Who is likely to Suffer from
Depression?
Conventional Treatment of Depression
Natural Treatment of Depression
According to psychiatrists, there are two kinds of depression: exogenous, which is denotes depression resulting from outside factors such as bereavement, divorce, debt, job loss, etc.; and endogenous, which denotes a medical form of depression resulting from internal biochemical sources. Manic depression is the term used to describe a condition in which spells of euphoria and hyperactivity alternate with periods of deep depression.
Who is likely
to Suffer from Depression?
Depression can affect people of varying ages, from children to old people, and is more common among women than men. However, there is evidence that increasing numbers of young and middle-aged men are suffering from depression.
Depression is a very complex and serious illness, and it is often difficult to differentiate normal and therapeutic feelings of sadness and grief from clinical depression. Symptoms of anxiety can sometimes mask depression. For example, someone suffering from panic attacks or claustrophobia may have an underlying depression that is contributing to this.
Common symptoms include:
Some people suffering from depression may experience physical symptoms. Common physical symptoms include:
Any mental or physical symptoms that are severe or last for more than a few weeks should be brought to the attention of a medical practitioner.
Depression is sometimes associated with anaemia, hormonal changes, low thyroid levels, addiction to drugs or alcohol, and vitamin deficiencies, particularly Vitamin B. Diets lacking in fresh natural foods and comprising low quality foods containing chemical additives, i.e., ‘junk foods’, can run down the system sufficiently to cause depression. Sometimes people are prone to depression from birth as a result of irregularities in the biochemical make-up of the brain.
Women can sometimes suffer postnatal depression, which is a depressive condition related to sudden hormonal changes that occur in the body after the birth of a baby. Postnatal depression can also be related to the high expectations that are projected onto the birth of the child. Sometimes the fantasy of motherhood is very different from the day-to-day reality of it. Although a new life is regarded as a cause for joy and celebration, it also signals the loss of individual freedom, and the beginning of a long period of emotional, physical and financial commitment, the reality of which can be very worrying and frightening.
Most people feel depressed from time to time, particularly if they feel that things are ‘getting on top’ of them, and that they cannot cope, or that things are not going the way they had planned. The following simple self-help measures may help to alleviate such feelings. If they do not, a therapist or medical practitioner should be consulted.
Conventional medication to alleviate depression is usually as follows. Tranquillisers or sleeping pills are normally prescribed for mild depression. For more serious depression, a course of anti-depressant drugs is normally prescribed for a period of several weeks or months. People who are suicidally depressed should seek immediate medical help.
People suffering depression are sometimes advised to undergo a course of psychotherapy or to see a counsellor.
Counselling is aimed mainly at people who want to be able to deal with a crisis or improve their lives, and their relationships with others. Talking to a trained counsellor can help at times of crisis, such as facing a job loss or resolving debts, and can also help the individual overcome more profound difficulties such as coming to terms with terminal illness or bereavement.
Psychotherapy is aimed at people who want to undergo extensive analysis and exploration of their personality, or who are suffering from a mental illness. Treatment is available from psychologists, psychiatrists or psychoanalysts, all of whom have academic and often medical training.
Eating a healthy, balanced diet will help boost vitamin and mineral levels, which may be depleted during depression. Reducing stimulants such as caffeine, by cutting down coffee, tea and cola drinks, will lessen irritability. Alcohol intake should also be reduced, as this only temporarily masks feelings of depression, and in fact, increases depression in the long term.
A Vitamin B complex supplement, with all the various components of Vitamin B, will strengthen the nervous system overall, and help reduce feelings of irritability, anxiety and fatigue.
Two herbal supplements that are very successful in the natural treatment of depression are St John’s Wort and Kava Kava.
St John’s Wort is used to help maintain a healthy emotional balance, reducing anxiety and helping to overcome sleep disorders. Its effect is subtle, and many people describe it as giving them ‘a gentle lift’. It is often referred to as the ‘sunshine herb’, and has the effect of reducing the level of emotions that can be linked in to depression, e.g., despondency, grief, hopelessness, suppressed anger, frustration, powerlessness, etc., and in turn lifting the spirits. Read more about St John’s Wort by clicking here.
Kava Kava is used to treat the symptoms of anxiety. A low dosage of no more than 150mg of Kava Kava standardised extract, providing 45mg of Kavalactones, is advised initially. Individual reactions to Kava Kava differ greatly; some people find it wonderfully therapeutic, while others describe it as inducing a ‘dreamy’ mental state. People reporting this latter reaction would require a lower dosage. Traditionally, Kava Kava has been used to help people to feel calm, and in larger doses has been used in religious rituals to produce a state of euphoria.
There are several other natural remedies that can be of help in depression. Flower essences, such as Dr Bach’s Flower Essences, contain a range of remedies such as Gentian, Gorse, Sweet Chestnut, Elm, Larch that can help individual emotional states.
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