Alternative Treatments to Depression

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, about 14.8 million adults in the United States suffer from clinical depression. But what is the difference between circumstantial unhappiness, simply having “the blues,” and diagnosable depression?

What is Depression?

The DSM-IV, a general manual for diagnosing mental disorders, suggests a person must feel five symptoms of depression daily or close to daily for at least two weeks. Symptoms include fatigue, insomnia, appetite loss and headaches. Click here for a complete list of symptoms as catalogued by the manual.

According to a study done by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, antidepressants are now the most commonly prescribed drugs in the United States. Generally accepted theories conclude that depression arises from a chemical imbalance in the brain, triggered mainly by low levels of serotonin, which antidepressants like Prozac aim to heighten. However, determining whether depression in the individual is caused by unbalanced chemical levels in the brain or other transient social and psychological factors is often hard to determine. Prescribing antidepressants in these cases can have serious side effects, which sometimes include in increase, not a decrease in depression, anxiety, insomnia, hostility, agitation, and risk of suicide.

In light of these risks, it is important to consider the alternative treatments for depression besides medication. Often depression itself can be a side effect of an individual’s inability to cope with life circumstances that he or she finds overwhelming, incontrollable, or hopelessly bleak. To enable ourselves to better handle these relationships with events in our lives, we need to pay attention to, reflect on, and manage the way our bodies and minds respond to them. Here are the most effective ways to do this:

Alternative Treatments

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy — CBT is centered around the idea that a person’s mood is directly related to patterns of thought, and aims to help a person recognize and evaluate the validity of negative thought patterns and replace them with healthier modes of thinking.

Acupuncture — Increasingly studied with promising results as a viable treatment for depression, acupuncture uses fine needles to target specific points on the body. If you decide to try acupuncture, do make sure that you find a licensed and qualified professional.

Light therapy — A method especially helpful for people who suffer from seasonal depression (SADD). Exposure to light from a UV light therapy box produces biological changes in the brain that help control the depressive symptoms that result from lack of sunlight in the darker months.

For milder depression, there exist a variety of homeopathic remedies and mind-body exercises that combat the symptoms that often trigger depression like stress, draining life experiences and the demands of working life.

St. John’s Wort — An herb that has been used for centuries, still a popular remedy in Europe, to treat various illnesses and mild depression. Recent studies have shown that St. John’s Wort can be as effective as antidepressant drugs in the short term treatment of mild to moderate depression. (mayoclinic.com)

Omega-3 fatty acids — Mainly found in fish, flax seed, and some high protein nuts, Omega-3’s offer a wealth of healthy benefits besides lifting the mood, including soothing arthritic pain, improved concentration, reducing high blood pressure, improving sleep, and preventing cardiovascular diseases.

Yoga — Originating in India, yoga is the study of controlling cycles of body movement and breathing. The study has grown wildly popular in recent years with yoga studios popping up all around the country as more and more people flock to experience the calming effects of forging a stable mind-body connection. Recent studies show that yoga can help moderate stress response systems and alleviate the stresses that may contribute to depression and anxiety.