In my blog on 10/20/06 I explained my unsupported quack theory that depression is really a lack of energy. I wondered if giving depressed people speed would make them happy.
While most of you agreed that exercise, nutrition and general health are important contributors to mood, no one was willing to go so far as to agree that a shot of speed would make a depressed person happy. In fact, some self-described experts noted that it could be dangerous to give speed to people with certain types of mood disorders.
[Note: Do not get your medical advice from cartoonists. There’s a reason that speed is illegal.]
Interestingly, researchers have recently discovered that people’s moods improve if you make them think faster, specifically by having them read at a faster rate:
http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2006/12/depressed_think_faster_thought.php [no longer available]
I realize that this finding isn’t a confirmation of my quack theory that depression is a lack of energy. But if you have more energy, you tend to think faster, and thinking faster evidently makes you less depressed. All things considered, reading fast is probably a better medical strategy than taking speed.
I recall my senior year of college when a classmate convinced me to ingest a mysterious black pill. He said it would give me energy and make it easier to do homework. I did my entire senior thesis in economics in four days, and submitted it several months before it was due. (True story.) And I was happy the whole time.
Obviously this pill was not good for my overall health. Eating and sleeping seemed uncharacteristically optional for the better part of a week. I wouldn’t do it again, and I certainly don’t recommend that any of you ingest unlabeled substances dispensed by a guy nicknamed “The Molecule.” My only point is that I have some anecdotal evidence that thinking faster improves mood.
I recommend coffee and exciting books.