The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heav’n of hell, a hell of heav’n. John Milton


First let me thank all of you who have written to me about my novel around the theme of depression.  I much appreciate the kind sentiments.

As I wrote in The Brain Food Diet, it would appear that we are richer than ever, but no happier - or so the experts tell us - prompting renewed discussion about what happiness is, in the hope that public policies can be devised to promote it. You may be a little sceptical about public policies helping the cause of your personal happiness. But it would appear, according to the experts, that not only does increasing wealth fail to make us happier, but the very means of growing wealthier – all that hubble, bubble, toil and struggle – actually makes a lot of us unhappier.

I’m hardly claiming to be a paradigm of sense and prudence myself. Like a lot of professional people, I have spent most of my life working long hours and allowing duty to distract me. But it’s never too late to slow down a little and think about what really matters in your life.

It's also something of a concern in America, where an illuminating and entertaining edition of Time magazine was devoted to "The New Science of Happiness".  While I'm not sure I would equate a cherished mood with a science, I think I understand where they're coming from, and certainly I would heartily recomend that interested visitors take a look at it while it remains available on line at:

Http://www.time.com/time/2005/happiness/

If you have had experiences, or thoughts, about happiness, I would love to hear them.

Readers of The Brain Food Diet will be aware that, alhough the jury is still out, there is increasing evidence that omega-3s, and DHA in particular, may well help people suffering from depression rediscover that zing factor.  In 2006, for the first time in history, the American Psychiatric Association recommended that all patients suffering from depression, or bipolar disorder, should be given omega-3s in addition to their drug therapy.  I would strongly add to that they should also take measures to bring their omega-6 consumption down -- the the dietary balance page.  

There is also growing evidence that fish oil, and the omega-3s, may help puerperal melancholia as well as schizophrenia. 

I would have to qualify this with the caveat that many such trials involve adding omega-3s to other more conventional drug therapies.  It makes one wonder if the best possible role of omega-3s might, as so often in other illnesses, lie in prevention of the illness in the first place.  But so far as I am aware no such study has been reported to date.


Further Reading

Conklin SM, Harris JI, et al (2006). Plasma fatty acids are associated with normative variation in mood, personality, and behavior. Abstract - American Psychosomatic Society, 64th Annual Meeting, March 1-4, Denver, Colorado. Accessed online at http://www.psychosomatic.org/events/AbstractsForJournal06.pdf.
 
Conklin SM, Harris JI, et al (in press). Serum -3 fatty acids are associated with variation in mood personality and behavior in a community sample. Psychiatry Research.

Freeman MP, Hibbeln JR, et al (2006). Randomized dose-ranging pilot rial of omega-3 fatty acids for postpartum depression. Acta Psychiatr Scand 113: 31 - 35.

Hibbeln JR and Salam N (1995). Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids and depression: when cholesterol does not satisfy. Am J Clin Nutr 62: 1-9.

Hibbeln JR (2002). Seafood consumption, the DHA content of mothers’ milk and prevalence rates of postpartum depression: a cross-national, ecological analysis. J Affective Disorders 69:15-29.

Hibbeln JR, Davis JM, et al (2007). Maternal seafood consumption in pregnancy and neurodevelopmental outcomes in childhood (ALSPAC study): an observational cohort study. Lancet 369: 578-85.

Marangell LB, Martinez JM, et al (2003). A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the omega-3 Fatty Acid docosahexaenoic Acid in the treatment of major depression. Am J Psychiatry 160: 996-98.

Mischoulon D and Fava M (2000). Docosahexanoic acid and omega-3 fatty acids in depression. Psychiatr Clin North Am 23(4): 785 - 794.

Nemets B, Stahl Z, et al (2002). Addition of omega-3 fatty acid to maintenance medication treatment for recurrent unipolar depressive disorder. Am J Psychiatry 159: 477-79.

Peet M and Horrobin DF (2002). A dose ranging study of the effects of ethyl eicosapentaenate in patients with ongoing depression in spite of apparently adequate treatment with standard drugs. Arch Gen Psychiatry 59: 913-9.

Peet M and Stokes C (2005). Omega-3 fatty acids in the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Drugs 65(8): 1051-59.

Puri BK, Richardson AJ, et al (2000). Eicosapentaenoic acid treatment in schizophrenia associated with symptom remission, normalization of blood fatty acids, reduced neonatal membrane phospholipid turnover, and structural brain changes. Int J Clin Pract 54: 57-63.

Puri BK (2004). Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) rich essential Fatty Acid supplementation in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome associated with symptom remission and structural brain changes. Int Clin Practice 58(3):297-9.
Raeder MB, Steen VM, et al (2007). Associations between cod liver oil use and symptoms of depression: the Hordaland Health Study. J of Affective Disorders 101: 245-49.

 

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