If absolutely nothing has been able to break your cycle of depression, and you are becoming hopeless about getting better soon, maybe there is another avenue for you to explore. I have spent thousands of hours doing general research on moods and the human brain because I am completely fascinated by the subject, and have been afflicted by depression myself. I recently discovered something that utterly surprised me when I came across it because I had not heard of it before. I have employed a manner of using it and it has kept me from becoming depressed or feeling hopeless for over one year straight, and I discovered it after my sober living home and halfway house experience described at my site below.
Being a not only a victim of bipolar depression, terrible anxiety disorders and ADHD, I know what it is like trying to escape the indescribable negative feelings and overwhelming heaviness and terror these disorders create in the mind. I had to live at a sober living for 6 months with these conditions and no relief. I am a firm believer that my falling into a heavier drinking pattern and the use of drugs as I got older was related to my depression getting exponentially worse over the years.
Put simply, I think that many types of disorders and substance use and abuse are completely tied and linked to one another. What follows will probably stun you if you have never heard it before, but I think it proves that this substance linkage with mood disorders --especially depression -- exists beyond any doubt. So here is the amazing fact: the human brain and body manufactures morphine in the identical molecular structure as that which comes from the opium poppy. It is measured in much less density, of course -- but it's there.
This leads to the inevitable conclusion that if it exists in our brains and was manufactured in our bodies, there is some particular need for the substance. It obviously plays a role in human life if we have evolved with this capability to make an opiate in our own bodies. This leads to a valuable conclusion which simply must be true, stated as follows:
We know that certain important neurochemicals are present in different levels in people, and that when one of these "feel good" chemicals like dopamine or serotonin is deficient, it plays an important role in the cause of major clinical depression. Therefore we know that brain chemicals can exist at "normal levels" in the bodies and brains of people who have no mood disorders or diagnosed mental problems. Because this opiate in our brains is too difficult to measure because of the "brain blood barrier", there is no empirical way to tell if levels of this drug (lets call it what it is) are deficient in some people or not. It certainly stands to reason, however, that an opiate in the brain could, if there was a deficiency, act upon us in the same way as the deficiencies of the "feel good" chemicals, and lead to severe depression.
There is a great deal of "pushback" about this in the medical community because this fact could imply that some people actually NEED additional opiates to get their brain working normally. Knowing that opiates are addictive, I think Doctors are simply too afraid to openly admit this because it could adversely affect their reputations, were they prescribing for it. In my mind, this situation and the facts as laid out above are completely rational, so the only thing left to debate is whether we really do manufacture an opiate or not.
Here is the clearest proof I can find, published in a report just 2 years ago by the Neuroscience Research Institute: "Recent empirical findings have contributed valuable mechanistic information in support of a regulated de novo biosynthetic pathway for chemically authentic morphine and related morphinan alkaloids within animal cells".Translated: we have true morphine in our bodies naturally.
The opium poppy, of course, produces chemically authentic morphine and not coincidentally, it is the most addictive drug on earth. It makes one feel so euphoric and happy when they first start taking it, that the desire to feel that way gets embedded in the brain. That "embedding" process is so powerful that the brain never forgets it, always wants it again, and hence opiate addicts have the highest relapse rate of all addicts on the planet.
It is really important that you understand that your brain does not manufacture a chemical that makes you feel like you have taken an opiate -- it manufactures the exact opiate itself. I find that incredible. Do you realize that in a sense we could all be called opiate addicts of a sort, even if it is at very, very low levels? That's an eye opener, I think, and deserves to be studied immediately.
What if the brain does not manufacture any of this substance for some individuals, or too little? Do you think those individuals might be profoundly less happy than those who had "normal" amounts of opiates in their brain cells? I think everybody asked this must at least believe that "yes" would be a possible answer.
The main point I am driving at is that if some people can be deficient in other brain chemicals, it certainly stands to reason that they could be deficient in their opiate levels. From what I have researched this is being referred to as either Endorphin Deficiency Syndrome, or Endogenous Opioid Deficiency.
Not having enough opiates is a subject I have direct experience with and can describe for you, because a bad back got me into opiate-based painkillers and I got addicted to them. Because you develop a tolerance to this type of drug, you need more and more and more of it over time, too -- just to feel "normal" after taking the drug for several months. Without it, after taking higher amounts for a while, you go into dreaded opiate withdrawal. I don't think there is anything more uncomfortable and frightening than this kind of withdrawal, either. Your body feels like it has the flu times 100, and your mind goes into a state of a tortured paralysis. Doing anything effectively while in such a state is nearly impossible, and your brain is stuck on one thought and one thought only -- how to get more opiates. You are generally in a state of paralysis and depression, as well.
It's called being "dope-sick", and one reason people go to rehab is to get some medical relief from such sickness by way of other drugs the doctors can give you to keep you a little more comfortable. You need mental support as well, because your brain function is totally impaired. Depression is also inevitable, and that leads us back to the point of this article. There are growing numbers of what they call "treatment resistant" people who have got severe clinical depression.
The thinking is obviously that some of these people are not treatable by the normal antidepressants because it isn't an anti depressant that they need--it's an opiate. Every one of the people in this group whose web comments I read experienced what they called an incredibly pronounced and dramatic lift in their mood upon taking an opiate. They are completely convinced it is the only thing that will help beat depression. After trying everything else, they get stuck in a position where they know they need an opiate, but feel very guilty about it because of the attached negative stigmas to the drug. Now the LAST thing I'd like to think is that people read this article and go running off to find opiates in any form. DON'T DO IT, or you will end up in worse shape than you are in now.
Fortunately, a drug has been developed that is used for easing people off of opiate addictions and it is called Suboxone. It is made in doses of 1 MG pills, where up to 18 MG might be prescribed for a heavy addict in withdrawal. But I have heard of people going on Suboxone for the long term with very good effects at just 1 MG or 2 MGs. At any levels Suboxone itself can be addicting, but those experienced with opiates say if you run out of your Suboxone you may feel a little achy for a few days at the 2 MG level, that's all. The tablets are also formulated in such a way that if crushed they are ineffective and difficult to abuse. You put one or two under your tongue and allow it to melt there. This has been a Godsend for some people with difficult to treat depression.
I should mention that because Suboxone itself is a type of substitute opiate to help addicts, giving it to people long term where technically they could become slightly addicted is highly controversial in the medical community - according to SOME doctors, not all. So while some docs frown upon this whole notion, others believe it can be a life-saver, and that is the kind of doctor I suggest you set about finding, if antidepressants and other supposed "treatments" have not worked for you.
I am not a doctor, so you need to speak with a progressive psychiatrist who is licensed to prescribe Suboxone. This kind of article gets me excited hoping this information will reach somebody who has not lost hope while depressed. I have been depressed to the point where I considered suicide, and it is the scariest feeling in the world -- not caring about your own life. I raise the specter of suicide to remind readers who have never experienced severe clinical depression just how serious the condition is. It is far beyond anything you can imagine and nobody deserves to live in a state of mind like that.
So please spread the word and post references to this article in places where people in need might see it, like in sober livings or drug treatment centers. An example of this might be my sober living website Sober Living Homes and Halfway Houses.It is a national directory with a geography based search engine that makes finding houses easier than anything else on this planet. The site is ranked around 37,000 right now, out of the hundreds of millions of websites in the USA per ALEXA at Alexa.com. You can put the site soberlivingsearch.com into Site Info and see for yourself, but if you feel any gratitude about this article, you can help by spreading the word about my site or writing a post to anybody who may need it. I need house managers to claim their houses and pay a nominal fee so we can maintain the site.
Most of all, I'd like you to comment about what you think of this treatment idea. Two pills smaller than pencil erasers may be able to radically change a person's life for the positive. Is it moral and OK for them to pursue this treatment, recognizing it is controversial? Could this apply to you? Please go to my sober living and halfway house website above and let me know on a blog comment in the same article which appears there in slightly different form.
Being a not only a victim of bipolar depression, terrible anxiety disorders and ADHD, I know what it is like trying to escape the indescribable negative feelings and overwhelming heaviness and terror these disorders create in the mind. I had to live at a sober living for 6 months with these conditions and no relief. I am a firm believer that my falling into a heavier drinking pattern and the use of drugs as I got older was related to my depression getting exponentially worse over the years.
Put simply, I think that many types of disorders and substance use and abuse are completely tied and linked to one another. What follows will probably stun you if you have never heard it before, but I think it proves that this substance linkage with mood disorders --especially depression -- exists beyond any doubt. So here is the amazing fact: the human brain and body manufactures morphine in the identical molecular structure as that which comes from the opium poppy. It is measured in much less density, of course -- but it's there.
This leads to the inevitable conclusion that if it exists in our brains and was manufactured in our bodies, there is some particular need for the substance. It obviously plays a role in human life if we have evolved with this capability to make an opiate in our own bodies. This leads to a valuable conclusion which simply must be true, stated as follows:
We know that certain important neurochemicals are present in different levels in people, and that when one of these "feel good" chemicals like dopamine or serotonin is deficient, it plays an important role in the cause of major clinical depression. Therefore we know that brain chemicals can exist at "normal levels" in the bodies and brains of people who have no mood disorders or diagnosed mental problems. Because this opiate in our brains is too difficult to measure because of the "brain blood barrier", there is no empirical way to tell if levels of this drug (lets call it what it is) are deficient in some people or not. It certainly stands to reason, however, that an opiate in the brain could, if there was a deficiency, act upon us in the same way as the deficiencies of the "feel good" chemicals, and lead to severe depression.
There is a great deal of "pushback" about this in the medical community because this fact could imply that some people actually NEED additional opiates to get their brain working normally. Knowing that opiates are addictive, I think Doctors are simply too afraid to openly admit this because it could adversely affect their reputations, were they prescribing for it. In my mind, this situation and the facts as laid out above are completely rational, so the only thing left to debate is whether we really do manufacture an opiate or not.
Here is the clearest proof I can find, published in a report just 2 years ago by the Neuroscience Research Institute: "Recent empirical findings have contributed valuable mechanistic information in support of a regulated de novo biosynthetic pathway for chemically authentic morphine and related morphinan alkaloids within animal cells".Translated: we have true morphine in our bodies naturally.
The opium poppy, of course, produces chemically authentic morphine and not coincidentally, it is the most addictive drug on earth. It makes one feel so euphoric and happy when they first start taking it, that the desire to feel that way gets embedded in the brain. That "embedding" process is so powerful that the brain never forgets it, always wants it again, and hence opiate addicts have the highest relapse rate of all addicts on the planet.
It is really important that you understand that your brain does not manufacture a chemical that makes you feel like you have taken an opiate -- it manufactures the exact opiate itself. I find that incredible. Do you realize that in a sense we could all be called opiate addicts of a sort, even if it is at very, very low levels? That's an eye opener, I think, and deserves to be studied immediately.
What if the brain does not manufacture any of this substance for some individuals, or too little? Do you think those individuals might be profoundly less happy than those who had "normal" amounts of opiates in their brain cells? I think everybody asked this must at least believe that "yes" would be a possible answer.
The main point I am driving at is that if some people can be deficient in other brain chemicals, it certainly stands to reason that they could be deficient in their opiate levels. From what I have researched this is being referred to as either Endorphin Deficiency Syndrome, or Endogenous Opioid Deficiency.
Not having enough opiates is a subject I have direct experience with and can describe for you, because a bad back got me into opiate-based painkillers and I got addicted to them. Because you develop a tolerance to this type of drug, you need more and more and more of it over time, too -- just to feel "normal" after taking the drug for several months. Without it, after taking higher amounts for a while, you go into dreaded opiate withdrawal. I don't think there is anything more uncomfortable and frightening than this kind of withdrawal, either. Your body feels like it has the flu times 100, and your mind goes into a state of a tortured paralysis. Doing anything effectively while in such a state is nearly impossible, and your brain is stuck on one thought and one thought only -- how to get more opiates. You are generally in a state of paralysis and depression, as well.
It's called being "dope-sick", and one reason people go to rehab is to get some medical relief from such sickness by way of other drugs the doctors can give you to keep you a little more comfortable. You need mental support as well, because your brain function is totally impaired. Depression is also inevitable, and that leads us back to the point of this article. There are growing numbers of what they call "treatment resistant" people who have got severe clinical depression.
The thinking is obviously that some of these people are not treatable by the normal antidepressants because it isn't an anti depressant that they need--it's an opiate. Every one of the people in this group whose web comments I read experienced what they called an incredibly pronounced and dramatic lift in their mood upon taking an opiate. They are completely convinced it is the only thing that will help beat depression. After trying everything else, they get stuck in a position where they know they need an opiate, but feel very guilty about it because of the attached negative stigmas to the drug. Now the LAST thing I'd like to think is that people read this article and go running off to find opiates in any form. DON'T DO IT, or you will end up in worse shape than you are in now.
Fortunately, a drug has been developed that is used for easing people off of opiate addictions and it is called Suboxone. It is made in doses of 1 MG pills, where up to 18 MG might be prescribed for a heavy addict in withdrawal. But I have heard of people going on Suboxone for the long term with very good effects at just 1 MG or 2 MGs. At any levels Suboxone itself can be addicting, but those experienced with opiates say if you run out of your Suboxone you may feel a little achy for a few days at the 2 MG level, that's all. The tablets are also formulated in such a way that if crushed they are ineffective and difficult to abuse. You put one or two under your tongue and allow it to melt there. This has been a Godsend for some people with difficult to treat depression.
I should mention that because Suboxone itself is a type of substitute opiate to help addicts, giving it to people long term where technically they could become slightly addicted is highly controversial in the medical community - according to SOME doctors, not all. So while some docs frown upon this whole notion, others believe it can be a life-saver, and that is the kind of doctor I suggest you set about finding, if antidepressants and other supposed "treatments" have not worked for you.
I am not a doctor, so you need to speak with a progressive psychiatrist who is licensed to prescribe Suboxone. This kind of article gets me excited hoping this information will reach somebody who has not lost hope while depressed. I have been depressed to the point where I considered suicide, and it is the scariest feeling in the world -- not caring about your own life. I raise the specter of suicide to remind readers who have never experienced severe clinical depression just how serious the condition is. It is far beyond anything you can imagine and nobody deserves to live in a state of mind like that.
So please spread the word and post references to this article in places where people in need might see it, like in sober livings or drug treatment centers. An example of this might be my sober living website Sober Living Homes and Halfway Houses.It is a national directory with a geography based search engine that makes finding houses easier than anything else on this planet. The site is ranked around 37,000 right now, out of the hundreds of millions of websites in the USA per ALEXA at Alexa.com. You can put the site soberlivingsearch.com into Site Info and see for yourself, but if you feel any gratitude about this article, you can help by spreading the word about my site or writing a post to anybody who may need it. I need house managers to claim their houses and pay a nominal fee so we can maintain the site.
Most of all, I'd like you to comment about what you think of this treatment idea. Two pills smaller than pencil erasers may be able to radically change a person's life for the positive. Is it moral and OK for them to pursue this treatment, recognizing it is controversial? Could this apply to you? Please go to my sober living and halfway house website above and let me know on a blog comment in the same article which appears there in slightly different form.