I take it you were never in a psychiatric hospital with people urging you to get ECT?
I was. Hot baths don’t work, but that’s just me. Blanket recommendations are useless and harmful. It turns out I have a genetic issue causing my mood issues and diet is my treatment.
By all means, eat as much healthy food as you can afford. But whatever caused your psychiatric problems, it couldn't have been food. Unless you're so poor that you severely malnourished, or you're eating something severely toxic. And even then, lots of places in this world with malnourished populations that are not depressed.
Improving the quality of your life is not just food. It's all the other things that go into it. Like autonomy, sense of security, friends, social status, finances, physical activity levels, etc.
So be sure to look after improving those things too.
And my suggestion for walking a dog, is a simple and practical suggestion for something that will get you both companionship and exercise.
From personal experience, quitting smoking helped with anxiety. That longing feeling for a cigarette was making me anxious, and that feeling would persist even after having one. So quitting was helpful. But again, smoking is not eating.
I have a Partial PNP Deficiency that makes it harder for me to break down Inosine and Guanosine (and xanthine). My PNP enzyme only functions at about 12% of most "normal" people.
After going on a low specific purine diet I no longer need any of the three psychiatric medications I was on but for klonopin since there are some triggers I cannot avoid.
Food did this. Food and having a good doctor who did not give up on me. Food and knowing what my genetics are. I get that some people might benefit from Yoga, etc, but to serve a blanket statement like that is just ignorant of the genetic and environmental diversity of humanity. I have these genetics because I have Sami heritage and I am adapted to live in a cold climate and eating low purine, high zinc foods. Zinc also helps me break down the purines by stimulating LACC1, which is a sort of PNP backup. A zinc deficiency when I was young left me with an undecended testicle because of my LACC1 genetics.
I do not think the spectrum of autism are caused by a single gene or environmental factor. I was diagnosed with Asperger's as well, much too late in life.
I was. Hot baths don’t work, but that’s just me. Blanket recommendations are useless and harmful. It turns out I have a genetic issue causing my mood issues and diet is my treatment.