Are you a farmer, a florist, or pest exterminator? Or do you have an occupation or hobby that involves pesticides?

If the answer is Yes, and you are currently suffering from depression- you need to read this.

I’m doing a series on toxins and how they can cause depression. We’ve talked about the heavy metal lead, solvents in hairdressing, and other occupations that have high levels of toxin exposure.

Today we’re talking about Pesticides!

Pesticides and Depression

There’s evidence that  pesticide exposure may lead to ongoing depression. One recent study showed that those farmers who had previously had pesticide poisoning were 3x more likely to suffer from depression. Feeling ‘bothered’ and that ‘everything was an effort’ were the common complaints.

What’s the Problem with Pesticides?

Organochlorine pesticides are the pesticides of greatest concern. They are one of the chemicals that are called persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The body is can’t process these chemicals and they can take 10 to 100 years to breakdown (that’s why they are called persistent.)

These type of pesticides love fat (they are lipophilic), which means that that these chemicals get stored in our fat and fatty tissues. What’s this got to do with depression? Well the brain is a very fatty tissue and the pesticides can collect there. Unfortunately these chemicals can stay there in the brain for life and affect your mood, concentration and behaviour (that is if you don’t detoxify your body). Unfortunately, the normal bodies detox systems just can’t get rid of these toxic chemicals. I’ll discuss in a future blog about the best ways to detoxify the body, but lets talk about how you can come into contact with pesticides.

Have you Been Exposed to Pesticides?

The most common sources of pesticides include agricultural chemicals (sprays for your garden), non-organic foods, contaminated fish (the POPs are stored in their flesh,) flea spray, and contaminated water. Farmers, florists, gardeners, pesticide applicators, and veterinarians are exposed to pesticides on a daily basis.

What Next?

If you’re wondering whether pesticides could be the cause of your depression- please look into it further. The physical causes of depression are real. Toxins, food allergies, hormonal imbalances and nutrient deficiencies can cause depression. It’s very possible that the mood problems you are suffering from right now don’t have a psychological cause. By addressing the physical imbalances that are causing your brain to not function properly, you can break free from depression!

If you want to learn more about the physical causes of depression, and how to break free, get a copy of the report that I’ve written on the topic.

All the best. Talk to you soon.

Janelle

Dr Janelle Sinclair

BSc, MSc, PhD (Biochemistry), NZNMA