My Adventure Begins

[East Side Hayward]

Hello All!

Looking forward to gaining your insight and knowledge for nomadic living and excited about this journey. It’s been a long time since something has excited me as much as the opportunity to get out in nature, live simply and start a new. After years of a very stressful sales job, a recent divorce, and 2 stints at a mental hospital for depression, I decided to leave my job and have bought an Chevy Express 2500.
I’m in the very early stages of my build (thankfully the van was super clean and a blank slate. This weekend I’ll be installing my floor and walls and hope to be on the road by mid to late August. 
I’m from New England but will be traveling out to California with my dog Jaxson.
I realize vanlife can be isolating so looking to ensure I have some great friends along the road.

Hope you all are doing well!
Thanks for having me!

 

[highdesertranger]

Welcome East Side Hayward and Jaxson to the CRVL forums! To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips, Tricks and Rules" post lists some helpful information to get you started.

Most of our rules boil down to two simple over-riding principles: 1) What you post should provide good information (like your introductory post), and 2) Any response to someone else's post should make them feel glad they are part of this forum community.

We look forward to hearing more from you.

highdesertranger

 

[michaelwnoakes]

Where in New England are you? I'm in Ny Catskills near Port Jervis. If you are close I will be happy to help you with your build.

 

[annabell]

Hi Hayward.

I bet you're excited! I hear you about depression. I have had it also, and I bet a lot of people on this forum have also.

Congrats on your vehicle purchase and best of luck with your build and getting on the road.

 

[maki2]

I used to suffer from atypical depression but then I started taking chromium picolanate supplements. Studies at John Hopkins and other leading medical institutions found it to be 80% effective. It is a drug store item found in the vitamin aisle. Recommended by the American Diabetes association for regulating your blood sugar. It won't make you high or drowsy, it just makes you feel that good kind of normal when you wake up and want to get out of bed and start doing stuff.

 

[East Side Hayward]

Where in New England are you? I'm in Ny Catskills near Port Jervis. If you are close I will be happy to help you with your build.

Hey Michael!
Thanks for reaching out. I am right outside Providence.

 

[annabell]

I used to suffer from atypical depression but then I started taking chromium picolanate supplements. Studies at John Hopkins and other leading medical institutions found it to be 80% effective. 

Hi maki2

I'm very happy that you have found something that helps you. Can you please post a link to the original studies you are referencing? This is the only study I found (published by NIH), and it is in reference to carbohydrate craving in depressives: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16184071

In fact, all the references I found that pointed to original research was for carbohydrate cravings in depressives. 

I'm not saying this did not help you, but I do think it is important to qualify the source of medical information on the internet. I'm sure you would agree that "I read it on the internet so it is true" is not a good way to evaluate data.

Also, I think there is a danger in pointing to a "cure" for depression or any other illness. I'm not saying you are necessarily doing this, but it could be perceived that way, in my opinion.

Depression is a complicated disease which afflicts huge numbers of people. The NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health), which is part of the NIH (National Institute of Health), a large and respected source of medical information reports "an estimated 17.3 million adults in the United States had at least one major depressive episode. This number represented 7.1% of all U.S. adults."

Most clinical trials have found a combination of CT (cognitive therapy) or CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) along with anti depressants to be the most effective (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2748674/).

I know that was a lot of information, but what I wanted to prevent was someone with depression reading about your "cure", not getting better, then giving up.

 

[annabell]

Sorry about that long post. I'd like to delete it but can't figure out how.

 

[B and C]

You only have 15 minutes to edit, after that it takes a mod.

 

[heartseed]

Good for you! A fresh start can be VERY good medicine. I am in Vermont and look forward to getting out to the west. Depression can take a real toll out here in New England with the low light in winter, intense summer humidity, and general isolation. I wish you all the best for your new start!

 

[annabell]

You only have 15 minutes to edit, after that it takes a mod.

Thanks for letting me know.