Human beings are social creatures. We do not realize how much of us is the result of the influence of the outside world. What we think, how we think, what views we hold – all of these are a result of our environment. And this is where there is room for very big change.
Where to start? By looking at your nutrition. I’ve been running a natural medicine forum for many years, hundreds of people come to me. A rather distinctive picture emerges: the biggest impact on health is changing the way you eat. It is not so much what we eat that matters, but what we DON’T eat. Where dozens of supplements didn’t help, where visits to a dozen or so doctors didn’t help, a simple change in nutrition worked without a problem. We are what we eat. Unfortunately, people love to lie to themselves. Smokers look for that one non-smoker who got cancer and feel absolved because, after all, “he didn’t smoke and he died too”. They don’t see the thousands of smokers who spit out their lungs piece by piece in oncology wards. Similarly with nutrition, we are addicted to fat and protein. Once upon a time, tens of thousands of years ago, munching on fatty, high-protein foods allowed us to survive. We had the opportunity to eat once a month, so by natural selection, those individuals who ate the most on such occasions survived. Now, for the first time in millions of years of species history, we have as much food as we want. And it is killing us. We gorge ourselves on fatty, high-protein foods: meat, cheese, eggs. Instinct tells us to eat to survive the coming hunger. But the hunger never comes. Moreover, in the same way that smokers justify their addiction, we tell ourselves that meat or milk are healthy. They aren’t. After all these years of dealing with people changing their health, I can say with full responsibility that eliminating meat from your diet and at least limiting dairy is the healthiest thing you can do. Unfortunately, in most cases convincing people to do that is like convincing a smoker to quit…
Something that is especially important for men: strength. Ordinary physical strength. On my own example, I could see how much my personality changed when I increased my body mass by 15 kg of muscle. And it was a very positive change. Of course any neurotic or depressive symptoms decreased, but I also became much nicer, more helpful, I started to help people, smile to them. I think, before I gained muscle mass, somewhere subconsciously I felt threatened by the fact that everyone was bigger and stronger than me. You don’t have to go to the gym at all, which is important for people with social phobia or agoraphobia. It’s enough to buy 2 dumbbells to train virtually every muscle in your body.
Running or even just long walks are also very effective. In clinical trials, they have proven to be as effective in treating depression as the best available pharmaceuticals.
Self-esteem depends to a great extent on the people we surround ourselves with. Of course I’m not urging you to break up friendships here, it’s about a much simpler thing, the internet. The worst thing a person suffering from a neurotic or depressive disorder can do is delve into online forums for people with a negative approach to life. I’m specifically referring to enclaves populated by those who describe themselves as “losers,” but also the usual forums for neurotics. It is really worth avoiding them, you will only seemingly find “understanding” there, in practice it will lead to toxic living with your disease.