Natural Ways to Cure Depression : Overview
Sunday, November 23, 2008There are ways to cure depression. So if you are currently suffering from depression, this article can help you to now those ways. There are natural ways to cure depression. One of which is realizing your own self-worth. Sounds simple, right!
Actually, it is one of the best ways that a person who is suffering from depression should do. You have to realize that you are a great person, because you really a great person. You have to realize that you are a nice, good and wonderful person. You have to think and realize that you can do good things and you truly deserve to be happy in life.
But if you are suffering from severe depression and you think this won't work for you, you can visit a doctor or therapist. Your doctor can help you out in your condition. He/she will give you method or methods that you should take in order to fight depression. You have to think that the situation that you are suffering now is just temporary and it will change in time. And in time, you will be a strong and happy person.
There are some people who do not believe that this way can help you out in treating your depression, that's okay because there are other methods that can help you out in treating depression. Just allocate time in order to seek the best cure for your condition. Indeed, there are other good ways to treat depression and if you are searching for natural way to cure it, there are lots of herbal remedies in the market and online that you can use to treat your depression.
As mentioned, there are plenty of herbal remedies out there, so you have to check out the right one that will work best for you. Do not simply buy one and make use of it without knowing what exactly in that remedy. Check out the necessary information about the herbal remedy first such as ingredients, how it works and the likes.
If you are seeking herbal remedy on the internet, you have to look at several websites, check out the reliability of the website. Of course, you want the best out of your money, so you have to give little of your time researching in order to get the right one. It is best to go with a website that can provide all the necessary information that you need about the product.
While taking an herbal remedy that you think would cure your depression, it would be better to realize as well that want your feeling and your current situation is temporary and when you deal and fight depression you will be happy and can do great things in life.
How Depression Affects Our Lives
Wednesday, November 19, 2008Depression affects us all during our life time. Some are held in it's grasp to a greater degree than others. Depression can affect our sleep habits, our outlook on life and even our life. It can change the way that we think and act. It can keep us locked within dark places for long periods of time. Our functioning as human beings can be affected and curtailed by this disease. Genetics plays a role in this malady. Suicide rates are higher in some families than others. People who suffer from this malady feel as though they are in a big and dark hole . Extricating themselves from the hole that they have dug for themselves is one big problem. Psychiatric help with the use of drug treatment is one viable alternative.
The society that we live in and the problems associated with it greatly contribute to depression. When a spouse leaves or when any other traumatic event occurs can contribute to depression. Most of us do not have the family structure available to handle these situations. We feel as if we are alone and isolated on an island. Many times the affected person can have an established family structure and still be affected by this disease. Whether it be the death of a loved one or the loss of a job, the end results can often times be the same.
Many people that enter depression do not have a viable reason for entering that dark and deep hole. Two people that are affected by the exact same dilemmas can react totally different to the same problem. Some people are not effected by problems that send many others into a life threatening situation. Many people have built in coping mechanisms that derail the onset of depression. Good ways for people to off set the affects of depression is to do something that they enjoy. A vacation or get away may be good for one person but may not be good for another. Being among people may enhance recovery for some people and send others plummeting into despair. Family members and friends should treat this as a disease and recognize the fact that one usually has no control over the matter without professional help.
Depression can lead to death. A deeply depressed person can not rationalize how to escape his dilemma. Just the act of thinking about his problem is apt to drive him deeper into that depressive state. Rely on professional help and the good sense of family members and friends who can recognize problems in a person that the afflicted may not even recognize himself. Depression is one of the leading ills that affects modern day man. Many situations may contribute to it. Sometimes it requires no trigger mechanism to initiate the feelings of hopelessness and the feeling that life is not worth living. Those who think this way often rationalize that the best solution to the problems of life is to disconnect themselves from the problem of life. The pain that they have been suffering from would finally end. There is real pain in depression. The thoughts of doom and negativity are sometimes so great that the only solution for a person in a deeply depressed state is to terminate life.
Even though all of us suffer from stress related problems there are answers for many who suffer from extreme depression. There are hot lines set up for many sufferers in crisis type situations. Help is just a phone call away. There is also help for sufferers in the medical community. Maybe a conversation with a representative of a favorite religious community can help turn the torment. Our society recognizes that it has created many of the problems that effect sufferers. There is help out there for those who suffer.
What If You Have Depression?
Thursday, November 13, 2008When you fear to face the world, undoubtedly you are depressed. Depression is a growing problem. In last 50-60 years. Its rate has gone much higher. The average age, of people going under depression first, has decreased now; back it was 30s, but data say these days it has gone down under 20. It is because teen age is the most suffering age. United State is the highest rating depressed country. No doubt, it's just because of fast and restless lifestyle, which is now unstoppable. Although there are several tips and ways are told to the people to avoid depression, which are very useful and many people are benefited by them; still some of people fall in it due to any reason. What, they should do, is here:
-- If you have come under depression, first you should honestly try to recognize the main cause of what you are suffering from. Get your real condition and then contact to any counselor or health care provider. If a child or teenager is suffering; his or her parents should keep their duty. Parents must understand the problem and console him; if it needs, bring him to the doctor.
-- When you are with your counselor; you should completely co-operate him. Let him know your exact mental condition, what occurred with you. Also if you are taking any medication, which causes it, do mention it. What happens, often people refuse to acknowledge the existence of the symptoms, which makes it harder for them to be treated successfully. Keep in mind that he can not help you unless you don't let them have proper information.
-- Once you are under therapist's consideration. You should strictly follow what he advises. Keep regular touch with your counselor or therapist. You should forget every thing at that time and pay proper attention to recover soon. Ask your doctor about proper diet for you.
-- If you are depressed; make it a point to never be alone. Although, some of the people say that loneliness gives piece, sorry I don't agree with them. Especially, if your child is depressed, parents must keep him under eyes, because loneliness worsens the condition.
-- If any accident is the cause of depression, you should never go to that place or try to avoid recalling that memory. I know, it's not so easy, but what's the harm in trying. You can make yourself busy in order to do it.
-- Whether, it is an official problem or any other; you should have a long leave and go on vacation at any peaceful place. When you come back; more probably, you will be out of depression and with new energy.
-- You should meditate for some time. Not only is it good for those, who are depressed, but also for the normal people. It helps them to avoid.
These are some great tips for the people, who are finding them in deep trouble. But these are supposed to be followed by the patient's family members more, because sufferers never want to disclose that they are having any this type of problem. Even sometimes they also don't come to realize their illness.
Depression Medications Types
Wednesday, November 12, 2008Depression is more than a gloomy and terrifying disorder; it can be lethal. Therefore, anyone with moderate to severe depression requires vigorous treatment immediately. There are many different depression medications. These same antidepressants can also help treat panic disorder, other anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and attention deficit disorder.
Depression has been linked to a shortage of any one of four different neurotransmitters: serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine or epinephrine. Depression medications are designed to correct neurotransmitter shortages by increasing the body’s supply of one or more of these important brain chemicals.
There are three main classes of depression medications:
-Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCAs)
increase brain norepinephrine levels. From the 1960s through the 1980s, TCAs were the first line treatment for major depression in the U.S. – Today however, TCAs are generally used as the second or third line therapies. Side effects from this depression medication include dry mouth, sleepiness, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (scarring or thickening of deep lung tissue), weight gain, blurred vision, constipation, fast or irregular heartbeat, bladder weakness, tremors, and dizziness. Brand name drugs in this class are Tofranil, Desipramine, Doxepin, and Elavil.
- Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAO)
Is an enzyme that breaks down three important neurotransmitters. Norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin. MAOIs have been largely replaced by SSRIs, although many patients with major depression who do not respond to TCAs improve with MAOIs. Depressed patients with specific symptoms like sleeping too much, over-eating for long periods of time, rejection sensitivity, and panic attacks, may get the best results with MAOIs. MAOIs are also effective treatments for panic disorder and bipolar depression. Side effects from this depression medication includes tremors, edema, dizziness, constipation, sleepiness, dry mouth, blurred vision, weight gain, sexual dysfunction, increased blood pressure, and fast or irregular heartbeat. Brand name drugs in this class are, Parnate, Nardil, and Marphan.
- Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)
Are the newest of the three main classes of depression medications. They prevent the reabsorption of serotonin from the synapse where neighboring brain cells communicate. SSRIs are the current depression medication of choice because of their limited side effects, although they may cause insomnia, agitation, headache, nausea, and diarrhea. Brand name drugs in this class are, Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa, and Lexapro.
It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that taking a pill is the easy way out. While a medication may take away symptoms of a disease – it does not cure the problem, and often creates a completely new array of side effects. It is important to discover the root of the problem and treat it in a way that can bring lasting relief. In attacking depression, lifestyle measures should be your first line of defense.
Herbs or depression medications should be a last line of defense.
Depression Facts
Don't get confused with all the terminology.Here are a few definitions and explanations that will simplify it:
ANXIETY:
A feeling of fear or worry with no reason. You cannot be anxious about something. You can be worried or fearful of something.
PHOBIA:
Is an over valued fear. It may be irrational but not completely illogical.
PANIC:
Anxiety on steroids. It is more than a feeling. It is anxiety accompanied by bodily reactions such as sweating, increased heart rate.
SADNESS:
A feeling of loss sadness is very similar to mourning. Sadness can be a loss of something that you never had. It may be realization that you will not get what you wanted.
DEPRESSION:
Is prolonged unexplained sadness. Depression exhibits itself in the way that you feel, think and think.
MILD DEPRESSION:
Depression where you can still function. Essentially we are seeing a diminution in quality of life. This condition is often called Dysthymia.
SEVERE DEPRESSION:
Depression with a diminution of functioning. We are no longer discussing just quality of life. There are objective changes in the way that you behave with friends, family or work [or its equivalent].
EMOTIONS:
A composition of the way that you think and feel. Emotions are a reaction to a specific event.
MOODS
When an emotion exist after the event has terminated you are in a mood. Your mood will effect your emotions.
WHEN DOES A MOOD BECOME DEPRESSION?
When you cannot change your mood by changing your actions or environment.
COPING
Is the way that you behave to reduce stress.
COPING SKILLS
Are the admixture of experience and coping styles.
COPING STYLES
Are the way that you think feel and act in given situations. Often you are unaware of your thoughts. You may well make assumptions that are inappropriate. Over forty five percent of the population feels that they would like to improve the way that they cope.
WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF BEING DEPRESSED?
Over twenty percent of the population will suffer from depression in their lifetime.
HOW LONG AND OFTEN CAN YOU BE DEPRESSED?
Depression can take months to pass. It will re-occur on average three times.
WHAT ARE YOUR CHOICES?
a. Drug [Medication] Therapy: Drug therapy should always be offered if a person is severely depressed
b. Psychotherapy: Psychotherapy is a effective as drug therapy in treating mid depression. The most used, recommended form of psychotherapy is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy[CBT] .
c. Coaching, Online Self-Help: Is designed specifically to change coping skills and coping styles. CBT can be offered effectively as Online Self-Help. It is now enhanced by Online one on one meetings. Coaching is CBT presented in a ‘teaching format’.
HOW DO YOU CHOOSE?
a. Severe depression: You should make medications your first choice. On feeling better and well enough improve your coping skills and styles to prevent a relapse.
b. Mild depression: If you believe in medications then use them. If you do not, then use psychotherapy. On feeling better and well enough improve your coping skills and styles to prevent a relapse.
c. Moods: You should be either using psychotherapy or improve your coping styles and skills.
WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT?
a. Medications: There are side effects. They are bearable. They appear at the beginning of therapy and get less. You will start feeling the effect of medication after a few days. You will feel the full effect after a few weeks. You need to take the medication for six months. You should cease medication under supervision. Otherwise there may be side effects. On ceasing medication you are prone to relapse.
b. Psychotherapy: The effects are more immediate. Sadness tends to diminish. Quality of life increases. The chances of relapse are lessened.
c. Online Self-Help, Coaching: An almost immediate increase in feeling of coping. Quality of life will quickly start to improve as moods lessen. This method is specifically designed to increase quality of life and prevent relapse.
Depression Symptoms
To get a clearer idea about depression you should read its symptoms clearly as
- The feeling of sadness or emptiness that seems to overwhelm the person.
- Loss of focus.
- Mental and physical fatigue.
- Insomnia and other disturbed-sleep patterns.
- A noticeable change in appetite or loss of weight.
- Feelings of guilt,nervousness and other similar emotions at an intense level.
Mild depression is categorically called a mood disorder, but separately, clinical depression is a more severe form of depression because the depression is not only included as a symptom but also is the illness itself.
Each person has a different reaction to a major depressive disorder, either a loss of pleasure, mood reactivity or with psychotic tendencies. Depression and severe anxiety have long been said to be co-occurring. That is, they seem to occur at the same time, so that differentiating them may be difficult at times during diagnosis. To point it out, below are some of the common anxiety symptoms.
Breathe A Little
Monday, November 10, 2008What to do if you are depressed? Breathe. If you can accept that your depression has deep personal meaning, if you can accept the experience in which you find yourself, and if you make the conscious decision to be alive, then the best therapy is to consciously breathe. You don't need any fancy breathing techniques. Just breathe more deeply than you are right now. Breathing helps move the heaviness of depression. Breathe with intention to fill up with life. You already know that depression does not hold much light, not much energy. Breathing will arouse energy. You can't just wait for energy to flow into you. You must decide to choose life, breath, and energy. If you can, get up and go for a walk outside. Get some fresh air and sunshine. Breathe. If you just arouse a little bit of energy, it will help you to generate a bit more energy, and that uplifts you and gets you moving out of the depression.
Depression involves the very real emotional despair of living day to day with real hopelessness. There is no one right way through depression. Your life is very important, including those times when you are in transition or depressed. Use the ideas above to help support yourself as you choose to bring new meaning into you life.
Why Does Depression Occur
Depression is a time of big change, a time of choosing if we dare release the beliefs that have kept us alive, surviving, and conformed. Depression is a time of questioning the foundational beliefs we hold. This is not a bad thing. Yet, when we question deeply held beliefs the problem lies in the fact that we temporarily lose safety, meaning, and purpose of life. Leaving something behind and moving into something unknown can cause different reactions for different people. Some people sail more easily through change, but most of us tend to go kicking and screaming. Indeed, when great change is upon us, for many people the experience will turn into a period of great depression.
Depression involves an interim of releasing old ways of believing yet we have not yet embodied new beliefs or new life skills. Depression, and thoughts of suicide, happen when we are in turmoil, caught between the end of an old way of living and a terrifying desire to live in a new way. In this transition, we cannot feel the joy of being alive. Internal anxiety rises and there is nothing we can do to run or hide from the conscious realization that we feel alone. We feel lethargic, powerless, and trapped. It seems as if the pain exceeds our capacity to deal with it.
Depression and Personal Growth
An easy start to shifting depression is to consider that depression is not dysfunctional, not a mental illness, but deeply meaningful. Consider the idea that depression may be a naturally arising expression on your journey of evolutionary growth. Yes, depression is dark, and a time of misery and suffering. Yet, it also a time when we ask deeply personal questions:
Who am I?
What does it mean to be human?
What makes life worthwhile?
Is depression really something that we should avoid, or an illness that we should "cure"?
Should our profound questions be pushed down into silence with medication and drug therapy?
The distress you feel is real, the suffering immensely painful, and there is a very real risk of ending your own life. However, what if you are in distress but yet not ill? When you look inside, do you really believe, on a soul level, that your pain is simply due to a chemical imbalance - or might there also be a meaningful spiritual aspect to your journey through depression.
Accepting Depression
The first step for breaking the cycle is accepting depression. If you are struggling with depression, you may have tried countless therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, energy healers, self-help books, and programs. You may have practiced the power of positive thinking, studied the law of attraction, practiced meditation, or looked into religion for you answers. Through all these strategies, you have been at war with your depression, doing everything within your power to get rid of it.
Pharmaceutical companies try to convince us that depression is an illness caused by an imbalance in brain chemicals. If we simply take medication, we can quickly get back to feeling better again. If only the answer were so simple. Perhaps there is a gift beyond depression that can only unfold if you first accept your experience instead of trying so hard to make it disappear.
Symptoms & Problems of Depression
There are many symptoms of depression depending on type of depression and its origin, age and gender take a great part in this symptoms but in general it include :
• Depressed mood for most of the day
• Persistent sad or "empty" feelings
• Loss of appetite or loss of weight
• Eating more than usual and gaining weight
• Trouble sleeping, insomnia, or oversleeping
• Anxiety
• Feeling tired all the time or finding everything is an effort
• Not caring anymore about work, hobbies, friends, or sexual activity
• Difficulty concentrating or thinking clearly, or indecisiveness
• Feelings of hopelessness or pessimism
• Feelings of worthlessness
• Excessive or inappropriate guilt
• Thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts
Problems people experience during a clinical depression include:
• Frequently feeling on the verge of tears
• Waking up early in the morning, with difficulty returning to sleep
• Feeling worse in the morning
• Feeling anxious or irritable
• A gloomy view of the future
• Physical pain or headaches
• Cravings for certain foods
Generally if you experience this symptoms thats don't necessarily indicate you must have depression, instead you should take it further to eliminate this factors
What does depression look like?
Lets see "Jane" Lately Jane just does not feel like herself. She does not have the energy to do much of anything lately. She lies around a lot, feeling empty and not sure which way to go. Decisions seem overwhelming. She often cries although nothing in specific is wrong. Jane feels shame, wonders what is wrong with her, and thinks she must by crazy. Everyday she asks herself, "why do I feel this way?" and "why can't I make this go away?" She musters up enough energy to make it through the day and creates a happy facade so people will not see the pain she is in. Jane is depressed.
Depression is not the same thing as feeling sad, blue, or down. Most of us have our ups and downs, our good days and bad. Everyday events, and our reactions to them, sometimes interfere with our peace of mind. Some unhappiness, the blues, or an occasional low mood is common when disappointed. This sadness is all part of life.
In contrast, depression affects the entire body, not just the mind. It can lead to an imbalance in the delicate chemistry of your brain and affect your emotions, feelings, thoughts, behaviors, physical functioning, and health. It can also affect the way you eat and sleep, the way you feel about yourself, and the way you see the world. With depression, the misery can be so great, and persist for so many weeks without relief, that a person may begin to think that life is not worth living anymore.
Depression - Am I Crazy?
Let us talk about happiness. Most of us want to be happy, all the time, no matter what is going on around us! It's plain and simple. But, being happy, how do you do that, get there, be that?
Maybe happy is not really what you are looking for. After all, happy is just like any other emotion...it comes and it goes. Perhaps what you seek is the ability to feel joy. Not just alive and surviving, but energized, excited, and living the life of your dreams. Imagine feeling joy beyond your wildest dreams as you live in your body, glad to be you, putting energy into your life's work, and creating stimulating experiences. Joy also means accepting your human emotions, experiencing the ups and downs of life, while learning to breathe and let things pass in their own time.
So how do we gain this feeling of joy? As paradoxical as it may sound, perhaps for some of us the path to joy leads us first through depression.
Adolescent Depression
The pressures of modern living are also having a detrimental effect on our adolescent youth. Take a look at the following statistics and be amazed.
Figures never lie and they are perhaps the best means to highlight certain facts and when they are brought to the notice of the general public leave a lasting impression. It is important to gain the attention of all who want to learn about what the statistics are saying. There are no doubts that statistics are nothing more and nothing less than concrete concepts that have the power to sway even the most skeptical of minds, and it will even show the young generation the true picture with respect to adolescent depression.
Twenty Percent Of Teenagers Sufferers From Depression
The first thing that will make you sit up and take notice about statistics pertaining to adolescent depression is the news that nearly a fifth of the teenage population in the US has experienced a form of clinical depression, even before having gained full adulthood.
Not only that, but there are about ten to fifteen percents of teenagers that have shown symptoms of adolescent depression and another five percent of the teenage population will have suffered from significant depression.
Secondly, another alarming aspect to adolescent depression is the fact that there is not much social acceptance when it concerns teenagers with such a condition, and what's worse is the fact that as many as eight percent of teenagers will have experienced the re-occurrence of depression at least once a year. This is alarming because only a mere five percent of the national population suffer from depression.
When a person suffers a bout of adolescent depression it will generally last for about eight months and teenagers are also at risk that the subsequent attack of adolescent depression will strike them within a mere two years and the chances of this happening are about twenty to forty percent, and there is also a seventy percent chance that they will experience another attack of adolescent depression before they have even reached full adulthood.
Thirdly, another feature of adolescent depression is that quite a few teenagers will suffer from attacks of seasonal depression. This form of depression is most likely to strike during the wintertime, it is also found in places where the altitude is on the high side. Even the weather can play a significant part in the onset of seasonal depression, which means that teenagers also need to be aware of these external effects on the state of mind..
Fourthly, other figures related to adolescent depression reveal that dysthymia or a mild form of depression that lasts for a long time will affect about two percent of teenagers and a like percentage of teenagers are also likely to suffer from bipolar depression when they grow older. In fact, it is thought that as many as fifteen percent of teenagers that have suffered from major depression will later on be at risk of developing bipolar depression.
Thus, it is safe to say that adolescent depression will affect teenagers no matter their social background, income level, gender as well as race or even their achievements and that adolescent depression is very common mental health problem affecting teenagers in the US.
Depression and Daily Life
How can you continue living with depression and all the obligations of your daily life? You must treat your psychological problem. Despite much you suffer and why, you can overcome depression, even if you are a victim of terror.
You can learn how to forgive your enemies forever, how to do everything you need, how to develop your personality and many more things, only by analyzing your own dreams. They provide you with information about your psyche because its activity defines your behavior and prepares your future.
You have to start with resistance because you simply have to continue, regardless of how you feel. This is something you must understand: you must continue your journey.
Think that you are not the only one in this world who suffers. This is how you have to start. Everybody in this world is depressed and nobody wants to work or do anything else, but life goes on. You have to do the same.
However, you cannot simply accept life by pushing yourself to continue. You have to be cured!
In order to be cured you need the following:
1- Courage and an incentive to continue.
You can find what you need in the wisdom of mankind and mainly in that of religious teachings of all religions. The wise unconscious that produces dreams will give you many incentives to continue and you'll achieve strength by following its directions. The unconscious wisdom is saintly and perfect.
2- Resistance
Even if you feel like abandoning everything and everyone, stand up and go ahead. This is not going to last forever. You will feel better if you resist!
3- Faith
You must believe that you will feel better and that there is a superior spirit that can help you become superior as well. All the suffering through which you are passing now transforms your soul. Life has no meaning without suffering, because wisdom comes from comprehension and comprehension, from sensitivity. Only suffering can convert the indifferent human being into a sensitive creature that will love peace and stop causing wars.
If you suffer today it is because you are learning. Tomorrow, you'll feel better and the next day, you'll be a teacher who teaches the world and the new generations many things.
Your suffering is not eternal and as soon as you learn what you needed to, you will feel happy again, even though you don't believe it is possible. You can believe that there is a superior being able to do the most impossible miracles because this is true: there are already many scientific proofs of God's existence.