Mental Illness and Vitamin D

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All items in category Winter Blues/Depression and Vitamin D 268 items

Sample of mental illness items on VitaminDWiki:

• Hypothesis: Some Mental Illness could be treated or prevented with vitamin D many studies
• Better Mental, Emotional and General health with better vitamin D – Oct 2017
• 99 percent of psychiatric population had less than 30 ng of vitamin D – June 2013
• Fewest Google searches for Mental Health when there is lots of vitamin D from the sun – May 2013
• Mental health problems cut in half when have adequate level of vitamin D – Jan 2013
• Psychiatric disorders 4X more likely in teens if low vitamin D - Nov 2011
• Children with mental disorders have somewhat less vitamin D levels (graph) Jan 2014
• vitamin D variations and mental health - Aug 2010 Nice graphs
• Depression 50 % more likely if low vitamin D in early pregnancy – Aug 2012
• Psychosis in dark skinned people 3.5 X higher if low level of vitamin D – May 2012
• Less than 20 ng vitamin D increases depression by 80 %– Dec 2010
• Pregnant blacks 50 % more likely to be depressed if just 3 ng less vitamin D – July 2012
• Teens no longer depressed after vitamin D raised to 36 ng – Feb 2012
  The teen study used a loading dose for 1 month and got great results in just 3 months
• Much less depression if higher than 43 ng of vitamin D – Oct 2012
• First episode psychosis associated with a 33 percent lower vitamin D in 3 races – Sept 2013

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The Role of Vitamin D Deficiency in Mental Illness - Mercola Dec 2024

2 videos

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Low vitamin D when indoors most of the time - from VitaminDWiki

• Prisoners have very low vitamin D and get TB, influenza, and depression
• Prisoners in psychiatric wards have very low levels of vitamin D – Oct 2012
• Prison doctor on lack of vitamin D in solitary confinement – July 2013
• Many reasons why vitamin D deficiency has become epidemic - a few of the sun-related reasons are below
  Air conditioning - to avoid the hot sun
  Increased use of multi-media indoors - TV, DVD, video games, and internet access
  More indoor jobs - more office workers, fewer farmers
  Want whiter skin - especially dark-skinned women
  Fear skin cancer
  Indoor due to health problems, senior living,

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VitaminDWiki - Overview Schizophrenia and Vitamin D contains

14 reasons to think that schizophrenia is associated with low vitamin D
1) 97% of patients with schizophrenia are vitamin D deficient
2) Schizophrenia varies with latitude (UVB) by 10X (controversy)
3) Schizophrenia is more common in those with dark skin (when away from the equator)
4) Schizophrenia is associated with low natal vitamin D
5) Schizophrenia has been increasing around the world when vitamin D has been decreasing (controversy)
6) Schizophrenia is associated with low birth rate, which is associated with low vitamin D
7) Schizophrenia is associated with Autism which is associated with low vitamin D
8) Schizophrenia Bulletin Editorial (Jan 2014) speculated that Vitamin D could be a major player
9) Schizophrenia 2X more likely if low vitamin D - meta-analysis
10) Schizophrenia increased 40 % for Spring births after Danes stopped vitamin D fortification
11) Schizophrenia is associated with season of birth
12) Schizophrenia is associated with poor Vitamin D Receptor genes
13) Schizophrenia risk is decreased if give Vitamin D after birth
14) Schizophrenia symptoms reduced when Vitamin D levels are restored

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VitaminDWiki – Depression category contains

• Low vitamin D is associated with most types of depression, Including: Seasonal Affective Disorder. manic depression, bipolar disorder, dysthymia, Depression during/after pregnancy, Seniors, Suicide
• Depression substantially reduced by Vitamin D, Omega-3, Magnesium, etc – many studies
• Depression 1.6 X more likely if low Vitamin D, taking Vitamin D reduces depression – umbrella of meta-analyses – Jan 2023
• Depression: Low vitamin D in the strongest of 11 risk factors – Jan 2023
• Yet another study confirms Depression is treated by weekly Vitamin D (50,000 IU)– RCT Dec 2019
• Depression treated by Omega-3 (again) – meta-analysis Aug 2019
• Supplementing with Vitamin D (or getting more sun) decreases most types of depression as well as drugs
• Omega-3, Magnesium, and St. Johns' Wort also decrease depression
  • Speculate that some combination (Vit D, Omega-3, Mg, St John's) will decrease depression even more
  • Note: Both Omega-3 and Magnesium increase the amount of vitamin D which gets to tissues
• Antidepressants reduce cellular Vitamin D, increasing fractures, CVD, etc. - Oct 2022
• There are 268 items in the Depression category in VitaminDWiki

Some recent publications

• Depression in seniors greatly reduced by Vitamin D (50,000 IU weekly) – meta-analysis June 2023
• Depression reduced if take more than 5,000 IU of vitamin D daily – umbrella meta-analysis – Jan 2023
• Post-partum depression and low Vitamin D - many studies
• Depression: Low vitamin D in the strongest of 11 risk factors – Jan 2023

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VitaminDWiki - Suicide associated with low vitamin D contains:

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See also web

• Clinical Trials for Depression with vitamin D intervention 20 INTERVENTION trials listed as of Aug 2013
• Depression at Vitamin D Council
  Note: Dr. Cannell found the benefits of vitamin D while working with mentally ill prisoners, who, like many other prisoners, have little access to the sun
• Mental Health Disorders Now Leading Cause of Non-Fatal Illness Worldwide Mercola Sept 2013
  Lancet: mental disorders and substance abuse combined were the leading cause of non-fatal illness worldwide in 2010, contributing nearly 23 percent of the total global disease burden!
  Mentions vitamin D: people with the lowest levels of vitamin D were 11 times more prone to be depressed than those who had normal levels

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Fact 1 Smoking decreases vitamin D.

Fact 2 Low vitamin D is associated with mental illness

Hypothesis: smoking decreases vitamin D, which increases mental illness

• Smoking reduces vitamin D - many studies - one example: Low vitamin D was 1.8 X more likely among smokers – June 2012
• People With Mental Illness More Likely to Be Smokers, Study Finds NY Times Feb 2013
  40% of men and 34% of women with mental illness smoke. compared with one in five adults without mental illness
  Adults with mental illness smoke about a third of all the cigarettes in the United States

The following graphic from the CDC shows that those who already have low vitamin D due to dark skin do not smoke as much

see also on VitaminDWiki Smoking reduces vitamin D - many studies

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Update: Some mental hospitals are no longer encouraging smoking by patients

Smoking, Once Used to Reward, Faces a Ban in Mental Hospitals New York Times Feb 2013
A great many reasons for the reversal.

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Sesame Street Mental Disorders - 2018