Keith Foskett

Indie Author & Adventurer

  • Home
  • Bookshop
    • The Journey in Between
    • The Last Englishman
    • Balancing on Blue
    • A Thru-Hiking Trilogy
    • High and Low
  • Walks
    • El Camino 2013
    • El Camino 2014
    • Pacific Crest Trail
    • The Appalachian Trail
    • Continental Divide Trail
    • NW2SE
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Search

15 Steps to Help with Depression – Number 6 – Stop Relying on Stimulants

October 31, 2018 By Keith Foskett Leave a Comment

 

Reading Time: One Minute

 

This is the sixth in a series of posts about depression and more importantly, how we can take steps to hopefully keep it under control.

After I was diagnosed with depression, I was convinced I could limit both the frequency of my ‘bad’ days, and also the severity of those days. I researched everything I could about how other sufferers deal with their condition, and listed all the advice I thought could work for me. This resulted in fifteen steps, which I’m covering over fifteen weeks, and this is number six.

 

Step 6 – The Feel-Good Myth

AKA – Stop Relying on Stimulants

 

In my latest book, High and Low, I relied heavily on stimulants to help me get through my bad days. At least I thought they were helping, in fact they weren’t, they just made matters worse. If you’ve read my story, you’ll know the importance of this step.

Stimulants provided me with relief from depressive feelings, but it was short-lived, and the fallout merely compounded the problem.

I drank a lot of alcohol, smoked too much weed and tobacco, and ate unhealthily. I felt great in the evening, when I usually indulged. My pain numbed, my comprehension of the world changed to somewhere I could relax. Then I had to face the morning hangover, the coughing, stomach aches, and, obviously, a deeper depression.

 

 

You’re already aware of the repercussions. I have the occasional drink still, but I’m proud to say that I’m now drinking just two bottles of wine a month instead of 40. Sure, I have days where I eat unhealthily, I’m not some sort of purist Yogi subsisting on lettuce leaves and water. However, in the main my diet is great, and I’ll cover what you can do when we discuss nutrition in the next post.

Quitting or drastically cutting down on stimulants was the single most effective step I took.

 

Next Week

Step 7 – Service the Engine

AKA – Nutrition Overhaul

 

You can read about my hike across Scotland, while coming to terms with the fact I had depression, in my latest book – High and Low. Just click on the image for details.

Filed Under: Blog

Copyright © 2025 · Keith Foskett

Privacy & Cookies Policy

Site maintained by West Sussex Websites

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT