Depression

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Depression

There’s a big difference between sadness and depression. Everyone feels sad now and then, such as when the family dog dies or a romantic relationship falls apart.

But depression is far more serious. It’s a clinical psychological condition marked by extreme feelings of dejection, lack of confidence and melancholy. Unlike sadness or temporary feelings of grief, depression lingers. depression also takes a financial toll, costing $44 billion a year in treatment and lost productivity.

Experts believe that one in ten men and one in four women will suffer from severe depression at some point in their lives. Drugs and psychotherapy may be the treatments you’re most familiar with. But the natural remedies in this chapter—used in conjunction with medical care and with your doctor’s approval—may help relieve some of the symptoms of depression, according to some health professionals.

See Your Medical Doctor When...   You experience at least four of these symptoms for at least two weeks: Feelings of guilt, worthlessness and/or helplessness Thoughts of death or suicide Restlessness or irritability Difficulty concentrating, remembering or making decisions Decreased energy or fatigue Loss of interest in ordinary activities, including sex Persistent sadness, anxiousness or emptiness Sleep problems, including insomnia, oversleeping or waking up   too early Changes in appetite or weight gain/loss Feelings of hopelessness or pessimism

Acupressure

Acupressure can help calm and balance your emotions during times of distress, says Michael Reed Gach, Ph.D., director of the Acupressure Institute in Berkeley, California, and author of Acupressure’s Potent Points. He suggests pressing the B 38 points, located between the shoulder blades and the spine, at the level of the heart. (For help in locating these points, refer to the illustration on page 565.) To apply pressure on these points, Dr. Gach says to lie on your back, placing two tennis balls on the floor underneath your upper back between your shoulder blades. (If you wish, place a thick towel, folded in half, over the tennis balls, he says.) Then close your eyes and breathe deeply for a few minutes.

Aromatherapy

Inhaling an uplifting scent is a wonderful therapy, says Los Angeles aromatic consultant John Steele. He recommends floral oils such as rose, jasmine, neroli, melissa and ylang ylang and citrus oils such as grapefruit, lime, mandarin and bergamot. “Choose one that appeals to you,” Steele says. “If you have a bad association with a particular fragrance, it may only make matters worse.” He suggests inhaling the fragrance directly from the bottle, adding three or four drops of your favorite to a tissue or handkerchief and inhaling or adding six to ten drops to a warm bath. For a massage, he says, use ten drops of any one of these oils.

For information on preparing and administering essential oils, including cautions about their use, see page 19. For information on purchasing essential oils, refer to the resource list on page 633.

Ayurveda

Vata depression is associated with fear and anxiety; pitta, with fear of failure, losing control or making mistakes; and kapha, with fatigue and weight gain, says Vasant Lad, B.A.M.S., M.A.Sc., director of the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Pitta types are also most susceptible to seasonal affective disorder, he says. (For more information on the Ayurvedic doshas, turn to “All about Vata, Pitta and Kapha” on page 28.) In each case, the first step in healing the depression is to modify the diet to reduce the aggravated dosha, says Dr. Lad. (See page 30 for information on dosha diets.)

For vata depression, Dr. Lab says to rub sesame oil (available in most health food stores) on the scalp and into the soles of the feet for five minutes before your morning shower, washing it off in the shower. He also suggests putting three to five drops of brahmi ghee in each nostril with an eyedropper twice a day—once in the morning and again in the evening. (Brahmi ghee, an Ayurvedic food and medicine, is available by mail order; refer to the resource list on page 634.) He also recommends sipping ginger tea or gotu kola tea (available in tea bag form in most health food stores) during the day. Exercise helps too, he adds. “Take a walk through a garden,” he says, “and look at the flowers.”

For pitta depression, Dr. Lad recommends a different type of oil—coconut or sunflower (which are also available in most health food stores). He says to rub it into the scalp and the soles of the feet for five minutes before your morning shower, washing it off in the shower. The teas he recommends for this type of depression are gotu kola and ginkgo (also available in tea bag form in most health food stores); he says to drink them twice a day. He also suggests yoga meditation for this depression (see page 153 for information on yoga meditation techniques).

For kapha depression, Dr. Lad recommends regular exercise, eating light foods and engaging in mental activity or yoga meditation.

If your depression does not respond to these remedies within a few days, Dr. Lad says you should see your doctor.

Flower Remedy/Essence Therapy

Flower remedies are useful in dealing with a number of conditions often associated with mild depression, says herbalist Leslie J. Kaslof, author of The Traditional Flower Remedies of Dr. Edward Bach. “Mustard is wonderful for people experiencing gloom and despair,” Kaslof says. “Wild Rose is more beneficial for people who have lost interest in life, who have become apathetic and have stopped caring about anything—something many mildly depressed people experience.”

For depression that results from difficulty in adjusting to change, try the Bach flower remedy Walnut, suggests Eve Campanelli, Ph.D., a holistic family practitioner in Beverly Hills, California. “Los Angeles is full of comic screenwriters who are very depressed, and they find Walnut especially helpful.”

Flower remedies are available in some health food stores and through mail order (refer to the resource list on page 635). For information on preparing and administering flower remedies, see page 37.

Food Therapy

The first step is to eliminate sugar, processed foods, caffeinated foods and alcohol, all of which can worsen depression because of their effects on the body’s biochemistry, says David Edelberg, M.D., an internist and medical director of the American Holistic Center/Chicago. He also suggests using the food sensitivity diet (see “Food Sensitivity: How to Discover the ‘Healthy’ Foods That Can Cause Disease” on page 52) to eliminate any foods that might have a role in causing depression. And he recommends an herbal supplement: one capsule of Saint-John’s-wort, three times a day, which he says can help boost mood. Saint-John’s-wort is available in most health food stores.

“I would suggest eating more foods that are high in protein—things such as turkey, chicken and fish,” says Allan Magaziner, D.O., a nutritional medicine specialist and head of the Magaziner Medical Center in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. “These foods contain high levels of compounds that help produce neurotransmitters, which can elevate mood and increase energy.”

Herbal Therapy

Saint-John’s-wort is widely used in Europe as a natural alternative to antidepressant drugs, says Varro E. Tyler, Ph.D., professor of pharmacognosy at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Scientific studies on animals show that ingredients in the herb can stimulate brain cells.) To make a medicinal tea using St.-John’s-wort (which you can find in some health food stores), Dr. Tyler says to pour one cup of boiling water over one to two heaping teaspoons of the dried herb. Allow the mixture to steep for ten minutes, strain out the dried herb, let the tea cool to a drinkable temperature, then drink a cup or two daily, he suggests.

Results are gradual, says Dr. Tyler; it may take four to six weeks before you notice a positive change in your mood. And he adds this note of caution: Some fair-skinned people become sensitive to the sun’s ultraviolet rays when they take Saint-John’s-wort. They should avoid all unnecessary sun exposure when using this remedy, he says, and if they must be out in the sun, they should be sure to use a sunblock on all exposed areas.

Homeopathy

In his book The Family Guide to Homeopathy, Andrew Lockie, M.D., suggests taking a 6C dose of one of following remedies three times daily for up to 14 days to treat mild depression.

If you feel restless, chilly and exhausted and are obsessively neat and tidy, try Arsenicum, says Dr. Lockie. He advises taking Pulsatilla if you burst into tears with little provocation or if you crave a lot of reassurance and attention. If you feel irritable and find fault with everyone around you, Dr. Lockie says to try Nux Vomica. If you feel irritable, weepy and chilly and your sex drive has disappeared, take Sepia, he says.

All of these remedies are available in many health food stores. To purchase the remedies by mail, refer to the resource list on page 637.

Imagery

If you’re mildly depressed, doing an imagery exercise called the trapeze of hope may help brighten your outlook, says Elizabeth Ann Barrett, R.N., Ph.D., professor and coordinator of the Center for Nursing Research at Hunter College of the City University of New York in New York City.

Imagine that you are a trapeze artist standing high in the air on a platform. Now see yourself swinging from the left on a trapeze bar. From the right, see another trapeze bar swinging toward you. Keep swinging and building up your momentum. When you’re ready, let go of the old bar, and reach out and catch the new one. See yourself landing safely on the other platform. Grab a golden rope and lower yourself to the ground. Tie the golden rope around yourself and someone you love. Now see both of you standing in a golden light.

Dr. Barrett suggests practicing this imagery first thing in the morning, then up to twice more at any time during the day as needed. Do this for 21 days in a row, she says, then discontinue the imagery for one week. Then repeat the cycle, if necessary.

Reflexology

To deal with depression, New York City reflexologist Laura Norman, author of Feet First: A Guide to Foot Reflexology, recommends a two-part session for your hands or feet. On one day, she says, work the solar plexus, diaphragm, chest, lung, shoulder, arm, neck, heart, pancreas and thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal gland reflex points as well as all of the points on the tops and bottoms of the toes, paying special attention to the brain and pituitary gland. (To work the toes, use whichever technique you find most comfortable.) Also work the hypothalamus points on the feet. The next day, she says, switch to the shoulder/arm, neck and throat points. Also work the breast/chest and thymus points on the feet.

To help you locate these points, consult the hand and foot reflex charts beginning on page 582. For instructions on how to work the points, see “Your Reflexology Session” on page 110.

Relaxation and Meditation

To overcome the blues, try a daily ten-minute session of thermal biofeedback, suggests Steven Fahrion, Ph.D., director of research at the Life Sciences Institute of Mind-Body Health in Topeka, Kansas.

“To fight off depression, you need to do something that is active and that gives you a sense of control,” Dr. Fahrion says. “Using the thermal technique is something concrete. You can see yourself making progress, and you get a sense of accomplishment from it.” To learn more about it, see page 121.

Sound Therapy

Slow, relaxing music helps some people deal with the root causes of their depression, such as anger, frustration, sadness or anxiety, says Janalea Hoffman, R.M.T., a composer and music therapist based in Kansas City, Missouri. Listening to the music for at least 20 minutes each day can help slow down your heart rate and other body functions and can help you focus on your feelings, she says. Hoffman says you can try her tape, called Deep Daydreams. For other selections, see “Sailing Away to Key Largo” on page 129. Many of these are available from music stores. For mail-order information, refer to the resource list on page 642.

Yoga

Meditation and yoga poses can help you attack the main source of depression: the feeling that you can’t handle the demands of your life, says Alice Christensen, founder and executive director of the American Yoga Association. She recommends a daily yoga routine that includes 30 minutes of meditation (see page 153) and at least 20 minutes of poses, focusing on these four: dancer (page 609), windmill (page 610), knee squeeze (page 612) and lion (page 623). These poses help improve blood circulation, she explains, making it easier to break through the lethargy that often accompanies depression.

See also Grief