{"id":2549,"date":"2008-05-28T13:35:59","date_gmt":"2008-05-28T18:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/?p=2549"},"modified":"2021-10-17T04:55:06","modified_gmt":"2021-10-17T09:55:06","slug":"your-brain-maybe-your-depressed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/28\/your-brain-maybe-your-depressed","title":{"rendered":"Your Brain: Maybe You’re Depressed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Click here <\/a>for the original post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Depression is the result of low levels of the stress-buffering brain chemical serotonin trying, but failing, to protect you against assaults of unchecked stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same holds true for similar disorders, like anxiety, fatigue, and fibromyalgia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stress itself can come from any of life\u2019s unpleasantries. You know the list: being overworked, an unsatisfying job, a toxic relationship, illness that you or a loved one might be experiencing, financial problems, a tax audit, the relentlessly bad news on TV every night. Everybody\u2019s trying to do too much just to stay even with life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re a girl or a woman, you have less serotonin than most men, rendering you biochemically more vulnerable to stress, with depression and similar disorders a common result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virtually every person suffering from depression experiences varying degrees of brain fog. This occurs because stress triggers your adrenal glands to release the hormone cortisol, and cortisol dramatically interferes with healthy brain function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once your depression is treated (by using natural methods to raise serotonin, medications to raise serotonin, and\/or by counseling to release the stress), most people remark that their brains seem to be returning to normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you believe that mild depression is an issue, consider some short-term counseling. You probably don\u2019t need a prescription antidepressant for a mild case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can, however, take St. John\u2019s wort (450 mg twice a day) and 5-HTP (100 mg at bedtime) to boost your stress-buffering serotonin. This combination, just like prescription antidepressants, takes about a month to start working, so be patient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next time: why an under-functioning thyroid is a frequently overlooked cause of poor memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be well,
David Edelberg, MD<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Depression is the result of low levels of the stress-buffering brain chemical serotonin trying, but failing, to protect you against assaults of unchecked stress.<\/p>\n

The same holds true for similar disorders, like anxiety, fatigue, and fibromyalgia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2087,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[204,2,10,130,3,34,20],"tags":[100,192,175,208,206,513],"class_list":["post-2549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-b","category-blog","category-d","category-integrative-medicine","category-knowledge-base","category-mental-health","category-y","tag-anxiety","tag-depression","tag-fatigue","tag-fibromyalgia","tag-serotonin","tag-your-brain"],"yoast_head":"\r\nYour Brain: Maybe You're Depressed<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Depression is the result of low levels of the stress-buffering brain chemical serotonin trying, but failing, to protect you against assaults of unchecked stress.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/28\/your-brain-maybe-your-depressed\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Your Brain: Maybe You're Depressed\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Depression is the result of low levels of the stress-buffering brain chemical serotonin trying, but failing, to protect you against assaults of unchecked stress.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/28\/your-brain-maybe-your-depressed\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WholeHealth Chicago\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/wholehealthchicago\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-05-28T18:35:59+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-17T09:55:06+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"wholehealthchicago\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@wholehealthchi\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@wholehealthchi\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"wholehealthchicago\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/28\/your-brain-maybe-your-depressed\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/28\/your-brain-maybe-your-depressed\",\"name\":\"Your Brain: Maybe You're Depressed\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-05-28T18:35:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-17T09:55:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8f28cef347f94e6801d2bdd38b9cea19\"},\"description\":\"Depression is the result of low levels of the stress-buffering brain chemical serotonin trying, but failing, to protect you against assaults of unchecked stress.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/28\/your-brain-maybe-your-depressed#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/28\/your-brain-maybe-your-depressed\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/28\/your-brain-maybe-your-depressed#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Your Brain: Maybe You’re Depressed\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"WholeHealth Chicago\",\"description\":\"WholeHealth Chicago is the Midwest's oldest and most respected center for integrative care, successfully blending the latest advances in conventional medicine with a wide range of clinically proven alternative therapies.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8f28cef347f94e6801d2bdd38b9cea19\",\"name\":\"wholehealthchicago\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b63bce17acaeb51f185933c60fa6fa86c347679a70b79ec51e5b772e271a469f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b63bce17acaeb51f185933c60fa6fa86c347679a70b79ec51e5b772e271a469f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"wholehealthchicago\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/author\/wholehealthchicago\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Your Brain: Maybe You're Depressed","description":"Depression is the result of low levels of the stress-buffering brain chemical serotonin trying, but failing, to protect you against assaults of unchecked stress.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/28\/your-brain-maybe-your-depressed","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Your Brain: Maybe You're Depressed","og_description":"Depression is the result of low levels of the stress-buffering brain chemical serotonin trying, but failing, to protect you against assaults of unchecked stress.","og_url":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/28\/your-brain-maybe-your-depressed","og_site_name":"WholeHealth Chicago","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/wholehealthchicago","article_published_time":"2008-05-28T18:35:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-10-17T09:55:06+00:00","author":"wholehealthchicago","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@wholehealthchi","twitter_site":"@wholehealthchi","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"wholehealthchicago","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/28\/your-brain-maybe-your-depressed","url":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/28\/your-brain-maybe-your-depressed","name":"Your Brain: Maybe You're Depressed","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-05-28T18:35:59+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-17T09:55:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8f28cef347f94e6801d2bdd38b9cea19"},"description":"Depression is the result of low levels of the stress-buffering brain chemical serotonin trying, but failing, to protect you against assaults of unchecked stress.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/28\/your-brain-maybe-your-depressed#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/28\/your-brain-maybe-your-depressed"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/28\/your-brain-maybe-your-depressed#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Your Brain: Maybe You’re Depressed"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/","name":"WholeHealth Chicago","description":"WholeHealth Chicago is the Midwest's oldest and most respected center for integrative care, successfully blending the latest advances in conventional medicine with a wide range of clinically proven alternative therapies.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8f28cef347f94e6801d2bdd38b9cea19","name":"wholehealthchicago","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b63bce17acaeb51f185933c60fa6fa86c347679a70b79ec51e5b772e271a469f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b63bce17acaeb51f185933c60fa6fa86c347679a70b79ec51e5b772e271a469f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"wholehealthchicago"},"url":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/author\/wholehealthchicago"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2087"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2549"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29788,"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2549\/revisions\/29788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}