Earlier this week when Erin Matlock shared her “Changing Fate” video from the Superhero You live event she said this:
This is hands down the most personal and most difficult talk I’ve ever given. In it I read from my own suicide note.
Please help us send this video out into the world so that people who are suffering alone can see that they are so very not alone.
I was very moved to share this video and since it’s National Suicide Prevention Week and World Suicide Prevention Day, September 10th, I’ve added to her wonderful message by sharing some powerful nutritional resources too.
You can WATCH the entire 16 minute video from the SuperheroYou live event VIA THIS LINK on the SuperheroYou facebook page. This is what Superhero You founder Jim Kwik shared when posting the video:
If you feel broken, alone, or unhappy, this might be the most important video you watch today.
Most of us think suicide is something that happens to strangers – not to people we know. But someone dies by suicide every 40 seconds. That’s 15,385 people this week and 800,000 people this year. If you have 1,000 Facebook friends, 60 of them have thought about suicide in the past year.
Erin Matlock knows this struggle well. She battled major depression for 15 years and had 4 escalating attempts on her own life. Today, Erin is a mental health advocate and founder of the Brain Summit, an online platform where experts present the latest tools and techniques to upgrade your brain. In the video, Erin shares how neuroscience helped her during this time, the challenges that even the happiest-seeming people might face, and what you can do if you (or someone you love) might be struggling.
Erin also talks about Cynthia Pasquella’s struggles with depression and saying “my brain is trying to murder me.” Here is her powerful blog where she bravely and openly shares: Let’s Talk About Depression – Because Most People Won’t And It’s Killing Us
Here is the resource list Erin shares:
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (United States 24 hour hotline)
1-800-273-TALK
Samaritans (United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland 24 hour hotline)
116 123 (UK) and 116 123 (ROI)
Beyond Blue (Australia 24 hour hotline and resources)
1300 22 4636
To Write Love On Her Arms
A nonprofit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide.
Mind
A UK charity with an extensive collection of information about mental health.
HeadsTogether
A UK Mental Health Awareness Campaign spearheaded by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
PsychologyToday Therapist Directory
Find Help From A licensed Therapist In Your Area
EEG Info Neurofeedback Provider Directory
Find a qualified clinician in your area
Advanced Brain Technologies Provider Directory
Music Listening Therapy
Fisher Wallace Stimulator
FDA approved device for the treatment of depression and anxiety. Stimulates the brain to produce serotonin while lowering cortisol.
You can find more wonderful resources from Erin on the Brain Pages and her website
In addition to the above resources Erin has so kindly shared I’d like to share some powerful and effective nutritional resources too. Just like anxiety, depression often has a biochemical and nutritional component and getting to the root cause of these imbalances and deficiencies can often completely eliminate the depression and suicidal thinking.
I hear this from Anxiety Summit attendees all the time:
Why has no-one told me that food and nutrients could have such an impact on my anxiety and panic attacks?
The same could be said for depression and suicidal thinking.
I also hear this from many in my community:
My anxiety (or depression) is SO severe there is no way that diet and nutrients could make a difference!
This is not true and I encourage you to have an open mind about this. We now have much research and so many integrative practitioners and nutritionists doing this work and seeing incredible results. My colleague (and prior Anxiety Summit guest expert) Dr. Josh Friedman is one such practitioner and he has a wealth of information on his facebook page Integrative Depression Solutions. Here is just one example of a post:
The article was published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry: What if nutrients could treat mental illness? and it starts with this sentence:
We are at a tipping point in psychiatry. With few psychiatric drugs on the horizon and long-term studies suggesting medication may do more harm than good, it is time to revisit the very old idea that nutrition can have a positive effect on mental health.
You can hear more about this topic in Julia Rucklidge’s TEDX talk: The surprisingly dramatic role of nutrition in mental health and read more about nutritional medicine in modern psychiatry from the International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research/ISNPR, and it’s founder Felice Jacka.
Here are some other nutritional resources for depression. Don’t let the word anxiety deter you – for some people anxiety is their biggest issue, for other it’s depression and the same underlying causes can be factors in both conditions.
60+ Nutritional & Biochemical Causes of Anxiety, a check-list to rule out possible underlying causes
The Anxiety Summit, an online event I host, now in its 4th season and called “a bouquet of hope”
The Depression Sessions, an online event hosted by Sean Croxton
The Mental Wellness Summit, an online event hosted by Dr. John Dempster and Ross McKenzie
The Medicinal Supplements Summit, co-hosted by Wendy Myers, airs next week (I cover both anxiety and depression in my interview)
The Brain Summit, hosted by Erin earlier this year. I was fortunate enough to get to know Erin earlier this year, both as a speaker (I talked about grass-fed red meat and tryptophan) and by listening to her interview many wonderful brain experts like Alex Doman (who talked about music therapy for vagus nerve rehab).
A Mind of Your Own: The Truth about Depression and How Women Can Heal Their Bodies to Reclaim Their Lives, the wonderful best-selling book by Dr. Kelly Brogan
The Mood Cure: The 4-Step Program to Take Charge of Your Emotions–Today, the excellent book my mentor, Julia Ross
The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood, and End Cravings, my book on anxiety
There is hope and just know there is an answer for you! Start by talking about how you feel, ask for help and work with someone to help you find your underlying cause and solution.
I know Erin’s courage and wisdom will get more people starting the conversation about suicide. And as she so wisely says:
talk about suicide, don’t gloss over it and don’t flinch!
I’d like to challenge you to be a superhero and talk to at least three people about suicide in the next week, whether you’re the one having suicidal thoughts or whether you’re the one concerned about a loved one or friend who may be having suicidal thoughts. Don’t gloss over it and don’t flinch!
In my experience, those hotlines are staffed by people who just want to send you to the “Looney bin.” A.K.A. the psych wards where they treat you like a criminal and tie you to the bed. Because everyone knows if you’re depressed enough to try to kill yourself, further dehumanization is the right “treatment.” The whole “psychiatric” system is run by drugged morons pushing drugs they’re paid more for selling by the pharmaceutical interests. And those hotlines won’t help with the isolation factor anyway. Even if the person who answers doesn’t just tell you the police are coming to take you away to a locked cell. They’re not your friends. They’re not going to follow up or show any real interest in you beyond the time of the call. There is no real community in our whole society. That’s why more and more people are killing themselves. Money doesn’t buy community. True spiritual connection is lacking in this culture. Don’t quote me the Bible. Religion is for the unthinking who want someone else to answer the ultimate questions for them. And for the fearful who want a stamp of approval for their passage into the beyond. There must be a spiritual revolution or humanity is dead. People are largely sedated with or without actual drugs. Those of us who are paying attention know this ship is sinking fast. But where are the revolutionaries?
The bacteria possessing humanity prefer the anaerobic environment “we” have been creating. And they’ll get it done at the expense of organic life if we don’t stop fearing reality and level up to a more holistically-integrated multidimensional perspective on all that’s operative here. But be simplistic in response to this. Go ahead, be average, refuse to contemplate what I’ve suggested. Don’t even give it a half-second of your time. We’re all practically gone already.
WOW! I hate to admit this (only because I’ve tried so hard to think of some positive aspect to suicide hotlines, etc.), but, I agree with everything “Anonymous” said above. And I know from personal experience. And I know others who have had similar experiences with different parts of “the system”. It’s a broken system that isn’t working well.
I don’t know whether it’s the “sweeping under the rug” syndrome that’s also partly to blame, but I also know it makes a lot of money for certain “businesses” that I won’t mention here. And the “mental health and wellness” business machine on the whole is not getting any better.
A while back I heard there was a law trying to be enacted (it might already be approved now, I don’t know), that anyone can claim someone is depressed and suicidal and have them put away against their will. I don’t know how factual this is and I also do not mean to sound “dramatic” or whatever one wants to call it, but if it’s actually happening, why isn’t it heard about more so that it can be fought? (I was not able to personally follow the information myself because I have been deep in overwhelm at taking care of others who are suffering from PTSD and suicidal fear. Then, tragically, I lost someone terribly dear to me from suicide just this past summer. I’m doing my best to take care of those who are still suffering.)
What’s happening in the mental health field in this country (and perhaps world) is NOT IN THE BEST INTEREST of the human being suffering with mental and/or emotional pain. Many people – our fellow human beings – our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, relatives, neighbors, and more – are in pain. And the supposed best route we can think of as a society is to either put these people in a place that’s not conducive to emotional healing and/or give them meds that just might make them even worse. It may be a temporary fix, but I’ve been on this earth quite a long time to know, because I’ve also seen, that it’s not a permanent help.
Erin and Quincy (mentioned in the video of Erin’s talk) had it correct – love is what is needed. And sadly, a great deal of love is missing in this world.
Dear Also Anonymous
I’m sorry to hear you have also had bad experiences too and I am sorry for your recent loss.
As I mentioned above I also agree we have major issues with the current system and I anticipate that we’ll see nutritional psychiatry become part of the standard of care. When this happens we’ll be addressing depression, anxiety, PTSD, fear etc by getting to the root cause.
The nutritional resources listed in the second half of this blog really are the way of the future. I get that for someone on the midst of depression all this may seem just too much: contemplating diet changes, adding protein at breakfast, quitting gluten, addressing low iron or low D or low zinc, addressing adrenal or gut health, exercising, getting out in nature, and even volunteering. In most instances it’s a concerned family member or friend that helps the depressed person start making these changes.
Prevention will need to be part of the plan too. Here is one example: when I work with mom’s with anxiety and they go gluten-free and see dramatic improvements in their mood, the whole family often goes gluten-free and lo and behold their kids behavior and mood often improves – anxiety, insomnia, ADHD, rage, irritability etc.
And yes we certainly need more love!
Hello, Trudy.
Thank you so much for your reply.
I am so very much hoping nutritional psychiatry, etc. will become the norm. My own doc had a major change in his life and has been ill. I notice that he is becoming more open to what you and others like Dr. Kelly Brogan are doing for “the field.”.
I have to say that your work, the work of Julia Ross, Dr. Kelly Brogan and a few others saved my own life. The family and friends I have been helpin for some time I am hoping will begin their own shift. I try my best to be patient and loving because I remember the hell I went through for almost more than half my life – believing the lies the “system” told me. I’m no where near perfectly healed, but I am so much better than I was when I was on the numerous meds I was on. And then come to find out I was misdiagnosed on many an occassion. It was hell, like I said, but at least I can use it to help others…at least as best I can.
I really loved Erin Matlock’s talk. I had listened to her Brain Summit this past year, of which your interview with her was among my faves.
Thank you so much for making a difference in this world.
Oh, and besides the nutritional changes, livestyle changes and love…I’m finding Essential Oils are helping us too. Amazing…just amazing. I never knew all this before. I thank my best friend of almost 30 years for enlightening me a few years back. May the TRUTH catch on quicker than the speed of light!
All the best!
Hello again Also Anonymous
Thanks for sharing how you have been helped with nutritional changes, lifestyle changes and love! It’s wonderful to hear! So glad you enjoyed the Brain Summit – Erin is amazing. And yes essential oils are so effective too (sharing a recent blog for other readers https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/bergamot-diazepam-reducing-anxiety/)
I love Julia Ross and Kelly Brogan – both pioneers and trailblazers in this work.
Good for you for wanting to share what you know with friends and family. When we discover this we want to shout it from the rooftops don’t we!?
Dear Anonymous
It sounds like you have had some awful experiences and I am very sorry to hear this.
I do hear you on the lack of community and connection, and I’m very concerned about the current medical model for treating mood disorders which doesn’t work for a great many people. This is the reason I’m SO passionate about the work with food and nutrients that I do. The nutritional psychiatry research is oh so promising and supports what I see on a daily basis!
The nutritional resources listed in the second half of this blog are the way of the future. I get that for someone on the midst of depression all this may seem just too much: contemplating diet changes, adding protein at breakfast, quitting gluten, addressing low iron or low D or low zinc, addressing adrenal or gut health, exercising, getting out in nature, and even volunteering. In most instances it’s a concerned family member or friend that helps the depressed person start making these changes.
We can’t afford to over-generalize. That applies to dealing with mental illness, too. I have been volunteering for years trying to improve supports and resources for mental health and applaud the nutritional research and information-sharing that is going on. I also work regularly with many “peers” whose stories about their experiences with hotlines, hospitals, therapists, medications, etc. absolutely span the spectrum between good and bad, off-putting and helpful. Good nationwide advocacy and information nonprofits include http://www.nami.org and mentalhealthamerica.net which can also connect you locally.
Karen
Thanks for sharing and yes as with everything there is both good and bad aspects
As someone who has dealt with depression, anxiety, PTSD and suicide (both ideation myself and my brother’s suicide in 2005) I am finding a major lack of quality support/help both in the community and within the family unit. People play it off that it’s not that bad or “everybody has problems.” Then when something happens they say they didn’t see it coming or why didn’t they ask for help? Even psych professionals I’ve dealt with over the years seem to be more interested in how many they can get in and out in a given day and most are all too happy to throw meds at patients.
I am currently on 3 antidepressants and a sleep aid, then something to help wake me up in the morning. I am very intrigued and interested to learn more about the nutritional aspects and supplements that might help get me back to a more normal life.
Julie
I’m sorry to hear about your mood issues and the loss of your brother. I am so glad you’re intrigued and open to the nutritional approaches.
My name is Dr. Josh Friedman. I am a psychologist and functional nutrition practitioner and have worked within the mental health “system” every day for the last 20 years. I sit with patients who are depressed and sometimes suicidal frequently and am blow away by how much people hurt and often choose to carry on.
As a mental health clinician I am deeply saddened by the sentiments of the comments on this blog. I am sad because I know this is a very very common experience and totally a reality. We as a mental health community are failing you!
But my experience is that most therapists and psychiatrist really want to help but don’t have the tools (and sometimes they do not really recognize that they lack the tools and often they don’t have the inclination to find them). This is worst part.
Speaking for a minority within the field, I know that we need to broaden our tools if we are going to make things different for all of the people out there struggling alone and without effective help.
About 10 years ago I became aware of the great work of Julia Ross (the power of amino acids and nutritional medicine to address the root causes of mental health issue including disabling depression). Her work lit a fire under my butt and ever since then I have been studying and studying. Now I am part of an Army of nutritionally minded mental health clinicians (including Trudy Scott) that know the system is broke and are working to fix it, 1 client at a time. Bringing nutritional medicine into mainstream mental health.
Here’s an example of how functional nutrition from my own practice changed someone’s life:
A man in his mid 30s who had been depressed for years (he had recently gotten out of his 3rd psychiatric hospitalization on 3 medications). He had never really gotten much benefit from the medications he had taken but he didn’t know what else to to. He had heard that I help people figure out the “root” causes of depression.
We did some basic functional medicine testing including the Organic Acid Test, IgG food Allergy Testing and Hair Mineral Analysis.
When we got the testing back he showed only a few abnormalities including: 1) low levels of serotonin turnover, 2) severe food sensitivity to Whey and 3) low levels of lithium. We put him on a few supplements including Lithium Orotate, 5htp and had him restrict all dairy products. After 2 weeks on this plan his life long depression virtually vanished. I spoke to him 2 years after this intervention and he was still symptom free.
No medication intervention, or therapy was going to fix this problem.
So here’s my promise to you….our army of nutritional change agents are working to make mental health work for you. We are doing our best but your job is to continue to support us and to spread the word.
Remember don’t become disheartened, there are answers out there for you, and we are working to get the word out to the community of mental health providers.
Dr. Friedman
I enjoyed reading your post and it’s refreshing to know that there are providers that see that things just aren’t working and are willing to do what it takes to change the system for the best interest of the patients. Thank you. As someone who has been dealing with depression, anxiety and PTSD for the better part of 30 years I can honestly say I am more than ready to find a treatment that works. Can you please tell me how I can go about finding a nutritional expert in my area? Also, is treatment covered by insurance?
Dear Dr. Friedman
Thank you for this lovely and very encouraging message of hope! What a wonderful story of functional nutrition ending depression – simple and yet so powerful! And yes: “No medication intervention, or therapy was going to fix this problem.”
I too see similar results working with my anxious clients. For some it’s the few changes as you describe, for other people it’s other factors like gluten or gut health or low GABA or even Lyme disease. As you know there can be more than one underlying cause and it can differ for each person. I like to share my blog of 60+ causes (https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/60-nutritional-biochemical-causes-of-anxiety/).
And I agree with you, most therapists and psychiatrists (and those manning the suicide hotlines and from support groups) really do want to help. They simply don’t have the tools we have but you and I (and many others in functional medicine/functional nutrition) are working to change this, with the help of the some amazing researchers, functional medicine labs, supplement companies etc. I know we’ll bring nutritional medicine into mainstream mental health. The upcoming Integrative Medicine in Mental Health conference (http://www.immh2016.com/) is a perfect example of the need for this change and the desire among open-minded practitioners to learn about and use these approaches.
Yes I forgot to mention the Integrative Medicine for Mental Health conference. I was that the first one 6 or so years ago. There were 60 or so people there. 6 years later the numbers are close to 10 times that. It is a sign of the mounting paradigm shift happening in mental health. Clinicians are more and more interested in integrative and nutritional information. Trudy, I think you are a big part of that shift.
Julie
Where are u located?
Dr. Friedman
I am in Dallas, TX
Dr Friedman, You have incredible degrees and training in NYC. Is there someone you recommend who echoes Trudy”s and your’s beliefs in the NJ/NYC area. I am just outside the city in NJ. Many thanks!
Amie and Julie,
I would check out http://www.integrativemedicineformentalhealth.com (these are clinicians who have been trained at the Integrative Medicine for Mental Health training that Trudy was talking about. Also AlternativeMentalHealth.com is a great resource for info on nutritional medicine for mental health. They have a database with clinicians similar to trudy and I.
Thank you, Dr Friedman! Found someone 15 minutes away.
Trudy, I just completed listening to the Medical Supplements Summit. Wow! Every allopath should be listening to these discussions as there is something to be learned in each and every one.
Especially pertinent for me is the overactive adrenal issue. I just listened to Dr. Jess Armine who discussed supplements to take to control high cortisol (which I have). He recommended as safe to take: Calm CP by Neuroscience Corporation and Cortisol Manager by Integrative Therapeutics.
Please explain how these are different from Seriphos (which after the ingredient change is not working to help sleep through the night) and what is the actual agent which relaxes cortisol and promotes sleep? The main ingredient in Calm CP is phosphatidylserine and if that is not working in Seriphos – why would it work in Calm CP?
Neuroscience Corporation also makes several similar products and without finding info on what they exactly do and what dosages to take, who is to say which one would work for me? or for you?
Also, a bottle of 60 caps costs $37.38 and if one takes 5 caps/day (as one reviewer indicated) one bottle would only last 12 days …. is the dosage selective to each person?
Hi Trudy me again! 🙂 just read Anu’s post. She mentioned cortisol manager! Its supposed to be a good product for high cortisol as many ND’s recommend it. However, you need to know how you respond to ashwaganda. I have a bottle sitting here cuz it was too stimulating to me. But the Calm CP might be okay.
Kaye
Yes very good point – we are all unique. Ashwagandha is in the nightshade family and some people do have issues with it although it’s often well tolerated
I took the cortisol manager it did nothing for me. I really feel a big difference with the Himalaya brand ashwaganda,i feel so calm and relaxed with this brand
Michele
Thanks for letting us know about Cortisol Manager. May I ask how much you took? it seems pretty high amounts do help some people.
So glad to hear Himalaya brand ashwaganda helps. May I ask how much? and if it’s the same effects as Seriphos (if you took this in the past)?
about Michele note. Wow I didn’t know that ashwaganda came from different places. I guess its like ginseng. hmmm did Michele try cortisol manager and what was her reaction to it if any. Just wondering if its worth the money to try, as I have spent hundreds on trying to find the help I need.
I tried Cortisol Manager,it didnt do anything for me. Deep breathing exercise and meditation daily lowers high cortisol,this is my new practice with asgwaganda.i feel much more relaxed.
I was taking two or three pills of cortisol manager before bed the highest amount you can take and still nothing regarding the Himalaya brand of ashwaganda im taking the recommended dose,one capsule in the morning, i see a difference with this brand.
Great issue, Trudy!
Thank you. Looking forward to sharing future ones with my readers. Very excited about getting people to see the importance of nutrition to mental health.
Suzanne
Thank you for sharing!