10 Natural Treatments for Depression

If you suffer from depression, these tips can help you feel better -- starting right now.

1. Get in a routine. If you’re depressed, you need a routine, says Ian Cook, MD.  He's a psychiatrist and director of the Depression Research and Clinic Program at UCLA.

Depression can strip away the structure from your life. One day melts into the next. Setting a gentle daily schedule can help you get back on track.

2. Set Some Goals. I've found that when I'm depressed, having something new to focus on generally alleviates the anxiety that can come with depression, as well as lessening the actual feeling of depression itself. When you're depressed, you may feel like you can't accomplish anything. That makes you feel worse about yourself. To push back, set daily goals for yourself.

"Start very small," Cook says. "Make your goal something that you can succeed at, like doing the dishes every other day." As you start to feel better, you can add more challenging daily goals.

3. Exersize. It temporarily boosts feel-good chemicals called endorphins. It may also have long-term benefits for people with depression. Regular exercise seems to encourage the brain to rewire itself in positive ways, Cook says.

How much exercise do you need? You don’t need to run marathons to get a benefit. Just walking a few times a week can help.

4. Eat healthy. There is no magic diet that fixes depression. It's a good idea to watch what you eat, though. If depression tends to make you overeat, getting in control of your eating will help you feel better.

Although nothing is definitive, Cook says there's evidence that foods with omega-3 fatty acids (such as salmon and tuna) and folic acid (such as spinach and avocado) could help ease depression.

5. Get Plenty of Sleep. Depression can make it hard to get enough shut-eye, and too little sleep can make depression worse.

What can you do? Start by making some changes to your lifestyle. Go to bed and get up at the same time every day. Try not to nap. Take all the distractions out of your bedroom -- no computer and no TV. In time, you may find your sleep improves.

6. Take on responsibilities. When you’re depressed, the urge is generally to pull back from life and give up your responsibilities at home and at work. Don't. Staying involved and having daily responsibilities can work as a natural depression treatment. They ground you and give you a sense of accomplishment.

If you're not up to full-time school or work, that’s fine. Think about part-time. If that seems like too much, consider volunteer work.

7. Challenge negative thoughts. In your fight against depression, a lot of the work is mental -- changing how you think. When you're depressed, you leap to the worst possible conclusions.

The next time you're feeling terrible about yourself, use logic as a natural depression treatment. You might feel like no one likes you, but is there real evidence for that? You might feel like the most worthless person on the planet, but is that really likely? It takes practice, but in time you can beat back those negative thoughts before they get out of control.

8. Check with your doctor before using supplements. "There's promising evidence for certain supplements for depression," Cook says. Those include fish oil, folic acid, and SAMe. But more research needs to be done before we'll know for sure. Always check with your doctor before starting any supplement, especially if you’re already taking medication.

9. Do something new. When you’re depressed, you’re in a rut. Push yourself to do something different. Go to a museum. Pick up a used book and read it on a park bench. Volunteer at a soup kitchen. Take a language class.

"When we challenge ourselves to do something different, there are chemical changes in the brain," Cook says. "Trying something new alters the levels of [the brain chemical] dopamine, which is associated with pleasure, enjoyment, and learning."

10. Try to have fun. If you’re depressed, make time for things you enjoy. What if nothing seems fun anymore? "That's just a symptom of depression," Cook says. You have to keep trying anyway.

As strange as it might sound, you have to work at having fun. Plan things you used to enjoy, even if they feel like a chore. Keep going to the movies. Keep going out with friends for dinner.

When you're depressed, you can lose the knack for enjoying life, Cook says. You have to relearn how to do it. In time, fun things really will feel fun again.

Article Source: Web MD

Overcoming Unemployment Depression - 5 Strategies to Re-Energize Your Job Search

By Scott W. Mills, Ph.D.

It's no secret that unemployment can be depressing. For many, the initial news can be followed by days of laying on the couch eating Cheetos and watching TV. Perhaps you just can't believe that you no longer have somewhere to go in the morning. And the idea of putting in the energy to get another job sounds overwhelming. characterized by numbness, disbelief and even lethargy. While for most people this period is a pretty natural response to loss, you can take one of the many online depression tests or seek help from a qualified mental health counselor if you feel like it is seriously disrupting your life. For those who are experiencing mild depression, this article offers some tips on how to move forward.

Bruce Levine, Ph.D. argues, in his book Surviving America's Depression Epidemic that, as a nation, we are drowning in depression. We have become so disconnected from each other and from the world around us that it is hard to keep our heads above water even when we are working. The high rates of anti-depressant medications that people take (maybe as high as one in eight people) are a good sign of this. Working helps distract many of us from the emptiness we are feeling so losing our work can be a real wake up call. For others, their identity is built around their work so being unemployed is like not being a person.

The beginning of coming out of depression, as far as Levine is concerned, is to understand that depression is rooted in an energy crisis. We simply don't have the energy to move forward. This means that before we change our thinking or engage in work finding strategies we have to find ways to get filled up. Asking people to do otherwise is like asking them to drive an empty car a few more miles to the next gas station. If the car is out of gas its stopped. We must first address this before we do anything else. So here are five strategies that can help fill you back up.

1. Stop beating yourself up. It's simply exhausting to beat yourself up because you are feeling depressed. And it only makes matters worse. You can begin to plug your energy leak by simply acknowledge that you are feeling depressed and accepting that your feelings are valid. Feelings pass much more quickly when we accept rather than resist them.

2. Find something to laugh about. There is little else that lifts depression like humor. I am convinced that this is because depression is largely self-focused while humor moves us outside ourselves. Even when we laugh at ourselves we do so as an observer. Give yourself an opportunity to engage the larger world. Laugh at funny movies, listen to jokes, practice laughing at every opportunity. If you are feeling at a loss for what will make you laugh have a funny movie night where you watch nothing but comedies. Humor lightens our spirits, relaxes are bodies, and connects us to other people.

3. Connect to people who love and energize you. Ever see the Saturday Night Live character Debbie Downer? She can turn any event sour with her dour view of the world. We all know people like this. Maybe you even are one. What matters most is that when your energy is low you spend time with people who can fill you up. You can't afford to give away your precious reserves to other people while you are recharging. Make a list of people that fill you up and make plans to spend time with them.

4. Imagine the possibilities. When you are depressed, it can often be hard to see your way beyond the end of the day much less into having your next job. Giving yourself the space to imagine what yourself working can go a long way in motivating you to keep on looking. Having the sense of possibility seems to also open up your field of visions so that you see opportunities that you might otherwise miss. The easiest way to do this is to set five to ten minutes aside. Begin by doing about one minute of deep, diaphragmatic breathing and allow your body to relax. Then imagine what your new job will be like. Imagine it down to the smallest detail. You will be happy, laughing, enjoying your co-workers. See yourself doing the work you love. Imagine the sense of accomplishment you have at doing it well. When you are done visualizing, ask yourself what is one action you can do right now to move you towards that goal. Intuitively calling an old friend may come up or checking out a company you heard of. Follow those insights and see what happens.

5. Move your body. For most people exercise is a potent remedy to depression. It moves us out of our minds and into our bodies. It increases our blood flow to the brain (which helps us think of new ideas), decreases our stress level and can even help us sleep better. It doesn't really matter what you do from taking a fifteen minute walk to playing tennis with a friend or running around the park with your dog. Just move your body, at least three times a week for twenty to thirty minutes, and you will feel an increase in energy and a better sense of balance.

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Scott Mills, Ph.D. is a San Francisco based integrative life coach blending an East/West perspective as he helps his clients live less stressful, more vibrant lives. You can get more information and tools at [http://mindbodyexperience.com] and check out the Mind Body Experience Blog at http://www.mindbodyexperience.com/blog/

The Mental Health Benefits of Leisure Travel

By Audrey Daniels 

For the economically disadvantaged community on both kids and adults alike, the mental health benefits of leisure travel presents vast significant and social improvement in their mental health outlook. Leisure travel brings about greater personal impact for the individual versus the person who has not travelled.

Being able to get away and relax creates a wonderful sense of euphoria and excitement. Leisure travel is very important in reducing the amount of stress on both adults and children and even more so on those on a lower income scale. The quality of life is drastically improved, along with personal growth, fulfilment, and a higher self-esteem. As the disadvantaged person's amount of personal travel increases, their depression and despondency decreases. Access to luxury travel increases an individual's intellectual pleasure, reduces inherent poverty as it increases improvement in self-esteem and financial control.

Personal travel provides individuals with the opportunity to improve social skills, increases an individual's personal involvement in social groups and settings, while significantly establishing positive interaction of social bonds with friends, family and community. With low-income families and individual's maiden journey into cultured events, i.e., museums, operatic and classical concerts within a leisure and not 'forced' framework, children especially feel a full sense of worthiness, acceptance and excitement to expand even more into such activities.

The mental health benefit associated with leisure travel creates a sense of social identity and belonging. Leisure travel plays a major and important role in improving social skills in children, especially over a prolonged sense of time. Children of parents who made it a family mantra and duty to introduce them to various locations and destinations are far more likely to go on to be far better socially adjusted adolescents and adults. They tend to be much calmer, more outgoing, feel more secure in various settings, while a child or adult who did not travel, generally feel like a fish out of water in unfamiliar territory.

The association brought about with leisure travel brings on a personal feeling of accomplishment and self-motivation. Those personally associated with children and adults who suddenly find themselves the recipient of a first time vacation, see firsthand the exciting benefit that travel brings. They see the returning journey to relax, unwind and take it easy has also rejuvenated and reconnected them to their inner self as wonderful proof as to what vacationing can do. Travel helps those individuals to maintain a healthy balance of inner self worth. That is why the wealthy always make leisure travel an integral part of their health and wellness outlook.

For those on the lower end of the spectrum and primarily because of limited income, many inner city and rural living adults and children have had little to no access to travel and vacation resources. The rate of participation is very limited; this shapes the feelings and outcomes with regard to such activities. Most just either stay home or visit with nearby friends and/or family. With today's economy in such a slump, it is more important than ever for families and individual's to find ways to kick back and relax, away from such obvious options.

It is quite necessary to increase one's personal time away, even including time alone to improve individual social well being, helping to transcend poverty. Understanding the need for disadvantaged people to get access to leisure travel is very critical to understanding one of the dire problems facing African-American, Latino and underprivileged white communities mindset. Without having gone beyond the boundaries of their own neighborhood or state lines, many socially perish for lack of financial resources to access outside of it.

            "As a child sees, he does."

It is very important that children experience all aspects of travel and personally realize how much fun and excitement it brings. Children who travel quite frequently as opposed to children who do not, grow into happy, independent, well-adjusted adults who continue to travel. Both generally grow up to either repeat their love, excitement and independence of travel or their aloof and indifferent feelings onto their own future children.

Celebrating new-found culture and personal wellness is possible once an individual has traveled outside of his or her 'comfort' zone. It is imperative for one's own psychological well being to be able relax, enjoy and fit right in with any given surrounding. Travel tends to bring about a positive attitude in and transcends the personalities of those who have the ability to do so. It is a transformation that for some is almost indescribable, like seeing sub tropic cloud formation, blue green water or plants and animals not native to their own region. The euphoric feeling of relaxation is so overpowering that they want to travel again and again to keep feeling that contentment. Leisure travel reflects the beauty and frailty that is the human experience.

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Audrey Daniels is an aspiring writer and die-hard "vacationista" changing perceptions about leisure travel, one trip at a time. Her website is: http://www.referralvacationing.com

She can be contacted at Audrey@ReferralVacationing.com

A Healthy Diet Helps With Depression

By Phillip Lopez 

Some may think that there is no relation between what you eat and the state of your mind. This is a misconception, depression can actually be avoided, or at least lessened, by a healthy and nutritional diet. Aside from a physical benefit, there is a mental and emotional benefit to this type of diet as well.

The source of one's depression could come from a number of different factors. It is advised that you seek the help of a certified or licensed profession for proper medical advice.

Take a second and think of fuel for your body similar to a car or any other machine runs on gas, oil, etc. The quality of what you put into that machine is 100% related to its performance and lifespan. I know this because I've seen the effects of having a car (and body) that has been either running on cheap products or hasn't been tuned up or given an oil change in quite some time. Is it crazy to say that if you often eat the wrong types of food (burgers, pizzas, soda, etc.), this will affect your physical body followed by your mental and emotional state? I think not.

A More Colorful Plate = Better Mood

You may have heard the saying: "The more Colorful the Plate, the Lower the Weight." This saying is also relevant if you want to rid yourself of depression as well as shed a couple of pounds. Not only does a diet full of processed and sugary foods make you fat, it also affects the way you feel. Sadly, the Standard American Diet or ironically the "S.A.D." is full of just that.

You Are What You Eat

As generic or cliche as it sounds, you really are what you eat. Also, it is of no surprise that the healthier the diet = less amount of mood swings or depressive states. In order to delay the effects of aging, keep in mind that studies and research show that diets that are filled with the appropriate amount of vitamins and minerals produce an adequate amount of serotonin, a mood-enhancing chemical, while the latter will lead to a shortage.

How to Relieve Stress and Enhance Your Mood 

As both a mood stabilizer and a neurotransmitter, serotonin is a chemical that helps with easing your stress, depression, and anxiety. With that said, there are a few types of foods that can help give a boost to the amount of serotonin flowing through your bloodstream:

Fruits: Some may be surprised by this but fruits like sour cherries, pineapple, bananas and plums are excellent for lifting your spirits. Also, cherries contain melatonin, a hormone that comes from serotonin. It is discharged when it is dark and helps with your circadian rhythm (sleep cycle).

Protein: Tryptophan is an amino acid found in turkey which raises the production of serotonin in one's brain. Naturally, turkey is also a mood enhancer. It is not alone however, eggs, seafood, whey protein, and beef all help in raising serotonin levels as well. One caveat is that you should try to eat meats that have either been grass-fed, pasture raised, or hormone raised products.

Additionally, you should add nuts to your diet because they too enhance the production of protein. On top of that, they also have selenium in them which is a chemical that is scarce in many a depressed patient. Legumes and lean meats should also be added to the list of foods containing selenium.

One should note that eating snacks filled with sugar can stymie the manufacturing of serotonin. Therefore, it is beneficial to substitute sweets or other processed goodies with their counterpart, whole and natural foods. Lean protein and stuff you'll most likely find without a bar code on it like fruits and nuts.

Carbohydrates: A good number of carb sources in one's diet will raise your serotonin level and help with depression-related issues. You'll want to add some whole grain bread, white and sweet potatoes, and some pasta (in moderation, of course).

Dairy: These foods will also make you feel much less stressed. Milk and cheese are both filled with mood enhancing chemicals and will also boost serotonin levels.

Nutrients That Keep You Depression Free

Beta Carotene

This pigment is found primarily in carrots but also found in broccoli, apricots, and cantaloupe. It can also be quite an aid in ridding yourself of depression.

Vitamin C

Citrus fruits are another food that is excellent for staving off depression. They are abundant in vitamin C, here are a few of the main citrus fruits:

Limes
Oranges
Grapefruit
Vitamin E

Vitamin E has a few benefits, one major one is being a huge factor in immune system processes and of course, aiding in preventing or alleviating depression. Wheat germ nuts, vegetable oils, and seeds all have vitamin E in them.

Change the Way You Eat and Increase Your Level of Activity

A nice healthy combo of complex carbs mixed with veggies and fruits can be a huge aid with either depression or any moods swings, period.

Ensure that you avoid any snacks that are processed, usually there are packaged (see cookies, chips, etc.). Also, focus on adding fish to your diet and consuming fresh produce on a regular basis.

It's like clockwork, when you fix your diet you will more than likely begin to exercise a lot more often. This will only help with being less depressed and putting you in a great mood.

Note that the more you exercise, the more your body will begin to manufacture more endorphins which is another hormone that will better your mood. It's complementary, exercise and a good diet will make you feel much better than a sedentary lifestyle.

In fact, there are studies done where the results showed that individuals who incorporate a routine of healthy eating and exercising do not need to take any anti-depressants or any mood-enhancing drugs. It's simple, cut the bad stuff out of your diet and get your heart rate up with some kind of physical activity on a regular basis. This way, you don't have to rely on expensive and sometimes harmful prescription drugs to make your body operate the way it can naturally.

For more free weight loss and general health tips visit: http://www.stubbornweightlosstips.net
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