Proven Ways To Overcome Depression Without Medication
Are you suffering from depression and want to combat it without medication? Dont worry!, here I have mentioned 4 proven ways that will help you out to overcome your depression without using a single medicine. Yes, you can get relieved from this mental illness no matter at what stage you are now . According to the National Institute of Mental Health , there may be various reasons for depressive episodes, including inheritance, stress, certain medication abuse, and it varies from person to person. So without wasting time lets begin and I hope these will definitely enable you to get into a happy and healthy life again!
Get Rid Of Traumas From Childhood And Previous Lives
Your unconscious mind is doing many things without asking for your permission. The main reason is to protect you.
But in a person with traumas from their childhood the unconscious will do many things against the persons happiness. Similar with traumas from previous lives.
I have found that most times we can relate panic attacks and depression to traumatic events. In many cases, sexual abuse trauma.
Almost every person with an abuse history will develop depression.
But dont be mistaken, even a person without a history of abuse can also develop depression.
You can find more information it on my page about How to Overcome Sexual Abuse. If you have kids or are a victim of sexual abuse, I recommend that page.
There are several ways to treat traumas. Some more effective than others.
I use Hypnosis, Energy Healing, and Past Life Regressions to help my clients to overcome their traumas.
This approach has proven to be effective, but you can use your favorite one. The important task is to heal the traumas.
How Can I Know Whether I Need A Spiritual Cleansing
A simple test can help you find whether you are suffering from spiritual possession.
Ask yourself the following questions:
If you answer Yes to 4 or more of these questions, you may suffer from spiritual possession.
In that case you should try to figure out how to overcome depression.
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Reframe Negative Thoughts Into Positive Ones
When someone is depressed, their mind will usually automate to the worst possible scenario or feeling. And even if its completely irrational you wont recognise this and are likely to be swept up in the negative whirlwind. People who arent depressed struggle with this on a daily basis too.
The solution to this is awareness. Practice becoming more aware of your thoughts. Recognise that these thoughts are not you, you are not your thoughts.
Once youre aware of them, you then have the power to change them.
If you find yourself thinking, theres no point in going outside today, you might swap this for, being in fresh air and with nature will make me feel better once Im out there.
Remember, you always have the power to let go of thoughts that arent serving you, and swap them for empowering ones.
What Are Some Known Or Possible Causes Of Depression
The most commonly known triggers for depression are things like trauma, grief, financial troubles, relationship breakup, unemployment, or a big move to another city. Then there are poor sibling relationships, dysfunctional families, or a lack of purpose in life.
There is a genetic component with depression. So if youre parents are depressed, well guess what, you now have a higher likelihood of being depressed, not to mention being around depressing parents isnt probably helping either.
If youre reading this website, however, Im sure a lot of you have looked into those things and still find yourself depressed. Or, what if none of those things apply to you? Is it possible to have depression for no reason?
Other notable causes can be things like SAD, or seasonal affective disorder. This is where someone gets depressed in the winter. Shockingly, they now say that for less than 1% of SAD sufferers, it can even strike someone in the summer.
There are people who dont react well to birth control pills and find themselves feeling depressed as a result. There are other medications where the one of the possible side effects listed on the bottle is depression.
If you abuse substances, it is possible to find yourself depressed. If you have a sudden stressful event, it can put you in a depression
Are you getting the point? There are a lot of possible explanations for depression and we havent even skimmed the surface yet!
So what can a person do?!
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Consider Why You Might Feel Depressed
Depression can often be triggered by something going on in our lives that is a particularly large source of stress or unhappiness.
Be honest with yourself about any imbalances in your life.
Are you feeling unappreciated or exhausted at work?
Is your marriage failing, but youre not ready to admit you need to walk away?
Are you feeling sexually or spiritually unfulfilled?
Is your body out of shape or in pain, and unable to function properly?
Are you on birth control , and could this be the cause of your depression?
Are you having financial issues and constantly worrying about money?
One of the best ways to overcome depression naturally without medication is to get to the root cause of your depression. Because theres always a root cause.
Medication deals with symptoms, and is rarely able to heal the root of depression.
Give Yourself An Exit Strategy
Sometimes, anxiety is due to feeling out of control. You cant always be in the driver seat of your life, but you can take steps to identify your triggers and cope with circumstances that cause anxiety.
Does the thought of going into a social situation or meeting new people make you want to jump off a bridge? As everyone at a party engages in exciting conversations, maybe you see yourself holding up the wall and counting down the seconds until youre put out of your misery. You drove with friends and cant leave, so you spend the entire night looking like the punchbowl attendant. Its this fear that makes you decline invitations and sleep through the weekends.
But what if you had an exit strategy in place before leaving the house? For example, instead of carpooling with your party animal friends, you could drive yourself. This way, you can leave if your anxiety starts to build and you cant handle another minute of awkward interactions. The more in control you feel, the less anxiety youll have.
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Ok Im Feeling Depressed So Now What
Now that you know the symptoms of depression, some positive coping skills can be useful. All of the following techniques are supported by scientific research and medication prescribers like psychiatrists and these skills are frequently recommended as important parts of treatment even for patients who continue to take antidepressant medications.
WARNING: Do not suddenly go off your prescribed antidepressant medications without first talking to your medical provider. Discuss any questions or concerns about the side effects of your medications with your provider.
What To Eat To Treat Depression
The best way to start treating depressive symptoms is to add:
- Vegetables
- Nuts
- Seeds
to your diet. It will actually decrease depression, because a well-nourished body is better at handling stress, recovering from illnesses and difficult life events.World-leading expert on diet and mental health, Professor Felice N Jacka at the Department of Psychiatry at Deakin University, has studied the effects of the traditional Mediterranean diet on depression. The antidepressant diet includes whole grains, fish, vegetables, fruit, berries, nuts, seeds and, of course, the unrivaled cold pressed olive oil.Professor Jacka and her colleagues conducted the SMILES trial in 2017. It showed that 30% of depressed participants recovered from depression just by changing their eating habits. It means that you can too. If you want to know exactly what and how much to eat and what to avoid to reduce depressive symptoms, check out the free therapy app from Flow Neuroscience: . Its a complete treatment programme for depression, including facts, exercises and helpful tools for how to treat depression with the antidepressant diet.Or, read more about how your diet can help you recover from depression in this article: An easily digested guide to diet and depression.Now, lets move on to our next medication-free depression treatment.
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Do Something You Enjoy
Depression can push you to give into your fatigue. It may feel more powerful than happy emotions.
Try to push back and do something you love something thats relaxing, but energizing. It could be playing an instrument, painting, hiking, or biking.
These activities can provide subtle lifts in your mood and energy, which may help you overcome your symptoms.
Research suggests people who spend time in nature have improved mental health.
Exposure to sunlight may offer some of the same benefits. It can increase your serotonin levels, which can provide a temporary mood boost .
Consider taking a walk at lunch among the trees or spending some time in your local park. Or plan a weekend hike. These activities can help you reconnect with nature and soak in some rays at the same time.
I Implement A Daily Self
After realizing the importance of the BIG SIX and seeing how necessary PROPER self-care was to my happiness I created a daily self-care routine and my goodness did it work wonders.
I actually wrote a full post just on this routine which you can read here, but if you just want a super quick insight into my daily self-care routine checklist then this is what was on it:
1- Take medication
2- Drink plenty of water
3- East actual food
4- Go for a walk outside for 30 mins
5- Socialize with another human being
6- Spend 10 mins cleaning or tidying area
7- Plan the next day
8- Go to sleep at a reasonable time
A free, printable gift to help improve your mental health!
Its such a quick little method and honestly it worked wonders for me both when my depression was really bad and even once I got over depression, and turning it into a checklist so I could just tick each item off each day was a real game changer.
And Ive made my daily self-care checklist available as a free gift for you to download!
That way you can go over the daily self-care routine yourself and hopefully that will really help you implement those self-care practices that make the biggest difference in combating depression and improving your mental health.
Plus the checklist actually comes with some bonus planning your day printables and theyre just really fun to get your planning on and get your days organized!
GRAB YOUR FREE DAILY SELF-CARE CHECKLIST HERE
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Am I Depressed Or Just Sad
Sadness is an infrequent and temporary mood that comes and goes.
It is difficult to engage in regular activities while you are sad. Still you can get through the day.
When you are sad, the things you love doing can change your mood. Spending time with family and friends and other distractions will make you happy.
If you are in depression, you do not need a specific reason to be unhappy. You feel miserable about everything for no reason, and it happens most days for two weeks or longer.
Depression makes everything less enjoyable and difficult and nothing cheers you up.
Not even the things you used to enjoy doing.
You should learn how to overcome depression if you lack the motivation to do normal things. Even when you are obligated as with your job.
Strategies For Treating Depression Without Medication
Verywell / CSong
In the Ask a Therapist series, Ill be answering your questions about all things mental health and psychology. Whether you are struggling with a mental health condition, coping with anxiety about a life situation, or simply looking for a therapist’s insight, submit a question. Look out for my answers to your questions every Friday in the Healthy Mind newsletter.
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Tips On How To Manage Anxiety
The best way to combat anxiety is to commit to a comprehensive treatment program. Overcoming anxiety needs to be a lifestyle, meaning that it is something you work towards on a consistent basis. Think about the last time you wanted to get fit for the summer. You knew you had to exercise, but you couldnt just do it sporadically it required consistent healthy eating and exercise to achieve your fitness goals. This is the same with managing anxiety.
That being said, there are various tactics that can help you better manage anxiety and can be integrated into your life at home, without medical intervention.
Cognitive behavioral therapy and other forms of talk therapy can be useful, but the following represent how to overcome anxiety without medicine.
So Whats The Solution
Lets not ignore the fact that depression is a serious mental health problem, and many people suffering from it will need treatment to get better.
But there are some ways to overcome depression without medication, and prevent or fight depressive symptoms. This can be in tandem with medication, or without it.
Its likely you wont feel motivated to do any of the things on this list if youre depressed. Remember that its normal to feel this way. But also remember that its worth trying something new and making changes in your life now more than ever. Even if your mind tells you it wont work, be open to change.
Try and do as many of these things each day as possibleall of them if you can. But dont allow this list to overwhelm you and be another thing you feel like youre failing at. Focus on building these ideas and practices into your everyday routine. Make it enjoyable, have fun with it.
A gentle reminder: Dont ditch your prescribed medication without consulting your doctor. And if medication works for you, then stick with it. But its worth giving these a try too.
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Know That Today Isnt Indicative Of Tomorrow
Todays mood, emotions, or thoughts dont belong to tomorrow.
If you were unsuccessful at getting out of bed or accomplishing your goals today, remember that you havent lost tomorrows opportunity to try again.
Give yourself the grace to accept that while some days will be difficult, some days will also be great. Try to look forward to tomorrows fresh start.
Managing Anxiety Vs Curing It
There is a considerable difference between managing anxiety and curing anxiety. Managing anxiety does not mean it no longer exists. It means that you have learned skills or utilized medications to bring your symptoms under better control.
Most individuals can learn to manage their anxiety. Curing anxiety insinuates that you will likely never suffer from anxiety again. Anxiety is just like most chronic illnesses there is rarely a cure, but almost always a way to manage it.
Manifestation As A Healing Tool
During the last decade, they have bombarded us with information about manifestation. About how we create our reality out of our thoughts, but how much do we believe?
All of us have seen it. Observe your thoughts and you will see how they are shaping your life.
The optimist person lives a life of fulfillment. He thinks God is in charge of his life and everything will be fine. And he is right.
Pessimistic people have reasons to believe life is against them. And guess what? They are also right.
They gave us a mind like the one who created everything. God created us like Himself. We think and we create.
This became common knowledge with the movie and book The Secret. But most people tried the techniques taught by the movie and their situation became worse.
The reason is that the movie teaches something simple for the ones who connected to the Source.
It is however difficult for the ones without that connection.
Developing that connection should be your priority.
Then manifesting a healthy life with prosperity, and love becomes a possibility.
I Massively Reduced My Decision Fatigue
Itâs because they donât want to spend their decision-making energy on thinking and making choices about things that just arenât important.
You see we all have limited brain energy each day before we have to veg out and recharge. Some people can only do a couple of hours while others can do 12 plus
But at some point we just run out of steam. This is when we start making bad decisions, like a takeaway or nothing for dinner, or deciding to watch Netflix until 4am. We just didnât have the energy to make decisions anymore, or at least good decisions.
This is why routines and good habits are so important. They stop you from having to decide what you are going to do next.
I mean imagine how exhausted you would be if you consciously thought through every decision related to your morning shower.
- What time should I get in the shower?
- How warm should I have the water?
- How much water should I have come out?
- How long should I stay in the shower?
- Shall I wash my body or not?
- Which shower gel should I use?
- How much shower gel should I use?
- How long should I spend washing?
- How long should I spend rinsing?
- Should I wash my hair?
- How much shampoo should I use?
- How long should I spend washing?
- How long should I spend rinsing?
- Should I condition as well?
- How much conditioner should I use?
- How long should I leave the conditioner on?
- How long should I spend rinsing?
Phew, and the showers not even finished yet.
Three of the ways I reduced my own decision fatigue: