Depression

BACKGROUND

Depression is NOT a “prozac deficiency,” but often goes away with natural therapies.

It is also important to go after the underlying causes. When you do this, most depression can be effectively treated naturally — without the side effects of prescription antidepressants.

Common Causes

• Hormonal deficiencies
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Doing what you think you should do instead of what you really feel like doing (causing “anger turned inward on oneself”)

Sick vs. Depressed

Don’t confuse being sick with being depressed (though your physician might). Ask yourself “Do I have many interests?”

If the answer is "no," consider depression. If the answer is "yes," but you are frustrated that you have no energy to do your interests, you’re NOT depressed, but have an illness your physician is missing.

TREATMENT

Give these treatments 6 weeks to work.

Lifestyle

Take walks

Going for a walk (especially outside in the sunshine) 30-60 minutes a day can be more effective than Prozac.

Get more sunshine

Inadequate sunlight is a common cause of depression (called "Seasonal Affective Disorder" or SAD), which should be considered if your depression is worse in the winter.

Mind Body Treatments

Allow yourself to be angry

From a psychological perspective, depression usually represents repressed anger that has been turned inward. This is why choosing to allow yourself to be angry or even to sometimes go into a rage can be healthy when you're depressed — even if the people around you don't like it. You can tell when the anger is healthy because it will feel good. Remember though, that you are choosing to be angry, and what you are angry about is nobody else's fault (so don't beat up others with your anger). When you don't allow guilt to get in the way, notice how your depression decreases and you feel better after a good fit of anger!

Make life a "no-fault" system

This means no blame, no fault, no guilt, no judgment, and no expectations on yourself or anyone else. This means you'll be changing habits of thinking. For example, if you find yourself judging somebody, simply drop the judgment in mid-thought when you notice it. And no judging yourself for judging others!

Pay attention to what feels good

We sometimes are given the misconception that keeping attention on problems is more “realistic.” That is nonsense! Life is like a massive buffet with thousands of options. You can choose to keep your attention on those things that feel good. You'll notice that if a problem truly requires your attention at any given time, it will feel good to focus on it. Otherwise, you're living your life as if you have 200 TV channels to choose from, and you only choose to watch the ones you find really annoying!

Recommended Supplements

Many nutritional deficiencies (especially fish oil deficiency) can worsen depression.

Multi-nutrient powders

Overall nutritional support is essential, and a good multi-nutrient powder (see Energy Revitalization System) is a simple way to provide it.

Fish oil

Eat more oily fish (salmon and tuna) — at least 3-4 portions a week. Alternatively, take a teaspoon of fish oil a day. Fast food fried fish does NOT help, but tuna fish salad does.

5-HTP

5-HTP and tyrosine — special proteins that makes the “Happiness molecules” called serotonin and dopamine

St. John’s Wort

Magnolia

B vitamins and magnesium

"Happiness" herbal mix

A good "happiness" herbal mix can provide the 5 HTP, Tyrosine, St. John’s Wort, Magnolia, B vitamins and Magnesium in a single capsule.

Optimize thyroid function

Natural Armour thyroid (or compounded T3) thyroid hormone (by prescription) has been shown to be very helpful in treating depression in repeated studies — even when thyroid blood tests were normal! The T4 thyroid hormone found in Synthroid (and most thyroid prescriptions used by non-holistic physicians) was NOT effective.

Treat other hormonal disorders

Be sure to treat other hormonal disorders as well. Suboptimal testosterone and estrogen levels can frequently cause depression and are easily treated by holistic physicians. These hormonal deficiencies often need treatment even if the tests are normal.

Excellent holistic experts can be found at the Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Centers (see reference link below). These centers are recommended if you have CFS, fibromyalgia or fatigue, or if you need bioidentical natural hormone support. For general health issues, over 1,000 Board Certified holistic physicians can be found at HolisticBoard.org.

Related Information

Eliminate Depression — Naturally!

Happiness 1-2-3! Safe and Highly Effective Treatment for Depression

Postpartum Depression — Treat and Prevent with Fish Oil

Antidepressants No More Effective Than Placebo