapping daylight hours. We need to ensure the mattress and pillow are comfortable and not giving us a crick in the neck or a sore back when we sleep. We need to ensure no night lights are on in the room and that there is silence or white noise to help us drift off. For those who might suspect EMF affecting their mood, they need to remove all electronics from the room and use a battery operated or wind-up clockwork alarm clock.
Checking your home for copper water pipes might be required, as high levels of copper in the body has been linked to depression, autism, and schizophrenia, as well as anxiety. If copper concerns you, you may want to read my article about that here.
Being out in the sun for a minimum of half an hour with face, hands, and maybe arms and legs exposed helps to synthesize Vitamin D and contribute to sleep as well. Getting this exposure while out walking, biking, running, or doing some other form of exercise compounds the benefits of the sun, while also assisting the lymphatic system in doing it’s job to maintain your body’s immunity and fight off intruders while you sleep.
Nutritionally, there are foods that can harm our brain, nervous system and endocryn system, and foods that benefit those systems. In Mercola’s article: 10 Common Nutrient Deficiencies May 16, 2022, he talks about the Vitamin B12 deficiency:
“Vitamin B12, a water-soluble vitamin also known as cobalamin, plays a role in numerous biochemical reactions and neurological functions in your body, including DNA synthesis. Your body can’t make vitamin B12 on its own, so it must be obtained via your diet or supplementation. A deficiency can be serious and leads to a number of related changes, including personality disturbances, irritability and depression, along with a wide range of symptoms, including joint pain, “pins and needles” sensations, numbness and shortness of breath”
“Regularly eating B12-rich foods, such as grass fed beef liver, wild rainbow trout and wild sockeye salmon, is important to maintain adequate levels, but if you suspect you may be de¦cient, weekly B12 shots or a high-dose, daily supplement may be necessary.
Methylcobalamin, which is the naturally occurring form of vitamin B12 found in food, is more absorbable than the cyanocobalamin, which is the type found in most supplements. If you are elderly, it is an inexpensive insurance approach to take a B-12 supplement with methylcobalamin.”
If you read my article about getting pills from Big Pharma or the natural health food store, you’ll know that I prefer to get most nutrition from wholefoods rather than from isolated capsules or pills where a given nutritional component has been isolated and packaged for sale. The above note from Mercola explains one of the many reasons why.
Being low in progesterone is problematic and can lead to depression among it’s various potential deficiency markers. Progesterone is one of the 65+ chemicals the body creates from cholesterol. If you haven’t read my article on the benefits of cholesterol, you’ll want to open this in another tab and be sure to read it later. Suffice to say, everything we were taught since the ’80’s about fats has either been heavily skewed or at times, outright wrong! Foods such as eggs, apples, beets, cabbage, cherries, cranberries, grapefruit, horseradish, lemons, parsley, potatoes, spinach, and yams all help to boost progesterone levels. Foods that help regulate progesterone levels include bananas, carrots, fish, garlic, horseradish, peanuts, potatoes, and of course, yams and walnuts.
Related to progesterone, is the issue of estrogen and it’s role in a woman’s physiological state. In 2023, Mercola wrote How Endotoxins and Estrogen Can Wreck Your Health where he states:
“If you’re one of the 40% of adult women in the United States over 40 who are taking an SSRI antidepressant, consider finding a competent physician to help you wean yourself from that drug as soon as possible. There are other safer ways to address depression and anxiety.”
“Also reduce your intake of tryptophan-rich foods, as tryptophan converts into serotonin.
Khan adds:
“When it comes to the serotonin issue, it’s not always about production. It’s more about utilization. We can predict somebody’s genetic propensity to useseroton in. It’s in the length of the receptor. When somebody has the shorter receptor, it’s not that they’re producing less, but they can’t use it. They can’t utilize it e¨ciently, and so these people are often constantly irritable. They’re very distractible. It becomes hard for their brain to prioritize a stimulus because they don’t have the right receptor to bind and experience the stimulus as it should be. So, they appear to be irritable and distractible. If things annoy you a lot, if things bother you, if you have trouble staying asleep in the second half of night, those are traits of serotonin dysregulation.””
Further on the progesterone/estrogen discussion, Mercola wrote the article: What You Need to Know About Estrogen and Serotonin January 14, 2024 where he says:
“The drug industry is making a mint on the idea that depression is caused by low serotonin, for example. However, a closer look reveals both estrogen and serotonin can cause severe problems and you do not want high levels of either of them”
“Progesterone is also a GABA agonist and could be useful to take concomitant with a GABA supplement. You may even be able to use much lower doses of both if you combine them together. This affinity for GABA accounts for some of progesterone’s psychological benefits. ”
“…progesterone also inhibits cortisol, and cortisol has been well documented to play a major role in depression.”
Mercola goes on to talk about lowering seratonin levels as well, pointing out that 100mg of GABA was great for lowering assessment scores of those diagnosed with anxiety and depression disorders.
To get GABA directly from food, consider peanuts, peas, potatoes, shrimp, spinach, tomatoes, and wheat that is as little processed as possible. Choline is a good precursor that helps build GABA in your system as well as glutathione. I wrote about that in this article here , here, and here.
Incidentally, choline is useful for aiding the body in dealing with EMF as well.
Dr Stevenlin in his article on 5 Boron benefits, has this to say:
“Boron is effective at reducing certain inflammatory markers called cytokines – specifically, hs-CRP and TNF-α. These two cytokines have been associated with breast cancer, obesity, insulin resistance, lung cancer, heart disease, depression, and more.
In fact, because of its role in both reducing inflammation and activating healing cells of bones and joints, boron is considered an effective natural treatment for osteoarthritis.”
“…boron’s influence over our hormones is worth a deeper look. Boron is important in both men and women. Studies indicate that boron supplements cause an increase in estradiol and testosterone.
Due to this, you’ll come across a lot of advice, especially in men’s health forums, recommending boron supplementation. This advice usually points out that boron does indeed boost testosterone levels. However, what these usually fail to mention is that boron also increases estrogen levels, which isn’t great for men in general. This is one nutrient I believe is best to mostly get from your diet and forgo supplementation unless you’re doing so under the supervision of a doctor.”
He has a word of warning for those insisting on taking boron as a supplement:
“Boron is generally safe but it can cause toxicity symptoms and issues at high levels. If you take boron supplements you can experience heart palpitations, vomiting, and diarrhea. You can get plenty through your food but be sure you’re getting enough.”
Adding Boron to your diet shouldn’t be too difficult with almonds, apples, bananas, beets, carrots, chickpeas, red grapes, and pears just to name some of the foods that contain Boron.
It may seem strange, but sometimes pre-existing health conditions can produce depression as well, such as psoriasis. Mercola in his article: Aloe Vera Effective for Most Psoriasis July 29, 2024 shares:
“Today, more than 7.5 million people in the U.S. suffer from this chronic condition, caused by cell buildup that is not just on the surface but goes deeper, often bringing joint pain from psoriatic arthritis. Further, asthma, diabetes, heart disease and even depression have been traced back to psoriasis”
He then goes into discussing Aloe Vera’s benefits to the skin and in treatment of psoriasis. Psoriasis according to Mercola’s article, can also be treated with hydration, increasing Omega-3’s in your diet, but specifically from fish he notes, as supplemental Omega-3 is generally plant-based, which won’t help in the case of psoriasis. He mentioned environmental causes such as switching from harsher soaps, excessive bathing (every single day), avoiding processed sugars, etc.
For some, how they look has a direct impact on how they feel. If you have a visible case of psoriasis, then treating it may also help with physiologically-caused depression and help with personal self-image, lifting you out of socially-based depression as well.
A note should be interjected here to avoid artificial sweeteners, as aspartame and it’s various names have been linked to depression. If you like your sugarless beverages, gums, snacks and treats, it’s time to rethink that if you suffer from depression.
If you are diabetic and suffering depression, it may be due to the medication you are taking, specifically Wegovy or it’s other names on the market. You might be better off adding ginger to your diet to manage your blood sugar and improve your insulin behaviour. Other foods that do these task include: aloe vera, apples, basil, beets, blueberries, buckwheat, cherries, cinnamon, dandelion, fish, flax, unpasturized honey, beef, chicken, pork, butter, cheese, mushrooms, onions, oranges, plums, sage, squash, turmeric, walnuts, and yarrow.
I go into more detail on the diabetic issue in this article here.
Turmeric is also known for lowering brain inflammation which has had beneficial effects for those suffering depression.
A fun article Mercola wrote: Flower Power: What Can Edible Flowers Do for Your Health? March 06, 2023 shares that violets, their leaves, flowers, stems, can aid in dealing with depression, respiratory issues, digestive issues, and even the hot flashes of menopause, besides looking pretty in salads and making a calming tea.
Other foods that can help in combating physiological depression are those that contain glycine, as glycine has been shown to alleviate depression due to being a neurotransmitter in the brain. In another article Mercola wrote, Glycine to Increase Longevity and Decrease Depression April 20, 2023 he said:
“Glycine is also useful for improving sleep quality. “It can help to relax at night by being very similar to GABA,” Land says. “… It’s beneficial for … reducing the time it takes to fall asleep. People who ingested 3 grams of glycine within one hour before bedtime saw an improvement in subjective sleep quality, fell asleep faster and were less sleepy during the day.”
Imagine a food compound that helps both with your nervous system AND sleep! You can get glycine from: bananas, cabbage, eggs, meat, mushrooms, pumpkin, spinach, and sweet potatoe. It should be noted that glyphosate can lead to depression as well, and is often found on wheat crops. But glycine aids in helping the body flush it out of your system. This is a case of what you eat may cause depression, and to mitigate it with other foods if you can’t cut out the offending foods.
A herb you might want to start adding to your cooking and baking, is Rosemary, which has a history of being used to treat headaches, migraines, depression, and is a mild analgesic and anti-spasmodic. There is evidence of it having neuroprotective properties as well, also benefiting sleep.
Foods containing Vitamin B3 have repeatedly been shown to aid in depression as well as other “mental” disorders. Remember I don’t consider the brain as mental, I consider it as physical and the mind as “mental” due to it being a constituent of the soul. But Orthomolecular.org has numerous articles where Vitamin B3 in either the nicotinamide or niacinimide forms have helped people overcome various conditions involving depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, etc. Vitamin B3 shows up in catnip, horseradish, tomatoes, yams, fish, meat and peanuts.
Referring back to the copper article I wrote, the copper/zinc axis needs to be kept in balance as well. Zinc deficiencies can also lead to depression. Zinc is found in almonds, apples, blueberries, buckwheat, cherries, chickpeas, coconut, cranberries, dandelion, eggs, garlic, red grapes, pork, oats, onions, parsley, peas, potatoes, spinach, strawberrries, tomatoes, and walnuts.
Make sure your iodine levels are up. See my article on nuclear food for more info on iodine. Mercola says in his article, Why People Are Rushing for Iodine Amid Nuclear Concerns March 31, 2022:
“Iodine deficiency has also been linked to poor information processing, diminished fine motor skills, visual problems, fatigue, depression, weight gain, low basal body temperatures and more. It’s also been known for some time that iodine can kill viruses, including influenza viruses”
Iodine can be found in foods such as cabbage, eggs, fish, garlic, milk, potatoes, and turnips.
An article published by Alive Magazine titled: Polyphenols Demystified, said:
“In a 2021 meta-analysis, published in the Antioxidants journal, of 36 studies involving over 2,788 participants, researchers found that flavonoid intake had a signiícant positive effect on reducing depression symptoms.”
There are quite a few flavonoids out there in various sub-groupings and all of them are useful to the body one way or another. Alive Magazine gave this sample list of foods that various flavonoids can be found in:
A lesser-known compound known as Emodin, has been noted by researchers to combat various neurological diseases, as noted in one of Mercola’s articles: How Rhubarb Might Ward Off Colon Disease April 04, 2022. He says:
“The neuroprotective effects of emodin and other rhubarb anthraquinones, including chrysophanol, rhein, physcion and danthron, are also well established. Such compounds have a therapeutic effect on central nervous system diseases, such as: Cerebral ischemic stroke, Intracerebral hemorrhage, Traumatic brain injury, Brain tumor, Alzheimer’s disease, (and) Depression”
So far, emodin has been found in Rhubarb, Aloe Vera, and Lichen.
That’s quite a few wholefood-based vectors to consider when dealing with clinical or physiological depression. The causes are many and varied, and dealing with each cause properly can offer hope of a better outlook on life and better management of life’s situations that come and go. If you wonder about any causes mentioned here that are not easily discernible, seek out a naturopathic doctor to get tests done to nullify or verify your suspicions. Where depression is situational, relational, environmental, or spiritual, sometimes it can help to seek out help in the form of counsellors, life coaches, therapists, or pastors.
To offer truly holistic assistance in your natural health journey, I obtained my Life Coach certification in 2021, and made sure to include Biblical Wellness in my training to become a Natural Health Practitioner in 2022. As you’ve seen in this article’s first half, Scripture has much to say about our mental and emotional state and how it can impact our physical bodies. God also gives guidance in the Scriptures on what to set our minds on, what is best to be thinking about, where our thoughts should be focused, and where we can find true joy, not merely a state of being happy. God tells us how to find true peace, and how to have a sound mind in a troubled world.
Many forms of non-clinical depression are mental/emotional and tied to how we think or feel about situations, ourselves, others around us, etc. While medication can trick us into thinking we feel better, these forms of depression are best dealt with by taking those causes to God and asking for His intervention, both for our own reaction to them, but more directly in the causes themselves to resolve the source of the depression.
Depression is so common these days, in and out of the Church, that Focus on the Family put together a booklet you can find on their website, titled: Dealing With Depression. Some of their advice is a little mainstream, so anywhere they suggest talking to a physician, reword that to read naturopath instead.
Even when all the causes for depression have successfully been overcome, sometimes the body is just plain chronically deficient and needs persistent, ongoing support. Wherever and whenever possible, do this using wholefood as medicine rather than the medications that are destroying other parts of the brain to help you feel better.
Another note on SSRI’s that some are starting to go public with:
People are starting to say that going on SSRI’s may have helped rid them of feeling depressed, but it also seems to be removing their ability to feel at all! This is so bad for some, that they’d rather feel depressed than not feel anything.
In an article Mercola wrote, What You Need to Know About Estrogen and Serotonin January 14, 2024, he shares an interview where his guest said:
“Another side effect of GABA is that GABA increases the degradation rate of serotonin even when it’s taken orally. So you cannot have high levels of both. So people that are high in GABA are usually low in serotonin. They’re very calm, they’re very gregarious.”
“It turns off your pain reaction, even your grief reaction, but at the expense of turning off all the other emotions as well. Multiple studies have demonstrated that serotonin is basically a lobotomizing chemical when it comes to emotions. Sure, it’ll numb your depression, but it will also numb everything else too. You’ll be walking around like a zombie.””
Consequently, I agree with Mercola and others who say if you are on SSRI’s, work with a physician who will help you wean yourself off them as quickly as reasonably possible. Address the causes, and where necessary, use food as medicine to maintain the necessary phytochemicals your body needs for optimal functioning. But wrecking your hypothalamus is a bit like that old saying, “lopping off your nose to spite your face”. There are better ways to handle depression.
If you’d like assistance but can’t find a Godly professional in your area, feel free to reach out to me to see if we can work together to find and address the causes of depression in your situation.
EDIT September 13, 2024
If you are on SSRI’s or other anti-depressant/psychiactric drugs and wish to go off them, this article here contains observations, warnings, and links to help you do so safely! There are notes here about children being put on Ritalin as well. You can see my own article on the dangers of herbal alternatives to this drug as well.
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