›› Natural Cures for Depression
You are probably
smart enough to try anything within reason, when it comes to attempting
natural cures for depression… since so many other treatments
have fallen short for you and so many efforts on your part
don’t quite work. I mean, you tried
prayer. You tried writing, journaling and crafting fiction
and plays—solo and in collaboration—to purge
yourself in a kind of cathartic that has worked in other areas of your
emotional life before…. For years, every single
day, you tried power walking, knowing that physical labor (of sorts)
will also expunge many evils and keeping with the only form of exercise
you actually liked. You tried helping others, learning in a
support group that to get your mind off yourself you have to get OUT of
yourself; you have to focus on those who are worse off in many ways,
etc., etc...
It is only natural, as a recovering addict or alcoholic, for example,
or as an ACA (adult child of alcoholics), who believes in avoiding the
complications of synthetic drugs, you would lean toward natural cures
for depression. Such remedies, you hope, will keep you in the
forests, amongst the flora, fauna, and creatures that belong in your
eco-friendly environment and life.
So what are some of those natural cures for depression? Some
use Saint John’s worth, a.k.a. Hypericum perforatum. St
John’s wort is an herb that has been said to contain
compounds—such as hypericin and hyperforin—which
contribute to what the Greeks said would successfully “ward
off evil spirits,” as it was known as the drug that would
preside “over an apparition”…which is
where it’s name came from.
Others use natural cures for depression that are said to simulate the
SSRIs—the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors.
When the serotonin levels in your brain are off (imbalanced), your mood
is plummeted. On an up and down picture representing normal
to depressed moods, say, your mood would be down at the
bottom. A high or happy beyond normal person’s mood
would be waaaay up at the top. Okay, so the SSRI draws the
serotonin levels up, pools them, and traps them in a higher
place. You come from the bottom, the SSRI comes from the top,
and the effect/result is a leveling off somewhere in the middle.
5 Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) and tryptophan are said to do the same
thing, but are natural cures for depression versus intense chemical
cures (such as Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, for example). So 5-HTP
supplements the missing or diminished amounts of serotonin and
tryptophan by being what depression.org calls the
“intermediate step” between the two.
Other natural cures for depression include physical and some mental
efforts. Like power-walking, exercise, yoga, and some forms
of meditation have been found to adjust the imbalances of serotonin and
other mood stabilizing chemicals in the brain. And it goes
along with the logic that visualization techniques, which therapists
can help you practice, can be tailored toward the positive, to counter
the misery that is depression.
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A Healthy Dose of Good Advice
