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Dealing with the blues does not mean you have to keep on popping those orange pills. Studies show that one of the major deterrents to treating depression is the fear of patients to be addicted to anti-depressants.
While conventional anti-depression drugs provide an effective way of treating depression, it is by no means the single cure to this medical illness. There are a host of natural healing methods that are considered safe and effective in improving mood and altering brain chemistry to take your blues away.
7 Natural Healing Methods For Depression
1. Can I exercise to boost my mood?
Exercising literally pumps you up because it releases feel-good chemicals called endorphins that interacts with your brain receptors and diminish the perception of pain. Much like morphine, endorphins suppress pain by triggering a feeling of happiness and a positive outlook. Unlike morphine though, endorphins are naturally occurring chemicals that do not lead to dependence or addiction.
Scientific evidence points that doing a 30-minute routine of moderate aerobic exercise at least three times a week is effective in alleviating symptoms of depression. Those who maintain their exercise routine even after being treated of their depression are also less likely to return to a depressed state.
2. Shall I eat healthy?
Depression tends to disrupt normal eating habits, pushing those who suffer the symptoms of depression to either overeat or starve themselves. Taking control of your eating habits does not only keep your body nourished, it also restores a certain sense of control over your life, which also in part relieves your state of depression.
Some studies show that eating foods that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids found in tuna and salmon, as well as those that are rich in folic acid such as avocado and spinach helps relieve depression by restoring chemical balance in the brain and nervous system.
3. Is meditation good for me to relax?
Much of the anxiety, stress and symptoms of depression that we experience can be relieved by giving ourselves some time to relax and clear our mind. Meditation enables deep relaxation by clearing the mind of distracting thoughts and focusing on proper and deep breathing. It provides us a means to have an altered state of consciousness.
Meditating on a daily basis is a good anti-depression practice because it trains us to let go of our thoughts, focus our attention on the here and now and cultivate an attitude of acceptance and openness, which could also help relieve depression and the negative feelings associated with it.
4. Shall I do Yoga?
Although most yoga techniques also involve meditation, yoga promotes an added incentive of exercising the body to improve balance, strength and flexibility while also practicing proper breathing techniques to help clear the mind and focus.
As a whole, yoga works to align the spine, invigorates the nervous system, improves blood circulation, promotes mental clarity, reduce stress and anxiety and promotes relaxation and emotional wellbeing. It provides a potent way of alleviating symptoms of depression.
5. Do I need enough Sleep?
Being in a state of depression can lead to an altered sleeping habit and make getting enough sleep feel like a tiring battle. Unfortunately, being sleep deprived can heighten your depression and make matters worse.
While it might prove difficult to sleep well, try hard to make certain changes in your sleeping habit to ensure that you get enough shut-eye when you need it most.
Try going to bed and getting up at a specific time every day to encourage your biological clock to cooperate.
Remove all distractions from sleeping such as TV, computer or even your mobile phone. Whenever you can, try to also take a nap during the day to relax and feel rejuvenated.
6. Shall I take Anti-Depression Herbal Supplements?
Supplement your diet and boost your mood by turning to natural supplements such as having a relaxing drink of chamomile tea or St. John’s Wort. Both herbs are proven to relieve depression and anxiety.
7. Does having a Massage helps me?
We know all too well that touch therapy promotes relaxation and uplifts our mind and spirit. Specific massage modalities such as Swedish, Shiatsu and Hawaiian Lomi-Lomi promote relaxation and healing. The use of aromatic oils and music that promotes relaxation during massage provides a holistic experience to deal with the blues.
These natural healing remedies for depression work well to complement whatever medication or psychotherapy session you may be undertaking to help you improve your mood, promote emotional healing and come out triumphant in your bout with depression.
As with all medications, supplements, and therapies; a consultation with your doctor is strongly recommended.
Is depression a disease?
Depression is an illness, not a weakness of character.
What is depression?
Depression is a – possibly life-threatening – disease that can be cured with expert treatment. Depression is characterised by a nervous metabolic disorder in the brain. The concentration of nerve messengers (serotonin, noradrenalin, dopamine) is out of balance.
The cause is usually a permanent overactivation of the stress hormone system. If left untreated, this overactivity can also lead to possible consequences such as high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, diabetes and osteoporosis. Careful and sustained therapy is therefore very important.
Depression is not the same as grief or deep sadness. If a depression persists and should be treated, it is called a “major depression” or “clinical depression”.
What characterizes clinical depression?
Persistent depressive mood, including sadness and emptiness. Loss of interest and enjoyment in activities that were previously fun, including sex. Feelings of hopelessness and pessimism.
Sleep disorders: waking up too early or sleeping too much. Eating disorders: Loss of appetite and weight loss or too much food and weight gain. Loss of energy, the feeling of being sluggish and sluggish. Restlessness and irritability.
Difficulty of concentration, memory problems and difficulty in making decisions. Persistent physical symptoms: headache, palpitations, digestive problems or chronic pain that does not respond to medication and has no physical cause thoughts of death and suicide or attempted suicide.
Depression and anger
Irritability, anger, addiction are typical depression symptoms in men. Men who suffer from depression often show symptoms such as irritability, aggressiveness and anger attacks.
The classic concomitant symptoms of depression such as joylessness, dejection and lack of drive are often also present in the background, but they are overlaid by the other symptoms and are usually not apparent until later in the illness.
Men who suffer from depression often show symptoms such as irritability, aggressiveness and anger attacks. The classic concomitant symptoms of depression such as joylessness, dejection and lack of drive are often also present in the background, but they are overlaid by the other symptoms and are usually only noticeable at a later stage of the illness.
Depression often manifests itself in men not through feelings of hopelessness and sadness, but in the form of irritability, anger and disappointment. Often, those affected are downright hostile in situations, appear uncontrolled and tend to have an outwardly directed attitude of reproach.
Can depression be cured?
Short answer: conditional. Treatment includes not only medication and psychotherapy but also preventive measures. The risk of a new illness is high.
Depression is a widespread phenomenon. Up to a fifth of all people fall ill with it in the course of their lives. There are two periods in which mental suffering occurs particularly frequently: between 30 and 45 years of age – in this case twice as often in women as in men – and from the age of 65. Particularly in old age, depression often has a severe, protracted course.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression is considered the most debilitating disease after cardiovascular problems.
The good news: the situation is not hopeless, there is help. To what extent this is possible depends on the causes and symptoms. Most people succeed in reducing their symptoms so that they can lead a good life again.
The most common symptoms of depression include a depressed, sad mood, hopelessness and lack of drive. Among the numerous other possible symptoms, sleep disorder is usually the most subjectively stressful for those affected, but it can usually be easily controlled, which generally leads to a more relaxed attitude to life.
Is depression hereditary?
According to current scientific knowledge, an inherited predisposition contributes significantly to the development of depression. For depressions occur more frequently in families.
If first-degree relatives are affected, the risk of developing a depression themselves is around 15%. In the case of identical twins, the risk that both will develop depression increases to at least 50%.
This proves that a genetic factor must be present. Genetic factors can also increase sensitivity (vulnerability) to psychosocial stress.
Depression memory loss?
Depressive thoughts worsen memory. People in a depressed mood often have memory and concentration difficulties in everyday life, which can affect their work performance and personal relationships.
Reproduction of cognitive problems
While many depressives report these cognitive problems, previous studies could not reproduce this phenomenon in a laboratory setting.
Researchers at the University of Texas are now the first to prove these memory deficits in people in depressed moods. The findings may have implications for how cognitive deficits in depression could be diagnosed and treated.
Reduction of working memory in depressive thought processes
In the study, people in depressed moods showed a 12% reduction in working memory compared to non-depressed participants when depressed thoughts were present. But if they were not involved in depressive thoughts, their memory was just as good.
The results suggest that people with and without depressed mood generally have a similar ability to actively remember information. However, when depressed thoughts appear, people in depressed moods are unable to divert their attention from this information, leading to memory deficits, author Nicholas Hubbard of the Center for BrainHealth explained in the journal Cognition and Emotion.
Depression after breakup?
Your partner broke up with you? This is a huge break in your life. You probably feel helpless and lost, sad and angry. To prevent your heartache from turning into a depression, you should act early.
The most important thing after a break-up is that you do not permanently withdraw and hide away within your own four walls.
You are allowed to mourn and cry, sometimes alone under your blanket – but not always!
Maintain social contacts and confide in the people you trust. This can be your family or good friends. They will give you support and help you to get through your heartache. You will no longer feel alone, which will help you to overcome the loneliness caused by the separation.
You will also find help and encouragement in self-help groups. In these groups people come together who are in the most different phases of a separation.
You will come into contact with newly separated people as well as with people who have been separated for some time and have already coped well with the separation. In this way you will realize that life goes on after a separation and that the loss of your partner can be managed over time.
Depression on period?
In the life of every woman there are always grey moments when sadness or melancholy appear. Mostly there are personal reasons for this, such as a painful separation. However, if you are unprepared, you may be caught off guard when PMS causes symptoms similar to depression – and often every month.
Do you experience emotional chaos even on the days before your period? The reason for this could be premenstrual syndrome (PMS).
Every woman suffers from different symptoms individually
PMS-related mood swings manifest themselves in many ways: Do you feel unmotivated and exhausted? Do you get angry quickly or do you react irritably or aggressively at the slightest trigger? Or experience an emotional low? These can be indications of PMS-related mood swings.
Like all PMS symptoms, PMS-related depressive moods and mood swings occur in the second half of the cycle after ovulation. The symptoms usually start about 7-10 days before the start of the period. Once menstruation begins, the mood often brightens up quickly. In very severe cases, PMS-related depressive moods do not subside until the second or third day after menstruation begins.
