Water : Nature's Antidepressant Medication

STUPENDOUS RESULTS
Having learned about the missing role of water in depression, let us now see some results, stupendous results. 

I read your interview with Dr. Batmanghelidj a couple of weeks ago and it made a profound impression on me.  I gave up beverages containing caffeine. Although I have only been on this program for a couple of weeks, I feel like a new person! 

I wanted to tell you about some results that I got, because the ones that impressed me the most and for which I am most thankful, are not physical results, per se; they are emotionally/psychological & mental.

I did get some very good physical results, I lost weight, my allergy symptoms disappeared, and I enjoyed a tremendous upsurge in energy -- but I was more grateful for (and amazed by)  a release from a lifelong battle with depression, and other emotional and psychological problems. I had gotten to the point where my nerves were just shot.  I was sensitive and overreacted to everything. the slightest setback became a major setback.  I couldn't cope with the pressures of even ordinary everyday living, much less more stressful situations. I developed a very short fuse, I would get irritated and angry at the slightest provocation, and then I would get depressed and hated myself, and really just wanted to die. I was ruining my closest relationships, and I contemplated suicide many times. I began to believe that I might have a mental illness. I saw many different psychiatrists and social workers, but my experiences never really changed. I was progressively more volatile with drastic mood swings , and I lived under a big dark cloud.  But then , when I began to follow Dr. Batmanghelidj's  guidelines, i felt the big dark cloud lift.  It was as if the sun finally came out. I felt calmer and more peaceful , more  centered and grounded, and just plain happier.

My nerves no longer jumped out of control at every little thing and I began to feel a profound sense of joy and relief.  I no longer felt so much like something was drastically wrong with me.  I began to be able to hold my head up and face the world, instead of tending toward a  sort of paranoid agoraphobia.

I don't know whether other people with similar problems might get the same relief, but as you say, when you've tried everything else and it's failed, it can't hurt to try something like this.  I know many people who don't even drink one glass of water in a day. I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't benefit from increasing his or her intake of water.

Thank you so much for publishing tht fascinating interview. It make more sense than anything else i have ever read on health ( and I've read a lot) , and it has helped me more than anything else I have ever tried (and I've tried a lot!). Also, a glass of water is free -- my last psychiatrist was US$65.00 for 45 minutes! !

Thank you again,
Sincerely your, K.M., Syracuse, New York

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NOTE: As you can see, K.M. exhibited all the perceptive manifestations of dehydration that I identified in Figure 5-1 at the beginning of this chapter 5. Once she corrected her daily intake of water to avoid dehydration, all those symptoms disappeared too. 

Depression; Suicidal: Water Cure

August 1995, I first became aware of your book : Your Body's Many Cries for Water. I will forever grateful for your years of research in reference to the role of water in the functioning of the human body. The chapter in the book pertaining to depression was the solution to over ten(10) years of struggle in my life.

In your book, your simple formula of drinking water at the rate of a minimum of two quarts (64 oz.=8glasses(size 8oz.) per day plus salt of 1/2 teaspoon over a 24-hour period had been the answer for my depression.

Because of my weight, I followed the additional suggested formula of 1/2 the body weight number = the ounces of water required to properly keep all the body cells fully hydrated. (100 lbs body weight use 50 oz of water intake; 150 lbs body weight use 75 oz water intake; 200 lbs body weight use 100 oz of water intake, so on) I make sure that I ingest at least 1/2 teaspoon of table salt (sodium chloride) with my food during the same 24-hour period.

I am 68-year-old retired chemical engineer. I had battle depression symptoms from 1985 until 1995. My wife, a nurse clinician,passed away in 1984. I was forced into early retirement after 33&1/2 years with a major oil company in 1985. Those people familiar with the role of high stress causing dehydration, as Figure 9 in your book, will understand my problem. In addition, I had bought into the idea that a low-salt diet was the way of good health. (Now, I know better).

Thus all the factors were in place for my body to show symptoms of depression. What I now know is that most of the anti-depressants used by doctors to treat patients with depression are also diuretics. I always manifested the symptom of extreme dry mouth sensation after being placed on anti-depressants.

The symptom of anxiety then comes forth because of the additional need for water by the body. Add a prescribed anti-anxiety pill and the patient(that's me) was on chemical teeter-totter trying to achieve a balance of a normal life. Plus, in the Physicians Desk Reference (PDR), in the listing for the above medications is the nice word "suicide."

I have struggled when on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication with the fleeting surges of the mind of wanting to die. However, I never had the courage to act out the desire. The ultimate solution that worked for me :Water and salt; the simple answer.

In summary, for over a year I have been free of the need to take any medication of any kind. In December 1995, I qualified with no medical restrictions for a Class physical for a private pilot's license. In addition, my annual eye check revealed that my eye peripheral vision had improved relative to previous annual tests. My belief is that the cells in the eye have become better hydrated and I can read now without glasses.

May the value of your research and protocol continue to spread and be understood.
Sincerely,
C.D., BS Chemical Engineering.

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Note:C.D. is well and able to cope with the adversities of life. He lost his business and came through it without any repercussions on his health. Ho now lectures to the residents of old-age homes.