Something to Try for Depression
An unlikely suggestion
When I was young and prone to periodic depression, I stumbled into something that helped. And even though I have mentioned this to dozens of people, I have not been able to persuade anyone to try it — because it is the weirdest, most unlikely recommendation you’ll hear:
Lettuce.
If you get depressed, try this:
- Get a head of ordinary iceberg lettuce (not any of the fancy lettuces, just old iceberg).
- Cut it in half.
- Eat one of the halves — just as it is, with nothing on it, the way you would eat an apple.
Why does this help me? Why might it help you?
I don’t know. But lettuce contains a mild soporific (something sleep-inducing), as any reader of the Peter Rabbit books might recall.
For me, after eating that lettuce, I feel as if I have replenished some metabolic compound that was depleted, and my whole body makes a small, systemic change in the direction of relaxing into a glow. The effect is subtle, fairly quick, and distinct.
When I first discovered this, my relief was so profound that I was sometimes moved to tears of gratitude.
