We hope you found last month’s natural flu remedies helpful. It’s flu season, after all, and for a lot of people, getting the flu is an annual even in their lives. We’re usually not affected by it and now you too know how you can strengthen your immune system against it.
But there is another kind of illness that is much worse than the flu and much more devastating to millions of people. Of course, were talking about depression and anxiety. It’s a bigger problem that most people realize…
Did you know, for example, that anxiety and depression is one of the most common mental illnesses that Americans over the age of 18 suffer from? It’s true. Over 40 million adults nationwide battle depression and anxiety on a regular basis.
Anyone can suffer…
But it’s not only adults that suffer from anxiety and depression. Teen depression is also at near-epidemic levels. Estimates put teen depression at 20 percent of the total at any given time. That percentage could be even higher than reported, since many cases of depression remain unreported.
Whether they’re reported or not, depression is still a real life burden for those who suffer from it, as well as the people around the sufferer. And, although mental illnesses often don’t have the outward, visible signs or symptoms of a disease like ALS or polio, there are tangible, observable symptoms of anxiety and depression. Once you know what to look for, it becomes easier determining if you or a loved one is suffering from some form of anxiety or depression.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the symptoms of depression may include any, some or all of the following:
- Difficulty concentrating, remembering details, and making decisions
- Fatigue and decreased energy
- Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, and/or helplessness
- Feelings of hopelessness and/or pessimism
- Insomnia, early-morning wakefulness, or excessive sleeping
- Irritability, restlessness
- Loss of interest in activities or hobbies once pleasurable, including sex
- Overeating or appetite loss
- Persistent aches or pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems that do not ease even with treatment
- Persistent sad, anxious, or “empty” feelings
- Thoughts of suicide, suicide attempts
We want to be clear here and explain that it may be best to consult a physician if you think that you may be suffering from depression. Your doctor will ask you various questions that will help with a diagnosis. A depression test may be offered to you as well as tests to determine the cause of your depression symptoms. Some lab tests will likely be involved as well.
Now, we also want to be clear here and say that some symptoms of depression and anxiety may
be caused by conditions such as thyroid disease, neurological problems or even problems with your endocrine system, among others. For example, hypothyroidism – which is an underactive thyroid gland — is the most common medical condition associated with depressive symptoms.
Other endocrine disorders associated with depression include hyperthyroidism – which is an overactive thyroid — and Cushing’s disease — a disorder of the adrenal gland. The goal will be to rule out or identify any physical causes for your depression. He or she will use the blood tests to check for such things as anemia as well as thyroid, other hormone, and calcium levels.
However, various nervous system conditions and injuries can also cause or lead to depression. Some less obvious conditions that can cause depression include:
- Central nervous system tumors Head trauma
- Multiple sclerosis
- Stroke
- Syphilis
- Various cancers (pancreas, prostate, breast)
Also, certain medication such as prednisone, which is used to treat diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis or asthma, can also lead to depression. Other drugs, such as steroids or amphetamines, as well as over-the-counter drugs such as appetite suppressants, may also cause depression, or its symptoms, upon withdrawal. The key point is to rule out serious physical conditions that threaten your physical health and that are causes of depression.
As lousy as depression can make you feel – helpless, hopeless and without energy or motivation – sometimes you don’t have to rely on medication alone, or at all. In fact, there are many studies that show that natural remedies can be just as effective as the powerful medications that medical doctors will prescribe, but without the harmful side effects.
These actions include changing your lifestyle to include regular and vigorous physical activity, nutritious foods and supplements as well as learning “how to thnk differently”.
Being depressed can make you feel helpless. You’re not. Along with therapy and sometimes medication, there’s a lot you can do on your own to fight back. Changing your behavior — your level of physical activity, your lifestyle, and even your way of thinking — are all natural treatments for depression.
These helpful actions can help you feel better about life and successfully relieve your depression right now:
1. Vigorous exercise
Exercise causes the brain to release euphoria-inducing endorphins, which will give at least a temporary relief of depression. This leads to more positivity in your mindset as well as an improved self-image. Your brain activity changes because of this and reduces the symptoms of depression.
But exercise actually does a lot more than that. When you exert yourself and challenge yourself with new motions, like learning a new dance, balancing in new yoga positions for example, your brain develops more neurons to adjust to the new demands. These new neuro-transmitters help with memory, cognitive ability, sensory perception and other brain activity enhancements that counter the symptoms of depression.
Tame Your Blood Sugar, Ignite Your Metabolism: Unleash the Power of True Cinnamon! >>
Finally, regular, vigorous exercise increases your energy levels, suppresses your appetite and improves your physical condition and appearance. All of these help you with a positive self-image and give you more self- control and determination.
2. Establish a daily activity routine
By establishing a routine in your daily life, you take the guesswork out of what you’re doing from hour to hour. Depression robs you of your will to do things. With a written down routine, you have a daily formula to follow without having to think about it.
3. Set goals for yourself
This helps you accomplish things, which help you feel better about yourself. This is part of the routine in Step 2. Depression steals your sense of self worth. Achieving goals, even small ones like working out or doing the daily kitchen chores allow you to build upon the success.
Once you get some daily goals achieved, add bigger goals, like getting to work on time, losing five pounds, and other things like that you can accomplish and improve yourself at the same time. But you need to begin with daily routine goals so that you establish and reinforce your patterns of behavior and accomplishment.
4. Take on responsibilities
One of the negative affects of depression is that it tends to isolate you from life. This only makes things worse. When we withdraw from life, we spend more time inside our own heads, which further narrows our lives and outside stimulus. It serves only to focus our thoughts on ourselves and how bad and hopeless we’re feeling. It’s becomes a repeating cycle of negativity and reinforces the symptoms.
But taking on a responsibility, like picking your children up from school or getting a part-time job help to break that negative cycle. It also helps you to feel accomplishment and fulfill goals, no matter how basic, that help to change your behavior and thought patterns. Volunteering at a local school, church or charity is another excellent way to take responsibility that will make you feel good about helping others.
5. EAT HEALTHY FOODS
Depression can either take away your appetite for food or increase your appetite. Usually, an increased appetite is expressed in a craving for comfort food, which is often junk food. That’s NOT what you need.
Research on diet and depression is mixed, but natural healers and homeopaths have known for centuries that some foods help to fight depression. These foods include those high in omega 3s such as salmon and tuna fish, and those with higher levels of folic acid, such as spinach and avocado.
These foods are easy to get, easy to prepare and easy to eat. They also provide essential proteins, fiber, are testosterone-boosters, contain good fats and are high in vitamins. Of course, when you’re exercising regularly, eating right is very important. It’s also important that your brain is getting the ingredients it needs to function properly.
6. Add supplements to your diet
In addition to eating healthy foods, adding supplements to your diet can help ease your depression symptoms. Taking omega-3 and folic acid supplements, as well as herbal remedies like St.John’s Wort have all been shown to be very effective against depression.
Unlock the SECRET to Your Best Health Ever >>
Other “supplements” include natural herbal teas like chamomile can help with establishing a healthy sleep cycle. Avoid alcohol, as it is a depressant, and minimize caffeine intake to one or two cups of coffee a day. Of course, consult with your doctor to be sure that these supplements won’t negatively impact any medications you might be taking.
7. Get 8 hours of sleep at regular times
Depression often leads to changes in our sleep cycles. Many sufferers of depression end up with sleepless night and sleep-filled days. This backward sleep cycle makes it impossible to function in the normal world. This leads to isolation and further despair.
That’s why it’s important to make your sleep pattern a big part of your established routine. Go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning. Make sure you get eight hours of sleep a night.
Discover the Power of Deep Sleep! >>
To help establish this pattern, vigorous exercise will help expel tension and burn excess energy, helping to “prepare” your body for rest. Getting the proper hours of sleep on a regular schedule also helps to clear your thoughts and restore your mind. This means not having the computer and TV in your bedroom. Having sex with your spouse, however, can be a great sleep aid as well.
8. Adopt a positive mental attitude
As simple as it sounds, a lot of the causes of depression are in your head. Our mental outlook can either protect us from depression or lead us into it. It really depends upon the person. For example, always thinking that the worst will happen can be a self-fulfilling act. Yes, thinking is an act.
Whether you think you can accomplish a goal or think that you cannot, you are right. Our brains are very powerful and operate on many levels. Every major religion in the world recognizes that ‘as we think, so shall we be.’ Holding negative and destructive thoughts have negative and destructive consequences.
Depression often leads the sufferer to reinforce negative images about him or herself that can’t possibly be true. “I’m the worst mother in the world,” or “my life is hopeless,” are just a couple of examples. Of course, they’re not anywhere close to being true, but those thoughts and images are what sufferers are thinking about themselves.
That’s why holding positive thoughts in your mind is so important. You can change your thought patterns by changing the information that you let into your brain. For example, read positive stories of people who have overcome the odds in a difficult situation. They show you that you too, can overcome your challenges.
Another technique is to find faith passages that reinforce your image –and the truth – that you are a powerful being with the ability to control your thoughts, ideas and outcomes in your life. This helps you lose the fear and worry that so many with depression feel so overwhelmed by. The feelings of hopelessness and helplessness are real only as long as you let them be. Remember, taking control of your life is healthy and feels good.
How to Kill Inflammation & Revive Your Joints FAST! >>
9. Have new experiences
Because depression slows you down and narrows your life, you lack the mental stimulus that your mind and your spirit need and crave. But forcing yourself to get out there and do something new and different can be a terrific way to get you out of that rut. A new experience doesn’t have to be a dangerous or risky one. Skydiving isn’t necessary; just having a picnic at a park or taking a new exercise or dance class or joining a club or organization can energize your mind, renew your spirit and change your mental outlook and self-image. It actually changes your brain chemistry, increasing the production and release of the brain chemical dopamine, which elevates the mood and increasing our desire and ability to learn.
10. Have fun
Depression sucks the joy out of life. Decide to have fun in your life. Do you enjoy gardening? Get to a garden center and grow the flowers or veggies that make you happy. Go to the movies. Go swimming or bowling or whatever makes you happy.
Volunteering at a children’s home brings many people joy that maybe never thought of doing such a thing. Whatever it is, whether a new activity or something that was a part of your past routine add “having fun” to your daily ‘to-do’ list. Like many of the steps in this list, having fun changes your brain chemistry, adds excitement to your life and helps break the negative cycle that depression and anxiety thrive in.
As you read this, no doubt you see that most of them are related to each other in some fashion. That is as it should be. After all, our bodies are multi- faceted. To be healthy isn’t just a physical condition, it’s a mental and spiritual condition as well.
HOW TO: KILL INFLAMMATION & Revive Your Joints FAST!
Unleash a New Era of Mobility and Comfort! >>
Just as we should only put things into our bodies that are healthful and reinforce our strength and immune systems, so should we take care what we put into our minds and care for our spiritual selves as well. There’s really no separating ourselves – all three are a part of us. Depression and anxiety is simply a warning signal that one or more parts of ourselves are out of balance. The restoration of that balance involves treating all parts of ourselves.
