Depression Recovery Program taking shape in Richland County

There are plenty of medical treatments and programs in the world today for preventing, or treating, depression, but only a few recovery programs.

Now, thanks to the efforts of Pastor Milton Fish and his wife, Ruth, the Sidney Seventh Day Adventist Church will offer a Depression Recovery Program every Tuesday at 7 p.m. from Aug 14-Oct. 2.

The program was developed by Dr. Neil Nedley, a medical doctor in Oklahoma, who discovered that one-in-three patients who were coming into his office had depression. Nedley put together a recovery program and wrote two books. The latest is titled "Depression - The Way Out" and is used in the Depression Recovery Program.

Nedley's book uses a 20-week plan, which is started at one of the Depression Recovery Programs, like the one the Fishs will offer in August. The program teaches individuals how nutrition, lifestyle and thinking patterns improve brain function. The program also shows attendees how to figure out if depression, or another cause, is creating a lack of energy and how to achieve rest and rejuvenation. Individuals will also learn how to enhance the circulation and activity of the emotional center of the brain and discover how emotional intelligence is more important in life than IQ. "The program takes about eight weeks to learn the information, but 12 weeks to see a turn around," Milton Fish said.

The Fishs learned about the Nedley's depression program while attending a meeting in Bozeman. The headquarters of the Nedley Health Solutions program is located in Oklahoma, but various training seminars are held around the country. Upon completion of training, the Fishs became certified facilitators and directors of the Depression Recovery Program.

The weekly program takes between one and two hours, with the facilitator involved in both the group and DVD session. The sessions include a follow-up afterward so group members do not feel like they've been abandoned.

"We like to touch base with the members of the sessions to see how they are doing," Milton Fish said. Furthermore, the follow-up conducted by the Fishs helps individuals to stick to the program, following through with finishing the 20-week plan created by Nedley. "This program is unique because it goes to the cause of depression instead of just treating the symptoms," Ruth said.

Nedley's plan includes "hit points" in 10 different areas that feature different solutions to help correct the imbalances that cause depression. Those 10 categories are genetics, development, lifestyle, circadian rhythm, addiction, nutrition, toxic, social/complicated, grief, medical frontal lobe. Depending on where the individuals "hits" are at, affects how long it can take to see results. "For example, if you have a hit in the nutritional area it can take seven to 10 days to see results," Ruth Fish said.

Both the Fishs have taken on the challenges of the book, which have included implementing an exercise routine, healthier diets and more rest. "Many people don't know that the hours before midnight are critical to the development of melatonin," Ruth Fish said. She also pointed out that according to Nedley's research, more melatonin - a hormone that plays a key role in regulating biological rhythms including sleep and reproductive cycles - is produced by the brain in the hours before midnight than the hours after midnight. "It's almost double the production," Ruth Fish said.

The program also teaches individuals how to control thoughts, instead of vice versa, how to understand and manage emotions, how to stay motivated to change your life, how to know if the brain is short on vitamin B12 and how to recognize distorted thoughts and correct them.

"It's simple things that we take for granted," Milton said, "like sleep, water, sunlight and routine exercise. It's so easy to do, but many don't. This (program) will make you feel better and be happier. And if you can do that, why not?"

For more information on the Depression Recovery Program, which is not just for people suffering from depression, but also for people just interested in educating themselves against it, call Ruth Fish at 488-4414.

jennaa@sidneyherald.com