Lifting Your Depression: How a Psychiatrist Discovered Chromium's Role in the Treatment of Depression

By Malcolm Noell McLeod

Book Overview

If you have picked up this book, chances are that you or someone you care about struggles with depression. In addition to feeling depressed or down, ask yourself the following questions: Do you crave... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591201640
• ISBN13: 9781591201649
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: Basic Health Publications
• Length: 210 Pages
• Weight: 1.02 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Chromium saved me

From 1984 to 1998 I had a long string of professional and relational stresses, I didn't sleep well, and I took antidepressants. After that, I had 4 years of stable mood (I didn't take a single pill during those years). But after 2000, a new stressor appeared in my life. I've been taking antidepressants again since 2002, with bad or mediocre results: maprotiline (Ludiomil) caused me unbearable side effects after a few years of use. Over a week ago, after reading Dr. McLeod's book, I started taking chromium picolinate, 400 micrograms 4 times a day, to a total of 1600 mcg a day. The results have been a complete remission of my depression, until now. I think that less than 1600 mcg wouldn't do the trick, and maybe Dr. McLeod could have obtained even better results in his clinical trial using this dose (better than the 70% of positive results he's got, using a maximum of 600 mcg). When I don't take the 400 mcg dose for more than 7 hours (I take one pill every 3 hours), a slight depression starts to return. I have been taking chromium picolinate for years as an anti-aging supplement (400 mcg at bedtime of a formulation that's no longer available) without any antidepressant effect. The recommended daily dose for this formulation is 400 mcg 4 times a day, which I thought was excessive. (Chromium picolinate greatly increases insulin sensitivity, and high insulin sensitivity - low blood insulin - is one of the main metabolic characteristics of centenarians and animals subjected to calorie restriction, which have a strongly increased lifespan. And rats supplemented with chromium picolinate live 37% more than their normal lifespan). A warning: the first time I took chromium picolinate as an antidepressant, I took 1000 mcg (of another formulation) at bedtime, and I didn't sleep well. The total dose has to be taken throughout the day. And I almost completely discontinued the not very effective (at least for me) antidepressant amitriptiline, (from 60 mg per day to 25 mg at bedtime). Thank you Dr. McLeod. Without your keen observations, I think I would have never gotten were I am now: cured of depression!

Miracle Cure

Four years ago I had a heart attack and by-pass surgery. Soon afterwards I fell in a deep depression with anxiety attacks. Since then I have been seeing a psychiatrist on a monthly, or sometimes weekly basis. I ended up in the hospital and an out care facility for 6 weeks. I had to take a medical retirement because the depression seemed untreatable. I've tried just about every medication and or combination, for depression, but nothing seemed to work. At one time my doctor told me I was one of the hardest cases he had ever treated. He knew from the onset it was not an emotional problem but a chemical imbalance. He used all the new, old, and uncommon drugs. We were at the end of all the drugs and combinations out there so he was pushing me to electric shock thearpy. I did not want to do this, it was frightening. I started to study on my own. I was desparate. One day I went online and found this book. At first I passed over it because it seemed to simplistic or I thought it might be a gimmick. I was so wrong. I read the book. It seem plausible enough, but I did not seem to fit the criteria for chromium deficiency as described in the text. But as I said, I was deparate. I bought a $12 bottle of chromium and started taking it that day. The next day I saw my doctor. I told him about the chromium, he seem a little amused but had no objections to me taking it. I was in the process of starting to take another antidepressant at the same time. Three days later I felt normal for the first time in 4 years. I knew it was too early for the antidepressant to be working and that chromium had to be the explanation. I cried in relief and called my brother because I had to tell somebody and I knew my doctor would think I was crazy. The next day I still felt normal. At that point I called my doctor and told him that I was feeling great. He was afraid I was manic or something. Even though he was very skeptical he was willing to work with me as I took the chromium. I stopped taking the antidepressant and I gave him my book to read. That was two months ago. I am no longer taking drugs for depression. I am feeling better now than I have for years. My doctor is amazed. He has suggested chromium to another patient who has not had success with conventional medicine. What would I say about this book? It has been a life changing a miracle! If you are at your wits end and nothing seems to help with your depression, what have you got to lose...(a meaningful life)? Read this book. Give it to others you care about who cannot find relief from their depression. I know it will not work for everybody, but it did for me. It gave me back my life. Five stars does not seem to give it enough justification!

Offers enlightenment to all and is recommended strongly to those who suffer from depression

In Lifting Depression: The Chromium Connection, practicing psychiatrist Malcolm Noell McLeod presents the personal empowerment of overcoming of a familial situation between himself and his parents. As significant and growing numbers of people worldwide struggle with the psychological disadvantage of mental and emotional depression, Malcolm Noell McLeod gives readers a healing aide for dealing with this increasingly common psychological condition. With true potential for revolutionary standards of discovery, Lifting Depression: The Chromium Connection offers enlightenment to all and is recommended strongly to those who suffer from depression individually as well as those wishing to find aid for friends and loved ones afflicted with chronic depression.

Incredible Medical Breakthrough!

If you, or someone you know struggles with even some of the following: fatigue, high cholesterol, carbohydrate/sugar cravings, weight gain, high blood pressure or has been diagnosed with atypical depression, this book could be the breakthrough you've been waiting for. It sounds too good to be true, but when the peer reviewed scientific literature backs up the claims, you have to sit up and take notice. In this fabulous book, Dr. McLeod shares his incredible & accidental discovery that a nutrient deficiency (Chromium) is at the root of a glucose metabolism problem "insulin resistance" that can lead to a suite of health symptoms (above) that include atypical depression. The book outlines how a simple supplementation with Chromium Picolinate at the right dosage along with excerise and diet changes, lead to dramatic and complete relief for many people in as little as 2 days. Wow. Thank you Dr. McLeod. (You have to wonder why screening for nutrient deficiencies like this one, isn't standard medical procedure?)

Very informative for sufferers of atypical depression!

Dr. McLeod has done his research and this book brings the reader right into the middle of it. He gives illustrative case studies of specific patients who benefited from adding chromium picolinate to their daily supplement intake. He also reviews the scientific study commissioned by Duke University to validate the effects of chromium picolinate in alieviating atypical depression. Overall, the book is scientific and convincing in terms of chromium picolinate's positive effect on atypical depression. I am grateful to Dr. McLeod for writing this book for 2 reasons. First, I didn't even know that atypical depression existed before this book; and yet I've been seeing a psychiatrist for 8 years and taking antidepressants for 5 years. If you have symptoms such as fatigue for no reason, excessive craving of sweets & carbs, sleeping too much, heaviness in arms or legs, extreme sensitivity to rejection and onset of symptoms early in life (before age 30), Dr. McLeod might suggest you have atypical depression. Secondly, I can't believe a solution as simple and as natural as chromium could possibly work. And yet is IS working for me. Zoloft has been helping me for several years to cope with the daily task of living; but not without side effects. Chromium has no known side effects! Dr. McLeod discusses patients in the book who take chromium with antidepressants and patients who take chromium alone. It would obviously be up to your doctor to help you decide which way to go. He also highlights several cases when chromium was not a good solution... in one case, a woman found her mood lifted, but she felt a lot of excessive energy and anger and had to discontinue. In another case, chromium had no effect on a man with rapid-onset depression... but as Dr. McLeod explains, chromium (so far) is only shown to help with atypical depression, which often lasts a lifetime. The text of the book is not particularly well-written... it often feels choppy and stilted. But hey, Dr. McLeod is a psychiatrist, not a writer. And he does do a good job of writing for the lay person. I had no problems understanding his scientific analyses. The chapters of the book are as follows: Part One: Coping with Depression 1. Life is a Burden 2. Recognizing a Disorder 3. Looking for Causes 4. Formulating a Treatment Plan 5. Taking the Back Roads 6. The Long Way Home 7. Murder of the Senses Part Two: Finding One of Nature's Secrets 8. A Ray of Light 9. A Miracle in Nature 10. Needle in a Haystack 11. Land Ahoy 12. Elizabeth: A Careful Observer 13. Do No Harm 14. Sara: Lost and Wounded 15. Giving Sorrow Words Part Three: From Observation to Explanation 16. A Prepared Mind 17. A Lock and a Key 18. Sadness and Long Sorrow Part Four: A Beautiful New Vista 19. An Undergraduate in Experience 20. Joseph: Insulin Resistance Syndrome 21. The Sky Turns Clear and Blue 22. Help from the Experts 23. Proof Part Five: There, and Back Again 24. A Grateful Psychiatrist 25. Where It All Began 26. Our Path