Dear Tig,
This morning, Stephen Ilardi Ph.D. --- author of "The Depression Cure: The Six Step Program To Beat Depression Without Drugs" --- was a guest on The People's Pharmacy. http://www.amazon.com/Depression-Cure-6-Step-Program-without/dp/0738213888
Ilardi's plan for overcoming depression impressed me as manifestly sane and bestowed a simple-but-startling "Eureka!" moment.
Along with changes in diet and improved sleep, Ilardi emphasizes, in two of his six steps, the importance of resisting the depressive tendency to withdraw-and-ruminate by obliging oneself to get involved in social settings and social activities.
I am not the first to observe that psychiatrists (and, perhaps to a lesser extent, psychologists) are often isolated "intellectuals" whose personal makeup naturally inclines them to the unquestioning normalization of solitude and rumination.
Here is a brief summary of Ilardi's six step program. http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2009/07/09/6-steps-for-beating-depression/
Love
Alan
PS It is also clear that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a surpassingly effective therapy.
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PPS It certainly won't hurt to take a few thousand daily units of vitamin D3, although Ilardi's emphasis on sunlight exposure provides this vitamin "supplement" in the best possible way.
