Have I found my cure? Why have I missed it for so long?

[Kez_miller]

So I'd first like to say this is MY opinion on my anxiety and depression....maybe it could work for someone else because its so simple....so....could my anxiety be purely down to my diet and lifestyle....since I quit playing football at a high level through injury I've just sat on my backside all day every day for like 4 years out on copious amounts of weight....now 25 stone....and just eat pure rubbish....no greens therefore no vitamin B, which I read Is the main controller if u like of mood, depression and anxiety...or overly the nervous system and mental health. Could this just be what I'm looking for, and why the hell have I missed this for so long. Something clicked....could this be the beginning of the end of the mental torture I have been through for 4 years! Any advice would also be highly helpful! Thank you!

[anxious_thoughts]

You may actually be right.
Going out and being active helps me take my mind off things and definitely makes my anxiety better.
Eating a good diet gives you more energy to do things; lots of greens and not too much fatty foods! You should also drink lots of water, it helps removes toxins in your body. :)
And a high-fiber diet can lower your cholesterol, control your blood-sugar level, improve your bowel health, and make you less likely to overeat.
Exercising is also good as it helps you to relieve stress, and I don't know about you, but after I exercise I feel happier and more relieved.

Best regards
Jennifer

[Pinktel]

To all of those people on SSRIs or trying to boost seratonin, diet, exercise and daylight is key.

80 to 90% of our entire seratonin store is found in our gut. It is that essential to our digestive system. If you eat something dodgy your gut releases lots which then gives you the runs! If you've eaten something totally even more terrible, your gut releases so much seratonin it leaks from gut to bloodstream and when the brain detects that you will vomit. That's why a common side effect of SSRIs is nausea and diarrhoea.

Eating bananas, walnuts, plums, tomatoes, pineapples helps maintain healthy levels in your gut. However complete seratonin we ingest through food may cross from our gut to our bloodstream but cannot then make the journey into our brains across the blood/brain barrier. So how to encourage our own production in our brain?

you need to eat foods instead that contain tryptophan which is a building block for seratonin that our bodies will use for seratonin production in our brain. Milk, certain cheeses, yogurt, nuts, beans... Google will give you a list.

Also required are thiamine and folic acid so a good vit b complex is helpful.

That's the diet covered!

Next, exercise. It's a no brainer, it releases seratonin, dopamine, loads of feel good neurotransmitters. Plus it prolongs your life. We are designed to be a very active species, our bodies and minds DO NOT function well if inactive. We suffer deconditioning which brings its own set of physical problems.

Third is daylight. Dead bodies recovered in the summer show much higher levels of seratonin than those who have died in the winter. It is essential to get sunlight, we spend too much time indoors.

These 3 things will boost your seratonin. It's a biological truth you cannot argue with and it will be a very natural way for your body to heal itself.

---------- Post added at 09:22 ---------- Previous post was at 09:17 ----------

As for whether increased seratonin will cure you of a phobia or specific anxiety, I fear not.
Read all the threads by people on here who are on SSRIs already and so presumably have their levels already boosted, and yet whilst many report improved mood, they are still on these boards with issues.

If you have conditioned yourself into a certain way of thinking or acting you need to change that through cognitive retraining and behavioural work.

However I would argue that those two tasks are much easier if your seratonin is at optimum levels!

Hope this helps.

[Tessar]

hey Kieran, I recognise where you are at. I played football from a teenager up til I was about 33. I missed it so much and even though i'd had weight problems even when I was playing, the lack of something to drive me on did take its toll. I knew it was time to give up (before I crippled my joints) but I did miss the camaraderie so much. I still do even years down the line. but at times I have enjoyed not needing to always plan my week around training or matches. that my sundays were free always & it didn't matter if I did a heavy session gardening on a Saturday at any time of the year.
after having a routine of exercising and having something you belonged in and provided such a challenge in your life, giving up something that's been so important to you has a big knock on effect. most in particular if you have had to stop the pursuit because of injury. that is really unfortunate & a big blow.
but its good to hear you sounding like you have found the key. perhaps now with this in mind, you can begin a journey out of the hell you find yourself in. it isn't easy but you can gradually make changes.
I have to say that when I gave the football up I was far less focused on keeping fit. I have gravitated towards cycling now as that doesn't take its toll on my joints like running did.
perhaps its possible somewhere along the line you could find a new hobby which is equally challenging as the football was?
you really can get away from where you find yourself now, there is a spark inside you and if you use that to spur you on, you can again find a way of living life more fully and without the deep situation you have found yourself in.
I think what I am trying to say is that I have been in a similar situation myself and I know from experience it can change. it may not feel that way but it is possible.
Keep in touch wont you because one thing that's helped me along the way lately is all the encouragement, support and ideas I've had from people on here.

[little wren]

Did you become depressed/anxious after you could not play football at a high level? This could have been the trigger as your identity would have taken a knock. When some important part of who we think we are is no longer there. The diet and no exercise is not helping....Just a thought but could you do a low impact exercise like swimming or walking or cycling. You obviously have it in you to excel at sports....the mind set...the love for it...I would use that.

[Kez_miller]

Did you become depressed/anxious after you could not play football at a high level? This could have been the trigger as your identity would have taken a knock. When some important part of who we think we are is no longer there. The diet and no exercise is not helping....Just a thought but could you do a low impact exercise like swimming or walking or cycling. You obviously have it in you to excel at sports....the mind set...the love for it...I would use that.

Hi wren, absolutely yes, my anxiety started maybe 6-12 months after stopping, I played for my local team at just aged 5 then went on to play for Coventry City n was maybe 4 months from signing a professional contract, but broke my leg in two places. And that's when I started drinking alcohol every weekend not really any different to a normal lad, but as time went on I stopped doing any training, just ate junk and put on so much weight it's unreal.