Enjoy The Sunshine Get Plenty Of Sleep And Be Sociable
Take 1,500mg of omega-3 daily , with a multivitamin and 500mg vitamin C.
Don’t dwell on negative thoughts instead of ruminating start an activity even conversation counts.
Exercise for 90 minutes a week.
Get 15-30 minutes of sunlight each morning in the summer. In the winter, consider using a lightbox.
Be sociable.
What Are The Alternatives To Antidepressants
If you don’t want to take antidepressants, there are lots of alternative treatments you can try. In fact, if you are diagnosed with mild depression, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines for treating depression recommend that doctors offer you other treatments ahead of medication.
If you are taking antidepressants, you may also want to use other options for treatment and support, as well as your medication.
This page has information on some of the common alternatives to antidepressants. You may find these helpful to use instead of your medication, or alongside it:
Do Not Lose Connection With Others
Another effective way to fight depression is ti keep connection with others.
hen we dont feel in top shape, the temptation to completely close ourselves off from the outside world is very strong.
The reality is that isolating yourself will only make you feel worse. Staying alone at home is not a good way to fight depression, in fact it risks increasing it.
Having a social life can give you the opportunity to have support from your friends and to regain energy through exchange with others.Advertisement
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Make Gratitude An Essential Part Of Your Life
With a little bit of practice, you can become a much more grateful person, and gratitude can dramatically improve your overall well-being and helps you rid yourself of depression in a more natural way.
One way of becoming a more grateful person is to incorporate morning intentions and affirmations into your daily routine.
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Tend To Your Social Life
When you’re depressed, there’s no reason to go it aloneand all sorts of reasons to reach out to friends and family. Make plans with loved ones and keep those dates. Join a club or sign up for a group activity such as a local dodgeball league, for example, or a French class.
Other things you might try:
- Join a support group. Talking to other people who are facing the same experiences and challenges can be informative and helpful.
- Schedule activities. Having routines can be helpful when you are going through depression. Create a daily schedule that includes spending time with others. You are more likely to stick to it if its a scheduled event.
- Volunteer.Joining a cause that you care about is a great way to meet new people and expand your social circle.
The problem is that depression often causes people to withdraw, which only further exacerbates feelings of isolation and loneliness. Even when you don’t feel like going out or being social, try reaching out in whatever way is most comfortable for you. Enlist a few of your closes loved ones who understand what you are experiencing.
Doing the things you used to do might not bring you quite the same enjoyment, but getting out of the house and spending time with people who care about you can help you feel better.
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Assess The Parts Instead Of Generalizing The Whole
Depression can tinge recollections with negative emotions. You may find yourself focusing on the one thing that went wrong instead of the many things that went right.
Try to stop this overgeneralization. Push yourself to recognize the good. If it helps, write down what was happy about the event or day. Then write down what went wrong.
Seeing the weight youre giving to one thing may help you direct your thoughts away from the whole and to the individual pieces that were positive.
Exercise To Pump You Up
Regular physical activity might not be the first thing your doctor prescribes when they diagnose you with depression. However, maybe it should be part of your therapy.
A Duke University study found that 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise three times a week was as effective at relieving symptoms of depression in the short term as antidepressant medication.
The study also found that depression was less likely to return in people who continued to exercise after the initial trial.
Depression can make you feel disconnected from the things you love. It also can cause fatigue and sleep problems. Unwinding can have a positive effect on your mood.
Relaxation techniques include:
- reduce stress
- promote relaxation and emotional wellness
Though more research is necessary, some studies, including studies by the University of Westminster, show that yoga may be beneficial for improving depression symptoms.
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Fighting Depression With Diet
Eating in a healthy and balanced way helps to find a good mood in a natural way.
In addition, there are some foods that have therapeutic virtues that can help you fight depression at the dinner table .
They are foods that contain stress- regulating substances and that help to naturally raise serotonin levels, such as chocolate, salmon and all Omega 3- rich fish or eggs.
Identify Your Limiting Beliefs
One of the reasons why I was stuck in depression is because I was caught up in a cycle of negative and limiting beliefs, about myself and the world.
Limiting beliefs do just that: they limit you. They hinder your growth as a human being and stop you from seeking new opportunities and expanding your life.
Examples of limiting beliefs include:
No one loves me, I am a loser, no one will ever love me, I am not creative, I am not an entrepreneur, I am not smart enough, Money is bad, I cant do this, etc.
This is tricky because you usually dont know you have a limiting belief on a certain topic . But with consistent journaling and if you pay attention to your thoughts, limiting beliefs usually start to reveal themselves on their own.
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Eliminate Triggers Of Inflammation
Certain foods and substances create inflammation in our bodies, including in our brains, which leads to depression. The usual suspects are sugar, gluten, dairy, caffeine, and alcohol. Some people, like my daughter, may have more dramatic reactions to dairy, whereas others, like my son, are more affected by gluten. Me? I cant go near sugar if I dont want the death thoughts to return. You wont really know until you do an elimination diet and get rid of everything for a few weeks, and then gradually add them back in . I will warn you, though: You cant cheat for those few weeks, because your system has to be totally clean for you to identify the problem. A spike in cytokines, proteins that are pumped into our bloodstream when our immune system is fighting off a foreign agent, happens when people are depressed. The process looks the same as when a person is fighting an infection of any kind. Unfortunately, a lot of fun, processed foods that taste really good, like Twinkies and Doritos, can cause inflammation but clearly some people are more sensitive to others. Heres an easy rule to follow: If a food comes in a nicely marketed package , and its ingredients contain a bunch of words that you dont know how to pronounce, its not going to make you any saner.
I Massively Reduced My Decision Fatigue
Itâs because they donât want to spend their decision-making energy on thinking and making choices about things that just arenât important.
You see we all have limited brain energy each day before we have to veg out and recharge. Some people can only do a couple of hours while others can do 12 plus
But at some point we just run out of steam. This is when we start making bad decisions, like a takeaway or nothing for dinner, or deciding to watch Netflix until 4am. We just didnât have the energy to make decisions anymore, or at least good decisions.
This is why routines and good habits are so important. They stop you from having to decide what you are going to do next.
I mean imagine how exhausted you would be if you consciously thought through every decision related to your morning shower.
- What time should I get in the shower?
- How warm should I have the water?
- How much water should I have come out?
- How long should I stay in the shower?
- Shall I wash my body or not?
- Which shower gel should I use?
- How much shower gel should I use?
- How long should I spend washing?
- How long should I spend rinsing?
- Should I wash my hair?
- How much shampoo should I use?
- How long should I spend washing?
- How long should I spend rinsing?
- Should I condition as well?
- How much conditioner should I use?
- How long should I leave the conditioner on?
- How long should I spend rinsing?
Phew, and the showers not even finished yet.
Three of the ways I reduced my own decision fatigue:
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How To Overcome Depression Without Medication 8 Ways
Sharing is caring!
Do you want to know 8 effective ways on how to overcome depression without medication? If your answer is yes, then youre in the right place.
In this post Ill teach you 8 practical ways on how to overcome depression without medication and reclaim your happy life.
Lets get into it!!
Now according to data released by the World Health Organization , 322 million people are fighting depression, that is about 4.4% of the total world population.
Depression is an often creeping disease, manifested by symptoms such as:
- sadness
- insufficient concentration
- and many more negative feelings.
Life is not always rosy and it is absolutely normal for all of us to experience some moments of sadness or depression. What is important, is what you choose as a mechanism to help you overcome your depression.
Read some of the most effective ways on how to overcome depression without medication.
Are you ready?
Lets get started!
Your Concerns About Medication
Its great that youve talked to your doctor about your depression. Many people dont bring it up with their doctor unless theyre directly asked. Starting a conversation is a great way to learn more about treatment options.
All medication has a risk of side effects and antidepressants are no exception. Perhaps your husband knows someone who warns against taking a certain medication because when they took it, they just didnt feel like themselves. Or maybe youve seen commercials for medications that warn of a lengthy list of potential side effects, ranging from weight gain to lack of sexual desire.
Sometimes, the side effects sound like issues that could even make you feel more depressed. After all, trouble sleeping , might ultimately contribute to depression.
The good news is, with careful monitoring from a physician, side effects can usually be managed. It may mean changing doses or switching medications altogether.
If you didnt have a chance to ask your physician questions about medication options, it may help to do so. You might also inquire about a referral to a psychiatrista doctor who prescribes in mental health medications. You can always ask questions about which medication a doctor would recommend to learn what you might expect in terms of side effects so you can make an informed decision.
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Take Care Of Yourself
Practicing good self-care can be helpful when coping with symptoms of depression. It is important to remember, however, that depressive symptoms can often make taking care of yourself more difficult. Feeling fatigued, unmotivated, disinterested, and distracted can interfere with normal daily tasks.
While it may require extra effort, doing some of the following can help you feel better:
- Eat a healthy diet
- Seek out social support
- Engage in activities you enjoy
Try to avoid isolating yourself when you are feeling down. Depression often causes people to withdraw from friends and loved ones, but reaching out to the people who care about you can actually help reduce feelings of depression.
If you or a loved one are struggling with depression, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 for information on support and treatment facilities in your area.
For more mental health resources, see our National Helpline Database.
Focus On The Positive Things
The way you decide to look at the world and everything that happens to you has a great influence on the management of depressive anxiety attacks.
It may be that without realizing it you have started focusing more on the negative than the positive .
Stop now and start getting into the habit of looking for whats good in every situation.
Trust me, there is always something good , bad that goes a lesson in getting stronger!
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When You Are Feeling Overwhelmed Ask Yourself: What Is The Next Best Step I Can Take Right Now
When you are depressed and overwhelmed, it feels like you cant even do the smallest and simplest tasks.
But, if instead of focusing on the mountain of things you have to do, you only asked yourself: what is the smallest next best thing I can do now?
This is a powerful strategy that I still apply when Im feeling lost, sad, or overwhelmed.
This question helps tune out the noise and keep moving forward by identifying what truly matters right now.
Exercise As Depression Treatment
When writing about different medication-free depression treatments, it would seem almost criminal not to mention regular exercise. Regular exercise is just as effective as antidepressant medication or psychotherapy for treating depression. In 2016, Professor F. Schuch at the Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil, concluded that exercise is an evidence-based treatment for depression. Think about it. Few people would let their precious car just stand in the driveway and rust. Similarly, your body needs movement to stay in a good mood.
How much exercise is enough to treat depressive symptoms?
Is it enough to do some stretching or do you need daily spin classes to recover from depression? The answer is somewhere in between. Regular walking is an excellent strategy for treating depressive symptoms without medication. Dr. Wendy Suzuki, Professor of Neural Science and Psychology at New York University, gives us the exact recipe:
- 30-40 minutes of exercise 3-4 times a week is enough to get out of depression
Why does exercise work as depression treatment?
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Ways To Treat Depression Without Medication
Verywell / Bailey Mariner
For many people living with depression, prescription medications can be wonder drugs. Antidepressants, especially selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors like Prozac and Zoloft . They can have side effects and can be expensive depending on your health insurance coverage.
There are many ways to counter some of the symptoms of depression that don’t involve prescription medications. If you have depression you might like to try managing it naturally, without medication, or supplement your antidepressant with other tactics. If so, check out these natural alternatives and then talk to your doctor about which might make sense as part of your treatment regimen.
Foods To Help Fight Depression
Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital.
One of the most overlooked aspects of mental health is nutrition. Food plays a significant role in our physical health, as well as our mental and emotional health. When you are struggling with depression, it can feel a bit overwhelming to think about eating the right foods. However, some of these small changes in your diet may help to decrease your symptoms and have a positive effect on your daily life.
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Do Something You Enjoy
Depression can push you to give into your fatigue. It may feel more powerful than happy emotions.
Try to push back and do something you love something thats relaxing, but energizing. It could be playing an instrument, painting, hiking, or biking.
These activities can provide subtle lifts in your mood and energy, which may help you overcome your symptoms.
Research suggests people who spend time in nature have improved mental health.
Exposure to sunlight may offer some of the same benefits. It can increase your serotonin levels, which can provide a temporary mood boost .
Consider taking a walk at lunch among the trees or spending some time in your local park. Or plan a weekend hike. These activities can help you reconnect with nature and soak in some rays at the same time.
Acknowledge You Have A Problem
This is the most important step. The first one, the one that makes the difference between aimlessly floundering about in your efforts, and actually figuring out a direction.
If you dont realize there is a problem, you will most likely never solve it.
The moment you acknowledge that there is a problem, is the moment you can finally take the steps you need to take to fix that problem.
No one else will take them for you: youre the one who has to do it.
It took me 4 years of constant acute misery before finally realising I was dealing with severe depression. I thought I was just overly sensitive: I cried every-single-day, many, many times per day
- I could no longer hold a conversation with someone , without bursting into tears
- I would hide in the bathroom every day at work to go cry
- I could not answer a single personal question without feeling that my heart was going to explode with sadness.
It was acute emotional distress so unbearable, I could not function. And by not acknowledging it, I only made things worse.
You are not just too sensitive, or just tired. You are depressed. Now, time for you to start taking the necessary measures.
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