Beating Bipolar with nutrition

Bipolar is bad.  I have friends diagnosed with Bipolar.  Forbes has a terrific feature article by Michael Ellsberg, a young man with a devastating history of Bipolar II.  He spent years with psychiatrists doing psychotherapy.

"I asked the psychiatrist I was seeing at the time whether he thought there was any link between dietary habits and mental health. He looked at me as though I had just asked whether there was any link between mental health and UFO rectal probes. “There is absolutely no evidence of any link whatsoever between dietary choices and mental health,” he said curtly, and changed the subject."

With the help of Dr. Ron Hoffman -- a paleo-friendly doctor right here in NYC -- he gave up sugar, alcohol, and coffee for one year.

"The first two weeks of the quest were hell. The alcohol wasn’t that hard—I had been a mostly well-behaved social drinker throughout my twenties—but the coffee and sugar got to me. All I could think about was coffee and sugar. Coffee sugar coffee sugar coffee sugar. It was like being extremely horny, except for coffee and sugar instead of sex. Coffee sugar coffee sugar coffee sugar—thoughts on instant replay in my mind 24/7, even in my dreams. Headaches, fatigue, depression, haze. I almost gave up the challenge on several occasions during that first two weeks.

But I knew this was something I had to do, if I wanted to stay alive.

One morning, two weeks into the challenge, I woke up. The haze in my mind had lifted. It was a clear, crisp, brilliant sunny day in my mind—the first such day of sunny internal weather for years."

And got his life back on track, started making more money, and met the love of his life.  It's a touching story, read the whole thing.

Comments

Please be wary of venturing

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 07/25/2011 - 16:55.

Please be wary of venturing too far into black and white thinking.  As a person who suffered for years of depression from a young age (under 10) and still battle anxiety, I absolutely agree that nutrition and food affects mental health and behavior.  However, it would be false to claim (as I think you are closely on the verge of doing so) that fixing nutrition imbalances can cure chemical imbalances in the brain.  I eat moderately paleo, and have for a long time.  I used prescription medications when necessary to correct imbalances.Diet hasn't changed much.  Still don't drink coffee or sugar.  Never did.  I don't know who that doctor is in the article, but it's like the first thing they teach you when diagnosed as far as I know: Treating your body like crap is like treating your brain like crap.Sometimes, genetics and environment are just going to do their thing.

No way! The things you eat in

Submitted by Levi on Thu, 07/21/2011 - 19:21.

No way! The things you eat in no way effect your mental health and stability. Now eat this pill for mental health and stability.