Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

enirgin t1_j7b5g2u wrote

Not useful information on its own; it's a correlational study. If you filled a Vitamin D rx you were less likely to commit suicide. It does not show any causal relationship.

Maybe if you were able to get out of the house more easily and buy vitamins more easily you were less likely to commit suicide. Or if you were less likely you took better care of yourself (maybe less depressed?) and got vitamins. Or some disease that required vitamin D supplements was associated with lower suicide risk.

Not to say someone shouldn't follow up with a more rigorous study, but this is nothing more than a teaser for more serious research.

485

yugosaki t1_j7c5goe wrote

getting a vitamin D prescription filled also indicates this person is in regular contact with a medical provider.

Given that you can easily get vitamin d without a prescription, I'd say the fact they are seeing a doctor is a bigger factor.

​

That being said, anecdotally I find if I forget to take vitamin D in the winter I experience some seasonal depression and fatigue.

196

tempskawt t1_j7e9rjz wrote

I'm a vet in Wisconsin. Had a real bad time last year around January when I got back from a deployment to Saudi Arabia. Vitamin D supplements, running intervals, and eating an overly healthy diet fixed it after a while. Not sure if it was sunlight or heat, but it just felt like I had dread going on in the morning and the evening. Thermostat set to 70-72 range, and I would still shiver. Seems to have fixed itself since then. Would be curious to know if it was a fluke or if the/my human body is not good at adjusting to such jarring changes in daily sunlight.

23

yugosaki t1_j7egj5d wrote

Unrelated, but when I first read "vet" I interpreted it as "veterinarian" and was like "why would an animal doctor be deployed to saudi arabia" for a good minute before I figured out what I misunderstood

24

tempskawt t1_j7ei5nf wrote

There were veterinarians in Saudi! I guess they were vet vets. They took care of the MWDs, military working dogs. They were trained to take down bad guys, but most of the time they were sniffing the vehicles that local Nationals drove on base with. One guy had some fertilizer traces in his vehicle that an MWD indicated on. I got the opportunity to put on the padded suit and get attacked by one, they're no joke. Very well trained though!

11

juan2141 t1_j7em1jv wrote

Similar for me minus the deployment, I was feeling down lately then started taking vitamin D again. It didn’t take long until I started feeling better.

2

Roronoa_Zaraki t1_j7fdu4r wrote

I have a doctor friend in England who says when Australians come over to the UK to work or study they are massively overrepresented compared to native brits in reporting seasonal depression and getting high dose vitamin d.

2

captainsave t1_j7b8ed0 wrote

Why would I leave the house for vitamin D. I don't need a prescription and the Amazon man will drop it off without me having to talk to strangers.

54

meontheinternetxx t1_j7bh68w wrote

Well, at my latitude only half of the year. The other half, even if you see the sun it wont help that much.

16

Harkwit t1_j7b8w81 wrote

Because it's free outside from the sun.

11

halpstonks t1_j7bccbz wrote

some of us live places with not enough sun for our skin type and have to supplement anyway.

cmon sun

52

yugosaki t1_j7c5t1l wrote

plus even if there is technically enough sun, if its not warm out we're gonna be wearing long sleeves and pants, so the actual sun to skin exposure is limited a lot.

16

Mercury2Phoenix t1_j7cdqsm wrote

Or conversely, if you live somewhere super sunny & warm (like I use to live in Florida) you tend to be concerned about getting sunburns and skin cancer, so you still avoid sun (I was Vitamin D deficient (confirmed via blood work) when I lived there.)

12

New_Revenue_4_U t1_j7bzk51 wrote

Actually people who live in northern States/Canada should be taking vitamin D supplement https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/time-for-more-vitamin-d

19

Larein t1_j7c3bq5 wrote

Plus all of Northern Europe. If not all of europe, since Northern US states require some too.

12

Igotz80HDnImWinning t1_j7cjesz wrote

The VA ships it to your house. Also, this goes beyond a simple effect to show 1. A dose-dependent improvement (argues more strongly for a necessary or sufficient effect) and 2. A physiological model supporting their hypothesis because darker skinned folks have less vit D from the same amount of sun, and it had a larger effect in black veterans. I don’t love epidemiology, but this is far better than your average retrospective study and clearly points for a large randomized trial to be done to confirm.

43

Panigg t1_j7d678g wrote

Anecdotal but I was severely depressed before realizing I had massive vitamine D deficiency. Once that was taken care of my depression was essentially gone.

31

ShabbyKitty35 t1_j7ejfmy wrote

As a vet with PTSD, my worst downward spiral was when my Vit D was the lowest it’s ever been. I had to be put on max doseages for 6 months and will be taking a daily supplement the rest of my life to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Vit D, at least in my body, absolutely improves depressive symptoms.

9

altcastle t1_j7ekcxm wrote

Was it 10k or 20k ui? I know they got some mega doses out there. You can get too much eventually.

I take 5k right now in winter and prob 2k when I can go outside, and it’s not Hoth.

3

ShabbyKitty35 t1_j7ekhdy wrote

For the first 6 months it was 10k iu/day and 50k iu once a week. Now it’s 5k iu/day and in the winter I double it up every 3 days.

3

rosaUpodne t1_j7ce3jp wrote

If you take vitamin D regularly, you care about your well-being, so you probably don’t want to end your life.

6

korinth86 t1_j7cn1yi wrote

Vitamin D is already used to treat depression and low energy.

Many people spend all day in an office, car, or their home. Lack of sunlight is kind of a modern problem.

Taking a supplement is unlikely to harm you, but if you're concerned consult your doctor.

17

xaw09 t1_j7e9y1c wrote

It's pretty well established that one of the symptoms of vitamin d deficiency is depression.

4

themustacheclubbitch t1_j7en281 wrote

To not here. Vitamin D should or even must be paired with K2. Vitamin D on its own goes to your blood and fatty cells. Pairing K2 with Vitamin D moves it to the bones and teeth. Essential it’s where it is putting the calcium in your body. So if you were to say prone to heart conditions or breathing Vitamin D alone can worsen those conditions. Matched with K2 alleviates this problem and puts the calcium where it belongs.

4

triffid_boy t1_j7d6njj wrote

I agree with your post, but There is atleast a difference between low and high doses, with higher doses having the lowest risk.

A dose response relationship is always nice to see.

1

iperus0351 t1_j7is9nz wrote

Vitamin D is a precursor for dopamine. You need it to make the drug that your brain recognizes as happy. It is a dumb study because we already know the chemistry behind why it works. Vitamin D get on that, go about your life.

1

tkenben t1_j7fspsv wrote

Yes. People who take vitamin supplements are less of the mind to say "I've given up". It's sort of like saying hoarders and doomsday preppers are less likely to have suicidal thoughts.

0

Pheonix686 t1_j7d94kj wrote

Yeah at the moment it's "proactively doing beneficial things for your body potentially benefits your mental health".

−1

AltCtrlShifty t1_j7c7248 wrote

Paid for by Big Vitamin!

−7

altcastle t1_j7ek8tf wrote

Yeah, getting us $5 at a time for a 3 month supply at any store. Curses!

6