this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2025
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Help Others

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The Lemmy community for helping others and seeking help.

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Strong Evidence Base

1. Mindfulness Meditation - FREE

2. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) - $6,000 to $12,000 w/o insurance

Might (NOT) Help: Weaker Evidence

1. Empowerment Self-Defense (ESD) - $200 to $4000

  • Unfortunately, I cannot ethically recommend specific ESD providers due to so many (both non-profits and for profits) charging excessively high hourly fees to victims and survivors.
  • By 2027, I will be pilot-testing a low-cost, scalable solution for the entire U.S., and maybe the rest of the world. However, I will also be researching potential negative spillover effects since this has not been researched before. If there are negative spillover effects, I will look for cost-effective ways to mitigate them (e.g. screen out bad actors, etc.) Several ESD practitioners will likely oppose my research efforts because it cuts into their profits. I will likely lose my ESD instructor certification when I announce my study (I am currently training to become an ESD instructor).
  • Research: https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis/1848/

(WORK IN PROGRESS. WILL UPDATE THIS BY NEXT WEEK.)

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 hours ago (7 children)

Please look up the multitude of NIHS and other studies showing the benefits of getting the right nutrients, notable vitamin d3, b vitamins or a b complex, fish oil or similar EPA and DHA oils. Plus the less tested but promising lions mane and other mushroom extract, lots of things of magic ones, and things that have BDNF or simulate it

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 hours ago (6 children)

Already ahead of you! My to-do list has weaker research on SAM-e + vitamin A, orange essential oils, etc.

Thank you so much for commenting this. I'm excited to see this community grow and thrive.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 hours ago (5 children)

Hiaguya here is some more directed info

he evidence overwhelmingly says the same things will help someone with bi-polar disorders. I'm sorry that there is so much here, but if you plan to read it like a book one chapter or page at a time and not try to blast through the whole thing it might be easier.

not getting enough vitamin d3 which is different than vitamin D and is not normally tested for by hospitals. Unless you are taking these supplements then it's almost certain that you are deficient, and the effects of that are that you get sick more often, stay sick longer, don't feel as happy, and that your brain neurons cannot adequately 'heal' after trauma. This 'sunlight vitamin' has a host of effects on your mood, brain, and immune system. take 5000iu (125mg) of D3 each day, and you should too.

Here is some research to highlight some of these aspects that seem applicable here. These are things you can begin doing right now that will only make things better in the future. You may notice the helpful effects in only a few days. They have no real downsides and only positive effects when done correctly.


Vitamin D3 https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/13/4/883 "This seems particularly crucial while considering the relatively high and often neglected prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in the general population and in specific groups, such as patients suffering from the most common type of MDs, which are major depression (MDD) and bipolar disorders (BDs)."- "In our opinion, the present findings strengthen previous research highlighting decreased vitamin D levels in bipolar patients and support the role of this pleiotropic hormone in BD"

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11202759/ "Mental disorders are conditions that affect a person’s cognition, mood, and behaviour, such as ..., anxiety, bipolar disorder" - "Research suggests that certain vitamins, including vitamin D, may influence the incidence and severity of these disorders;" - "results: The findings strongly indicate that vitamin D supplementation may benefit a range of mental health and neurological disorders. The magnitude of the beneficial impact varied by specific disorder, but the overall pattern strongly supports the therapeutic potential of vitamin D on these disorders"

These two are on the benefits of this in kids and youths, as most other ones are for adults, but the results are the same, you need to take d3 supplements https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4491165/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7999324/ this one is a large random sample of people and shows improvements with the fish/algae oils and d3 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5899680/

this is not a study but it can't hurt to read Here's an anecdote that I found online. https://www.depression-understood.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21803

You can get a liquid dropper and put it in a drink, easy peasy. No downside, only positive effects.


testing the brain for infections is not something most doctors will do unless you really make them. this is about how some (many) bipolar disorder can be caused or made worse by infections within the brain, this is something almost no doctor will test for without being prompted to do so, but involved a metagenetic analysis taken from a spinal tap and does not sound fun The takeaway: it’s imperative to test for these pathogens in any psychiatric disorder especially schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. https://collmed.org/from-bipolar-to-schizophrenia-parasites-and-psychiatric-disorder/ in the past doctores didn't think the blood-brain barier could allow this but lots of new research says that when you get viral infactions or sick it can lower the effectiveness of the BBB and aloow infections which can then be harbored in the brain and have long term and huge effects. You have to go well out of your way to get a doctor to test you for this, but if it is the cause you can then get treatment and begin the healing process. Note that that healing process also heavily involved taking D3, B complex, and the DHA/ EPA oils.


TMS I've had some TMS work done on me, for experiments and not treatment, but it is a way to activate parts of your brain with a magnet, so you can jump start neuron pathways and this can lead to you establishing and strengthening those pathways which can literally change your mind, your outlook, and as a result your life. You sit somewhere for 30 minutes once every week or few days for a few months and then it's like you're much better. Keep in mind though that. you need those supplements too, everyone does. https://www.greenbrooktms.com/oregon-centers/portland "TMS is a noninvasive treatment that uses magnetic pulses to stimulate specific parts of the brain. Although it’s typically used to treat depression, research suggests it may be an effective treatment for bipolar disorder, too.' https://www.healthline.com/health/bipolar-disorder/tms-for-bipolar

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6790310/ "Many patients with bipolar disorder (BD) fail to experience benefit following traditional pharmacotherapy" - "Transcranial magnetic stimulation is a promising approach for treating patients with BD who have failed to respond to pharmacological or psychosocial treatment."

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6007750/ "data on the safety and efficacy of TMS in bipolar disorder are preliminary but intriguing."

This article is from 11 years ago and we've learned a lot since then. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4102108/


a vitamin B complex, just all the b vitamins b vitamins are water soluble, you just pee out what you don't use. I eat the costco kirkland brand b complex once a day but you can also take an extra 1 in the afternoon for a pick me up. Don't eat more than 10 of these a day, but that should be easy. they give you energy (they are what's in 5 hour energy), they help your mood, immune system, and most of all they have neuroprotective effects and can help healing of damaged brains. Due to the diet most people in the US eat, most people are not getting enough of these vitamins and that's an easy fix

"the study of neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration, and mitochondrial function has contributed the understanding of bipolar disorder’s pathophysiology. Agents targeting these pathways could be a potential therapeutic strategy." https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6007750/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27655070/ "Vitamin B deficiency could influence memory function, cognitive impairment and dementia. In particular, vitamins B1, B3, B6, B9 and B12 are essential for neuronal function and deficiencies have been linked to depression"

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33848753/ "Background: B vitamins have vital roles in the development, maintenance, and functioning of the brain, while severe deficiencies have been linked to increased psychological disorders"

  • "Conclusions: This study suggests that a higher intake of dietary B vitamins, especially biotin, was associated with a lower prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms."

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0753332221013287 "Folate supplements especially levomefolic acid (L-5-methylfolate) demonstrated improvement in clinical outcomes in certain mental health conditions, such as ... and bipolar affective disorder."

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-16073-9_6 "A substantial proportion of the global population does not meet the recommended daily intake of nutrients. Chronic diseases can arise from even marginal deficiencies." - "Inefficient methylation can lead to hyperhomocysteinemia which causes systemic and vascular inflammation contributing to the pathogenesis of many other diseases. Here we present the effects of folic acid and vitamin B12 on the immune system for health and disease."

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165032719322347 " folate has been increasingly studied for treating for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder," - "Adjunctive folate appeared to be effective and safe for MDD and bipolar manic episode"

If you begin to feel more anxious (life caffeine induced anxiety) with the added energy then you might look into taking individual b vitamins https://neurolaunch.com/can-vitamin-b-complex-cause-anxiety/ "The importance of B vitamins for mental health cannot be overstated. They are involved in the synthesis and regulation of stress hormones, the maintenance of myelin sheaths that protect nerve fibers, and the production of energy needed for optimal brain function."

Another anecdotal experience of taking B + Mg https://old.reddit.com/r/bipolar/comments/pwu46p/taking_magnesium_and_b_vitamins_have_calmed_me/

Heres a shit online article trying to sell you things but it does mention some other things to at least look into https://www.healthline.com/health/bipolar-disorder/guide-supplements#15

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 hours ago

Thank you so much for all of this! 🥺 I'm so glad others are sharing resources, too.

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