How to Combat Postpartum Depression
Do you think you have postpartum depression? Don’t worry because there is nothing wrong with you. Postpartum depression affects most mothers, especially new moms. It is also commonly known as “baby blues” and it is caused by the sudden changes in your hormones. Most women experience the symptoms of postpartum depression for about a week; however, it can also last longer in some women.
Before you learn about how to combat postpartum blues, it is very helpful for you to learn how to identify its symptoms. These symptoms are quite similar to that of normal depression; however, they do not last very long. Usually mothers with post partum depression often are irritable which is why they can get easy angry and upset by even the smallest things. Exhaustion is also very common. Also, they also tend to pull away from their baby. They may even try to ignore their responsibilities as a mother and have someone else take care of their baby. One reason for this is that they get anxious about how well they can do their responsibilities and they are afraid that they will just harm their baby. This can even resort to panic attacks.
Other symptoms for postpartum depression include changes in appetite, sleep pattern disturbances, low libido, and fatigue. A confirmatory sign is an unexplainable constant feeling of sadness or guilt.
If you do have postpartum blues, there are several ways to combat it, so don’t worry.
- The first thing to do is to take care of yourself and you should start with getting enough rest and sleep. Lack of quality rest can lead to irritability and fatigue.
- Another way to combat postpartum depression is to express your feelings. It will help give you peace of mind and help lessen the stress and anxiety you feel. Talking to someone about may seem very basic, but it really does help. Sometimes all you really need is someone to be there for you. Try talking to someone you can easily relate with, or someone that has also been through the baby blues.
- If you have a therapist, then you can talk to him as well. While medications are also available for treating postpartum depression, most physicians will tell you that regular counselling is still the most effective treatment for helping women cope with their depression.
- If counselling doesn’t work, antidepressants are prescribed to help new mothers overcome postpartum depression. Other doctors also prescribe psychotherapy such as the Emotional Freedom Technique which uses both psychology and acupuncture.
If you are pregnant and are worried about postpartum depression, don’t be. There are several ways of combating it. Another good thing is that not all pregnancies will result to it. Not all mothers will experience it, and even if you get it when you deliver your first baby, it doesn’t mean that you will also experience it on your next pregnancy. Postpartum depression is easily treatable, so get treated as early as you can. Don’t wait until it gets out of control before you start doing something about it.
The Brain, Use It or Lose It
This old, but true saying applies to our body the same way. Centuries ago, during a more unsanitary time, our gallbladder had a major role in fighting germs and food breakdown. Now, due to proper cooking of foods, the gallbladder has become unused, unneeded, and has deteriorated in size and function.
The human body is very adaptable and has the potential to adapt according to our environment given enough time. Modern times, especially since the industrial revolution, have created something that the human body has found itself incapable of adapting to. The demands of a faster paced society, deadlines, and a state of always being in a hurry have destroyed our body’s harmony. Your body and brain has been programmed to run at a faster speed than was intended. We don’t take time to properly rest and give the brain time to properly reflect on activities before the next has started. To make things worse, we rely on modern conveniences and have become less physically active.
The brain in ways is a super computer controlling and regulating every aspect of our body. Our body is loaded with safety programs, just like a computer. The presence or lack of a hormone tells the brain to turn on or off something else. What happens to your computer if the firewall gets turned off? It becomes vulnerable to attacks. The brain is no different; it has its own firewall called serotonin (natural shield). Serotonin, at normal levels, creates a natural shield that protects us from falling apart and is produced during exercise. While indulging ourselves with all the modern conveniences and becoming less active we have been training our brains to produce less and less serotonin.
As we replace our serotonin, we are in fact building up mental/spiritual roadblocks. These roadblocks affect our ability to think clearly and allow for fear and doubt to control our decisions and actions.
The absence of, or low serotonin levels have disarmed our firewall making our brains very vulnerable to depression, stress, and anxiety. To further complicate the problem, we as a society have begun relying on antidepressants to replace the role of our serotonin.
As we slowly replace our serotonin with pharmaceuticals we send the message to our brain that we need less and less so the brain produces less. This in turn causes us to require larger doses or stronger pharmaceuticals to make us feel better.
As our brains slowly stop producing serotonin, and has been replaced with pharmaceuticals there comes a point where the brain forgets how to make its own serotonin.
Have we reached a point where some may say they don’t need it? We have food processing companies so we don’t need our gallbladder. We have pharmaceutical companies so we don’t need serotonin.
Therapeutic levels of serotonin can be rebuilt through a carefully planned fitness approach such as the W.A.R. (worry, adrenaline, rest) method from Building The Temple Therapeutic Fitness program.
The solution is within our lifestyle changes. Exercise and being active produces serotonin. Medications for mood stabilization should only be used for short periods of time to avoid dependency. Usage during the period of exercising to build up serotonin levels is ideal, but should be stopped when a therapeutic serotonin level has been achieved. This should only be done under the supervision of a physician.
Are Anti-Depression Lights Really Effective Against Depression?
Are you one of those people who become depressed as the winter months approach and we have less daylight hours to look forward to? If so, you may be suffering from SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder.
Essentially, this is a condition in which prolonged exposure to an environment with few hours of light leads to feelings of depression. However, SAD is a specialized form of depression. Many who show no signs of depression during the spring and summer months when the number of sunlight hours is at its peak, suddenly find themselves feeling depressed as winter approaches.
But, the really interesting thing about this type of depression is the discovery of one of the most effective treatments that researchers have discovered to combat it – light therapy. The theory behind light therapy is simple. It is that the moods of a certain percentage of the population is inordinately affected by the amount of daylight that they receive each day. This phenomenon of light having an impact on mood has been firmly established during multiple research studies since the nineteen eighties.
The reason for this is found in a hormone called melatonin. Most people know melatonin as the hormone that helps to regulate the sleep cycle. When it gets dark, the body naturally produces more of this hormone which helps the person sleep better. However, melatonin can also directly affect mood. And, in certain people, when the levels of this hormone in the body rise over a certain threshold – it causes them to become depressed. Many people experience this as “cabin fever”. Others refer to it as winter depression. And the effect on the body is real.
Studies seem to show that sunlight cause melatonin in the body to be produced at a lower rate. So, as spring rolls around, and the person is receiving more sunlight, his melatonin reserves are reduced and the depression seems to magically go away.
Having proven the connection between daylight and depression, the next step, of course, was to see if the effect of natural daylight could be simulated to produce the same effect. And, much to the researchers delight, it could be. It was found that if a patient spent a certain amount of time in the presence of the anti-depression lights, the body was fooled into slowing its production of melatonin and the depression disappeared.
This is a godsend for those suffering from SAD and looking for a natural way to treat their depression. Even though it is natural, however, it is best to receive this treatment from a medical professional who can work with you to determine the precise levels of light that you need to help control your moods.
Depression, Stress, Anxiety, And Our Inability to Cope
Once considered a taboo subject, now is being discussed more openly due to television talk shows. We have devised several methods to combat this disease of modern times. Barriers are being broken down and more people are openly seeking medical health.
Family physicians have taken the first line of defense by prescribing mild antidepressants all the way to Zanax. These prescriptions are usually written after other stress related health problems have been identified. Psychiatrists and counselors only enter the scene after the family physician has had little or no progress.
Either way treatment focuses on medication, lying on the couch, or both. In a way this is much like taking antacids for a stomach ulcer. It knocks down the acid, but the pain and problems go on.
To properly treat this epidemic proportion health problem of our time, we first need to understand where it originates from. There are many credible Psychiatrists and counselors capable of helping you with identifying your stress or worry triggers.
Identifying these triggers as some would have you believe is your goal, so as to control them. Knowing your stress/worry triggers serve no other point than to assist you with avoiding them.
Common sense tells me that if I have chest pain, I need to have my heart checked. Depression, stress, and anxiety being from the mind lets me know to look at the brain. The Problem here is no one wants to admit to a problem in the brain. It is one of those things that society looks at differently.
Keep in mind there are many different types of problems with the brain. There is a huge difference between an organic problem in the brain and a chemical imbalance. Serotonin is the brains natural shield; it literally is the magic chemical that holds our mind together. Some of us have limited amounts of serotonin while others have an abundance. Also among those with limited and abundant amounts of serotonin have different life experiences that help develop their coping skills.
Low serotonin levels in the brain set the environment for depression, stress, or anxiety to occur. With a lowered serotonin level even a person with a variety of life experiences to pull from could become susceptible.
Serotonin is produced within the brain as a result of physical exercise. Although any kind of exercise will produce serotonin, aerobic is slightly preferred because of the increased blood flow to the brain.
When you suffer from depression, stress, or anxiety it can be difficult to see the path to good health, or even how to make it through some life issues. The hardest part could be realizing the path you are on. You have to exercise long enough to train your brain to produce adequate levels of serotonin to stabilize your brains natural shield. The stabilization process could take as long as three months of physical activity at a frequency of three times per week. The alternative is to stay on your present course and rely on pharmaceutical treatment.
The down side to pharmaceutical treatments is with time they require higher doses or adjusting to stronger pharmaceuticals. As the body becomes more reliable on pharmaceuticals the body becomes more reliant upon them due to producing less, and less serotonin.
Choosing the appropriate type of exercise program is just as important as choosing to exercise in itself. The W.A.R. (worry, adrenaline, rest) method of Building Thee Temple Therapeutic Fitness is the only fitness program to offer such an approach.
Physical exercise is not offering the only reasonable solution but can also improve your overall health. It would be wise to discuss the use of mood stabilizing pharmaceuticals during the serotonin stabilization process with your physician.
Fight Depression With Folic Acid Pills
Being unhappy can lead to a variety of other problems. People’s performance at work is affected. Their family life doesn’t go too well. If this mind disease is not treated in time, it could really endanger a person’s life. Being around a depressed person too is not very pleasant. Mood swing is a symptom of a person falling into depression. This is usually caused due to a deficiency in folic acid. Folic acid is just another name for Vitamin B complex. This is found in a variety of food items, and a deficiency in such a vitamin juts means that you are not eating food that is rich in this acid. As you may have heard a million times before, a deficiency in even a single nutrient in the body causes the body to fail to function at its best. Vitamins are just a tiny part of the list of nutrients that body needs. Every nutrient deficiency has a different effect on the body and a deficiency in folic acid causes depression and mood swings. To take care of this, a simple way is to consume appropriate supplements.
Determining the nutritional needs of your body
A person can best judge when he is lacking a particular nutrient. He need not necessarily know which one it is, but he will know that there is something wrong. A deficiency causes the body to be functional improperly. There are very symptoms for a deficiency of the various minerals and vitamins. Minerals and vitamins are essential even for the slightest movements you make in a day, and you will be well aware that they are lacking in your body when parts of it fails to function properly. You need to constantly keep a check on the nutritional needs of your body. This way, you can avoid health problems as well. In case you are not aware or familiar with the symptoms, you could also visit a doctor or a physician about the same. They are the best people to help you and guide you through the process.
Prescription drugs from Mexico
Finding a suitable multivitamin
Usually, the best vitamin supplements are the ones that have all the essential nutrients that are required by the body. However, in case such as a person suffering from depression, it is best that he or she looks for a product that has a rich quantity of folic acid. These are usually available in pills. Pills are actually the best for of supplements. You can carry them around without the fear of them breaking or spilling. You could also take them at your convenience. An important point you must keep in mind is that if you are suffering from depression and under any prescribes medication; consult your doctor first before taking folic acid products to improve your condition. This could have a negative reaction on your health. Apart from that, buy products only from sources you can rely and are sure about. This why, you can rest assured that you are not being provided with goods that are of poor quality. Poor quality products can cause more damage.
Folic acid supplements need to be taken only in controlled dosage. Don’t overdo it. Of course, the natural intake of vitamin B through appropriate food is the best way of staying away from deficiency. However, yes, there are people who do not have the time or resources to meet such requirements. So, product rich in folic acid is the ideal substitution. These pills also enhance the functioning of your brain. Pills that are made from herbal extracts are the best as they are in the most natural form. A folic acid pill a day keeps depression away!
Natural Treatment for Depression
Depression is an insidious mental illness that leaves its sufferers without energy or emotion. Often, people who are depressed will not even be aware of the change in their attitudes, emotions and behaviors. They are only aware of an increasing apathy and lack of pleasure in life.
In addition to the emotional impact, there are a number of common symptoms in depression. These symptoms include loss of appetite, sleep problems (both difficulty falling asleep and sleeping excessively), lack of interest in regular hobbies and pastimes, and difficulty concentrating.
What many people do not realize is that depression is a destructive illness. It destroys lives, friendships and families. People who are unfamiliar with depression may blame the victim for his or her illness. Even those who understand that depression is truly an illness, may eventually stop trying to interact with someone who is depressed, because they feel like there is nothing they can do.
This can leave a depressed person in an even worse position, with no support from family or friends, often feeling as if it is their fault, and at the same time convinced there is nothing they can do about it.
And that is probably the worst thing about depression. It destroys the hope and belief that it is possible to get better.
Luckily, it is definitely possible to get better. There are a number of treatments for depression that can help. Something that a depressed person can do to help themselves is to discover homeopathy, which is a natural treatment for ill health, including depression.
Homeopathy has many benefits for people suffering from depression. Unlike traditional medications for depression, it has no side effects; and it begins to work almost immediately.
This natural treatment for depression can be used at home or a professional homeopath can help develop a plan for a more in depth healing. Plus, because it doesn’t have any dangerous side effects, it can be taken as long as necessary and stopped whenever it is no longer needed.
The holistic nature of homeopathy means that it can address both mental/emotional and physical causes of depression, allowing healing to be complete.
Depression is not something anyone should have to live with. If you or someone you know is suffering from depression, consider a natural treatment for depression with homeopathy to help heal and recover the life they love.
Oh – and a nice bonus! Using homeopathy as a natural treatment for depression is very economical. Homeopathy is a cost effective treatment that returns great results without a huge expense.
Effects of Depression – Suicidal Thoughts
Depression is essentially a state of mind. In a depressed mental disposition, the person remains in a state of low mood and develops repugnance towards practically everything surrounding him. It can adversely affect a person’s physical state, mental behavior and his emotions. A person under depression has a tendency to become irritable, sad, restless, bothersome, hopeless, melancholic and worthless and have a feeling of anxiety. A despondent mood is a natural reaction towards certain events in life that are considered to be a symptom of several clinical conditions and a characteristic of psychological syndromes. A person suffering from depression develops a tendency of losing total interest in activities that at one time provided happiness and pleasure. There is a loss of appetite and encountering problems in concentrating or even resulting in partial lapse in memory. Further, there is an element of indecision in the person and one of the most dangerous symptoms is when he contemplates on committing suicide.
A depressed state of mind is closely associated with a large number of psychological problems emanating from exhaustion, depletion of energy, over-sleep, lack of sleep or insomnia and perhaps even digestive problems. These problems are considered to counteract any type of treatment administered to the patient. A large number of disorders that are primary disturbances of mood are in fact mood disorders, within which a major depressive disorder is also known as a major case of depression or clinical depression. This condition comes up when a person has been suffering from bouts of depression for at least two weeks or has experienced a total loss of interest in activities that evoked maximum pleasure. Acute depression may also result in a total nervous breakdown. This is one of the most serious psychological conditions where it is necessary for a patient to consult a psychiatrist. A person suffering from depression may not be aware of the psychological problem that he is suffering from. The symptoms that may be appearing may not be visible, yet they are easily discernible to a psychiatrist. The behavioral patterns of the person suffering from a depression would be visible to any other person. The effects of a depressed mind may be reflected on his behavior with his family members, his colleagues at his work place and his strange and odd moods. A person in a depressed mood becomes like a ship without a rudder and moves around aimlessly without any objective in mind.
It would be pertinent to mention here that a large number of mental disorders emanate from conditions of the person both at his work place or at home. A nagging wife or a sadistic manager could make life miserable for the person concerned. A husband, who is continually nagged by an overbearing wife or neglected by other members of his family, develops a very strong tendency to suffer from severe mental problems. Mental stress takes its toll on the human brain. On the other hand at the work place, a male or female manager who is badgering constantly the person with unrestrained insults and demeaning him before his colleagues is considerably a very strong reason in itself for depression to set in. There are certain cases where a person feels a misfit amongst his colleagues and friends and this feeling of desolation tends to make a recluse of him and he refrains from sharing his feelings with anyone. The basic reason of a person not sharing his problems with even a close person such as one’s wife or a friend is his fear of being ridiculed. When this emotion becomes strong, a person loses interest in life and contemplates on committing suicide, a situation which becomes disastrous. There is no pre-defined age for suffering from depression as it strikes without any warning.
Depression is a not an incurable disease. It is a malady that requires a lot of patience both in the person undergoing treatment as well as the person who is treating the patient. It may take a long time to transform the mental state of a despondent person. The treatment is long and may even take years. The treatment may include medicinal treatment including psychotropic drugs and medicines. There is a possibility that the drugs may bring about effects which remain for a very short period and with the prolonged use of the drug, some of these effects would wear off. However, some patients suffering from insomnia are administered sleeping drugs to induce sleep so that their mind could get some rest. A patient also has to undergo psychological treatment in the form of psychiatric consultation. It is extremely important for the psycho-analyst to analyze thoroughly the mental condition of the patient before starting the treatment. A full patient medical history, physical assessment and a thorough assessment of the symptoms assist in determining the exact cause of the depression. A complete medical history of the patient medical history, physical assessment and a thorough evaluation of the symptoms help determine the precise cause of the depression. It is the prerogative of the psychiatrist to decide on the method of treatment since he is the best person to decide on the type of treatment provided to the patient that would stand to benefit him in the long run.
In conclusion, it is strongly recommended that any symptoms arising from depressive moods should not be ignored and should be referred to a psychiatrist immediately without any delay. There is an old adage which goes like this, ‘a nail lost is a shoe lost, a shoe lost is a horseman lost, a horseman lost means a war is lost.’ Therefore, timely action could avert a severe mental disorder. Regular and effectual treatment result in a positive cure from this problem.
Know the Cause and Treatment for Depression
Do you often suffer from anxiety and panic attacks? Have you every wondered the cause for such anxieties? Have you ever thought that you require a treatment through which you can cure anxiety? Yes, anxiety, depression and panics are different psychological symptoms that can be treated medically. Therefore, if you or anyone in your family is suffering from anxiety, you must try to find out the reason and consequently, you must ensure that you seek proper medical advice at the right time. These are often scary and if not treated at the right time, it can lead to severe consequences.
Well, there are different types of depression and the causes are many. The treatment for depression might vary from one cause to another. Therefore, it is essential to know the cause of depression by means of which the treatment can be done. The medical professionals have seen that there are different responses to different kinds of treatment and the side effects from these causes are also different. When a physician is consulted, he might give the antidepressant medications. There are some antidepressant medicines that help in increasing the amount of neurochemical serotonin in the brain. As the name implies, the block occurs at the synapse.
Excessive worrying and taking tensions without reasons can lead to anxiety attacks. The fear of getting another anxiety attack leads to panic attacks. Therefore, it is very essential to cure anxiety. When the problem of anxiety is cured, you would be able to get relief from many other consequent problems, because it is the anxiety that leads to several other problems. As the symptoms and causes vary, the treatment options would also be varied. With the progression of medical science, there are several treatment options available and this in turn, can completely cure you. Therefore, you must never neglect this problem.
Apart from the progression in medical science, there are several other techniques and treatment for depression. Regular exercises like yoga or meditation can be helpful in the treatment of anxiety and depression because these can largely bring down the stress level which is often the cause of anxiety. You can also bring about a change in your life style apart from taking regular medicines. Your work schedule, your food habits and your thoughts in turn can definitely be changed so that you are completely cured and consequently you get rid of these symptoms.
Depression Fighters is believed to work by increasing the levels of all four of the brain’s natural “feel good” neurotransmitters. By providing all natural boosts to serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and GABA, the ingredients of Depression Fighters can help you feel a sense of joy, calm and happiness.
Fighting Depression Through Setting Goals
Two of the most devastating aspects of depression are the loss of motivation and the despair. It takes energy and drive even to think of identifying goals and setting targets to achieve them when you are feeling depressed. However, as soon as you feel able, this step is a necessary part of recovery and an essential element of living with the hazard of recurrent depression.
Buy a diary or an exercise book and note your ambitions in the three areas of your life. No matter how far fetch something seems, write it down. You can consider later whether your choices are realistic. Each time you add something to the book, date it.
All ambitions and achievements are made up of small but significant steps. To take the first step, you need to identify your ambitions. Then you need to identify the steps required to bring you closer to your ambitions. Let’s say you want to learn to play the piano. You will need a piano, music books and a teacher. The cheapest way to go about this is to contact your local adult education institute and enroll for a suitable course. Another way would be to find a private teacher. You can find one through local advertisements, the Yellow Pages or by word of mouth. You can use the same sorts of methods for finding out about any activity.
As another example, let’s say that you wish to lose weight. There are two rules: eat smaller amounts of less fattening foods and exercise more.
Being Realistic
It is important that your ambitions are realistic. A 40-year-old woman is unlikely to become a supermodel and a 40-year-old man even less likely to become a football star. It is also important to remember that depression is a normal response to a sad life event. What is crucial is the severity, duration, degree of disablement and to what extent your behavior ia affected; it is when depression is severe, lengthy and prevents you from fully functioning that you need treatment.
Setting Achievable Goals
When you have decided on a realistic goal, break it down into a series of smaller goals to be achieved in stages.
• Whether you want to paint a room or write a novel, start with a plan.
• Divide the task into smaller steps – doors, ceiling, walls and windows or pages and chapters.
• Reward yourself as each step is accomplished.
Looking Back at Your Goals
• Do you feel that you have a good balance of work and pleasure in your life? What do you wish to achieve in your work life? Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
• What do you wish to achieve emotionally, spiritually and materially for your family and home?
• What are the activities on which you would like to spend time? For example, reading, singing, going to the cinema, picture framing, dance your favourite sport or walking.
Check your diary or notebook every few days to make sure that you are on target for realizing your ambitions. You can realize many of your ambitions. Take the first steps now. Achieving any step towards realizing your ambitions, however small, is another step towards recovery.
Basic Natural Remedies to Help Ease Depression
This is a very broad topic that cannot be dealt with in any real depth in a brief article. However, if you or someone you know suffers from depression I hope there are some ideas here that will inspire you to investigate further and look for positive, life-changing therapies.
Depression from Loss
Certainly there is situational depression which happens in direct response to a life-changing event, the loss of a loved one or loss of a job, for example. In this case, the support of friends and family, along with maintaining a daily routine, are often helpful. It can take two years to work through the bulk of the emotion from a significant loss, and certainly, by the end of that time one should begin to see relatively steady improvement, eventually experiencing more good days than bad. One of the best remedies I have ever found for loss/grief induced depression is Bulgarian Rose Essential Oil.
A few years ago I exchanged emails with a fellow-practitioner from Australia. We met at a practitioner chat room on the internet and had been exchanging essential oil experiences when she emailed me privately and told me of a very tragic 2 years wherein she had lost five family members including her husband. She was deeply depressed and having a hard time functioning. I suggested she should use Bulgarian rose oil, just one drop under her nose, first thing in the morning. Her reply was that it was too expensive and she was on the verge of going bankrupt and losing her home. I encouraged her to get the rose oil in spite of her finances.
She emailed me the next day and said that she had opened the rose oil she had brought in for a client and put one drop under her nose before she got out of bed. She had gotten up, then showered and dressed – two activities that had not happened on the same day since her husband’s passing six months earlier.
The next day she used one more drop of Bulgarian rose oil, got up, showered, dressed, and sorted through her husbands’ closet. On day three, using one more drop of that very precious rose oil she contacted her lawyer and he was able to ascertain that the house could be saved and that filing for bankruptcy would not be needed.
Indeed the rose oil had changed this fine lady’s brain chemistry and enabled her get back into the game of life.
Depression from Seasonal Affective Disorder
For some people depression is a cyclical thing happening in the winter only. It can start as early as October or as late as February, and last until March or April. January and February are usually the worst months. This is seasonal affective disorder, also known as SAD.
Clinical research has shown that some people are very much affected by the reduced sunlight in the winter. This is complicated by the fact that in the winter we rise in the dark, go to work in the dark, come home in the dark, and go to bed in the dark. Our work and life schedules seem to keep us from ever seeing the sun. This is definitely a problem for some people.
Some key symptoms that differentiate SAD from other types of depression include: the depression only happens in the winter months; and the depression always resolves itself when daylight hours get longer.
We all have a small gland in the middle of our heads called a pineal gland. This gland is our ‘light receptor’. It produces melatonin in response to darkness. Melatonin makes us sleepy and lethargic, and makes us crave carbohydrates. Because SAD is a form of depression we may also see some of the other common symptoms of depression including crying, lack of interest, lower energy, feeling blue or sad, irritability, and appetite and/or sleep pattern changes.
One of the best forms of treatment for SAD is phototherapy. This easy therapy involves sitting beside a special light for twenty minutes within the first two hours of waking up, and at the same time each day. This light stimulates the pineal in the same way the sun does. People who are affected by SAD see the best results using the light year-round.
The therapeutic lights that are recommended by the SAD clinic at the Foothills hospital are available through Northern Lights Technologies.
Liver and Adrenal Gland Connection
Many authors that I have read link depression to the liver and/or adrenal glands. I will admit that since so many people are concerned about ‘detoxing’ the liver I often prefer to focus on the adrenal glands.
Just to make sure we cover all the bases, however, I will start with the liver. The liver ultimately processes everything you eat, breathe, or absorb. It breaks things down that are harmful, prepares things for other organs to use, and then collects all of the metabolic garbage and breaks it down into things the kidneys can extract.
The Chinese consider the liver to be the center of ‘feeling’, and when not working right, this is where they say anger, resentment, and bitterness originate and are stored. If you tend to ‘keep score’ or ‘hold a grudge’ it is likely your liver needs ongoing support.
Chinese Herbal formulas that are ‘wood reducing’ are often used for supporting the liver, especially when there is anger, resentment, or depression involved.
The adrenals, the unsung heroes, take a beating day in and day out. Our normal daily patterns often involve unrelenting, if not insidious, stress. Whether your adrenals are functioning well or not is easy to determine by how your nights are. Your adrenals should be putting out hormones that ‘bring you down’ after a stressful day, however, if you sleep for 2 -4 hours, then spend the rest of the night waking up frequently and sleeping lightly you are probably suffering from adrenal exhaustion. At night your adrenals should produce anti-diuretic hormone which slows the kidneys down for the night to reduce the amount of urine produced while you sleep so If you waken more than once each night to urinate (and are not a male with prostate problems) you probably have very tired adrenal glands.
Supplements that contain vitamins and minerals along with bovine adrenal extract to support and nourish the adrenal glands are often very good for building the adrenals up again.
A Chinese herbal blend duo that works well is ‘generate chi’ and ‘regulate chi’. These two supplements, used as per bottle instructions, can also create dramatic results with the adrenals.
Stress formulas that a combine B Vitamins, Vitamin C, and herbs for the nervous system are excellent choices for supporting the nervous system and creating resiliency in the face of stress. Interestingly, the B Vitamins are essential for healthy liver, adrenal, and nervous system function
Now, bringing this back to depression…if we get the liver and adrenals on track we can often have a positive impact on depression.
Exercise
One of the most valuable, yet underrated, therapies for depression is exercise. It’s not that everyone who is depressed should aspire to be an Olympic athlete. Far from it. More reasonably everyone, and most especially those who suffer with depression need to make the effort (and it will be an effort at first) to get 30 – 45 minutes of cardio exercise daily. I’m going to qualify this further in saying that cardio exercise as a part of the treatment program for depression needs to happen during daylight hours, and preferably outside, if possible.
Cardio exercise is anything that uses large muscles and increases the heart rate significantly. Walking, jogging, cycling, swimming, stairstepping, and treadmilling are just a few of the more common cardio exercises. Sadly, gardening doesn’t usually get the heart rate high enough for long enough to count as cardio, however, shovelling snow might, depending on how long your sidewalk is.
We used to believe that endorphins were responsible for the feelings of enhanced well-being experienced by people who engaged in regular physical activity. We now know that endorphins can’t do it for us. They are too large to cross the barrier into the brain. However, all is not lost. Science has shown that we all have THC receptors in our brains. THCs are the active ingredient in marijuana. Now I’m not saying we should all take up smoking pot. No need to do that when vigorous physical activity allows our bodies to make natural chemicals that cross the barrier into the brain and work on the THC receptors resulting in a dose of ‘feel good’ that is totally legal and very addictive! So, when you are feeling low one of the best things to do is go for a brisk walk or a fast-paced hike on a nearby trail.
Sometimes, as in usually, depression is also rooted in learned behavioral patterns. The patterns of how to relate to people, what and how to think of ourselves and how to establish and honor boundaries will also affect how we feel, often without our knowing it. A book that I have found most useful, and that came highly recommended to me, is called Changes that Heal by Dr. Henry Cloud. (As a word of caution – this book is written by a Christian psychologist, so if that is not your bend you probably won’t like the book.) This book is a not a ‘light read’. I found it to be a ‘read a few pages and think about it for a few days’ type of book.
Depression is a complex issue and it demands a complex solution. Often a multi-faceted approach of nutrition, supplements, exercise, and mental/emotion homework produces the best results.