How To Deal With Depression The Healthy Holistic Way

This how to deal with depression guide has been developed to aid anyone who is feeling depressed in the healthiest most holistic way possible. The methods shared here are non-pharmaceutical and natural, and they have been drawn from a variety of sources, all of which have good backing in terms of the results people have achieved.

What Are The Symptoms Of Depression?

The National Institute of Mental Health has the following laid out as symptoms for the condition. Whilst some people may experience all of these, others may only experience a few or just a couple. Also worthy of note is that all of these can affect both men and women.

-Persistent sad, anxious, or "empty" mood
-Feelings of hopelessness, pessimism
-Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness
-Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities
-Decreased energy, fatigue, being "slowed down"
-Difficulty concentrating, remembering, making decisions
-Difficulty sleeping, early-morning awakening, or oversleeping
-Appetite and/or weight changes
-Thoughts of death or suicide; suicide attempts
-Restlessness, irritability
-Persistent physical symptoms

Also worth noting is that sometimes people can just feel within their mind a knowledge that they are depressed, a thought that can spiral around and from there lead to other symptoms and thoughts.

The Most Important Step To Take When Dealing With Depression

The most important step is actually making the decision to do something about it. As with many things in life, especially the more challenging of things, the decision to actually do something and actually sort it out is around about 50% of the solution. Following through is of course incredibly important, and the options here are what will then aid you to clear yourself of the condition.

Knowing The Causes Of Depression Can Aid You In Clearing It

Treating symptoms alone rarely clears an issue. If a grass lawn goes brown due to drought you can paint it green to make it look healthy, the grass however will remain unhealthy unless the real issue is dealt with. To make grass healthy again after a drought it needs care and water.

So dealing with the causes of depression important.

With depression the causes are down to stress and an overload of negative emotions; sadness, anger, hurt, guilt, fear and so on. So to actually deal with the issue dealing with them is preferable, otherwise you are just masking over the condition and it could come back again too easily. For example watching a comedy can make you feel good for a while, though after you finish watching the program or movie unless you actively keep your mind up high it can slip off into darker places.

Special Note

It is the emotions and the beliefs created by events that cause the depressed condition rather than the event itself. It is the choices made on an unconscious level that lead us to experience the feelings we feel. Wishing something had never happened is relatively futile, and changing events could cause various others things to have never happened, plus vital life lessons would be lost. Releasing the emotions and negativity around an event however can free you to feel happy and joyful here and now, regardless of what may have occurred in the past.

Giving yourself space to clear your heart and mind is therefore paramount. There are many ways to do so, and many of them are easier to do than many think. Through fully committing to and properly using the techniques shared in this guide you will find that things can ease for you, and you can shift into a far healthier state of being faster than you previously believed. From there the transition to joyful living is relatively easy.

Natural Ways To Treat Depression

The focus here is most definitely on the natural. Depression is all based within the mind, and thus clearing it can all occur within the mind too.

One of the best things that many people do when clearing the condition is to take total responsibility for their lives. Putting themselves at cause for everything that has happened, and is happening, within their lives. It is a big step for many, and it is also a very powerful one too. By taking complete responsibility for everything in your life you internalise the issues at heart, in doing so you also internalise all the solutions. Massively important point, being at cause for everything in your life means you also hold all the solutions for cleaning things up and making your life good again. Hence the reason so many people do it, and it makes a world of difference.

Some people head off in introspection for hours or days, or longer if they go on a retreat, searching out the reasons for which they created various things in their lives. Sometimes things happen faster, when I went on one of my first self development courses I was fortunate with the processes I learned there and discovered why I had created the traffic accident that had completely changed my life through closing off the career I had been working for all my life. It was an accident that had caused a huge amount of stress and long bouts of depression that lasted a great many years. As soon as I put myself at cause though and actively looked at the event in light of other learning the reasons came through fast, from there I was able to let go quickly and easily.

Actively searching through your soul for the reasons is unnecessary though. Through the right techniques the answers came come to you with greater ease.

Ho'oponopono - Cleansing Your Mind, Emotions And Life

Ho'oponopono is a system from Hawaii which dates back many hundreds if not thousands of years. It was adapted by Morrnah Simeona, peace be with her, in the 1970's in such a way that it became easier and faster to practice and achieve amazing results. The revised version attracted the title Self Identity Through Ho'oponopono also known as S.I.T.H. And is incredibly effective as everything occurs within the mind and can be based around incredibly simple methods of cleaning thoughts and emotions.

Every moment of every day you have thoughts going through your mind. When in a depressed state the focus shifts towards negativity, seeing the worst in things and finding difficulty in accepting the good that can be there, regardless of the reality of things. Ho'oponopono gives a method and set of simple techniques through which it becomes easy to shift your focus and also clean up your thinking. Shifting it into a positive and joyful experience with ease.

The simplest of things you can do is note when you are slipping into a negative state, from there just begin to recite to yourself “I love you, I am sorry, please forgive me, thank you”, saying over and over again and allowing your state to shift into a neutral or positive state. You can recite the mantra out loud, or within your mind, both are highly effective and will be of great help in clearing things up. There is more on this in the Ho'oponopono section where you can also find resources to aid you too.

Meditation - Bringing Balance And Calm

The field of study regarding meditation and its ability to aid you in achieving good health has greatly expanded. Much of what was known by meditation practitioners and masters for many years has now become proven scientifically, leading to ever growing credence for the use of the practice in healing various issues and conditions. It helps conditions across the board, be they mental, emotional or physical. Meditating has a very powerful effect on your health in a very holistic way.

The mental barriers that once existed are also lifting. Where once people felt the practice difficult fresh views with adapted and simplified techniques make it easy for people to access and achieve good results with. Notably mindfulness and non-directed meditation have become popular for enhancing health and wellbeing. They have also solid scientific backing for being good.

The Effectiveness Of A Brief Mind-Body Intervention For Treating Depression In Community Health Center Patients.

“The objective of this pilot study was to examine the effects of a brief, 6-week, 1.5-hour mind-body intervention for depression (MBID) in patients being treated for depression in 2 community health centers... The MBID taught techniques such as meditation that elicit the relaxation response (RR) in combination with additional resiliency-enhancing components... Significant post-treatment improvements were shown in depressive symptoms, spiritual growth, mental health, and quality of life, with a median CES-D 10 change from 17.5 (interquartile ratio [IQR] 13.3-22) to 12 (IQR 10-17.5; P<.001); a median HPLP-II Spiritual Growth subscale change from 2.0 (IQR 1.8-2.3) to 2.3 (IQR 2.0-3.0; P=.002) and a median HPLP-II Stress Management subscale change from 2.0 (IQR 1.8-2.4) to 2.4 (IQR 2.0-2.9; P=.027); significant improvement in median score on the QoL-5 from 53.3 (IQR 47.5-62.5) at baseline to 63.3 at endpoint (IQR 50-70; P=.008). Three-month follow-up data suggest that the improvement in outcomes were sustained 3 months after the intervention... Participation in a 6-week RR-based MBID is associated with an improvement in depression, spiritual growth, and mental health among depressed community health center patients.”
Miller KM, Chad-Friedman E, Haime V, Mehta DH, Lepoutre V, Gilburd D, Peltier-Saxe D, Lilley C, Benson H, Fricchione GL, Denninger JW, Yeung A.
Source At NIH

Through calming and allowing your mind to come to peace it can become easy for you to gain insight into the real reasons for things happening in your life, the clouds can lift and shift, allowing the insight to come which enables you to release and let go. In doing so you can become free to move forward with your life and into a more joyful space.

Meditation does require practice, though through the usage of simple techniques on a regular basis it can be easy for you to achieve good results. Meditating once or twice a day for 5 or 10 minutes is a good idea for beginners. 10 minutes is a relatively short time and easy to incorporate into even busy schedules.

Meditating also helps you to gain stress relief. Stress is often a component of depression, so being able to clear and let go of even small amounts will aid you in clearing a depressed state too.

As you meditate your mind can rebalance and shift into a natural state known as homeostasis. Whilst it is a natural state it is one that is challenged by modern life, the constant “go” and pressure which surrounds us in terms of work, family, relationships and more can cause life to shift out of balance all to easily. When life is out of balance then conditions such as stress and depression occur. So bringing yourself back into balance is important for your greatest good.

Meditating daily will aid you in achieving that balanced state, and will equip you better for the various pressures of life as you become better able to release stress and sidestep issues that would have caused negative thoughts and feelings previously. It enables you to carry yourself through your life with an ever greater degree of calm as your experience of meditating expands and grows. You can discover more on the various meditative options in the meditation section where there are various resources to help you, the 10 minute meditation videos are especially helpful for beginners.

Brainwave Entrainment - Shifting Your Brain Waves With Ease

The use of brainwave entrainment or BWE, can be extremely beneficial in changing your state to a happier more positive one. Through the use of Isochronic tones, Monaural beats and/or Binaural beats you can relatively easily and quickly shift your mental and emotional state. The sound forms work to shift your brainwave frequencies into specific ranges, those being Gamma, Beta, Alpha, Theta or Delta with each range having its own specific effects.

The SurgingLife Homeostasis Music Has Theta Brainwave Entrainment Which Helps Treat Depression

In terms of treatment for depression the ranges of greatest benefit are Alpha, Theta and Delta.

Alpha brainwaves bring an elevated level of positivity and induce gentle relaxation. They bring a lighter side to your experience of life and can open the way for tension to ease and balance to return to your mind. Listening to these as you go about your routine at home, or whilst you are commuting to work can help you to enhance your experience of your day. The best sound form for picking up Alpha comes from Isochronic tones.

Theta brainwaves enable deeper relaxation and provide a point from which emotional release and stress release can flow with greater ease too. These are ideal for use within meditation, they help you to bring your mind to a very beneficial state when you are wishing to clear depression from your life. As Theta induces deep relaxation these types of rhythms should only be used when you are in a safe place and able to relax freely. When you want to attain Theta the best sound forms are Isochronic tones or Monaural beats. Theta is notably very good for helping yourself to enter the state of homeostasis, something which can greatly aid you in clearing depression.

Delta brainwaves are the realm of deep sleep and dreamless sleep at that. The reason this state is important is that whilst you are sleeping your body can rebalance itself and process old information and memories. Depression is often exacerbated by a lack of sleep, the fatigue further compounding any negativity and amplifying the perception of things. So by getting quality sleep on a regular basis you can aid yourself to attain a far greater state of emotional and mental health.

Depression And Sleep: Pathophysiology And Treatment

“Most depressive disorders are characterized by subjective sleep disturbances, and the regulation of sleep is intricately linked to the same mechanisms that are implicated in the pathophysiology of depression... Sleep disturbances are an integral aspect of depression, at phenomenologie, pathophysiologic, and therapeutic levels of inquiry. Improving the understanding of the relationship between sleep disturbances and mood disorders will only help to clarify the heterogeneity of depression.”
Michael E. Thase, MD
Source At NIH

So it is worth doing your best to ensure more effective sleep patterns for anyone wishing to clear a depressive condition. There are various things that can come into play which affect sleep, the mattress you sleep on, levels of background noise, temperature and humidity, as well as all of the mental and emotional background chatter that can be going on. Getting a good quality comfortable mattress is potentially one of the best investments you can make in your health for a large number of reasons, specifically relating to your ongoing mental, emotional and physical health.

It is also worthwhile acquiring a good soundtrack to aid you in drifting off to sleep peacefully. By giving yourself the best opportunity for good sleep you are helping yourself on many levels. For this reason Delta brainwave entrainment is worth using.

Backing it up by using Alpha brainwave entrainment while doing things around your home, and having sessions of Theta brainwave meditation can really aid you in creating a very different state of life in a relatively short time period. For more on this go to the brainwave entrainment section, you can also get resources that have aided a great many people to enhance their lives via the brainwave entrainment download section.

Yoga – Balancing Body And Mind

Yoga has positive health benefits for this as well as a variety of other conditions. As you move through the various poses your body goes through a number of shifts. Your muscles flex and loosen, aiding you to physically release tension. Energetic pathways are also flexed, enabling the flow of energy around your body to be better regulated and smoother. Energetic blocks shift and in doing so enable your mind to move to a greater state of peace and calm.

Whilst it is mainly used as a route to improving physical health, which can also help to relieve depressive conditions, it has been used for thousands of years within India as a method of regulating and enhancing spiritual health. When you are spiritually healthy you are at a point of calm and balance, i.e. negativity disappears and with it disorders that are associated with negative condition.

As such it is well worth locating a good yoga class in your area. The benefits can be great.

Nutrition – Altered Eating Brings Altered Mind

Whilst many people reach for sugar based foods and drinks when they feel down due to the desire of a quick “pick me up” the best thing you can do is actually stay clear of highly sugared products. High incidents of sugar can indeed induce a sugar high, and a greater level of energy. That peaked energy is largely undirected however, and is relatively quickly followed by an energy crash when the sugar has been burnt off. When the sugar crash hits most people spiral deeper than they were before. So what should you do?

This is where healthy food can be incredibly beneficial. Fresh vegetables, brown rice, eggs and fish, all freshly cooked and free from artificial additives, flavours and preservatives can bring a much improved energy flow within your body.

For those really wishing to make big changes detox and body cleansing can bring excellent results. It is possible to go even further than that with programs such as the macrobiotic diet, a practice which creates a perpetual shift in bodily health and can be an incredibly good option for a great many people, it is not for everyone though.

For those that feel the need for meat and sugar within their diet then switching to organic products is advisable. Likewise switching out sugar for honey or maple syrup is good. For those thinking of, and those currently using artificial sweeteners the recommendation is to drop them and switch to honey or Maple syrup or something else that is natural. Artificial sweeteners can be incredibly damaging to your health, and exacerbate a number of conditions.

Neurobehavioral Effects Of Aspartame Consumption.

“Despite its widespread use, the artificial sweetener aspartame remains one of the most controversial food additives, due to mixed evidence on its neurobehavioral effects. Healthy adults who consumed a study-prepared high-aspartame diet (25 mg/kg body weight/day) for 8 days and a low-aspartame diet (10 mg/kg body weight/day) for 8 days, with a 2-week washout between the diets, were examined for within-subject differences in cognition, depression, mood, and headache. Measures included weight of foods consumed containing aspartame, mood and depression scales, and cognitive tests for working memory and spatial orientation. When consuming high-aspartame diets, participants had more irritable mood, exhibited more depression, and performed worse on spatial orientation tests.”
Lindseth GN, Coolahan SE, Petros TV, Lindseth PD.
© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Source Report On NIH

Whilst aspartame is just once of the artificial sweeteners in use there are a great many others, and the tendency is for them to induce negative effects in the main.

Essential Oils – Aromas To Soothe And Clear Your Mind

Widely known for the various effects they have on a great many conditions there are numerous essential oils which have particular benefits relating to the ease of depressive conditions. Lavender essential oil is one of the most widely accepted as yielding good results for treating the condition, largely due to the number of clinical trials which have been conducted for treatments wherein it is the main ingredient.

Lavender Oil Preparation Silexan Is Effective In Generalized Anxiety Disorder--A Randomized, Double-Blind Comparison To Placebo And Paroxetine.

“The anxiolytic efficacy of the orally administered lavender oil preparation Silexan was investigated in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in comparison to placebo and paroxetine. In this randomized, double-blind, double-dummy trial 539 adults with GAD according to DSM-5 criteria and a Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) total score ⩾ 18 points participated and received 160 or 80 mg Silexan, 20 mg paroxetine, or placebo once daily for 10 wk. The primary efficacy endpoint was the HAMA total score reduction between baseline and treatment end. The HAMA total score decreased by 14.1 ± 9.3 points for Silexan 160 mg/d, 12.8 ± 8.7 points for Silexan 80 mg/d, 11.3 ± 8.0 points for paroxetine, and 9.5 ± 9.0 points for placebo (mean ± s.d.). Silexan 160 and 80 mg/d were superior to placebo in reducing the HAMA total score (p < 0.01) whereas paroxetine showed a trend towards significance (p = 0.10) in the full analysis set. The difference between paroxetine and placebo was more pronounced in the analysis of observed cases (HAMA total score reduction: p < 0.01). In the Silexan 160 mg/d group 73/121 patients (60.3%) showed a HAMA total score reduction ⩾ 50% of the baseline value and 56 (46.3%) had a total score <10 points at treatment end, compared to 70/135 (51.9%) and 45 (33.3%) for Silexan 80 mg/d, 57/132 (43.2%) and 45 (34.1%) for paroxetine, and 51/135 (37.8%) and 40 (29.6%) for placebo. In addition, Silexan showed a pronounced antidepressant effect and improved general mental health and health-related quality of life. Incidence densities of adverse events (AEs) were 0.006 AEs/d for Silexan 160 mg/d, 0.008 AEs/d for 80 mg/d, 0.011 AEs/d for paroxetine, and 0.008 AEs/d for placebo. In GAD Silexan is more efficacious than placebo. AE rates for Silexan were comparable to placebo and lower than for the active control paroxetine.”
Kasper S, Gastpar M, Müller WE, Volz HP, Möller HJ, Schläfke S, Dienel A.
Int J Neuropsychopharmacol.
Source Report At NIH

There are indeed a wide set of other oils that have reputable effects, notably from the citrus family with Orange yielding good results and Bergamot yielding even greater results in various cases. The prime issue with the citrus based oils being their tendency to induce photosensitivity, whilst this is only an issue for those going outside it does play against one of the other things which is noted for lifting a persons mood which is time out in the sunshine. Around 30 minutes a day in the sunshine, outdoors, can have a very positive effect on mental and emotional health yet that is often over looked. Citrus oils are therefore good to use on cloudy days when there is little sunshine, alternating to Lavender or another oil when the Sun is prevalent.

Other oils such as Sandalwood, Frankincense, Clary Sage, Rosemary and Ylang Ylang also induce positive benefits in alleviating negativity and aiding you in feeling relaxed, calm and good. In that insomnia and lack of sleep has a tendency to run as a parallel issue with depression it is worth using Geranium or Lavender as an aid to achieving better sleep at night too. Greater depth on this as well as other essential oils which have been long noted as aiding in treating the condition can be found via the essential oils guide.

How To Deal With Depression Effectively And Naturally

Taking a holistic approach when dealing with depression can be a very positive thing to do. Whilst the various methods and approaches have been shared here are all effective in their own way, combining them, or a selection of them together can yield more powerful results than just using one.

The more committed you are to clearing the issue from your life, and the more action that you take in following through on that commitment, the easier it will be for you to clear it quickly and effectively.

Running daily sessions of meditations to aid in getting your mind clear is a very positive thing for you to do. Using resources like the 10 minute meditation videos gives you a positive focus and yields an easy way for you to access good results. Backing this up with the use of brainwave entrainment to aid you in achieving balance and homeostasis. With these things in turn yielding to you a more positive and calm mental and emotional state and thus further strengthening your ability to stride into living a joyful life.

When you carry other things such as ho'oponopono into your daily pattern, clearing thoughts and emotions as you go through your day, preventing issues from compounding and releasing old things too you can shift into an ever stronger state. Combining aromatherapy and essential oil usage with your relaxation or meditation sessions yields you yet greater leverage again. Having good relaxation music to use during these sessions brings added benefit and can help you ease your mind yet further.

Something else which is incredibly simple and yet highly effective also is just deciding to be positive in your life, looking at things in a positive way and keeping yourself in that frame of mind. It requires a degree of self control, as does the maintaining of all positive habits, the benefits of doing so are high though. Laughter is another incredibly effective thing which helps overcome depression, so finding things to laugh about in a positive way on a daily basis is highly recommended.

Special Note

Consult with your medical practitioner to check their thoughts and recommendations regarding using these methods and any treatments you are receiving and to confirm appropriateness for you and your condition.

You Can Overcome It If You Truly Commit Yourself To Doing So

If you are at the point where you really wish to change your life positively, and create a far more positive experience for your daily life then use these methods of how to deal with depression to help you clean up your mental and emotional health. Once you have committed to doing so, and being committed to clearing away the root causes especially, you will find it is actually relatively easy to begin creating and living a joyful life.

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