Vegan diet and mental health?

Question

I've been on a vegan diet for about five or six months now (coming from a poor diet of pure c**p), and my body has definitely slimmed down a lot.

Lately, though - and I have been inundated with some financial misfortune that upsets me - I have been completely crazy to the point where my parents want me to seek professional mental health in a psychiatric facility.

In February, after losing a job, I sank into a deep depression that I perked myself out of around April. I became fully vegan around the end of March, and didn't think anything of it affecting me mentally. I started committing myself to activities to enrich myself: acting in short movies, writing, and taking online classes.

In June, I became very depressed again about the situation. Money was running tight.

In July, though, my mood became erratic - I would cry uncontrollably about subjects I didn't know, pick fights with strangers, I would spend money on things I didn't have, and lament with seething jealousy about what others had that I could no longer afford.

The culmination of these events happened last week, when I started crying at my grandmother's dinner party and didn't stop for seven hours. I found myself at the bottom of a bottle of wine and decided to jump in front of traffic at a busy highway withing walking distance to my house.

I lost my nerve, obviously, but kept crying and praying to God. I am not usually a very religious person - as of late, though, I've become increasingly neurotic and scrupulous.

The pinnacle of this was this past week where I got involved in a physical altercation with a stranger. I'm not a violent person, and usually shrug annoying/stupid people off. It was a typical stupid girlie fight that was over before it started and no security got involved or anything like that. I realized what I was doing while it was happening and walked away - then I cried for the rest of the night about what I had done and I felt terrible about it. We didn't hurt each other - but I was just so disappointed by my despicable behavior.

Alcohol is involved in a lot of these incidents, but I've never been like that before - I'm somewhat of a tolerant drinker and drink socially without any problems.

I'm wondering, though, after doing some research, if my erratic actions are the result of mental deterioration due in part to veganism? Any thoughts?

Answer 1

You should seek the help of a professional. To me, it sounds like clinical depression, however, I'm no professional.  

Answer 2

Sweetie, It sounds like you were depressed before becoming a vegan. Alcohol is not the answer, you need to find some professional help.

BTW: Alcohol abuse and a vegan diet is really asking for trouble since heavy drinking robs our bodies of stored B12.  

Answer 3

You don't mention how old you are but my experience is people tend to have life meltdowns at about 25 to 28 years old as things from their childhood catch-up to their realization of adulthood.

I'd say the job situation is much more of a factor in this than the veganism. Another way to look at this is how much worse would it be if you hadn't gone vegan?

Of course, while it's possible, considering your previous poor diet, you are detoxing out some of the toxins that get stored in our fat, one thing you might consider is getting some vegan Vitamin D supplements and take about 3000 IU a day for a week and then 1000 IU a day after that. Vitamin D is turning out to be a hugely important nutrient and our modern life keeps us from getting enough for a variety of reasons. It's implicated in many physical conditions above and beyond the one it's known for which is Rickets. Among those are MS, Arthritis, Cancers, body aches, PMS, and depression. It's in milk (as a fortification and not naturally) but only in amounts to prevent absolute deficiency (of rickets only) not in the amounts we need to thrive so that's no reason to go back to dairy (which uses the sheep lanolin form of D anyway).

B12 is also important, even to non-vegans as factory farmed animals and vegetables are now so removed from how they used to be raised. Eggs used to be a good source but now the hens never see the earth and B12 is a soil bacteria (we used to get it from our veggies but now sanitize and sterilize our food and our soils -- which are depleted from overuse -- in part because of Confined Animal Feeding Operations which cause things to go out of balance and the run-off from the manure effluents contaminate our foods).

But, do look into getting some counseling which can help you see other ways to approach things, or work your way out of situations which are causing you such grief. Sometimes we are so immersed in our worlds we just can't see our way out of the situations we get ourselves into.

Also, the alcohol sounds as if it's getting out of hand even if you didn't have issues with it before (or you didn't notice them then).

Answer 4

Vegan diet IS connected to larger nervous activity,including that of brain,as brain is the main "eater" of fruits and veges,other body parts so much more require protein etc.It is the reason(may be not the only You experience nervous strange moods.But no reason to go back to meateating.Manage it well.I found certain philosophy of "Bhagavad Gita" and similar stuff that solves my nervous problems pretty succesfully.Stuff there is not only religious,but also heaps of purely practical advices on how to deal with "this and that".Gita also reaffirms the idea that vegan diet is fully sufficient to humans,no dairy or meat ever necessary.I am partly vegetarian partly vegan(most eat vegan but happen to eat some dairy too),and I had similar "nervous" to Yours problems.Read "Bhagavad Gita"-my advice,it solved mine anyway.But check not one translation,as many translators are of no idea what they wright about.

Answer 5

I worked in mental health since 1987, my wife is a dietitian working at a mental hospital since the late 70s, and I never heard of a single instance of mental illness being caused by vegetarianism or veganism.

I think it has more to do with losing your job and having mixed feelings about what you want to do with your life.

It's not unusual to have changing ideas about religion or something like vegetarianism/veganism during a time of mental stress. Personally, I had a religious conversion and became vegetarian after I got treatment for depression.

It might be a good idea to see a doctor or a counselor.

I was a depressed college drop out going nowhere in my early 20s. I saw a psychiatrist, got medication. I felt dramatically better, finished college and got a better job.

Answer 6

You may be going through a hormonal imbalance, possibly due to menopause (Please do not be offended as I am only guessing) or many other imbalances which may be due to internal or external causes. You should seek the help of a health care professional, preferably a Naturopath who could take a holistic approach and try to determine the root cause of your problems and recommend a natural non-pharmaceutical approach. Keep in mind that you are not alone, and that help is available. Good luck, and hope this helps.

Answer 7

Actually, the more I've improved my diet, the better I've felt, physically and mentally.

Maybe you should work on your finances, or just hire an accountant and financial professional to help you manage your money better.

Your behaviour seems to be attributed to fluctuating hormone levels, if I had to guess.  I cannot guess much else... Perhaps you should visit a naturalpath or chinese herbalist or such.

Answer 8

Okay, I've trained as a clinical psychologist, in addition to being vegan, coincidentally. I can say there's no evidence of the vegan diet itself being correlated with mental health problems, although there is some evidence that some people who adopt vegan diets sometimes have suffered from mental health difficulties or are susceptible to them. That having said, there are also plenty of vegans with no background or history of developing mental health problems.

I can't obviously tell exactly what you're eating on a vegan diet though, as you haven't listed it, so it's possible that food intake might be in part affecting your mood. I can't diagnose obviously on here, but I'd say the events you've gone through and describing point strongly to clinical depression as involved. And it's understandable- losing your job, financial worries, and conflict with others round you can take its toll.

Might help to talk to somebody further as you're right - seriously contemplating suicide and getting into drunken fights isn't good. Finding a good psychotherapist or counsellor here I would recommend as an idea if you possibly. Better to get these issues dealt with now rather than letting things fester. At least, please seek out somebody who you can talk to about things - it's hard dealing with some things on your own.

Thanks for asking - hope things go well for you.

Answer 9

there is no evidence that veganism affects mental state but it could be possible i guess

i am a vegetarian and i have no side effects other than weight loss

Answer 10

Your veganism is probably a symptom of prior problems.