It's not news that depression has become a kind of invisible epidemic, afflicting millions of people. We live at a time when depression is approached as a disease. That has a good side. Depressed people are not judged against as weak or self-indulgent, as if they only need to try harder to lift themselves out of their sadness. Yet depression, for all the publicity surrounding it, remains mysterious, and those who suffer from it tend to hide their condition -- the medical model hasn't removed a sense of shame. When you're in the throes of depression, it's hard to escape the feeling that you are a failure and that the future is hopeless.
Before considering how to handle depression, let's ask the most basic question: Are you depressed? The bad side of the medical model arises when people rush to be medicated because they don't like how they feel. Doctors barely bother to get a correct diagnosis, because the easiest thing to do -- and the thing that patients demand -- is to write a prescription.
Let's see if we can get beyond this knee-jerk reaction.
Becoming sad or blue isn't a sure sign of depression. Life brings difficulties that we respond to with a wide range of normal emotions: sadness, anxiety, resignation, grief, defeated acceptance, helplessness. Moods are cyclical, and if these feelings are your response to a tough event, they will subside on their own in time. If they linger, however, and there seems to be no definite cause or trigger, such as losing your job or the death of a loved one, depression is accepted as the conventional diagnosis.
Depression isn't one disorder, and even though an array of antidepressants have been thrown at the problem, the basic cause for depression remains unknown. For a diagnosis of major depression, which is more serious than mild to moderate depression, at least five of the following symptoms must be present during the same two-week period:
If you can count five or more of these as being present, know that your list must contain "depressed mood" or "diminished interest or pleasure" before you'd be considered medically depressed. We've come to recognize different kinds of depression that fit certain circumstances:
Even though no one knows exactly what causes depression, it is clearly a state of internal imbalance. Balance is essential for the healthy functioning of both your body and your mind. The upsetting factors that make it more likely you will get depression form a long list: genetic predisposition, being female, death or loss of loved one, major life events (even happy ones, like a graduation), other mental illnesses, substance abuse, childhood trauma, certain medications, serious illness, and personal problems such as financial troubles. What these things have in common is that they disrupt the normal balancing mechanisms of mind and body. A treatment that aims at restoring balance therefore makes the most sense, and you can participate in these.
Re-balancing yourself forms its own long list of things you can do:
Find a wise person who can help you to undo your most negative beliefs by showing you that life has other, better possibilities.
Because everything on this list requires a choice, bringing yourself back into balance means that you are aware enough to make decisions and have the ability to put them into practice. Quite often depressed people feel too helpless and hopeless to face the right choices, in which case outside help is needed, meaning a therapist or counselor who specializes in depression.
Here's a general picture of how to make a plan for your own healing.
Psychotherapy, or talk therapy, works as well as medication for many people. It may be used alone or in combination with other forms of treatment. Studies have shown that psychotherapy can cause changes in brain function similar to those produced by medications. Focused, goal-oriented forms of therapy such as cognitive-behavior therapy appear to be the most effective in treating depression.
Diet may play a part in protecting against depression. Mediterranean countries have low rates of depression compared to countries farther to the north--and it isn't just because they get more sunlight or have a more relaxed way of life. One large-scale study tracked almost 3,500 people living in London for five years and found that those who ate a Mediterranean diet were 30 percent less likely to develop depression. Researchers speculate that the foods in the Mediterranean diet may act synergistically together. Olive oil, nuts and fatty fish are rich in omega-3 and other unsaturated fatty acids, and fresh fruits and vegetables contain flavonoids and phytochemicals that are full of antioxidants and folates (B vitamins).
Aerobic exercise is a very effective for depression. It's been shown that moderate aerobic exercise done just 30 minutes a day, three times a week, can reduce or eliminate symptoms of mild-to-moderate depression and can help with severe depression.
It's well known that exercise stimulates the release of endorphins, the "feel-good" chemicals (which function as neurotransmitters). Less well known is the startling effect of exercise on the structure of your brain. Exercise stimulates the creation of new nerve cells in the hippocampus, your brain's center of learning and memory, so that it actually increases in size. This is especially relevant because depression, unless countered with effective therapy, causes the hippocampus to shrink in size. Exercise has also been shown to raise levels of serotonin and norepinephrine and to multiply the number of dendrite connections in neurons.
Yoga has been shown to lessen stress and anxiety and promote feelings of well-being. Communication between your body and your mind is a two-way street. Certain yogic practices can signal the brain that it's all right to relax and prompt the parasympathetic nervous system to initiate the relaxation response. For instance, slow, deep, conscious breathing is also a vital element of yogic practice. This form of breathing is very effective in prompting the relaxation response to counter elevated levels of stress hormones. Someone with depression might be advised to practice "heart-opening" postures that elongate their thoracic spine. They may be told to stand with their shoulder blades drawn together so that their lungs are lifted and they are able to breathe more freely. An important component of yoga is paying close attention to what's going on in the body at all times and locating and releasing any areas of tension. Yoga should ideally be practiced with the guidance of an experienced teacher.
Meditation can be a useful treatment for both stress and mild-to-moderate depression. Numerous studies have examined the effects of mindfulness meditation, designed to focus the meditator's attention on the present moment. One study measured electrical activity in the brain found increased activity in the left frontal lobe during mindfulness meditation. Activity in this area of the brain is associated with lower anxiety and a more positive emotional state. Subsequently, the researchers tested both a group that hadn't meditated as well as the meditators for immune function. They did this by measuring the level of antibodies they produced in response to a flu vaccine. The meditators had a significantly greater reaction, which indicates they had better immune function.
I know that the easiest solution is to pop a pill, and in this country powerful forces back up the promise that drugs are the answer. Keep in mind that antidepressants only alleviate symptoms, and that in the long run couch therapy has proven just as effective in changing the brain responses associated with depression. The real goal should be to re-balance your life, gain control over the disorder, understand who you are, and elevate your vision of possibilities for yourself. All of that is harder than opening a pill bottle, but every positive choice leads to real healing and a much better life in the future.
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After a few years I knew I would recover after just a few days but this dreaded time, when I feel this soul-crushing depression, in a way is a small gift allowing me to see what some people really go through most their lives.
I used to have a very closed-minded attitude about depression, mostly garnered from my parents and their parents. Now I have empathy. It's not something that can be 'shaken off' but most Americans seem to think so.
The article is full of great advice.....exercise is almost an instant medication....
Best to all,
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries
www.thechakras.org
read " transcendence " from DR Norman Rosenthal MD psychiatrist
a more complete holistic approach by DR Chopra would mention the latest research about transcendental meditation (TM)
that's why i have decided as a cure for depression not to comment on Huffpost to blogs which are advertisements for the bloggers career
on elast comment : a senior maharishi ayurveda [ approved for CME credit for MDs ] vaidya says there is one cause for depression :" you dont knowe who you are !!!"
you are ATMA uinbounded immortal field of satchitananda you are not stress whatever the interminable details stress is the problem and ATMA is the cure
stress means entropy any physical system is subject to entropy the body however possesses self healing processes to fully enage these to prevent entropy or heal entropy one must contact the ATMA the non-physical within a field of permanent zero entropy ; contact with this negative entropy [ imbibe negative entropy " said Dr Schroedinger ] neutralizes entropy ...that is healing a s Dr Chopra knows form his book quantum healing
what he doenst want to acknowledge publically that it is only TM that engages fully this healing mechanism
Actually, it's perfectly OK to feel sad when you're sad. By acknowledging the sadness, as opposed to running away from it, you are more likely to pass through it and come out the other side. More at http://www.seventhsystem.net/2011/07/sadness-and-depression-theres-a-difference/
All emotions are true. Honor the way you feel at any given moment, tell yourself the truth about it, and move forward.
That said, this is good advice for those who may have too many down days. Unfortunately, a lot of us especially in American culture seem to have issues with admitting to anything that's seen as a weakness. Until we acknowledge that it's okay to need help, it will continue to be an issue.
pills, legal drugs, illegal drugs) - that is how they feel better. Unfortunately, too
many abuse the drugs and that is where the problem using drugs starts.
from within, very little help appears available. "treatment" = pills, and a weekly appt. to ask how you are. no improvement = more pills.
good luck finding insurance covering treatment anymore. my old plan paid for meds, but not psychiatry. now, nothing is covered except a physical. good luck affording effective psychiatric care out-of-pocket.
there's no cure; there's 'treatment', that's not meant to end...unless you run out of money. then good luck quitting all the pills you're on. their withdrawal ravages your mind. you 'learn' treatment is really an expensive purchase of FALSE HOPE, which expires, and you're worse than before.
every stupid thing contributes to your negativity when you're depressed. downward spirals are frequent. the only "reset" is to go to sleep, hope you wake up with a fresh mood.
depression requires support and empathy, like most other debilitating illnesses. but those concepts are obsolete today, particularly when "you don't look sick. you must just be weak."
i've given up. i'm just waiting for death, hopefully quick and pain-free. i haven't killed myself to respect the few friends i have left. most people vanish when they see you cry.
sorry for my thoughts being disorganized. i don't talk about this much. i doubt this comment will even be posted. i still try occasionally, but it usually proves futile.
I hear you what you say, and its 100 % true about help available for "Depression", as well as so many other Moods disorder which 99% of the time are treated with pills and a How are you feeling today question.
All I can tell you is that the 1% is on you. How was your life before you started feeling depress. What have you lost in life that you were so attached. Do you know we dont owe anything in this life?
There's always a light, one that not so many people accept or want to look for, but if you at least put a believe and faith on that 1%, you would see that light.
Dont give up, just change what life has taken away from you to better things. There's always a reason for everything.
Hope you do have a great day, and miracles come your way.
Blessings ;-)
I get at least five of those every morning before my coffee(s)....
but, seriously - EXERCISE - is truly underestimated... go in there, and run, bike, swim, climb, lift, fight .. go for 1hr maybe 2hrs (if you can hang in there) ... do it until you can't move a muscle ... until you're wiped out ...
and sleep (aka. "cure") as much as possible ... and then work out again....
Absolutely agree! fanned
To learn how to mediate for free: Read my article: Mindfulness Meditate: How to Follow the Breath -- http://mindfulnesswalks.wordpress.com/ I wish you great happiness & peace!