Re: Im close again

I agree completely with you view on benzos and alcohol, and you might also add caffeine to the group.  Caffeine tends to take one from highs to lows with a lot of anxiety thrown in, particularly in large quantities.  I personally think these recent "power drinks" like Red Bull are absolutely insane.

Omega 3 supplements have been shown in clinical studies to reduce depression and anxieties.  Our early ancestors ingested a ratio of 1:1 Omega 6 to Omega 3.  Currently our normal diet gets from 20:1 to 50:1 Omega 6 to 3.  The Inuit have (before the introduction of Western diet) a diet ratio of 1:1 and their food source is primarily animals from the sea with very few vegetables.  Fish oil and cod liver oil are the best sources of Omega 3 and they have a ratio of 2:1 - flax oil has a ratio of 6:1 and is not as beneficial.  It often takes a while for the benefits of Omega 3 to manifest relative to depression and the studies that I've seen use mega doses in the area of 6000 mg and higher, but it is cheap, particularly in relation to prescription drugs.

Another supplement that has been used in Europe to treat depression for more than 40 years is SAM-e.

From http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/cod-liver-oil.htm

Cod liver oil and depression

From: http://www.smart-drugs.net/depression-SAMe.htm

SAMe - Supplementation

Supplementation with SAMe was shown to reverse many symptoms associated with depression, such as low mood, tiredness (5), and anxiety or stress (8). When depressed patients are treated with- SAMe, they exhibit an increase of the levels of SAMe in their blood and cerebro-spinal fluid (9).

Depressed patients frequently turn to alcohol for relief of their problems but this actually worsens their condition.  Too much alcohol interferes with the production of SAMe. Without SAMe protection, the liver becomes more susceptible to toxic damage. Also, the resulting reduction of SAMe worsens depression, creating a catch-22 situation.  Thus,  SAMe supplements not only protects the liver against alcohol-related damage, but also reduces alcohol-related depression (10).