SPRING CLEAN Y HEAD
One in four of us suffers from mental health problems such as depression and anxiety – but research is showing us simple ways to both brighten and calm our mood…
SHEDDING LIGHT ON DEPRESSION
Depression is a sense of negativity and numbness experienced over a long period. The established theory is that it’s caused by brain chemistry, but in his book Lost Connections (£16.99, Bloomsbury), Johann Hari points out that there isn’t a study proving that low serotonin levels create depression.
“You are not suffering from a chemical imbalance in your brain. You are suffering from a social and spiritual imbalance in how we live,” he writes, and asserts that depression relates to issues such as feeling disconnected from a community and the tyrannical workplace. He writes about a group of cycle shop workers who, sick of being ordered around, cured themselves of depression by setting up a cooperative cycling outlet, in which they share management and profit. A growing number of psychiatrists believe depression is caused by inflammation created by the immune system re reacting to illness or stress. The theory is that brain inflammation (common in people with depression) reduces neuron communication leading to depression. In 2015, it was found that people traumatised as children had high levels of inflammation as adults. At Glasgow Royal Infirmary doctors saw that patients prescribed anti-inflammatory drugs saw an improvement in mood.
Studies show that those who eat a Mediterranean diet (which is low in inflammatory foods, such as refined carbohydrates, and rich in antiinflammatory foods such as tomatoes, wholegrains, nuts, oily fish and olive oil) are 30% less likely to suffer depression.