Treating Depression - What Are Your Options?

Depression is both the most common and least treated form of mental illness in most parts of the world. Often presenting themselves as an uncomfortable combination of fatigue, headache, abdominal tension, weight gain, or "the blahs," depression symptoms can occur any time of the year in about 9 percent of both men and women.

Of the 9 percent of people who deal with depression, about a third of those suffer from a condition known as "major depression", or "major depressive disorder", requiring medical intervention. But if you are dealing with mild, transient depression, non-medical interventions may help you feel better.

How Can You Tell If You Need to See a Doctor for Depression?

Major depression is a serious illness. If you are generally feeling low, and you experience one or more of these additional symptoms, you may be experiencing major depression. A diagnosis of major depression requires anhedonia, which is diminished interest in almost all life activities, plus:

• Significant weight change (or, in children, failure to achieve weight gains expected for their age),

• Difficulties making decisions,

• Sleep disturbances,

• Indecisiveness,

• Jumpiness, or, alternatively, sluggishness,

• Feelings of worthlessness,

• Recurrent thoughts of suicide, a specific plan for suicide, or simply recurrent thoughts or fantasies about dying.

If you do not have a diagnosis of life-threatening illness, and you frequently think about death, you probably suffer major depression. If you have plans for suicide, you probably suffer major depression and you need immediate medical intervention. But if you have suffered a recent loss of a family member or a loved one, or your symptoms were triggered by a medication, then other kinds of support, such as help from friends or changes in medication, may be more appropriate.

Don't Mix and Match

If you are not suffering from major depression, then many of the natural remedies for depression are just as likely to work as modern medications. The important thing to remember is not to mix and match prescription medications with natural remedies. In treating depression, it is possible to get too much of a good thing. An excessively strong effect is not the only thing to worry about, either, as natural and pharmacological depression treatments can have adverse interactions.

This is particularly true of the herbal antidepressant St. John's wort. Taking at least 900 mg of hypericin per day will lift mild to moderate depression more often than not. Combining the herb with prescription antidepressants, however, may cause a shift from depression to mania, which is at least as debilitating as a depressive illness. This detrimental combination effect is also a potential problem when combining selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and blue light therapy.

Ten Natural Therapies For Depression

With the previously stated precautions in mind, here are ten natural therapies for depression that work more often than not.

St. John's Wort

This herbal antidepressant is as about as effective as prescription antidepressants when taken in the right dosage, which is 900 mg of hypericins per day for most people. St. John's wort is not, unfortunately, totally without side effects.

In people who have fair skin, taking this natural antidepressant can enhance the risk of sunburn (especially in people who also take ACE-inhibitors such as lisinopril or ramipril for high blood pressure). Never combine St. John's wort with any kind of prescription medication for depression taken in the previous six weeks, and let your doctor know you have been taking St. John's wort if you seek a prescription medication for depression.

Blue Light or Sunlight Therapy

People who live in Europe, Russia, Canada, the northern half of the United States, or southern Australia, South Africa, or New Zealand are at risk for seasonal affective disorder, appropriately also known as SAD. As days grow shorter in the autumn, the brain breaks down less melatonin, causing daytime fatigue and all-the-time food cravings.

A device known as a light box may help. It has to be used at least 20 minutes and preferably about 2 hours every day, preferably in the morning, before sunrise. Exercise outdoors in bright sunlight may also help. Do not use light therapy at night or when you want to go to sleep.

Talk Therapy

When depression is triggered by life events such as a bereavement, job loss, children leaving home, or divorce, talk therapy is usually very helpful. Interpersonal therapy, a kind of life skills training, is often useful for teens who suffer from mild to moderate depression. Psychodynamic therapy is intended to relieve the pain of depression by boosting the ego and finding justification for renewed self-esteem. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is useful for depressed people of all ages, but there is a high relapse rate after therapy is discontinued.

It also helps just to talk with a friend – but a therapist is more likely to maintain a healthy and healing relationship with you, while teaching you practical coping mechanisms you can use for a long time to come.

Exercise

Simply getting outdoors for a brisk walk, a short run, or a swim can relax you and relieve the symptoms of depression. Competitive sports, however, may aggravate depression by leading to increased stress. Use good judgment in choosing your activity. Exercising outside is particularly good because both nature and sunlight can help to alleviate depression.

Meditation

Many people claim that the discipline of meditation "clears their heads" so that depression is less depressing. If medication itself causes anxiety, however, you may want to try a "mindfulness meditation" especially if you experienced a relapse in your depression after discontinuing your regular meditation sessions.

Yoga

Yoga combines meditation with body postures that strengthen muscles and relieve stress. Various forms of assisted yoga (in which the body is supported by sheets, slings, a partner, or the instructor), if available, are especially useful.

Massage Therapy

Therapeutic massage relieves anxiety, which gives the brain an opportunity to "recharge" its neurotransmitters and rebalance itself so that depression is diminished. 

Balneotherapy

Taking a warm bath followed by a cold shower sometimes "shocks" the brain into better function. Mineral water baths, usually taken warm to hot, have a similar function. Balneotherapy is especially useful for people who have depression concurrent with fibromyalgia and for people who suffer depression with regular marijuana use.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

In this technique, a headband concealing a pulsating magnet bombards the brain with magnetic energy to reduce depression. In some cases, relief is almost immediate, but it is important to know that a headband containing a static (non-pulsating) magnet will not have any effect.

Playing the Didgeridoo

This Australian aboriginal instrument requires a constant flow of air to sustain its sound. Playing the didgeridoo sometimes helps people overcome sleep apnea and sleep more soundly through the night, reducing fatigue, anxiety, and depression.

With the exception of St. John's wort, all of these natural treatments for depression can be used with or without prescription medication. Try them, but do not deprive yourself of a doctor's care and other medications that may help you feel even better even faster.