Treating Depression Right

Before getting into details on how to stop depression in a natural way of eating right food and doing the right exercises,lets understand about depression and what causes it,and how to help depression go away in long term.


Understanding Depression

Feeling down from time to time is a normal part of life. But when emptiness and despair take hold and won't go away, it may be depression. More than just the temporary "blues," the lows of depression make it tough to function and enjoy life like you once did. Hobbies and friends don’t interest you like they used to; you’re exhausted all the time; and just getting through the day can be overwhelming. When you’re depressed, things may feel hopeless, but with help and support you can get better. But first, you need to understand depression. Learning about depression—including its signs, symptoms, causes, and treatment—is the first step to overcoming the problem.

Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness:
A bleak outlook—nothing will ever get better and there’s nothing you can do to improve your situation.
Loss of interest in daily activities:
No interest in former hobbies, pastimes, social activities, or sex. You’ve lost your ability to feel joy and pleasure.
Appetite or weight changes: Significant weight loss or weight gain—a change of more than 5% of body weight in a month.
Sleep changes: Either insomnia, especially waking in the early hours of the morning, or oversleeping (also known as hypersomnia).
Irritability or restlessness: Feeling agitated, restless, or on edge. Your tolerance level is low; everything and everyone gets on your nerves.
Loss of energy:Feeling fatigued, sluggish, and physically drained. Your whole body may feel heavy, and even small tasks are exhausting or take longer to complete.
Self-loathing: Strong feelings of worthlessness or guilt. You harshly criticize yourself for perceived faults and mistakes.
Concentration problems:Trouble focusing, making decisions, or remembering things.
Unexplained aches and pains: An increase in physical complaints such as headaches, back pain, aching muscles, and stomach pain

Depression is a major risk factor for suicide. The deep despair and hopelessness that goes along with depression can make suicide feel like the only way to escape the pain. Thoughts of death or suicide are a serious symptom of depression, so take any suicidal talk or behavior seriously. It's not just a warning sign that the person is thinking about suicide: it's a cry for help.

Warning signs of suicide include:

* Talking about killing or harming one’s self
* Expressing strong feelings of hopelessness or being trapped
* An unusual preoccupation with death or dying
* Acting recklessly, as if they have a death wish (e.g. speeding through red lights)
* A sudden switch from being extremely depressed to acting calm and happy.


If you think a friend or family member is considering suicide, express your concern and seek professional help immediately. Talking openly about suicidal thoughts and feelings can save a life.

Depression in different people:

Depression often looks different in men and women, and in young people and older adults. An awareness of these differences helps ensure that the problem is recognized and treated.

Depression in Men:

Depressed men are less likely than women to acknowledge feelings of self-loathing and hopelessness. Instead, they tend to complain about fatigue, irritability, sleep problems, and loss of interest in work and hobbies. Other signs and symptoms of depression in men include anger, aggression, violence, reckless behavior, and substance abuse. Even though depression rates for women are twice as high as those in men, men are a higher suicide risk, especially older men. Depression in older adults is associated with poor health, a high mortality rate, and an increased risk of suicide, so diagnosis and treatment are extremely important.

Depression in Women:

Rates of depression in women are twice as high as they are in men. This is due in part to hormonal factors, particularly when it comes to premenstrual syndrome (PMS), premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), postpartum depression, and perimenopausal depression. As for signs and symptoms, women are more likely than men to experience pronounced feelings of guilt, sleep excessively, overeat, and gain weight. Women are also more likely to suffer from seasonal affective disorder.


Different types of Depression:


Bipolar Disorder: When Depression is Just One Side of the Coin

Bipolar Disorder: Signs, Symptoms, and Causes of Manic DepressionBipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, is characterized by cycling mood changes. Episodes of depression alternate with manic episodes, which can include impulsive behavior, hyperactivity, rapid speech, and little to no sleep. Typically, the switch from one mood extreme to the other is gradual, with each manic or depressive episode lasting for at least several weeks. When depressed, a person with bipolar disorder exhibits the usual symptoms of major depression. However, the treatments for bipolar depression are very different. In fact, antidepressants can make bipolar depression worse. For more info goto http://www.webmd.com/bipolar-disorder/bipolar-tv/default.htm


Major depression

Major depression is characterized by the inability to enjoy life and experience pleasure. The symptoms are constant, ranging from moderate to severe. Left untreated, major depression typically lasts for about six months. Some people experience just a single depressive episode in their lifetime, but more commonly, major depression is a recurring disorder. However, there are many things you can do to support your mood and reduce the risk of recurrence.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)

There’s a reason why so many movies and books portray rainy days and stormy weather as gloomy. Some people get depressed in the fall or winter, when overcast days are frequent and sunlight is limited. This type of depression is called seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Light therapy, a treatment that involves exposure to bright artificial light, often helps relieve symptoms.

Atypical Depression

Atypical depression is a common subtype of major depression. It features a specific symptom pattern, including a temporary mood lift in response to positive events. You may feel better after receiving good news or while out with friends. However, this boost in mood is fleeting. Atypical depression responds better to some therapies and medications than others, so identifying this subtype can be particularly helpful.

How to recover depression:

Just as the symptoms and causes of depression are different in different people, so are the ways to feel better. What works for one person might not work for another, and no one treatment is appropriate in all cases. If you recognize the signs of depression in yourself or a loved one, take some time to explore the many treatment options. In most cases, the best approach involves a combination of social support, lifestyle changes, emotional skills building, and professional help.

Ask for help and support

Ask for help and supportIf even the thought of tackling your depression seems overwhelming, don’t panic. Feeling helpless and hopeless is a symptom of depression—not the reality of your situation. It does not mean that you’re weak or you can’t change! Having a strong support system in place will speed your recovery. Isolation fuels depression, so reach out to others, even when you feel like being alone.

Make healthy lifestyle changes

Lifestyle changes are not always easy to make, but they can have a big impact on depression. Lifestyle changes that can be very effective include:

* Cultivating supportive relationships
* Getting regular exercise and sleep
* Eating healthfully to naturally boost mood
* Managing stress
* Practicing relaxation techniques
* Challenging negative thought patterns

Seek professional help

If support from family and friends, positive lifestyle changes, and emotional skills building aren’t enough, seek help from a mental health professional. There are many effective treatments for depression, including therapy, medication, and alternative treatments. Learning about your options will help you decide what measures are most likely to work best for your particular situation and needs.


Are antidepressants right for you?

Medication can help relieve the symptoms of depression in some people, but they aren’t a cure and they come with drawbacks of their own. Learning the facts about antidepressants and weighing the benefits against the risks can help you make an informed and personal decision about whether medication is right for you.

If you’re suffering from major depression, antidepressant medication, used under the guidance of a mental health professional, may relieve some of your symptoms. But antidepressants aren’t a silver bullet for depression. Medication doesn’t cure the underlying problem and is rarely a long-term solution. Not only do antidepressants come with significant side effects and dangers, but recent studies have also raised questions about their effectiveness.

Learning the facts about antidepressants and weighing the benefits against the risks can help you make an informed and personal decision about whether medication is right for you.

Common side effects of SSRI antidepressants:
* Anxiety
* Restlessness
* Dizziness
* Weight gain or loss
* Tremors
* Sweating
* Sleepiness
* Fatigue
* Dry mouth
* Diarrhea
* Constipation
* Headaches

Antidepressant warning signs

* Suicidal thoughts or attempts
* New or worse depression, anxiety, irritability
* Feeling agitated or restless
* Difficulty sleeping
* Aggression and anger
* Acting on dangerous impulses
* Other unusual changes in behavior

There is a danger that, in some people, antidepressant treatment will cause an increase, rather than a decrease, in depression and with it, an increased risk of suicide.

How to treat depression for long term:

So the best and safe way to treat depression is through giving the right food to the body, doing yoga especially meditation to calm the nerves and mind ,and finally setting a positive environment.

What the body needs:

The body needs some positive energy which comes through positive food that we intake and meditation.Which is also called as Prathyahara in Yoga Sutra written by the founder of yoga 'Patanjali' during India's Mauryan Period.He fills the sutra with his experiential intelligence which is priceless .

Food plays an important role in our day to day life, without which humans cannot exist in this planet. So that food helps us or destroys us depending on what we eat.


Foods for beating depression


Fish oils: Contain omega-3 fatty acids. Research has shown that depressed people often lack a fatty acid known as EPA. Participants in a 2002 study featured in the Archives of General Psychiatry took just a gram of fish oil each day and noticed a 50-percent decrease in symptoms such as anxiety, sleep disorders, unexplained feelings of sadness, suicidal thoughts, and decreased sex drive. Omega-3 fatty acids can also lower cholesterol and improve cardiovascular health. Get omega-3s through walnuts, flaxseed and oily fish like salmon or tuna.

Another top food for delivering imega-3 fatty acids is chia, and we currently recommend two sources for chia seeds:


Brown Rice: Contains vitamins B1 and B3, and folic acid. Brown rice is also a low-glycemic food, which means it releases glucose into the bloodstream gradually, preventing sugar lows and mood swings. Brown rice also provides many of the trace minerals we need to function properly, as well as being a high-fiber food that can keep the digestive system healthy and lower cholesterol. Instant varieties of rice do not offer these benefits. Any time you see "instant" on a food label, avoid it.

Brewer's Yeast: Contains vitamins B1, B2 and B3. Brewer's yeast should be avoided if you do not tolerate yeast well, but if you do, mix a thimbleful into any smoothie for your daily dose. This superfood packs a wide assortment of vitamins and minerals in a small package, including 16 amino acids and 14 minerals. Amino acids are vital for the nervous system, which makes brewer's yeast a no-brainer for treating depression.

Whole-grain oats: Contain folic acid, pantothenic acid and vitamins B6 and B1. Oats help lower cholesterol, are soothing to the digestive tract and help avoid the blood sugar crash-and-burn that can lead to crabbiness and mood swings. Other whole grains such as kamut, spelt and quinoa are also excellent choices for delivering brain-boosting nutrients and avoiding the pitfalls of refined grains such as white flour.

Cabbage: Contains vitamin C and folic acid. Cabbage protects against stress, infection and heart disease, as well as many types of cancers, according to the American Association for Cancer Research. There are numerous ways to get cabbage into your diet; toss it in a salad instead of lettuce, use cabbage in place of lettuce wraps, stir fry it in your favorite Asian dish, make some classic cabbage soup or juice it. To avoid gas after eating cabbage, add a few fennel, caraway or cumin seeds before cooking. Cabbage is also a good source of blood-sugar-stabilizing fiber, and the raw juice of cabbage is a known cure for stomach ulcers.

Also worth mentioning: Foods like raw cacao, dark molasses and brazil nuts (high in selenium) are also excellent for boosting brain function and eliminating depression.

Cashew Nuts:Cashew nuts are rich source of vitamin B complex. This stimulates the appetite and ensures body for the activeness and energy levels.

Vitamin B:The B-complex vitamins are essential to mental and emotional well-being. They cannot be stored in our bodies, so we depend entirely on our daily diet to supply them. B vitamins are destroyed by alcohol, refined sugars, nicotine, and caffeine so it is no surprise that many people may be deficient in these.

Here's a rundown of recent finding about the relationship of B-complex vitamins to depression:

Vitamin B1 (thiamine): The brain uses this vitamin to help convert glucose, or blood sugar, into fuel, and without it the brain rapidly runs out of energy. This can lead to fatigue, depression, irritability, anxiety, and even thoughts of suicide. Deficiencies can also cause memory problems, loss of appetite, insomnia, and gastrointestinal disorders. The consumption of refined carbohydrates, such as simple sugars, drains the body's B1 supply.Vitamin B1 is found in cashew nuts, oats, oranges, rice and yeast.

Vitamin B3 (niacin):Deficiencies of vitamin B3 can produce agitation and anxiety, as well as mental and physical slowness. Almonds, organ meats, whole grains, wild rice, mushrooms, soybeans, milk, yogurt, eggs and various green vegetables are all good sources of riboflavin.
Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid): Symptoms of deficiency are fatigue, chronic stress, and depression. Vitamin B5 is needed for hormone formation and the uptake of amino acids and the brain chemical acetylcholine, which combine to prevent certain types of depression.
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine): This vitamin aids in the processing of amino acids, which are the building blocks of all proteins and some hormones. It is needed in the manufacture of serotonin, melatonin and dopamine. Vitamin B6 deficiencies, although very rare, cause impaired immunity, skin lesions, and mental confusion. Vitamin B6, or pyridoxine, is commonly found in grains, legumes, vegetables potatoes, dairy products, eggs, fish, liver, meat and flour.

Vitamin B12: Because vitamin B12 is important to red blood cell formation, deficiency leads to an oxygen-transport problem known as pernicious anemia. This disorder can cause mood swings, paranoia, irritability, confusion, dementia, hallucinations, or mania, eventually followed by appetite loss, dizziness, weakness, shortage of breath, heart palpitations, diarrhea, and tingling sensations in the extremities.
Folic acid: This B vitamin is needed for DNA synthesis.

A variety of supplements are also available to supply the body with a combination of all the B vitamins. These supplements can help supply you with B vitamins not received through food, and help growth, development and other functions.

Food to Avoid

Keeping all of the following items to a minimum or avoiding entirely will encourage and promote rapid healing and bringing the body back to balance:

1) White sugar and flour, including all wheat (gluten is linked to depression)
2) All soda pops and carbonated beverages
(deplete us rapidly of nutrients and strength)
3) Caffeine, alcohol, nicotine
4) Foods additives such as MSG, dyes, artificial sweeteners
(well disguised on labels)
5) Processed dairy products (unless you can obtain free range organic)
6) Animal products (unless you can obtain free range organic)
7) Chemicals such as chlorine, drugs, medications, nicotine
8) Bad fats such as margarine, lard, anything deep fried.
9) Anything microwaved

Lets see how Meditation helps Depression:

"Back in 1985, Amy Weintraub’s therapist told her that, psychically, she would always have empty pockets. "And I visualized myself, like Virginia Woolf," she wrote, "filling those empty pockets with stones and stepping into the river." Instead, through yoga practice, she filled them with fresh air and divine light, and slowly pulled her way out of her chronic depression, an accomplishment that transformed her and changed her life."

Meditation is a term covering a wide variety of ways in which we can work directly or indirectly with our mental states to effect desired change. It is based on the recognition that with awareness we can to some extent choose how to respond to circumstances. We all have experience of this. You might realize that we are getting impatient and irritable, and decide to relax, letting go physically and emotionally.

Meditation gives you something that nothing else can:
It introduces you to yourself on all levels. Self-Realization comes through the three streams of Yoga meditation of the Yoga Sutras.

Meditation will bring you:

* Peace of mind, calmness, and a sense of well being
* Better relationships, better health, and a better life
* Personal, philosophical, and spiritual insights
* The direct experience of your eternal center of being

The benefits of meditation are your birthright, whether you are Buddhist, Christian, Confucian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Taoist, follow some other religion, or none at all.

Attitudes reduce the veils: Yoga and Vedanta both suggest attitudes to cultivate for removing the mental and emotional blocks that veil the joy of the true Self. Each of these can be the subject of meditation and contemplation as well as being practiced in daily life. Attitudes meditations are foundations for the subtler meditations.

Meditation on attitudes: To meditate or contemplate on one of these attitudes sit in your meditation posture or simply relax in a comfortable position. Close your eyes and allow your attention to gently rest in the space between the breasts or the space between the eyebrows. Allow that one attitude to arise in the field of thoughts and feelings, cultivating a positive relationship with that attitude. Hold that attention for some time. Since many attitudes relate to other people or objects, those too may come into the mind field as objects of focus, along with the attitude.

For further info go to: http://www.swamij.com/index-yoga-meditation-meditation.htm