Cure depression without medication. Treating depression on your own and without medication - is it real? Wrong choice of specialist

As a rule, a person seeks to cope with such a condition on his own and often simply does not pay attention to it, which subsequently can adversely affect both physical and mental health. Treatment of depression at home is possible only at the initial stage of the disease.

What is depression

The normal reaction of a living organism to stress is a slowdown in vital processes and a decrease in efficiency. Normally, after solving any life problems or troubles, a good mood returns, and a person feels full of energy again.

If the cause of the disorder is eliminated, and sensations and behavior do not change, depression, loss of strength and apathy for life are felt again, you need to seriously think about your condition and eliminate the developing depression.

Also, the first alarming sign should be apathy after minor troubles in life, which minimally affect a person’s plans. Most often, psychologists share several types of depression, depending on a particular season (winter, spring, autumn).

In its advanced form, depression can manifest itself not only as a breakdown and bad mood, but also cause persistent affective disorders of the nervous system. Treatment of depression at home is justified only in some cases, when the disease is mild or at an early stage. In this case, one can use introspection, self-hypnosis and take preparations from natural remedies such as herbs or certain foods.

Depression: symptoms and treatment, the clinical picture of the disease

Depression, like any disease, has well-defined clinical manifestations, with the help of which it can be diagnosed as quickly as possible:

  • lack of concentration and attention;
  • memory problems;
  • apathetic state;
  • a constant state of oppression and distraction;
  • inability to focus on a particular issue or action;
  • indifference to situations that previously caused joy and satisfaction.

A person in a depressed state can constantly scroll through his head with negative thoughts that have no underlying reason. In addition, you need to pay attention to unconscious fears, a state of anxiety and restlessness, sleep disturbances, lack of appetite, and sudden weight loss. All of these symptoms are associated with depression. Causes, treatment and features of therapy can only be determined by a specialist.

Manic depressive syndrome

It is a special manifestation of depression, which is characterized as a frequent change of mood with a loss of attention and reality. It has two phases - manic and severe depression.

The manic phase manifests itself:

  • a state of euphoria;
  • hyperactivity;
  • possible occurrence of hallucinations;
  • delirium;
  • irritability;
  • fast speech;
  • sharp jumps from one subject to another;
  • lack of concentration;
  • loss of appetite;
  • sleep problems;
  • loss of skills (social, professional, educational).

Symptoms may be mild or severe. The phase of severe depression has several manifestations, including the appearance of phobias, feelings of anxiety, obsessions, and a state of panic. Treatment of depression at home should proceed under the supervision of a doctor who will help you choose effective methods and prescribe, if necessary, the correct dosage of drug-based drugs.

Phobias in depression

A phobia manifests itself as an unconscious fear. The cause can be any action or object. The occurrence of phobias is not limited, they occur at any age and are often completely unreasonable and imperceptible.

A person with a certain phobia is ready to do anything to avoid an unpleasant situation. Therefore, he often behaves inappropriately in a seemingly standard situation. Treatment of depression with folk remedies in this case is not entirely relevant, since the help of specialists and the use of medications in conjunction with psychotherapy will give the fastest and best effect.

State of anxiety or panic

Manifested by anxiety, fear, a sense of uncertainty. The feeling of anxiety is a necessary vital factor for a person, as it gives him the opportunity to stop in time in the right situation, monitor his health and condition. But it is necessary to ensure that anxiety does not outgrow an adequate border. Increased anxiety prevents a person from making timely decisions, makes him think and concentrate for a long time.

Women are more prone to anxiety conditions, they are often associated with disruptions in the endocrine system and can be inherited. Psychological traumas, especially those received in childhood, also cause unreasonable fear when faced with such situations. The treatment of depression, reviews of which can be heard from former patients, testifies to the effectiveness of psychotherapy and medications.

Anxiety states are characterized by the speed and loudness of speech, the presence of certain forms of behavior (pacing around the room, clasping hands, lack of concentration, trembling in the body, irritability).

Panic states tend to be more severe. The state of anxiety intensifies and brings a person to panic or horror, this state can last for several hours, which greatly affects the state of the human nervous system.

Obsessions

They are thoughts that haunt a person. Most often, this symptom manifests itself in adolescence or young age. It consists in performing certain rituals (a person constantly repeats the same actions, thinking that in this way he can prevent an undesirable development of events).

It can be manifested by a manic desire for cleanliness, constant checking or rechecking of some items, observing a certain sequence of rituals. Treatment of depression on your own in the presence of obsessions does not give results, since this symptom is a consequence of a severe degree of the course of the disease and indicates a malfunction of the nervous system.

post-traumatic syndrome

Occurs after suffering a mental or physical injury. It can be a robbery, rape, being in captivity. After the transferred states, a person from time to time experiences the same sensations of fear, it can be associated with a specific place or people with whom the victim may meet in the future. Treatment for major depression can only be treated by professionals.

Also, this syndrome can be manifested by loss of appetite, insomnia, irritability and depression. Post-traumatic stress requires medical intervention and long-term treatment. In some cases, hospitalization of the patient is indicated.

Treatment for depression

In some cases, it is possible to eliminate the disease at the initial stage on its own. However, only a professional psychotherapist will be able to deal with such a problem as quickly as possible; in especially severe cases, only a psychiatrist can help. Treatment of depression at home requires a strong desire of the patient to return to an active life and the absence of suicidal thoughts. Otherwise, it is better to hospitalize the patient and monitor his condition.

It is the possibility of an imperceptible transition from an ordinary bad mood to persistent mental disorders that is the greatest danger of depression. The basis of treatment is pharmacological therapy, changes in diet and diet, homeopathic medicines.

Medications include tranquilizers and antidepressants, and psychotherapy is also effective. In most cases, the psychotherapeutic effect has a positive effect on the state of the human body and allows you to cope with a depressive and depressed state without medication.

Treatment of depression folk remedies

In alternative medicine, dried herbs are used for treatment, from which tinctures or decoctions are prepared. Their action lies in the presence in plants of certain active substances that can restore and normalize the level of hormones in the body, affecting the state of the nervous system and the work of the whole organism as a whole.

For the treatment of depression, it is optimal to use lemon balm. Preparing the tincture is very easy. It is necessary to add 10 g of dried lemon balm, 1 g of angelica root (everything can be purchased at a pharmacy), the peel of one lemon, 2 buds of dried cloves and one pinch of coriander and nutmeg to 1 liter of vodka.

The mixture must be infused in a dark, cool place for two weeks. It should be taken with tea in small quantities. Treatment of depression in women with this tincture gives the fastest results.

Such a tool perfectly helps to cope with depression, restore the vitality and activity of the body, cope with bad mood and depression, as well as get rid of laziness and apathy.

Diet to treat depression

By adjusting the diet, you can significantly influence the state of the body and self-awareness. With depression, it is necessary to completely exclude coffee and tea, sugar, flour products, hot spices, chocolate and chemical additives from the diet.

Meals should be three times a day. For breakfast, it is optimal to eat fruits, nuts and dairy products, for lunch - vegetables or steamed meat, whole grain bread and milk, for dinner - vegetable salad, legumes and hard cheese. Treating depression on your own with diet is the most effective way.

Apples should be consumed in large quantities. They are the best remedy for depression, they can be baked, prepared in fruit salads or eaten fresh with honey. Such nutrition will strengthen the nervous system, energize the body, give new strength and ideas.

Herbal infusions for depression

Treatment of depression at home with folk remedies is the use of medicinal herbs. The most popular are ginseng leaves or roots, they need to be poured with boiling water in a ratio of 1:10. You need to take one teaspoon.

Mint is also very popular in the treatment of depression. It is prepared by taking 1 tablespoon of dried leaves to a glass of boiling water. The broth should be boiled for 10 minutes, taken on an empty stomach for half a glass.

Depression? We will help you get rid of depression!

Attacking depression? We propose to find out the causes of its occurrence and take measures to eliminate the negative manifestations of the state of mind.

Causes of depression

Constant sleep deprivation. This state of almost every person "inspires" irritability.

Side effects of drugs.

Drugs that can make a person depressed:

Paxil, Lioresal, Cyclosporine, Yohimbine, Azmakort, Trihexyphenidyl.

Bad habits (drug addiction, alcohol addiction, smoking, gambling addiction and others).

Unwanted environment. Move somewhere. There, where you will have personal space and the right to peace of mind.

Financial difficulties. Many people borrow or borrow money. Giving them back is a difficult task. Depression occurs when a person feels that they are not able to cope with it in a timely manner.

Overeating (malnutrition). Get used to a normal, regular, healthy diet. Stop tormenting your unhappy stomach!

How to get rid of depression and cure it yourself at home?

Try to be as friendly as possible to people. They will answer you the same, raising your drooping mood.

Get your old photo albums out of your closet. Carefully, attentively and with interest peer into each photo, plunging into the vastness of memories.

Turn on the music and dance. Arrange such dances as if you are living the last day in the world, that is, “give your best” in full!

We manage without drugs, without pills, without antidepressants!

Folk remedies for depression

Every day, eat at least one hundred grams of carrots (raw) or drink several glasses of carrot juice.

Prepare a salt solution. Boil one liter of water. Add a small teaspoon of salt to it. Soak a clean towel in the resulting solution. Squeeze it out and rub it all over your body.

In two hundred milliliters of water, add a few tablespoons of ground buckwheat (unground kernels). Boil eleven minutes a minute. Add a few tablespoons of oatmeal. Boil for three minutes and turn off the stove. Add a few teaspoons of flaxseeds. insist. Take ar several spoonfuls a day.

Boil half a liter of fresh milk. Wait until it cools down. Add a tablespoon of cream (chilled). Heat the mixture by adding dark chocolate bars to it. Pour the drink into a cup. Add some cinnamon to it.

Take your mind off, mind your own business

How to distract your thoughts? There are many different easy ways. Watch an interesting movie or read ten pages of your favorite book. Arrange an immersion in another world.

Clean up, repair something, shift. The brain practically turns off when a person is passionate about physical labor.

Prepare a delicious meal. Cool if it is completely new in the "column" of your culinary experience.

Hobbies help relieve depression

Make a list of your favorite hobbies. Spend all your free time exclusively on the items that are on this list.

Don't have a hobby yet? Find it! Depression will subside even when you go through the "search path".

It has been proven that needlework saves from depression. Do you know how to knit and embroider? This can be learned at any age.

Work can help relieve depression

Go to work with your head. Imagine that apart from her, nothing exists around and around you. Load yourself until you feel very tired. Then you will dream: “I would rather go to bed and sleep for a few hours!”.

Stay at work until late at night. The alternative is to look for jobs. You should have little free time.

Are you a family person? Take care of family business.

Wash all clothes and linens. Put on shelves, hang on hangers what had time to dry or lay sloppy (not in its place).

Organize your home first aid kit. It will surely contain a sea of ​​medicines that have expired a long time ago!

Pay off your marital debt to your husband. Sex, in a sense, is also a family affair.

Take your husband to the supermarket for groceries. Tell him it's time to fill the fridge with groceries.

Change your usual environment

Rent an apartment or live in a country house (in a country house). No opportunity? Buy new furniture and make a thorough rearrangement in every corner of your "square meters".

Browse hotels and hotels. Information about them can be found on the Internet or in magazines. Stay in the room for a while.

Positive thoughts help! - Personal setting.

Keep your thoughts under control. “Throw away” from your vocabulary all words that are somehow connected with depression.

Remember that your thoughts are subject to materialization. As a rule, what you think about often and a lot comes true.

Set yourself up like this: “I will succeed! Everything will be great for me! Everything has its huge "pros"! Luck will turn to face me!

Depression should not win over you! Don't let this happen! Stop the carousel of problems in your head. Speak up if you feel the need to. Tell a close friend about what specifically worries you. If you are not used to such behavior, then just meet in a cafe, smile, ask how she is doing. The depression will slowly "creep away" into the background.

Strengthen your immunity

By the way, scientists say that excessive cleanliness often get sick. Here is another proof that everything must be done in moderation.

Turn on a good movie or series. Before you do this, read what his story is about. Watch the series (film) so that all experiences are switched to the main characters.

Call your best friend. He doesn't have to say anything more. Discuss something neutral but interesting.

Be in places where there are large crowds of people. Dissolve into the crowd, secretly studying each of its members.

Scientists: how to get rid of depression without drugs and psychotherapy

What really helps in the fight against stress, insomnia, loneliness?

Why do some people remain active and cheerful until old age, while the fate of others is melancholy, anxiety and loneliness? Why has the diagnosis of depression become so common? Neuroscientist David Servan-Schreiber answers these questions in his book.

Life is a fight. But this struggle should not be waged only for its own sake. The mind needs a greater reason to keep trying than mere survival. In his novel The Planet of the Humans, Saint-Exupéry tells how a plane piloted by Henri Guillaumet got lost in the Andes. For three days the pilot went forward through the icy cold. He stumbled and fell on his face into the snow. And enjoying this unexpected respite, he suddenly realized that if he didn’t rise now, he would never rise again. He was exhausted and did not want to get up. He liked the idea of ​​death more - calm and painless. Mentally, he had already said goodbye to his wife and children, and for the last time he felt love for them in his heart.

But then it suddenly dawned on him that if his body was not found, his wife would have to wait four whole years before she could receive the insurance money. Opening his eyes, he saw a large stone sticking out of the snow a hundred meters ahead. If you can get to it, the body will be better visible and then it will be found faster. Out of love for his loved ones, Henri got up and continued on his way. But now he was driven forward by love. He did not stop any more and, having walked more than a hundred kilometers, he saw a village. He later said, "No animal in the world would have done what I did." When his survival was no longer a sufficient motive, his love for others, his concern for them, gave him the strength to continue the fight.

Today we are at the epicenter of a planetary movement towards the psychology of individualism, or personal development. The main values ​​of the individual are independence and autonomy, freedom of expression. These values ​​are so important that even advertisers use them to get us to buy what everyone else is buying. It's just that we are inspired by the idea that the acquisition of this or that thing makes us unique. “Become yourself,” ads for clothing or perfume urge us. “Express your Self,” the coffee ad urges. "Think differently," computer ads order.

Undoubtedly, these values, whose importance has grown irresistibly since the revolutions of the late eighteenth century, have brought many benefits. They underlie the very concept of "freedom", which is of great importance to us. But the further we move in this direction, the more we are convinced that independence and self-reliance have their price. We pay for this with loneliness, the loss of the meaning of life, sometimes with suffering. Never before have we had such freedom to separate from spouses who are no longer satisfied: in Western countries, the divorce rate is approaching fifty percent. Never before have we moved so much: it is believed that in the United States, a family moves on average every five years.

Freed from habitual ties, from duty and obligation to others, we have never been so completely free to find our own path, at the risk of being alone in the end. This is probably another reason why the rate of depression has steadily increased in the West over the past fifty years.

My friend emigrated, leaving his country. He is 37, he worked as a doctor and lived alone until recently. For a long time he was looking for a meaning, which his life obviously lacked, in psychoanalysis and numerous personal growth trainings. And then in antidepressants, having tried almost everything. Finally he told me: “In fact, the only moment when I stop asking myself questions about the meaning of life is the moment when my two-year-old son takes my hand and we go together, even if just for a newspaper in the nearest newsstand!”.

Love for our loved ones, for our children, is perhaps the source of the most obvious meaning of life. But the importance of other people to our own peace of mind is not limited to the nuclear family (spouses and their children). In fact, the more we are involved in the life of society, which, without a doubt, is important to us, the stronger the feeling that we play a certain role in it, taking a place that is valued by others, the easier it is to get rid of feelings of anxiety, stress despair and loss of meaning in life.

I remember one elderly lady whom I consulted at home because she was afraid to leave the apartment. She suffered from emphysema and could not do without her oxygen tank. But her main problem was depression. At seventy-five, she was no longer interested in anything, she felt emptiness and anxiety and was waiting for death. Of course, she had insomnia, poor appetite, and she spent all her time feeling sorry for herself.

At the same time, I was amazed by her intelligence. She had worked for a long time as an assistant to the director of a large company, and, despite all the depression, she clearly radiated a sense of competence and confidence. One day I told her, “I know you are feeling very bad and in need of help, but you are also a person who has all the qualities to be very helpful to others. Have you thought about helping the underprivileged?”

She was surprised that a psychiatrist, whose duty is to help herself, should suddenly ask such a question. But she quickly realized where I was driving, and a spark of interest lit up in her eyes. As a result, she began to devote part of her time to children from disadvantaged families, teaching them to read. It was difficult, given that she had difficulty moving around. In addition, not all children expressed their gratitude to her, and some were very difficult to cope with. But this occupation became important to her. It gave her a purpose in life, a sense of being needed, and re-incorporated her into the society she had to leave because of her age and disability.

This feeling is not at all a dictate of culture or public morality. This is a need of the brain itself: over the past thirty years, sociobiology has clearly shown that altruism is embedded in our genes. Orientation to other people and the inner balance that we find with it, are part of our genetic matrix. In research on people who live happier than others, two things consistently emerge. These people have stable emotional relationships with loved ones, and they take an active part in the life of their society. We've talked a lot about emotional relationships already, but what about broader social connections?

Participation in public life means giving our time and soul to a cause from which we do not receive material benefits. It is one of the most effective remedies for filling the feeling of emptiness that so often accompanies depression.

Giving a little encouragement to older people in nursing homes, helping an animal shelter, offering your services to a nearby school, getting involved in a city council or a union can all make you feel less lonely and, as a result, less anxious and depressed. Emile Durkheim, a sociologist and philosopher, the founder of the French sociological school, was the first to demonstrate this. In his book Suicide, a seminal work in modern sociology, he showed that the people who kill themselves most often are those who are the least involved in society. Since then, American sociologists have found that people who participate in social activities are not only happier than others, but also have better health and live longer.

A study published in the American Journal of Cardiology highlights that, all other things being equal, the mortality rate for elderly low-income people who participate in social activities is 60 percent lower than those who do not participate in it. An analysis of the positive impact of such activities on health, published in Science, leads to an unequivocal conclusion: this is a guarantee of a long life. A guarantee perhaps even better than blood pressure control, low cholesterol, and not smoking. The pleasure of being aware of one's connection with others, of feeling one's involvement in a social group, is a wonderful medicine for the emotional brain, and therefore for the whole organism.

Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl miraculously survived Nazi concentration camps. In his amazing book, written from experience, he recalls what allowed some prisoners to hold on, no matter what. Even if his observations do not have the value of scientific facts, his conclusions coincide with the results of research: in order to survive in a cold and indifferent environment, it is necessary to find the meaning of existence, to establish a connection with something. His advice to people in desperate situations is not to ask life to do something for you, but to ask yourself what you can do for life.

You can simply do your job with more dedication, thinking about how it benefits other people. You can devote a little of your time - at least once a week - to some business, group of people, one person or even an animal that you have a soul for. Mother Teresa, whose ability to show compassion in action made her the undisputed leader of the 20th century, said: “Do not do good deeds for show. The point is to give a part of yourself. The most important thing is the compassion that you put into your action.”

Also, it is not at all necessary to be in harmony with oneself in order to devote oneself to others. Humanist psychologist Abraham Maslow is the founder of the very powerful “personal growth” movement today. Having completed his studies of happy and psychologically balanced people, he concluded that the final stage of personality development is the stage of the “actualized” person turning to others. At the same time, he insisted on the importance of self-realization: “The proven way to become a better servant for others is to become better yourself. But in order to become better yourself, you must serve others. This means that it is possible and even necessary to do these two things at the same time.

A century after Durkheim, thirty years after Frankl and Maslow, modern physiological studies have confirmed their correctness: by measuring cardiac coherence using a computer, scientists state that the easiest and fastest way to bring the body into a balanced state is to experience a feeling of gratitude and tenderness towards to another person. When at a deep, emotional level we feel connected to those around us, our physiology spontaneously enters a state of coherence. And at the same time, helping her to achieve this state, we open the way to new ways of comprehending the world around us.

Buy this book

Yes, it's probably easy to sleep.

about treatment: I was prescribed ketonal in tablets of 1 mg (diclofenac at 0.5 did not help) + diazolin along with it. See other discussions: Scientists: how to get rid of depression without drugs and psychotherapy.

good and necessary, but the main thing is movement. Go to yoga, exercise therapy, do something yourself at home. And the mood against this background will also gradually improve. Well, by the way, on the autoimmune protocol, people achieve improvement in multiple sclerosis. Maybe think about food too? It definitely won't get worse.

depression

Psychiatrist. The treatment was with drugs. Courses. I was in the hospital twice with them. In general, the treatment of depression often goes by a simple method of selecting drugs, suddenly something will work.

All in all, I would recommend her to everyone.

About depression

Therapists prescribing specific treatments for depression? Well, let them get sick, maybe their dentist or optometrist will treat them.)) What to do with depression? 8 steps to self-healing. Beating chronic diseases without drugs.

Depression and their treatment

Medicamentally, basically, all sorts of conversations just help a person stay afloat while the drugs are being treated. Need help with depression! 1. If you are going to be treated in Moscow, then for the treatment of chronic depression I recommend the Clinic of Neurosis on Shabolovka and 20 GKB.

If in the sense that depression is not a disease, then you are wrong. Depression is the same disease as schizophrenia or persecution mania, and it can lead to desocialization, and in severe cases to suicide.

If in the sense that you can’t cure anything in the district PND, maybe you are right. But there they are authorized to prescribe pills that are limited to sale in the public domain. Same fluoxetine. Or something stronger.

If you heard that depression can only be treated for a fee, but it is expensive, and therefore the poor should not fool around, but work in the mine for the purpose of recovery, then everyone decides for himself what to spend on.

from the fact that we will decide by the majority that there is no such disease, it will not go anywhere, alas

Of course, it is necessary to be treated, but the treatment of depression is not the treatment of angina. Medicines, of course, will not be prescribed, but the crisis will be smoothed out. Does the girl have internet? However, the idea of ​​traveling to Moscow is good in itself.

SOS! Need help with depression!

You don’t consider a psychotherapist to be a doctor, do you think that he treats only “jokes”? There is no magic pill for depression, treatment, I think, should be comprehensive, with a psychotherapist. Hide medicines - knives - ropes, if possible, do not leave one.

Antidepressants

And without medicines, not life, but continuous tears, self-accusations and a feeling of uselessness and unlovedness, etc. (for someone) demands, passes by itself, “time heals.”

And how to get yourself out of years of depression?

Scientists: how to get rid of depression without drugs and psychotherapy. An exercise to treat depression: mindful walking. For many of us, autumn is a time of not feeling very well, a time of depressive thoughts and low mood.

If it were possible to pull oneself out of illnesses (and depression is a disease), doctors would not exist.

How to deal with depression?

We can talk about the presence of a depressive state, if an individual, in addition to a depressed state, experiences the following symptoms with depression, how to deal with it? Scientists: how to get rid of depression without drugs and psychotherapy.

invite guests, the apartment will have to be cleaned by their arrival

get back to your interesting projects

in the summer it is always sad in the city, because many are leaving, the usual rhythm of communication is lost

relax about your personal life

it's pretty hard to be successful at everything

1. Or, as the dachshund advises, lose to the end.

2. Or - this is how I would do it - introduce tough self-discipline. My former boss, an Englishman, in excellent physical shape, over 60, got a big promotion, where the work involves a freak load (two or three business trips a week, long flights). The first thing he did was stop drinking (before that he drank - half a glass, one glass of red), absolutely, completely. And so a healthy diet has tightened up, or something. There are some germinated grains. Lost weight, but energy. mother dear.

depression is treated with psychotropic drugs, which can only be prescribed by a doctor. If this is really depression, but it seems to me that you do not have this, or at least a very mild form. For depression (clinical, requiring treatment).

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9 ways to fight depression without drugs

It is not for nothing that depression is considered one of the main troubles of our century: for scientific and technological progress, the acceleration of the pace of life and the availability of information flows, we are forced to pay with constant stress and weakening of the body's defenses. As a result, conditions characterized by increased anxiety, lack of interest in life, spiritual and physical discomfort are widespread.

However, pharmacology does not stand still, and today there are a number of drugs that help get rid of the symptoms of depression. It may seem that the problem is solved, but many drugs have very unpleasant side effects: they are addictive, sleep disturbances, lethargy, etc. In addition, drug-treated depression tends to return. That is why experienced doctors advise using non-drug methods of dealing with it in the initial stages of depression. There are many such ways. We will talk about the most common of them in this article.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

The essence of the method is that the patient, under the guidance of a specialist, learns to identify and analyze their own negative thoughts and emotions, to understand the causes of their occurrence. This helps to reduce anxiety, find real ways to solve life's problems. If depression is mild, 10-20 consultations will usually resolve it completely. In the future, the patient can practice the method on their own, using the acquired skills.

Physical exercises

Regular sports activities activate the body's defense system, contribute to the normalization of appetite and sleep, and increase self-esteem. In addition, moderate exercise produces serotonin, which is a natural remedy for depression. Hiking in the fresh air, outdoor games, skiing and swimming are especially beneficial for the psyche.

Massage

Relaxing massage stimulates the brain to secrete a special hormone - oxytocin. It causes a feeling of calm and security, helps to endure stressful situations more easily.

Active massage, on the contrary, invigorates, tones the body. At the same time, a large amount of endorphin enters the blood - the “hormone of joy”, which improves mood.

In the treatment of depression, different types of massage can alternate, sessions are often combined with procedures such as stone therapy, aromatherapy.

Yoga and meditation

These traditional relaxation systems are among the most powerful means of combating depression. It is believed that yoga classes help to concentrate, calm down and develop an optimistic outlook on life. In addition, scientists have found that by practicing some yoga postures, you can reduce the concentration of the “stress hormone” (cortisol) in the blood.

Acupuncture

Impact on biologically active points of the body with the help of massage or acupuncture relieves pain, soothes and relaxes. In the treatment of depression, the effectiveness of this method approaches 80%. Recently, a more modern way of irritating active points is increasingly being used - with the help of a laser. In terms of its effect on the body, it is similar to acupuncture, but much less traumatic for the patient.

Medicinal herbs

Many plants have a calming and relaxing effect - their infusions and decoctions are used as antidepressants. St. John's wort, lemon balm, mint, hops, wild rose, licorice, hawthorn are considered the most effective.

Such treatment has a number of contraindications, the main of which is the possibility of an allergic reaction. Therefore, it is desirable that herbal remedies are prescribed by a doctor.

Light therapy

With the onset of autumn, the number of people prone to bouts of depression increases. Patients complain of lethargy, drowsiness, feelings of melancholy and hopelessness. The reason is the lack of sunlight, which is necessary for the body to produce melatonin. Deficiency of this hormone leads to a bad mood and loss of motivation for vigorous activity.

These conditions are successfully treated with light therapy. Several sessions of exposure to bright light are similar in effect to taking a course of antidepressant: they normalize sleep patterns and return the joy of life, without giving any side effects. The method has practically no contraindications and can be used to treat any type of depression (including seasonal).

B vitamins

Vitamin B6 is involved in the synthesis of serotonin, and a deterioration in mood is directly related to its deficiency in the body. Scientists have also found that in the tissues of the body of people suffering from a tendency to depression, there is a reduced amount of folic acid (vitamin B9) and vitamin B12.

All these substances can be obtained from food, daily including meat, cereals, fresh vegetables and fruits, and legumes in your diet. The champion in the content of vitamins of group B are pine nuts: to get the daily norm, it is enough to eat all raw nucleoli every day.

Amino acid tryptophan

The essential acid tryptophan is involved in the synthesis of serotonin and is a natural antidepressant. Deficiency of this substance in the body leads to sleep disturbances, irritability, headaches, increased fatigue.

Dairy products (including cheese), soybeans, mushrooms, bananas, peanuts, dates, and sesame contain the greatest amount of tryptophan. In severe depression, the lack of an amino acid has to be replenished by taking dietary supplements (which a specialist should advise - in order to avoid purchasing a low-quality or fake product).

It is clear that no one is immune from depression. However, you should not despair - this condition is successfully treated, and often it is non-drug methods that are better than drugs that reduce the intensity of unpleasant symptoms and even make it possible to completely defeat the disease.

Video from YouTube on the topic of the article:

Education: First Moscow State Medical University named after I.M. Sechenov, specialty "Medicine".

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Four slices of dark chocolate contain about two hundred calories. So if you do not want to get better, it is better not to eat more than two slices a day.

In order to say even the shortest and simplest words, we use 72 muscles.

It used to be that yawning enriches the body with oxygen. However, this opinion has been refuted. Scientists have proven that yawning cools the brain and improves its performance.

Smiling just twice a day can lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Scientists from Oxford University conducted a series of studies in which they came to the conclusion that vegetarianism can be harmful to the human brain, as it leads to a decrease in its mass. Therefore, scientists recommend not to completely exclude fish and meat from your diet.

Dentists have appeared relatively recently. Back in the 19th century, pulling out diseased teeth was part of the duties of an ordinary hairdresser.

Falling off a donkey is more likely to break your neck than falling off a horse. Just don't try to disprove this claim.

Each person has not only unique fingerprints, but also a tongue.

Caries is the most common infectious disease in the world, which even the flu cannot compete with.

The cough medicine "Terpinkod" is one of the leaders in sales, not at all because of its medicinal properties.

The average life expectancy of left-handers is less than that of right-handers.

The liver is the heaviest organ in our body. Its average weight is 1.5 kg.

The first vibrator was invented in the 19th century. He worked on a steam engine and was intended to treat female hysteria.

In an effort to get the patient out, doctors often go too far. So, for example, a certain Charles Jensen in the period from 1954 to 1994. survived more than 900 operations to remove neoplasms.

In addition to people, only one living creature on planet Earth suffers from prostatitis - dogs. These are really our most faithful friends.

Omissions, quarrels, maiden name ... Female jealousy is a mystery for psychologists. Today, scientists do not fully know all the mechanisms that give rise to this strong and ra.

How to get rid of depression on your own

This article is about how to get rid of depression on your own, without the help of pills or doctors. If you have already read my blog, then you know that all my articles are based on personal experience. I write about how I got rid of a lack of discipline, bad habits, learned to deal with stress and control emotions. I take all these tips from personal practice, and not from books and textbooks. And this article is no exception.

Let me briefly tell my story.

History of my illness

A few years ago, I suffered from so-called panic attacks and even went to the doctor with this problem. Against the background of panic attacks, some kind of despondency, chronic pessimism, despair, dissatisfaction with life, high mental sensitivity and even tearfulness began to develop. Nobody diagnosed me with depression, probably because there was no one to put it on - I did not communicate with doctors on this issue (although I tried to “treat” them for panic attacks).

But I have observed many symptoms of this disease in myself. I did not feel bad all the time: this state of psychological discomfort came in attacks. At the same time, there were problems with sleep: I could not fall asleep for a long time and, sometimes, I was thrown up on the bed, as soon as I fell into sleep, as if a sudden discharge of current passed through my body. To eliminate all these symptoms, I began to drink alcohol, which later developed into a chronic habit.

Symptoms of depression provoked difficulties at work and in communication. Apathy and lack of purpose gave rise to laziness, and sudden outbursts of irritation or despondency reflected badly on those around me.

How does depression appear?

It happens that depression is caused by some unpleasant event, such as the death of a relative. And it happens that this ailment manifests itself as if for no reason. In fact, there is always a reason, it's just that it is either hidden, or there are many of these reasons. For example, a person may experience depression due to constant stress, fatigue, alcohol use, family problems, lack of goals and aspirations, etc. All these things together can form a favorable psychological background for the development of depression.

Many may think that depression caused by some single, non-repeating event (death of a loved one) is less hopeless than the same disease, but provoked by recurring circumstances (stress, constant nervous fatigue, character traits, etc.) .

After all, sooner or later, the memory of misfortune will begin to fade, and life will begin to be filled with new meaning, new pleasures, and along with this, grief and the depression associated with it should disappear. But it doesn't always happen this way. An unfortunate event can only become a "trigger" of depression for a person who, due to various factors, was predisposed to it.

This is similar to how a draft causes a cold in a person with a weak immune system. It cannot be said that a draft alone caused a cough and a sore throat. The air from the open window only provoked the disease, and the prerequisites for its occurrence already existed due to weak immunity.

Even if a cold passes after a week, then after that a person still runs the risk of getting sick if he gets caught in the rain or in a draft.

Some kind of misfortune in the life of a certain person can become such a “draught” for the appearance of depression. Like a chronic illness, depression can weaken your “immunity” and increase your risk of developing the disease in the future.

So it was with me. I used to be a very sensitive and receptive person to stress. At one point, severe stress provoked panic attacks and depression associated with them. If my psyche were more stable and stable, then I would have reacted to this situation more calmly and it would not have caused such severe consequences for me. But I was what I was...

After a few years, I already forgot about this stress, the memories of those events ceased to cause pain, I began to take it easier. But depression and panic attacks have not disappeared. Because these ailments even more "shattered" the already painful psyche. When I forgot about that stressful situation, I still continued to suffer from sudden attacks of panic, bad mood and pessimism.

I gave this example to draw a very important conclusion about the nature of depression. I believe that most often, the causes of this disease are in the person himself, and not in external circumstances. I don't take extremes. Naturally, there are things that can break and make even the strongest people suffer. But, in most situations, depression is a consequence of your mental state, physical health, nervous sensitivity and worldview.

And some situations in the outside world can only start something for which the prerequisites already existed.

My method is to strengthen the immune system

In my opinion, antidepressants and tranquilizers are ineffective in the treatment of depression.

The action of the pills is aimed at combating the consequence - the symptoms of the disease, and not the cause. Just like drugs that relieve the symptoms of a cold don't actually cure anything. They do not strengthen the immune system, but, on the contrary, are able to weaken it. After all, the body ceases to fight itself with the disease.

Even if depression is caused by an imbalance in the chemical balance in the brain, there are safer ways to restore this balance. More on that later.

Antidepressants, antipsychotics, tranquilizers have a huge number of side effects and cause addiction. These methods cannot guarantee a cure for depression, and there is always the possibility that "treatment" with pills will only make things worse, not better.

In the comments to my articles, as well as in the reviews that come to my mail, people who have suffered from depression or panic attacks often write that no pills helped them.

Even if the course of medication has been effective, nothing guarantees that depression will not return to you again with the next traumatic event. What will you do then, take the pills again?

In order not to get sick with a cold, you need to temper yourself, keep your body in good shape, and not drink any drugs. The same applies to depression. It is necessary to stabilize the emotional background, strengthen the nervous system and learn to look at things differently. This is what my method is.

It helped me not only to get rid of depression and panic attacks, but to be sure that this would not happen again. And even if it happens again, I can handle it on my own. I will not depend on the arbitrariness of these attacks, unknown to me, and tremble at the mere thought that they will return, as they were before. Let them come back - I know what to do.

However, in some cases drugs are needed. They are needed simply to literally “put a person on his feet”, to help him start working on himself, undergo therapy. This is just some pharmacological support, but not the treatment itself. This must be understood. But if your case is severe, the medical method cannot be neglected! But you just don’t need to see this as a panacea and limit yourself to drugs: pills are just your temporary assistant in the service of therapy. Be sure, in addition to pills, you need to carry out activities to work with the psyche on your own or better under the supervision of a psychotherapist.

Get rid of depression - start working on yourself

I turn to the practical part of the article and a description of those tips that will help you get rid of depression and strengthen your mental immunity.

Eliminate negative ideas

There are some ideas that make it very difficult to recover from bouts of mental blues. I must say right away that these ideas are false and need to get rid of them. I will elaborate on each of these ideas below.

Idea 1 - I am depressed because I am such a person (nervous, sensitive, fine mental organization), this is how I am arranged and there is nothing I can do about it.

There is no more destructive delusion for the development of personality! You are depressed, not because you are who you are, but because you have not done anything to change! Each person is able to change himself, each person has a huge potential for positive metamorphoses.

In order to stop experiencing depression, many people will have to work on themselves and even change their outlook on things. Get ready for it. It's not easy, but it's certainly possible. This is confirmed by my experience and the very fact of the existence of this site.

Idea 2 - I'm depressed because some circumstances of my life are to blame (I live in a bad country, I don't have money to buy myself, everything I want, I'm surrounded by idiots, I don't have a girlfriend/boyfriend , my parents did not like me, etc.).

This is also a rather dangerous misconception. When you feel bad, you are overcome by despondency, your brain tries by all means to find the cause of the situation. The search for a cause precedes the determination of a solution, which is why many people cling to these imaginary causes as lifelines. This helps them to realize that they know why they are suffering and know how to stop this suffering.

This gives them a sense of control over the situation. They think: “as soon as I change my job or place of residence, my depression will stop, I know what to do, now I am suffering, but later, when I move to a new country, divorce my wife, buy myself a yacht, everything will be fine.” This is how hope appears. Therefore, depressed people are extremely reluctant to part with such ideas.

The brain begins with great zeal to sort out those circumstances that cause discomfort and bring them under the causes of depression. It can be difficult for us to abstract from our perception and understand that the whole point is in this perception itself.

A negative view of things, negative emotions, constant resentment and despondency make an extremely strong distortion in our view of things. You can look at the world through rose-colored glasses, or you can observe it, on the contrary, looking through glasses with cloudy, gray glasses.

Depression makes things look different from what they are to ordinary, pure perception. We begin to pay attention to the bad sides of life, our shortcomings seem huge to us, the problems are insurmountable, and the whole life is a series of senseless suffering.

If you suffer from depression, your perception is illusory, erroneous and does not reflect the real state of affairs. It's like you're under the influence of a drug! Don't believe this perception! Need to change it!

If you cannot be happy with what you have, then you cannot be happy under any circumstances! Wherever you go, no matter what woman you find, no matter how much wealth you have, your negative perception will remain with you.

And you can’t run away from it just by moving to another place! But if you change your perception, you may realize that the conditions in which you live are not so bad, your friends are not so terrible, and in life, there seems to be something worth living for! Nothing in the world around you will change, just your views will change!

In my life, for example, there are still things that do not suit me and that I want to change (for example, working conditions, not having my own living space). But these things no longer make me unhappy, because I myself have become different, although before it seemed to me that it was because of these things that I felt bad.

When I try to convince people that the whole problem is in themselves, in their perception of life, I run into an insurmountable barrier. They begin to show a violent reluctance to part with the idea that the causes of their depression are rooted in some external circumstances. After all, their hope is based on this idea, a false, groundless, illusory hope!

Of course, it is necessary to change in life, what does not suit you in it. But, first of all, you need to start with yourself!

Idea 3 - Depression is purely a psychological illness.

This is not true. Depression is also related to the state of your body. Bad habits, fatigue, stress can lead to the appearance of this disease. And quite the opposite: playing sports, keeping your body in good shape, regular rest can help prevent depression.

Stop looking for the causes of your unhappiness only in some lofty matters: in a feeling of existential emptiness, loss of Faith, etc. Pay attention also to how your body feels, whether it is healthy enough and whether it receives all the vitamins it needs to work.

Practice meditation for inner balance

Meditation helped me get out of the pool of despondency and pessimism, to find joy and faith in myself. I forgot about depression and panic attacks. Meditation calms and stabilizes the psyche, gives a good mood and relieves stress. Laboratory studies of meditation have shown that the practice of meditation affects the brain, increasing the activity of electrical alpha waves, at the frequency of which the brain begins to work. Such activity contributes to a calm, relaxed state.

Regular meditation practice can help with depression, although it cannot be said that it will help everyone. Even if with the help of them it will not be possible to completely get rid of this ailment, then practice will help you to endure these attacks more easily and somehow control them.

In my opinion, meditation is one of the most effective and safe means to get rid of blues, nervousness, anger and anxiety. Many people greatly underestimate the effect of this practice and believe that it will not help them.

When I advise people who are suffering and cannot understand themselves to start practicing meditation, they respond to these tips with a slight bewilderment. They don’t say it directly, but most likely they think this way: maybe meditation will help me feel calmer, better control my emotions, but will it save me from what makes me unhappy? Can practice attract money, which I so lack for happiness? Can I find the woman of my dreams with the help of her, without whom I feel bad?

Many people think this way, and in the end, they remain convinced that meditation is not for them, and it will not solve their problems. Thinking like that is a mistake. For these people, it is more important to keep faith in their own prejudices, which they used to believe in, than to try something else and try to help themselves in another way. This train of thought, a consequence of the presence in the head of a false idea number 2, which I wrote about above.

You are most likely not unhappy because you live in a bad country and you do not have enough money for an expensive car that your neighbor has. Happiness and unhappiness depend more on your internal state than on external circumstances, I wrote about this in my article on how to become a happy person.

Meditation is a great way to put your psychological and emotional state in order, to look at the world with a sober and clear look, and not through gray lenses.

When you remove your illusion points, your values ​​may change. These will no longer be the ideals on which you base your belief in deliverance from suffering. Now you can believe that without a huge bank account you will not be happy, but if you understand your desires well, gain a sense of inner comfort and a sense of independence, you will understand that the value of life is completely different!

Through practice and self-knowledge, you can realize that the deepest treasure of life is contained in itself, in the very fact that you live and breathe, and not in the possession of some things.

A bank account is also good, but this is not the main thing. You will achieve this someday if you try, but first you need to find happiness within yourself.

Meditation can change your outlook on things, teach you to notice its good sides in this life, see joy in small things, and with the help of introspection and reflection, come to the realization of your true goals.

Practice has taught me all this, and I hope it will teach you too. Feeling of inner comfort, contentment, optimism, self-confidence and calmness - this is what regular practice leads to.

I am sure that depression will be very difficult to manifest in such a state of mind and feelings.

I started meditating in the hope that the practice would help me eliminate depression and panic attacks. But she gave me immeasurably more than just getting rid of despondency and anxiety! I realized my weaknesses and shortcomings, began to work on myself, strengthened my willpower, became more sociable and cheerful, and gained control over my desires and emotions.

Attention! Meditation does not have an instant effect! Depression won't go away! Only regular, long-term practice can help you!

You can read about how to meditate correctly in the article. I do not advise meditation during severe attacks. It is better to do this when they are not. If you suffer from severe depression, then take the practice with caution. Meditation is a powerful thing, and like any therapy, it has its side effects.

Depression may worsen in the first weeks of the practice. This is fine. Some antidepressants have a similar effect when a person first starts taking them. If the unpleasant effect does not go away for a long time with continued practice, meditate less or stop meditating altogether.

In order to get rid of depression with the help of meditation, it is not enough just to sit, meditate and wait for depression to pass by itself. Meditation is not an end in itself, it is just a tool. How to use this tool correctly to cope with depression and at the same time not harm yourself, I describe in the article "Meditation and getting rid of depression - 8 principles of consciously overcoming chronic discouragement." If you want to start meditating, this article is a must read for you!

Strengthen your body

The cause of depression may not only be in the psychological aspects of your personality. Your mental state is highly dependent on your physical health. You are unlikely to get rid of despondency if you often drink alcohol, smoke, chronically lack sleep and lead a sedentary lifestyle.

Alcohol and other drugs (including antidepressants) provide only temporary relief, but in the long run they only aggravate the situation and increase the chance of further development of depression. Quit drinking and quit smoking.

Physical activity, sports exercises not only strengthen your body and increase physical tone, but also improve your mood, relieve fatigue and stress. Sport is a natural antidepressant. Sport allows you to raise the level of endorphins (“hormones of happiness”) in your brain, causing joy and euphoria.

This way to cheer up does not have side effects in the form of depression, insomnia and decreased sexual function, like many antidepressants. A side effect of sports as a means of raising the mood is a healthy body.

If you are not into sports yet, then start doing at least exercises in the morning and light jogging. If running is still hard for you, take long walks in the fresh air. Notice how short exercise and walks boost your mood and improve your overall well-being. Track this effect, feel it, and remember it so that your brain associates the feeling of pleasure with useful activities, like sports.

I am sure that yoga classes are great help to cope with mental blues, besides, they are very useful for your body. Try it!

Lack of vitamins, junk food can also greatly affect your psychological state, so try to eat right: visit fast food less often, eat less rubbish like sausages or chips.

Develop willpower

The key to successfully getting rid of depression is the development of willpower. Without willpower, you cannot force yourself to exercise. Instead of jogging, you will be left to grieve at home. Instead of practicing meditation regularly, you will choose an easier way: go to the doctor and ask him to write you another pill.

Without willpower, you won’t be able to pull yourself together and say to yourself: “let me feel bad and don’t want to do anything, but I’ll still get out of bed, wipe this suffering mine from my face and do what will help me get rid of depression forever !"

Depression is fueled by your lack of will, weakness and laziness. On these qualities, it grows and grows stronger by leaps and bounds! If you can't say no to your weaknesses, if you can't control yourself when you feel like complaining about life, if you can't force yourself to forget your gloom when you have to work, then it will be difficult for you to eradicate depression.

When I began to actively fight depression (for a long time I did not make any active attempts to fight), I discovered one remarkable property of willpower.

Sometimes I lay and suffered from another bout of blues: I didn’t want to do anything, I only wanted to whine and complain. At one point, I realized what to do. I realized that you can’t go on about these desires, but you need to do the opposite! If, because of despondency, you want to lie down and complain, you need to get up and do something, for example, clean the house, do other things. If you want to complain about the life of a friend or just infect him with your despondency, then instead you need to stretch a smile on your face and say something good, pleasant!

It's not easy at first. There is a very strong resistance, as if you are going against the wind of incredible strength, which blows your body in the opposite direction to the movement. But as soon as this resistance is overcome, a wonderful relief appears, even some kind of triumph! A triumph of willpower! Fear and despondency recede! You feel power and control over the situation!

Willpower is one of the most effective tools that allows you to achieve great success in the fight against depression and panic attacks and other types of blues. Antidepressants and other pills not only do not contribute to the development of willpower, but, on the contrary, can only suppress it. After all, you get used to easy solutions: you ate a pill - it became easier. It does not take a lot of strength and patience to pop pills into your mouth.

Medications do not teach you to step over yourself, through your despondency, to actively resist the blues, to develop the qualities of your personality - which is so important in the fight against depression. The pills do everything for you, weakening your ability to fight on your own.

That is why the effect often disappears with the end of taking antidepressants - the disease returns again. And why shouldn’t he come back if you haven’t learned anything, if you haven’t increased your mental immunity, if you haven’t eliminated the very prerequisites for the onset of depression, but only struggled with the symptoms?

If you are weak, prone to anxiety and worries, do not know how to control your feelings, then pills will not cure you of this! You will remain the same, and with it there will be a risk of another blues.

Work on yourself. Develop willpower. Read my article on how to develop willpower.

Strengthen the nervous system, learn to relax

This can be attributed to physical health, but it’s better to write about it in a separate paragraph. Anxiety, nervousness, irritability - all these are prerequisites for the onset of depression. In addition to physical healing procedures that strengthen the nervous system, learn to contain and control nervousness.

Learn stress management and relaxation techniques.

Learn to control your emotions

Negative emotions can also serve as a source of discouragement. Anger, envy, irritation, hatred, pathological jealousy - all this poisons your personality, making it more prone to despondency. Learn to control yourself and get rid of negative experiences.

Stop complaining and feeling sorry for yourself

Stop complaining about life! Stop telling your friends how unhappy you are - they have enough problems of their own. It only poisons your mood and sets you on a tone of self-pity. Try to focus on the positive aspects of life. There are people whose life is much harder than yours. There are those who live in conditions of constant danger to life, deprivation and hunger.

I assure you that if you have enough food, water, housing and some health, then this is almost all you need to be happy! Learn to be happy with what is, and not be sad about what is not!

Train yourself to endure the blues and heartache, do not identify yourself with this state. Act and behave as if it is not there, forget about it, do not pay attention to it, do not let it take possession of you. This state is simply a chain of chemical reactions that take place in your brain. And it is in your power to control this state.

If you cry and complain, constantly thinking about how unhappy you are because of depression, then you will only increase your ailment. After all, depression is not only a state of your body, it is also all your experiences associated with it. The disease itself is not so scary when you begin to suffer because of it and wrap your anxieties, unhappy thoughts and fears on top of it!

Even a common cold with a temperature is easier if you do not lose heart, do not whine and wait for recovery. Treat depression like a cold. Be patient, this is just a temporary state of mind. Things around are not so terrible, the situation is not so hopeless. The fact that everything is bad makes you think of an ailment - do not succumb to this!

Get rid of depression - improve external living conditions

I have already written about how important it is to work on yourself and change your outlook on things in order to stop feeling blues. But, our external conditions of existence can also affect your psychological state. True, these conditions are not as important as many of you used to think. What matters is what's inside. And so that you do not forget about it, I will remind you of this in each of the points that I will list below.

Create comfortable living conditions

If many people live in one small room, then this can cause feelings of psychological discomfort. And it's not even about the people themselves, but about their number. No matter how good relations in a team or family are, tightness, lack of solitude can greatly spoil the mood and interfere with a good rest.

If you have the opportunity, move to a larger room, move from your parents to a separate apartment (or cottage). Let this apartment be small and located far away, but housing will be more comfortable if you live, say, with one wife than with your wife and parents.

Probably, those of you who have housing problems will now think to themselves: “Oh, that's it! That's why I'm unhappy!" No, that's not the only reason.

Even in the absence of comfortable housing, you can find your happiness! It's also up to you. If you do not yet have the opportunity to change your living circumstances, then work on yourself, develop your qualities, this will help you endure adverse life circumstances more steadfastly.

Even if you have your own living space, create coziness and comfort conditions there. Tidy up the house, get a pet if you don't have one. Better cat. Better yet, two cats. Or a cat and a dog.

An animal won’t make you happy right away, but a four-legged friend helps relieve stress, brightens up loneliness and improves your mood.

Find the right job

Don't like your job? Change her! Don't like working at all? Create your business and organize it in such a way that it does not take much time and effort! Think about what you want from life. Maybe it's time to start moving towards something, and not sit and passively contemplate how nothing changes year after year, and all your dreams melt like ice in the sun?

If you find your life purpose and start moving towards it, it will fill your life with meaning and give you the joy of existence. After all, some way will open for you, you will stop living without any purpose! The lack of meaning in life and the collapse of hopes can provoke despondency.

What is stopping you from moving towards your dreams? Most likely, only your internal limitations: laziness, fear and doubt. Start slowly realizing your wildest desires. Learn, read, communicate with people, learn about all the possibilities that exist in this world.

Working 5/2 at a job you don't like, as supposedly "everyone" does, is not the only viable alternative. There are many other opportunities, you just need to learn about them, and not sit back and wait for these opportunities to find you. Move and learn new things, explore different options, make plans.

But it's not just about work.

Even doing activities that do not bring pleasure, you can find your happiness!

But still, you need to strive for the best! So start looking for new opportunities!

Update: Let me explain the above statement a bit. Lack of purpose is not always one of the causes of depression. It's more of a consequence. Therefore, finding and finding a purpose is not always a panacea for depression. It is difficult to find a life calling when nothing pleases you, nothing inspires you. A chronically depressed person is not inspired by opportunities to improve his life in some way. Everything is equally bad for him.

To find your goal, you need to work on yourself, meditate, achieve at least some kind of internal balance. You don't have to start by trying to find a stimulus when you're feeling down and not attracted to anything. Start with yourself. Purpose and incentive are secondary.

Find the right life partner

Look for a way out of your loneliness. Find the right pair for you. I cannot teach you how to look for a suitable partner, how to decide on an acquaintance - all this is the topic of separate articles. The only thing I can advise is to choose such a person who will be strong, balanced, balanced and without unnecessary cockroaches in the head.

If you are a subtle, sensitive nature, prone to feelings, then you do not need to meet a person of the same character! Maybe he will be close to you in spirit, but you will not learn anything from him, just like he from you. His and your shortcomings will develop within your union.

It's kind of like incestuous marriages. When people who are in kinship ties give birth to offspring, then it turns out to be weak and defective, as it inherits the weaknesses and defects of the father and mother. But people who are not relatives are much more likely to have healthy children.

Therefore, you do not need to choose a person with the same shortcomings as you. Your union will inherit your weaknesses and will be fragile and short-lived and will become a source of new suffering.

But, do not forget that even in loneliness you can find your happiness!

Get out into nature more often

I recommend to those who suffer from depression a calm, measured rest. It is better to relax in quiet places than to wallow in the revelry of a noisy resort. If you just try to distract yourself from depression through unbridled fun, parties and alcohol, it will not do any good, but only harm.

Learn to enjoy nature and peace, walk in parks and forests, go to the country. Stay alone with yourself more often, try to understand yourself, listen to yourself! Fresh air, peace and quiet work wonders!

But, do not forget that even in a noisy city you can be happy!

Final remarks

As you can see, there is a lot of work to be done. You can't get away with pills alone. If you still decide to take antidepressants, then combine them with other therapies that I described above. Meditate every day, develop willpower, learn a positive outlook on things, go in for sports. I can't imagine how you can get rid of depression without changing yourself!

Approximately 30% of the 70% of those who read this article to the end will heed the advice and begin to follow my recommendations. The rest will become lazy, they will think that my advice does not suit them, because I do not know their grief, their deep existential troubles and, therefore, I cannot help them in any way, and meditation and yoga are generally some kind of shamanism.

Some of these people may even agree with me, think “yes, it’s all right that Nikolai writes.” But things will not go beyond this tacit consent, because what I advise requires patience and diligence. Agreeing with my statements will not prevent someone from running to the doctor for pills, simply because it is the easiest and most effortless.

5-10% out of 30% will methodically follow my advice, actively fight depression, go in for sports, yoga and meditation. The remaining 20% ​​go to a couple of workouts, try to meditate and immediately quit it, seeing that these remedies did not bring instant relief and are difficult to come by. Maybe they will start resorting to pills and alcohol or just continue to suffer.

These 5-10% of persistent and patient people, after some time, will feel that their condition has become better. Not only will depression go away, but they will see improvement in other areas of their lives. Volitional qualities will increase, communication with other people will become easier, the body will gain strength and health, and the mind will become calmer.

For some of these people, depression will go away forever, the other part will learn to control and tolerate it, the symptoms will become less intense, the disorder will begin to appear less often, and the fear of new attacks will pass.

I have given this approximate forecast not to steal your hope. I did this to show that everything is in your hands, and not in the hands of the doctor who treats you, not in the hands of the person who writes hopeful articles, not in the hands of the pharmacists who develop your drugs.

It depends on you whether you will suffer or defeat your sworn enemy - depression. Will you resist or just passively resign yourself to fate. Nobody can help you unless you want to.

Neither I nor anyone else can force you to do something, I can only guide and give advice, everything else is in your hands! Forward! Take action!

Attention! This article does not call for refusing the help of a qualified specialist! Some people can get rid of it on their own, but not all. If you are experiencing severe symptoms of depression, then I recommend that you do not delay and go to a good psychotherapist as soon as possible, a doctor who will not only prescribe drugs (if necessary), but will also conduct therapy sessions with you!

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As a rule, a person seeks to cope with such a condition on his own and often simply does not pay attention to it, which subsequently can adversely affect both physical and mental health. Treatment of depression at home is possible only at the initial stage of the disease.

What is depression

The normal reaction of a living organism to stress is a slowdown in vital processes and a decrease in efficiency. Normally, after solving any life problems or troubles, a good mood returns, and a person feels full of energy again.

If the cause of the disorder is eliminated, and sensations and behavior do not change, depression, loss of strength and apathy for life are felt again, you need to seriously think about your condition and eliminate the developing depression.

Also, the first alarming sign should be apathy after minor troubles in life, which minimally affect a person’s plans. Most often, psychologists share several types of depression, depending on a particular season (winter, spring, autumn).

In its advanced form, depression can manifest itself not only as a breakdown and bad mood, but also cause persistent affective disorders of the nervous system. Treatment of depression at home is justified only in some cases, when the disease is mild or at an early stage. In this case, one can use introspection, self-hypnosis and take preparations from natural remedies such as herbs or certain foods.

Depression: symptoms and treatment, the clinical picture of the disease

Depression, like any disease, has well-defined clinical manifestations, with the help of which it can be diagnosed as quickly as possible:

  • lack of concentration and attention;
  • memory problems;
  • apathetic state;
  • a constant state of oppression and distraction;
  • inability to focus on a particular issue or action;
  • indifference to situations that previously caused joy and satisfaction.

A person in a depressed state can constantly scroll through his head with negative thoughts that have no underlying reason. In addition, you need to pay attention to unconscious fears, a state of anxiety and restlessness, sleep disturbances, lack of appetite, and sudden weight loss. All of these symptoms are associated with depression. Causes, treatment and features of therapy can only be determined by a specialist.

Manic depressive syndrome

It is a special manifestation of depression, which is characterized as a frequent change of mood with a loss of attention and reality. It has two phases - manic and severe depression.

The manic phase manifests itself:

  • a state of euphoria;
  • hyperactivity;
  • possible occurrence of hallucinations;
  • delirium;
  • irritability;
  • fast speech;
  • sharp jumps from one subject to another;
  • lack of concentration;
  • loss of appetite;
  • sleep problems;
  • loss of skills (social, professional, educational).

Symptoms may be mild or severe. The phase of severe depression has several manifestations, including the appearance of phobias, feelings of anxiety, obsessions, and a state of panic. Treatment of depression at home should proceed under the supervision of a doctor who will help you choose effective methods and prescribe, if necessary, the correct dosage of drug-based drugs.

Phobias in depression

A phobia manifests itself as an unconscious fear. The cause can be any action or object. The occurrence of phobias is not limited, they occur at any age and are often completely unreasonable and imperceptible.

A person with a certain phobia is ready to do anything to avoid an unpleasant situation. Therefore, he often behaves inappropriately in a seemingly standard situation. in this case, it is not entirely relevant, since the help of specialists and the use of medications in conjunction with psychotherapy will give the fastest and best effect.

State of anxiety or panic

Manifested by anxiety, fear, a sense of uncertainty. The feeling of anxiety is a necessary vital factor for a person, as it gives him the opportunity to stop in time in the right situation, monitor his health and condition. But it is necessary to ensure that anxiety does not outgrow an adequate border. Increased anxiety prevents a person from making timely decisions, makes him think and concentrate for a long time.

Women are more prone to anxiety conditions, they are often associated with disruptions in the endocrine system and can be inherited. Psychological traumas, especially those received in childhood, also cause unreasonable fear when faced with such situations. The treatment of depression, reviews of which can be heard from former patients, testifies to the effectiveness of psychotherapy and medications.

Anxiety states are characterized by the speed and loudness of speech, the presence of certain forms of behavior (pacing around the room, clasping hands, lack of concentration, trembling in the body, irritability).

Panic states tend to be more severe. The state of anxiety intensifies and brings a person to panic or horror, this state can last for several hours, which greatly affects the state of the human nervous system.

Obsessions

They are thoughts that haunt a person. Most often, this symptom manifests itself in adolescence or young age. It consists in performing certain rituals (a person constantly repeats the same actions, thinking that in this way he can prevent an undesirable development of events).

It can be manifested by a manic desire for cleanliness, constant checking or rechecking of some items, observing a certain sequence of rituals. Treatment of depression on your own in the presence of obsessions does not give results, since this symptom is a consequence of a severe degree of the course of the disease and indicates a malfunction of the nervous system.

post-traumatic syndrome

Occurs after suffering a mental or physical injury. It can be a robbery, rape, being in captivity. After the transferred states, a person from time to time experiences the same sensations of fear, it can be associated with a specific place or people with whom the victim may meet in the future. Treatment for major depression can only be treated by professionals.

Also, this syndrome can be manifested by loss of appetite, insomnia, irritability and depression. Post-traumatic stress requires medical intervention and long-term treatment. In some cases, hospitalization of the patient is indicated.

Treatment for depression

In some cases, it is possible to eliminate the disease at the initial stage on its own. However, only a professional psychotherapist will be able to deal with such a problem as quickly as possible; in especially severe cases, only a psychiatrist can help. Treatment of depression at home requires a strong desire of the patient to return to an active life and the absence of suicidal thoughts. Otherwise, it is better to hospitalize the patient and monitor his condition.

It is the possibility of an imperceptible transition from an ordinary bad mood to persistent mental disorders that is the greatest danger of depression. The basis of treatment is pharmacological therapy, changes in diet and diet, homeopathic medicines.

Medications include tranquilizers and antidepressants, and psychotherapy is also effective. In most cases, the psychotherapeutic effect has a positive effect on the state of the human body and allows you to cope with a depressive and depressed state without medication.

Treatment of depression folk remedies

In alternative medicine, dried herbs are used for treatment, from which tinctures or decoctions are prepared. Their action lies in the presence in plants of certain active substances that can restore and normalize the level of hormones in the body, affecting the state of the nervous system and the work of the whole organism as a whole.

For the treatment of depression, it is optimal to use lemon balm. Preparing the tincture is very easy. It is necessary to add 10 g of dried lemon balm, 1 g of angelica root (everything can be purchased at a pharmacy), the peel of one lemon, 2 buds of dried cloves and one pinch of coriander and nutmeg to 1 liter of vodka.

The mixture must be infused in a dark, cool place for two weeks. It should be taken with tea in small quantities. Treatment of depression in women with this tincture gives the fastest results.

Such a tool perfectly helps to cope with depression, restore the vitality and activity of the body, cope with bad mood and depression, as well as get rid of laziness and apathy.

Diet to treat depression

By adjusting the diet, you can significantly influence the state of the body and self-awareness. With depression, it is necessary to completely exclude coffee and tea, sugar, flour products, hot spices, chocolate and chemical additives from the diet.

Meals should be three times a day. For breakfast, it is optimal to eat fruits, nuts and dairy products, for lunch - vegetables or steamed meat, whole grain bread and milk, for dinner - vegetable salad, legumes and hard cheese. Treating depression on your own with diet is the most effective way.

Apples should be consumed in large quantities. They are the best remedy for depression, they can be baked, prepared in fruit salads or eaten fresh with honey. Such nutrition will strengthen the nervous system, energize the body, give new strength and ideas.

Herbal infusions for depression

Treatment of depression at home with folk remedies is the use of medicinal herbs. The most popular are ginseng leaves or roots, they need to be poured with boiling water in a ratio of 1:10. You need to take one teaspoon.

Mint is also very popular in the treatment of depression. It is prepared by taking 1 tablespoon of dried leaves to a glass of boiling water. The broth should be boiled for 10 minutes, taken on an empty stomach for half a glass.

Can depression be treated without medication?

Can depression be treated without medication? How to get out of depression without taking medication?

In our blog, we have already discussed various methods of non-drug help for depression. Today we will try to systematize this information and clearly define the indications and limitations of these treatments for depression. The frequency of search queries on the Internet for “treatment of depression without drugs” is very high. I think that this is due to the fears and prejudices of people regarding the treatment of depression with antidepressants. In part, they are justified - when taking antidepressants, there are side effects, but most often they bring much less harm and discomfort than the manifestations of depression itself. Alas, often the fear of taking antidepressants and visiting a psychiatrist is used by dishonest people to their advantage to get your money.

I will allow myself to be categorical in answering the question “is it possible to treat depression without medication?”. Here is my answer: if we are talking about moderate to severe depression, then no. Depression has its own biological causes, which are manifested by biochemical changes in the brain. Currently, taking synthetic antidepressants is the most effective and affordable way to cure depression.

Some non-drug treatments may be used in the treatment of mild depression or in combination with antidepressants for more severe mood disorders. Here is some of them:

Psychotherapy for depression

One of the most scientifically proven non-drug treatments for depression is psychotherapy. The goals of depression psychotherapy are to change the negative worldview, reduce anxiety, and “open” the future for a depressed person. The most commonly used treatment for depression is cognitive behavioral therapy. In some cases, the treatment of depression is possible with the participation of a psychotherapist online.

Herbal medicine for depression

As one of my mentors said, treating depression with motherwort is “smearing depression.” Most herbal remedies used in disorders of the emotional sphere (extracts of valerian, motherwort, peony, lily of the valley, lemon balm, peppermint, hops, chamomile, hawthorn, elderberry) have an anti-anxiety and sedative effect and can help in the treatment of “companions of depression” - anxiety and sleep disorders. However, they do not affect the metabolism, which are responsible for maintaining a stable mood. The only herbal remedy that has an antidepressant effect that has been experimentally proven is St. John's wort.

Diet in the treatment of depression

Changing habitual diet and food culture can greatly affect the level of mood. Some Foods Are Mild Natural Antidepressants

Light therapy for depression

Science has proven that one of the factors of depression is the level of sunlight. Therefore, in the treatment of depression, some psychiatrists prescribe special phototherapy or recommend planning vacations in regions with greater daily illumination during periods most dangerous for the development of seasonal depression - late autumn, winter, early spring.

Lifestyle in the treatment of depression

Favorite activities, hobbies, exercise, yoga and meditation, art can also greatly stimulate mood.

Other Methods

Electroconvulsive therapy for depression is used when other treatments fail. This method is effective, but not very popular in the treatment of depression in Moscow, for example. Its safety is evidenced by the fact that it is often recommended to pregnant women suffering from depression.

Great hopes are placed on a new method of treating depression with an electromagnetic field.

I would like to emphasize once again that only a medical specialist, a psychiatrist or a psychotherapist, can deal with the diagnosis and treatment of depression. Be careful - beware of scammers.

ABOUT OUR APPROACH to depression treatment - psychotherapy, meditation and yoga.

Konstantin Blokhin, psychotherapist, candidate of psychological sciences, "Time of Joy"

How to cure depression at home

No matter how cheerful a person is, anyone can be depressed. Moreover, this sometimes happens quite unexpectedly and often does not depend on age crises. Depression is a dangerous thing. It draws in, absorbs, deprives of all the joy of life and, what is most terrible, in some especially difficult cases, leads to suicide. The world is beautiful and should only be seen in rich colors. But how to achieve this and defeat the protracted despondency, we will tell you.

Depression: the way it is

Depression is a disease of our time, everyone knows about it, but many have experienced it in practice. Sometimes (and this happens quite often) a temporary breakdown is mistaken for an illness, or even a false state is invented, because it is now fashionable. But the whole problem is that the true ailment is very insidious. Starting in the depths of the human psyche, it grows with its roots, destroying not only the mental state, but also the physical one. Quietly, gradually, depression conquers all possible territories and takes away bright colors, painting the world only in gray tones.

This condition is very dangerous. It robs a person of the joy of life, drains energy and leads to physical diseases that complete the circle. If you do not pay attention in time, do not try to help the patient and do not pull him out of the pool of hopelessness, everything can end badly. If the depression gets stronger and grows, you may not be able to get out on your own. Then hope only for friends, doctors, specialists.

But in general, the salvation of the drowning is subject only to the drowning themselves. And much more effectively a person can cope with the problem himself, but only if he notices it in time and does not allow the whirlpool of despondency to drag him along. To do this, you need to know the first symptoms of a beginning disease.

Symptoms of depression

  1. Depression develops gradually. Everything can start with periodic panic attacks, anxiety, increased irritability and even tearfulness. At first, such attacks will appear rarely, but over time they will become more frequent and longer.
  2. Self-doubt, envy towards others is also one of the signs. A person begins to reproach himself that he is worthless, knows nothing and cannot, while others achieve everything they dream of.
  3. Closedness, lack of interest in what fascinated before. Anxiety symptom. If you notice behind you that more and more often you want to be left alone and indulge in sad thoughts, and past hobbies seem meaningless and dull, this is a clear manifestation of an approaching depression.
  4. Physical disorders: insomnia, fatigue, lethargy, headaches and muscle pain. Together with a bad mood and ever more frequent states of melancholy, anxiety, self-flagellation, these are clear signs of a developing illness.

Most suicides, unfortunately, occur precisely because the person entered a state of deep depression and could not get out. He was swallowed by a gray world without joy, light, pleasant moments and love. So, to prevent this from happening, you need to clearly understand what measures to combat the disease exist.

Complete victory, or how to make depression recede

The fight against depression is a complex event, and it is not limited to one thing. In especially advanced cases, you have to turn to specialists who can prescribe medication (and sometimes inpatient). However, in most cases, you can manage on your own.

  1. Diagnostics. If you notice a constant despondency bordering on despair, think about it: why is this? Take a close look at your life. Maybe it's because of the separation? Or do you just have chronic stress, or did someone hurt you a lot? As soon as the reason is cleared up, the enemy will appear in person, and it will be easier to fight him.
  2. A change of scenery. One of the most effective ways is to completely change the environment, the situation, drop everything and wave somewhere. Perhaps to the village to his grandfather, to a new country, to another city. Change always has a positive effect on human energy reserves, so they are recommended primarily for depression.
  3. Positive emotions. Without them, too, nowhere. But how do you get positive? First, allow yourself some kind of adventure that is not binding, but at the same time new and unusual. There are many options here: skydiving, flying in a balloon or in a wind tunnel, visiting petting zoos that are now fashionable. Secondly, new relationships will also stir you up and add vitality. We just warn you right away: this should not be a serious romance, without any plans and prospects. For example, resort.

Only a positive, positive attitude and your own desire to be happy will help to completely drive away depression. We wish you to deal with this disease once and for all!

Scientists: how to get rid of depression without drugs and psychotherapy

What really helps in the fight against stress, insomnia, loneliness?

Why do some people remain active and cheerful until old age, while the fate of others is melancholy, anxiety and loneliness? Why has the diagnosis of depression become so common? Neuroscientist David Servan-Schreiber answers these questions in his book.

Life is a fight. But this struggle should not be waged only for its own sake. The mind needs a greater reason to keep trying than mere survival. In his novel The Planet of the Humans, Saint-Exupéry tells how a plane piloted by Henri Guillaumet got lost in the Andes. For three days the pilot went forward through the icy cold. He stumbled and fell on his face into the snow. And enjoying this unexpected respite, he suddenly realized that if he didn’t rise now, he would never rise again. He was exhausted and did not want to get up. He liked the idea of ​​death more - calm and painless. Mentally, he had already said goodbye to his wife and children, and for the last time he felt love for them in his heart.

But then it suddenly dawned on him that if his body was not found, his wife would have to wait four whole years before she could receive the insurance money. Opening his eyes, he saw a large stone sticking out of the snow a hundred meters ahead. If you can get to it, the body will be better visible and then it will be found faster. Out of love for his loved ones, Henri got up and continued on his way. But now he was driven forward by love. He did not stop any more and, having walked more than a hundred kilometers, he saw a village. He later said, "No animal in the world would have done what I did." When his survival was no longer a sufficient motive, his love for others, his concern for them, gave him the strength to continue the fight.

Today we are at the epicenter of a planetary movement towards the psychology of individualism, or personal development. The main values ​​of the individual are independence and autonomy, freedom of expression. These values ​​are so important that even advertisers use them to get us to buy what everyone else is buying. It's just that we are inspired by the idea that the acquisition of this or that thing makes us unique. “Become yourself,” ads for clothing or perfume urge us. “Express your Self,” the coffee ad urges. "Think differently," computer ads order.

Undoubtedly, these values, whose importance has grown irresistibly since the revolutions of the late eighteenth century, have brought many benefits. They underlie the very concept of "freedom", which is of great importance to us. But the further we move in this direction, the more we are convinced that independence and self-reliance have their price. We pay for this with loneliness, the loss of the meaning of life, sometimes with suffering. Never before have we had such freedom to separate from spouses who are no longer satisfied: in Western countries, the divorce rate is approaching fifty percent. Never before have we moved so much: it is believed that in the United States, a family moves on average every five years.

Freed from habitual ties, from duty and obligation to others, we have never been so completely free to find our own path, at the risk of being alone in the end. This is probably another reason why the rate of depression has steadily increased in the West over the past fifty years.

My friend emigrated, leaving his country. He is 37, he worked as a doctor and lived alone until recently. For a long time he was looking for a meaning, which his life obviously lacked, in psychoanalysis and numerous personal growth trainings. And then in antidepressants, having tried almost everything. Finally he told me: “In fact, the only moment when I stop asking myself questions about the meaning of life is the moment when my two-year-old son takes my hand and we go together, even if just for a newspaper in the nearest newsstand!”.

Love for our loved ones, for our children, is perhaps the source of the most obvious meaning of life. But the importance of other people to our own peace of mind is not limited to the nuclear family (spouses and their children). In fact, the more we are involved in the life of society, which, without a doubt, is important to us, the stronger the feeling that we play a certain role in it, taking a place that is valued by others, the easier it is to get rid of feelings of anxiety, stress despair and loss of meaning in life.

I remember one elderly lady whom I consulted at home because she was afraid to leave the apartment. She suffered from emphysema and could not do without her oxygen tank. But her main problem was depression. At seventy-five, she was no longer interested in anything, she felt emptiness and anxiety and was waiting for death. Of course, she had insomnia, poor appetite, and she spent all her time feeling sorry for herself.

At the same time, I was amazed by her intelligence. She had worked for a long time as an assistant to the director of a large company, and, despite all the depression, she clearly radiated a sense of competence and confidence. One day I told her, “I know you are feeling very bad and in need of help, but you are also a person who has all the qualities to be very helpful to others. Have you thought about helping the underprivileged?”

She was surprised that a psychiatrist, whose duty is to help herself, should suddenly ask such a question. But she quickly realized where I was driving, and a spark of interest lit up in her eyes. As a result, she began to devote part of her time to children from disadvantaged families, teaching them to read. It was difficult, given that she had difficulty moving around. In addition, not all children expressed their gratitude to her, and some were very difficult to cope with. But this occupation became important to her. It gave her a purpose in life, a sense of being needed, and re-incorporated her into the society she had to leave because of her age and disability.

This feeling is not at all a dictate of culture or public morality. This is a need of the brain itself: over the past thirty years, sociobiology has clearly shown that altruism is embedded in our genes. Orientation to other people and the inner balance that we find with it, are part of our genetic matrix. In research on people who live happier than others, two things consistently emerge. These people have stable emotional relationships with loved ones, and they take an active part in the life of their society. We've talked a lot about emotional relationships already, but what about broader social connections?

Participation in public life means giving our time and soul to a cause from which we do not receive material benefits. It is one of the most effective remedies for filling the feeling of emptiness that so often accompanies depression.

Giving a little encouragement to older people in nursing homes, helping an animal shelter, offering your services to a nearby school, getting involved in a city council or a union can all make you feel less lonely and, as a result, less anxious and depressed. Emile Durkheim, a sociologist and philosopher, the founder of the French sociological school, was the first to demonstrate this. In his book Suicide, a seminal work in modern sociology, he showed that the people who kill themselves most often are those who are the least involved in society. Since then, American sociologists have found that people who participate in social activities are not only happier than others, but also have better health and live longer.

A study published in the American Journal of Cardiology highlights that, all other things being equal, the mortality rate for elderly low-income people who participate in social activities is 60 percent lower than those who do not participate in it. An analysis of the positive impact of such activities on health, published in Science, leads to an unequivocal conclusion: this is a guarantee of a long life. A guarantee perhaps even better than blood pressure control, low cholesterol, and not smoking. The pleasure of being aware of one's connection with others, of feeling one's involvement in a social group, is a wonderful medicine for the emotional brain, and therefore for the whole organism.

Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl miraculously survived Nazi concentration camps. In his amazing book, written from experience, he recalls what allowed some prisoners to hold on, no matter what. Even if his observations do not have the value of scientific facts, his conclusions coincide with the results of research: in order to survive in a cold and indifferent environment, it is necessary to find the meaning of existence, to establish a connection with something. His advice to people in desperate situations is not to ask life to do something for you, but to ask yourself what you can do for life.

You can simply do your job with more dedication, thinking about how it benefits other people. You can devote a little of your time - at least once a week - to some business, group of people, one person or even an animal that you have a soul for. Mother Teresa, whose ability to show compassion in action made her the undisputed leader of the 20th century, said: “Do not do good deeds for show. The point is to give a part of yourself. The most important thing is the compassion that you put into your action.”

Also, it is not at all necessary to be in harmony with oneself in order to devote oneself to others. Humanist psychologist Abraham Maslow is the founder of the very powerful “personal growth” movement today. Having completed his studies of happy and psychologically balanced people, he concluded that the final stage of personality development is the stage of the “actualized” person turning to others. At the same time, he insisted on the importance of self-realization: “The proven way to become a better servant for others is to become better yourself. But in order to become better yourself, you must serve others. This means that it is possible and even necessary to do these two things at the same time.

A century after Durkheim, thirty years after Frankl and Maslow, modern physiological studies have confirmed their correctness: by measuring cardiac coherence using a computer, scientists state that the easiest and fastest way to bring the body into a balanced state is to experience a feeling of gratitude and tenderness towards to another person. When at a deep, emotional level we feel connected to those around us, our physiology spontaneously enters a state of coherence. And at the same time, helping her to achieve this state, we open the way to new ways of comprehending the world around us.

How to treat depression

A depressive state spoils the life of not only the patient himself, but also the people around him, if he is not treated. Psychological disorder looks like a constant bad mood, insomnia, loss of interest in loved ones and activities, fatigue. Treatment options for depression depend on the type of psychological illness.

Professional treatment for depression

Only a doctor knows how to get a person out of depression without harming his condition. It will help start the process of getting rid of the disease. If the disease is not treated, the disease can last for months and take on ever deeper forms. Before determining the method of how to treat depression, the doctor must make sure that the patient himself wants to get rid of the oppressed psychological state. After several sessions, a diagnosis is made and treatment is carried out on its basis.

chronic depression

Pronounced chronic depression looks like helplessness, hopelessness, suicidal thoughts, sadness, fatigue, slowness in a patient. The state of psychological illness can last for several years, starting from childhood or adolescence, if you do not seek medical help and begin treatment in time. As a result - frequent headaches, stomach problems, sleep disturbance. How to treat chronic depression (dysthymia) in a patient will be prompted by a specialist in this field.

Doctors recommend starting the patient's treatment with a properly selected diet with the inclusion of foods that contain tryptophan, which helps produce serotonin (the hormone of happiness) - this is hard and processed cheese, dark chocolate, chicken eggs, mushrooms, lentils, citrus fruits, cottage cheese. Medical care is prescribed by a doctor for several months, individually for each case. Treatment of the patient's depressive state is well helped by walking, exercising in the gym and psychotherapy.

Reactive

One of the forms of a depressive state in a patient is reactive. A mental illness occurs after several consecutive stressful situations or an acutely negative event. Being in this state, a person walks with his head lowered, hunched over. The patient mentally replays in detail the episodes of the past unpleasant event, looking for reasons, often blaming himself for what happened, tormenting himself and those around him by talking about the situation, often crying.

Reactive depression can be short-term and end in a month, then the treatment of the patient is not necessary, or become prolonged and last up to two years. Antidepressant drugs prescribed by a doctor during treatment help to reduce the patient's sense of fear, anxiety, stabilizing mood, and have a sedative, mild hypnotic effect. It is forbidden for the patient to treat a depressive state with medicines and at the same time drink alcohol-containing drinks.

deep

The causes of deep psychological depression can be situations when a person was a witness or was himself at the center of the events of a catastrophe, violence, death of people. This complex state of mental disorder in a patient is expressed in the form of guilt, loss of interest in life, lethargy, loss of libido, weight loss due to lack of appetite, feeling of a “stone in the chest”.

What to do and how to treat deep depression, which can lead to suicide if it is not controlled? The patient needs to be distracted from difficult memories. Positive emotions from walks, visits to pleasant places, physical exercises in conjunction with medications prescribed by a doctor will help. The therapy lasts from several weeks to several months, is carried out in several stages with the replacement of the patient's treatment regimen.

lingering

A form of protracted depression occurs in patients with severe, often incurable illnesses. The patient feels doomed, considers himself a burden, refuses to treat the disease, ignoring medicines, tries to avoid someone else's society, his self-esteem decreases, the meaning of life is lost, nervous breakdowns often occur. Outwardly, patients suffering from prolonged depression look untidy, stoop, are overweight or, on the contrary, excessively thin, puffiness appears on the face, and the eyes “fade”.

Similar symptoms are observed in people who abuse alcohol for a long time, which also leads to psychological disorders. How to overcome depression, being in this state? For treatment, you will need professional medical assistance with the use of medications and psychotherapy. The impact of drugs prescribed by a doctor should be aimed at acquiring the patient calmness, immunity to irritating factors.

Anxious

During anxious depression, a person has a feeling of impending trouble, hopelessness, loss of faith in an optimistic future. Frequent tearfulness and irritability of the patient begins to become the norm. Being in a state of psychological expectation of doing something bad, a person stops getting a good sleep, and his working capacity decreases. The patient's speech often contains expressions: "I can't stand this", "I'm going to die", "I have a premonition", "it's terrible" in conjunction with active hand gestures and facial expressions.

Treating with medication in combination with corrective psychological therapy means helping to escape anxiety depression. The help of close people who adequately respond to panic attacks, trying to protect the patient from situations that will disturb him, will bring a speedy recovery closer. Treatment during psychotherapeutic sessions will help to perceive the world around you correctly, correct the behavior and thinking of the patient.

Treating depression without medication

Complaints about constant depression, bad mood, irritation can be the first symptoms of depression. Being in a psychological disorder, a person harms not only himself, but also those close to him with whom he communicates. Learn how to beat depression without medication, based on the advice of doctors.

How to cure depression on your own

The period of bearing a baby and the process of childbirth can have a detrimental effect on the mental health of the mother, cause a state of depression. You need to prepare for such a crucial moment in a woman’s life in advance, read appropriate informational literature, try to rebuild your views, habits in parallel with the processes that occur inside by the will of nature. It is not always possible for a young mother to cope with nervousness, so it will be useful to familiarize yourself with how depression is treated without drugs that are not recommended to be taken during this period.

During pregnancy

The change in the hormonal background during the course of pregnancy directly affects the frequent mood swings, the appearance of tears, the perception of the world in a negative light, and can cause anxiety and blues. In order not to harm the development of the fetus, taking antidepressant drugs is undesirable. The main treatment for depression during pregnancy is the attitude of the woman herself, family members and close associates.

You can react to the same change in appearance in different ways: “I got better, age spots appeared, no one likes me like that” or “My husband said that he was crazy about my new condition, pregnancy adorns a woman, inner light comes from her ". Spouse, parents should maintain a positive mood for a pregnant woman, and not plunge into a depressed state with her, when everything is scary, bad, there is no way out without medication.

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Being in a state of pregnancy, a woman can and must allow herself to rest more by increasing the number of hours of sleep, read interesting books, watch comedies, and do what she loves. A visit to a massage therapist, a manicure and pedicure salon, a hairdresser will help you relax, get a surge of positive, replacing medications and forgetting about your depression. Taking care of oneself and health should come first, and everyday problems can be solved later and not necessarily by the woman herself.

How to deal with depression after childbirth

A serious illness called "postpartum depression" should be treated under the guidance of a psychotherapist. Sometimes short-term episodes of fatigue and sadness are taken by young mothers for chronic mental illness. So that the state of lethargy, lack of sleep, irritation does not develop into a real disease, which may take several months and medication to get rid of, you need to provide emotional support to the woman who has given birth, to say more often that she is still loved, desired, to help her forget all fears and memories about pain.

Physical assistance in caring for a nursing baby will enable a young mother to rest and relax more. The room should have a lot of sunlight, walks in the fresh air should become a daily ritual. Her close circle needs to understand that the best remedy for depression for a newly-made mother is not medication and psychotherapy, but care, attention, help, showing interest in the state of health, both emotional and physical.

Treatment of depression folk remedies

With the help of alternative medicine and without the use of medicines, the patient can cope with most diseases. Treating depression at home with folk remedies has good results. The use by the patient of a certain group of foods, herbal teas, drinks will contribute to a balanced internal state, relieve the causeless anxiety syndrome, improve mood, and normalize sleep without drugs.

Herbs that calm the nervous system

The patient can get rid of the tense internal state during depression by drinking soothing teas instead of drugs. A few days after the start of taking herbal infusions, the first positive signs will appear when sedatives accumulate in the body and begin to act. Here are some popular recipes that offer folk remedies for depression and anxiety instead of drugs:

  • Tea brewed with lemon balm or mint leaves has a pleasant taste. With a calming effect, it will help get rid of insomnia. After taking a warm bath at night with the addition of a decoction of these herbs, the body will plunge into a calm deep sleep.
  • Kenaf flowers, hop cones, mint, valerian root (proportion 1:1:2:2.5) pour warm water for 6-8 hours. Drink warm as a medicine, after straining.
  • Fill a small pillow with dried St. John's wort, lavender. Going to bed, keep close to the head.
  • Fragrant soothing tea for the treatment of depression will turn out if it includes strawberry leaves, hawthorn fruits, oregano, valerian root, peony root, linden flowers, calendula. Brew with boiling water, drink warm. The composition can be simplified, depending on which plants are available.

Foods High in Magnesium

How to cure depression at home without using medication? To remove the feeling of despondency, anxiety, blues, melancholy, some products that uplift the mood will help. On the table of people who have decided to regain a sense of calm and confidence, there must be food rich in the amino acid tryptophan, as well as tyramine, magnesium, and fatty acids. To avoid the side effect of an allergic reaction to some components, consult your doctor. Product leaders to help overcome signs of depression:

  • vegetables, fruits that have not only a rich vitamin complex, but also a bright color (bell peppers, oranges, carrots, beets, persimmons, bananas);
  • sea ​​fish with a high fat content in meat;
  • chicken broth and white poultry meat;
  • dishes from frozen (not canned) sea kale;
  • cheese of all kinds and varieties;
  • dark chocolate with a high content of cocoa beans;
  • nuts;
  • buckwheat, oatmeal;
  • eggs.

How to deal with depression at home

Even being outside the walls of the hospital, depression must be fought and not only with the help of drugs. It will be especially easy to defeat him at the initial stage, when the first signs appear. Do not know how to get rid of depression at home without the help of drug psychotherapy? A few effective recommendations will help you return to a normal state without the use of drugs, then life will not seem gray, dull and hopeless.

Lifestyle change

If you take a closer look at the suggested tips for getting rid of depression without using drugs, you may be surprised to notice that some obvious actions help you get out of a passive state. What does it mean to change your lifestyle? If you have not yet applied any of the actions from the proposed list, try it - and you will notice that oppression and anxiety recede without the use of medicines, and your state of mind has begun to improve:

  • do a morning warm-up, starting with such elementary exercises as swinging your arms, legs, tilts;
  • alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, drugs, if present in your life - it's time to part with them;
  • daily walks, the time and routes of which are better to change often;
  • start taking care of someone - an elderly person, an animal;
  • remember your childhood dreams and make at least one of them a reality;
  • getting rid of a pessimistic environment, communicate more with positive people;
  • find time for rest;
  • take a vacation and travel on an unfamiliar route;
  • buy a new thing for yourself or as an interior detail.

Music for relaxation and calming the nerves

During anxiety, the calm, enchanting sounds of the melody help to find peace of mind without using medication. Even professional psychotherapy sessions include listening to soothing music as a treatment. To get a relaxing effect, you need to take a comfortable position - lie on the couch or sit in a comfortable chair. It is desirable that there is no bright light in the room. The music should be soft and pleasant to listen to. The theme of the melody for relaxation can be chosen according to individual taste:

  • classical;
  • sounds of nature (the sound of the surf, the singing of birds, the slight sound of wind and leaves);
  • melody played on the saxophone;
  • light instrumental music.

How to treat depression without medication

Information on how depression is treated without the use of drugs will be of interest to all those who want to improve their mental attitude without resorting to medications. Psychotherapist sessions can be done individually or in a group. A patient experiencing a period of oppression chooses for himself, according to which scheme it is more comfortable for him to undergo a course of therapy. The doctor, based on the analysis made during the conversation with the patient, prescribes a method that is suitable in a particular case, or offers a comprehensive approach to the treatment of depression without drugs.

A feature of the use of CBT for depression is to start treatment without using drugs. The point is to separate negative thoughts, the patient's reaction to the event and the situation as such. During the session, with the help of various unexpected questions, the doctor helps the patient to look at the ongoing action from the outside and make sure that nothing terrible is actually happening.

There is a gradual exploration of the patient's thinking. Gloomy thoughts, which entailed severe stress, are concentrated only in the mind of the patient. Reviewing the attitude to a particular situation helps to get rid of the forcing feeling of anxiety, insecurity, to increase one's own assessment of significance as a person. The result is a change in thinking that positively affects the behavior and general condition of the patient.

Hypnosis

An experienced psychotherapist, having carefully examined the patient, in order to obtain a greater effect of non-drug and cognitive-behavioral therapy, will advise using hypnosis sessions through effective alternation. Plunging into a trance, the patient has the opportunity to "look inside himself" to get rid of depression. During a hypnotic session, moments emerge in the mind when a person felt a feeling of happiness, joy, satisfaction.

It can be both childhood memories and adults. Sometimes vivid dreams, fantasies can float in thoughts, which, according to the patient's feelings, are no different from the events that actually happened. During a hypnosis session, the doctor helps the patient to remember the feeling of joy, euphoria, happiness, so that, after coming out of a trance, it would be easier to overcome depression and anxiety without medication.

9 ways to fight depression without drugs

It is not for nothing that depression is considered one of the main troubles of our century: for scientific and technological progress, the acceleration of the pace of life and the availability of information flows, we are forced to pay with constant stress and weakening of the body's defenses. As a result, conditions characterized by increased anxiety, lack of interest in life, spiritual and physical discomfort are widespread.

However, pharmacology does not stand still, and today there are a number of drugs that help get rid of the symptoms of depression. It may seem that the problem is solved, but many drugs have very unpleasant side effects: they are addictive, sleep disturbances, lethargy, etc. In addition, drug-treated depression tends to return. That is why experienced doctors advise using non-drug methods of dealing with it in the initial stages of depression. There are many such ways. We will talk about the most common of them in this article.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

The essence of the method is that the patient, under the guidance of a specialist, learns to identify and analyze their own negative thoughts and emotions, to understand the causes of their occurrence. This helps to reduce anxiety, find real ways to solve life's problems. If depression is mild, 10-20 consultations will usually resolve it completely. In the future, the patient can practice the method on their own, using the acquired skills.

Physical exercises

Regular sports activities activate the body's defense system, contribute to the normalization of appetite and sleep, and increase self-esteem. In addition, moderate exercise produces serotonin, which is a natural remedy for depression. Hiking in the fresh air, outdoor games, skiing and swimming are especially beneficial for the psyche.

Massage

Relaxing massage stimulates the brain to secrete a special hormone - oxytocin. It causes a feeling of calm and security, helps to endure stressful situations more easily.

Active massage, on the contrary, invigorates, tones the body. At the same time, a large amount of endorphin enters the blood - the “hormone of joy”, which improves mood.

In the treatment of depression, different types of massage can alternate, sessions are often combined with procedures such as stone therapy, aromatherapy.

Yoga and meditation

These traditional relaxation systems are among the most powerful means of combating depression. It is believed that yoga classes help to concentrate, calm down and develop an optimistic outlook on life. In addition, scientists have found that by practicing some yoga postures, you can reduce the concentration of the “stress hormone” (cortisol) in the blood.

Acupuncture

Impact on biologically active points of the body with the help of massage or acupuncture relieves pain, soothes and relaxes. In the treatment of depression, the effectiveness of this method approaches 80%. Recently, a more modern way of irritating active points is increasingly being used - with the help of a laser. In terms of its effect on the body, it is similar to acupuncture, but much less traumatic for the patient.

Medicinal herbs

Many plants have a calming and relaxing effect - their infusions and decoctions are used as antidepressants. St. John's wort, lemon balm, mint, hops, wild rose, licorice, hawthorn are considered the most effective.

Such treatment has a number of contraindications, the main of which is the possibility of an allergic reaction. Therefore, it is desirable that herbal remedies are prescribed by a doctor.

Light therapy

With the onset of autumn, the number of people prone to bouts of depression increases. Patients complain of lethargy, drowsiness, feelings of melancholy and hopelessness. The reason is the lack of sunlight, which is necessary for the body to produce melatonin. Deficiency of this hormone leads to a bad mood and loss of motivation for vigorous activity.

These conditions are successfully treated with light therapy. Several sessions of exposure to bright light are similar in effect to taking a course of antidepressant: they normalize sleep patterns and return the joy of life, without giving any side effects. The method has practically no contraindications and can be used to treat any type of depression (including seasonal).

B vitamins

Vitamin B6 is involved in the synthesis of serotonin, and a deterioration in mood is directly related to its deficiency in the body. Scientists have also found that in the tissues of the body of people suffering from a tendency to depression, there is a reduced amount of folic acid (vitamin B9) and vitamin B12.

All these substances can be obtained from food, daily including meat, cereals, fresh vegetables and fruits, and legumes in your diet. The champion in the content of vitamins of group B are pine nuts: to get the daily norm, it is enough to eat all raw nucleoli every day.

Amino acid tryptophan

The essential acid tryptophan is involved in the synthesis of serotonin and is a natural antidepressant. Deficiency of this substance in the body leads to sleep disturbances, irritability, headaches, increased fatigue.

Dairy products (including cheese), soybeans, mushrooms, bananas, peanuts, dates, and sesame contain the greatest amount of tryptophan. In severe depression, the lack of an amino acid has to be replenished by taking dietary supplements (which a specialist should advise - in order to avoid purchasing a low-quality or fake product).

It is clear that no one is immune from depression. However, you should not despair - this condition is successfully treated, and often it is non-drug methods that are better than drugs that reduce the intensity of unpleasant symptoms and even make it possible to completely defeat the disease.

Video from YouTube on the topic of the article:

Education: First Moscow State Medical University named after I.M. Sechenov, specialty "Medicine".

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Depression is a disease of a modern person, which negatively affects the emotional balance, worsens the quality of life, affecting its various areas.

The onset of depression is not necessarily accompanied by psychological trauma. Sometimes the disease occurs for no reason.

Correctly diagnosing depression is not so easy, because it is one of the symptoms of psychosomatic diseases. Diagnosis begins with a conversation, questioning the patient, various tests.

There is a so-called "depressive triad" by which the disease is determined.

  1. Prolonged lethargy is accompanied by slowness, stiffness of movements.
  2. The slowness of speech and thinking is manifested in a distorted perception of the world, silence.
  3. A bad mood in depression does not depend on the events taking place around.

After the consultation, the doctor conducts a clinical evaluation. Sometimes it is necessary to take tests regarding the functioning of the thyroid gland in order to identify possible diseases that affect mood.

Common symptoms of depression:

  • muscle fatigue, accompanied by lethargy;
  • daytime sleepiness and insomnia at night;
  • sharp fluctuations in weight;
  • pain in the abdomen, diarrhea, constipation;
  • irritability and aggression towards others;
  • deterioration in concentration;
  • causeless disturbing thoughts, obsession;
  • self-doubt;
  • unwillingness to leave personal space.

Suicidal thoughts occur in people suffering from severe forms of depression. In this case, you need to seek help from a specialist.

Types of depression and causes

There are several types of depression:

  • exogenous appearance is manifested due to external stimuli. This may be the loss of a job, the death of a loved one, parting with a loved one, and so on;
  • endogenous occurs as a result of internal problems, sometimes a person cannot explain the cause of the disorder.

Exogenous depression goes away when a person accepts the situation as it is or finds the best solution to the problem.

It is difficult to cope with endogenous depression, as it provokes the development of serious mental illness.

The opinions of doctors on this matter differ. Some agree with the formulation of the types of depression described above. Others argue that exogenous depression is no less dangerous than endogenous.

Stages of the disease

Consider several stages of the disease.

  1. Bad mood and sadness. Unresolved cases accumulate, the emotional state leaves much to be desired. Everyone has experienced this, at this stage you need to pull yourself together.
  2. Anxiety without a reason makes it difficult to concentrate. A person often suffers from sleep disorders, loses interest in what used to be important.
  3. The third stage is accompanied by attracting the attention of others. A person suffering from depression is inadequate, which makes him irritated with himself and others.
  4. At this stage, a person turns into a critic. He does not like everything and everything, speech becomes incoherent, slander is replaced by silence.
  5. The last stage of depression involves obsessive thoughts about death. The person is closed, refuses to contact with other people. In some cases, attempts to commit suicide. If a person is not helped at this stage, he will go crazy or commit suicide.

Some people easily overcome all obstacles, others fall into despondency, which turns into a deep depression. This is a serious disease that requires a competent approach.

Features of endogenous depression

Endogenous depression provokes a certain combination of character traits, unfavorable heredity, lifestyle. This type of disease manifests itself as a result of emotional stress in which a person has been for years.

People who are inclined to control everything are rarely satisfied with their lives, they try to foresee everything, realize themselves, and achieve their goals. In addition to these qualities, they are too sensitive, worried about the opinions of others, vulnerable and emotionally unstable.

If everything does not go as planned, a person withdraws into himself, fences himself off from others, often breaks down, feels depressed and empty. In this scenario, endogenous depression develops with all the ensuing consequences.

The nuances of postpartum depression

The psycho-emotional state of the newly-made mother is unstable. Many women experience depression after giving birth.

Symptoms of postpartum depression are:

  • capriciousness;
  • imbalance;
  • excessive emotionality.

Emotional instability is provoked by such factors as: uncertainty, guilt, tension, cardinal changes, new responsibilities.

Most women deal with postpartum depression on their own. But, there are those who, without outside help, cannot get out of a constantly depressed state. The support of loved ones plays an important role, if necessary, you should consult with your doctor.

Medical treatment

No other existing drug has been recognized as the best in the fight against depression. Most drugs address the symptoms of the disease, not the cause.

Antidepressants are more popular than ever. They really help, but only if prescribed by a doctor.

Drug treatment involves taking: antidepressants, antipsychotics, normotics, antihypoxants. When taking the above drugs, be sure to follow the indicated dosage.

Self-treatment for depression at home

Self-treatment of the disease is appropriate in the early stages of the development of a depressive state and is unacceptable for serious mental disorders. There are many ways to get rid of depression, consider the most famous.

Treatment with pills

Pharmacies are full of antidepressants that are sold without a prescription. Drugs eliminate anxiety, insomnia, relieve depression.

Strong antidepressants are not sold without a prescription, but you can buy light pills that affect well-being and mood.

  1. Maprotiline removes lethargy, eliminates apathy and anxiety. Contraindications for use: pregnancy, kidney disease.
  2. Prozac eliminates panic attacks, relieves obsessions. Taking medicine makes a person balanced.
  3. Paxil eliminates phobias, depression, stressful situations.
  4. Persen calms the nerves, consists of natural ingredients.

Some vitamins and amino acids stabilize mood, give vitality and energy, and have a mild calming effect. Indications for depression: B vitamins, vitamin C, D.

Exercise in the fight against depression

In the fight against bad mood and depression, running helps, which contributes to the production of endorphins, which are responsible for a feeling of joy.

Not only running helps to get rid of obsessive thoughts. Dancing, cycling, hiking, swimming and more can help. Choose an activity that gives you pleasure and start practicing, no matter how difficult it may be at first.

Yoga is a great alternative to intense workouts. Regular classes improve mood, tone up, energize, resist depression.

Water procedures to lift the mood

It is known that water cleanses not only the body, but also the soul. Regular water treatments relieve psychological and emotional stress.

Take baths with aromatic oils, which have a relaxing and soothing effect. This is the easiest way to improve your mood.

Twice a week, take a bath with the addition of valerian root infusion and pine needle decoction.

If you have time, do not deny yourself the pleasure of walking on the water (a river, a lake will do), it is not necessary to swim. 5 minutes are enough for you to feel relaxed and forget about problems.

Wear warm socks on wet feet. Walk around the room until your feet are completely dry.

A shower will cope with a bad mood, loss of strength, depression. When taking a shower, imagine that all problems go away with the water.

Nutrition for depression

Many are accustomed to seize their problems, hence, overweight and obesity. It turns out that there are products that have a positive effect on the emotional state, and do not affect the figure.

During depression, take care of the diet, it should be complete. Among the products of antidepressants stand out: bananas, strawberries and dark chocolate.

Vitamin B present in foods has a relaxing effect. Eat regularly: shrimp, salmon, tuna, chicken, beef liver, hazelnuts.

Do not seize a bad mood with confectionery. Such a habit further drives one into depression and makes one suffer from feelings of guilt. Learn to replace unhealthy foods with healthy ones.

Folk remedies for depression

What people just do not come up with to improve well-being. Some are treated with herbs, others do acupuncture exercises, others change their lifestyle, introducing good habits into it.

Honey treatment

The chemical composition of honey contains substances that positively affect the nervous system.

The product contains:

  • B vitamins;
  • vitamin E;
  • provitamin A;
  • selenium and magnesium;
  • glucose.

These are anti-stress substances that help to resist problems, cope with insomnia, relieve fatigue and apathy, and reduce nervous excitability.

drinks for depression

Some drinks, like foods, have an anti-stress effect.

  1. A drink with mint and lemon balm will relieve a bad mood. Herbs soothe, give the drink a unique taste and aroma. Lemon and honey will help enhance the effect;
  2. Tea with ginger, cocoa and honey has a relaxing effect. As a bonus, we note the fat-burning properties of ginger root;
  3. Mix 2 bunches of fresh lemon balm leaves and juice from 4 oranges. A simple drink uplifts, has a calming effect;
  4. You will need 500 ml of boiled milk and a tablespoon of whipped cream. Mix the ingredients, heat on the stove. Add 100 g dark chocolate. Heat the drink until the chocolate is completely melted. Serve warm, add a pinch of cinnamon.

Recipes for decoctions and tinctures

Grind 50 g of the root of the plant, fill it with 500 ml of medical alcohol. Leave in a glass container for a month. Strain before use. Use herbal tincture 20 drops 3 times a day.

  • Angelica is useful for nervous exhaustion, sleep disorders.

Brew two tablespoons of the crushed root of the plant in 500 ml of boiling water. After an hour, strain. Divide the infusion into about 4 doses.

  • Cucumber grass invigorates and uplifts the mood.

Pour dry grass (1 tablespoon) into 200 ml of boiling water. After a few hours, strain. This is one serving of a stress-fighting drink.

  • Chicory root will relieve gloomy thoughts, set in a positive way.

You will need: 2 tablespoons of chopped root and a glass of boiling water. Cool down the drink. Use 6 times a day for a tablespoon.

  • Ficus will relieve depression.

Cut 3 leaves from a houseplant, wash and dry. You will get about 50 g of gruel. Add it to 500 ml of quality vodka. Leave for 12 days. Strain. Drop 15 drops of tincture on a sugar cube, take 3 times a day.

  • Flower collection will cure melancholy and mental disorder.

Take one tablespoon of dried lavender, fennel and anise flowers. Pour them in a glass of boiling water. Cool, strain. Take morning, afternoon and evening.

  • Bird mountaineer for mental clarity.

Add dry raw materials (2 tablespoons) to half a liter of boiling water. Cool, strain. Take 4 times a day, 100 ml before meals.

  • Herbal collection relieves the blues.

Take 2 parts of hops, one part of valerian root, lemon balm and chamomile. Grind the ingredients to a powder. Add 2 tablespoons of the herb to 400 ml of boiling water. After 20 minutes, strain the infusion, take the prepared decoction in small portions throughout the day.

  • Vodka tincture will cure seasonal blues.

Remove the zest from 1 lemon, add it to a liter of vodka. Add a pinch of nutmeg, chopped coriander, 2 spicy cloves, 10 g of lemon balm and a pinch of chopped angelica root there. Leave to infuse for 14 days in a dark, cool place. Strain the tincture and add one spoonful to the tea.

  • Chinese lemongrass will return strength.

Take the dry fruits of lemongrass, chop. Enough 1 tablespoon. Boil in 200 ml of water for about 30 minutes. Cool, strain. Decoction take a tablespoon, morning and evening.

Pollen treatment

Flower pollen is a natural antidepressant with medicinal properties.

  1. Pollen from acacia flowers is considered a strong sedative;
  2. Cucumber pollen calms the nerves, relieves headaches, restores the protective functions of the body;
  3. Rosemary pollen will relieve chronic fatigue;
  4. Lavender pollen strengthens the nervous system, has a positive effect on the work of the cardiovascular system.
  5. Rosemary pollen relieves fatigue, restores strength.

Regardless of the type of pollen, the same dosage is recommended, 1 teaspoon before each meal. This method of getting rid of depression has contraindications, including: individual intolerance to the components, allergic reactions, the body's tendency to bleed, diabetes, pregnancy and lactation.

Do not give flower pollen to children due to the high risk of allergies.

Prevention of depression

A depressed person sees everything in black, so learn to see the positive in every situation. For an optimist, any problem is not a dead end, but an opportunity to find a way out and do it with minimal losses.

The worldview will not change overnight, you will have to work on it. Stop self-flagellation, love yourself for who you are. Learn to enjoy what you have, but don't stop there.

Content

Complaints about constant depression, bad mood, irritation can be the first symptoms of depression. Being in a psychological disorder, a person harms not only himself, but also those close to him with whom he communicates. Learn how to beat depression without medication, based on the advice of doctors.

How to cure depression on your own

The period of bearing a baby and the process of childbirth can have a detrimental effect on the mental health of the mother, cause a state of depression. You need to prepare for such a crucial moment in a woman’s life in advance, read appropriate informational literature, try to rebuild your views, habits in parallel with the processes that occur inside by the will of nature. It is not always possible for a young mother to cope with nervousness, so it will be useful to familiarize yourself with how depression is treated without drugs that are not recommended to be taken during this period.

During pregnancy

The change in the hormonal background during the course of pregnancy directly affects the frequent mood swings, the appearance of tears, the perception of the world in a negative light, and can cause anxiety and blues. In order not to harm the development of the fetus, taking antidepressant drugs is undesirable. The main treatment for depression during pregnancy is the attitude of the woman herself, family members and close associates.

You can react to the same change in appearance in different ways: “I got better, age spots appeared, no one likes me like that” or “My husband said that he was crazy about my new condition, pregnancy adorns a woman, inner light comes from her ". Spouse, parents should maintain a positive mood for a pregnant woman, and not plunge into a depressed state with her, when everything is scary, bad, there is no way out without medication.

Being in a state of pregnancy, a woman can and must allow herself to rest more by increasing the number of hours of sleep, read interesting books, watch comedies, and do what she loves. A visit to a massage therapist, a manicure and pedicure salon, a hairdresser will help you relax, get a surge of positive, replacing medications and forgetting about your depression. Taking care of oneself and health should come first, and everyday problems can be solved later and not necessarily by the woman herself.

How to deal with depression after childbirth

A serious illness called "postpartum depression" should be treated under the guidance of a psychotherapist. Sometimes short-term episodes of fatigue and sadness are taken by young mothers for chronic mental illness. So that the state of lethargy, lack of sleep, irritation does not develop into a real disease, which may take several months and medication to get rid of, you need to provide emotional support to the woman who has given birth, to say more often that she is still loved, desired, to help her forget all fears and memories about pain.

Physical assistance in caring for a nursing baby will enable a young mother to rest and relax more. The room should have a lot of sunlight, walks in the fresh air should become a daily ritual. Her close circle needs to understand that the best remedy for depression for a newly-made mother is not medication and psychotherapy, but care, attention, help, showing interest in the state of health, both emotional and physical.

Treatment of depression folk remedies

With the help of alternative medicine and without the use of medicines, the patient can cope with most diseases. Treating depression at home with folk remedies has good results. The use by the patient of a certain group of foods, herbal teas, drinks will contribute to a balanced internal state, relieve the causeless anxiety syndrome, improve mood, and normalize sleep without drugs.

Herbs that calm the nervous system

The patient can get rid of the tense internal state during depression by drinking soothing teas instead of drugs. A few days after the start of taking herbal infusions, the first positive signs will appear when sedatives accumulate in the body and begin to act. Here are some popular recipes that offer folk remedies for depression and anxiety instead of drugs:

  • Tea brewed with lemon balm or mint leaves has a pleasant taste. With a calming effect, it will help get rid of insomnia. After taking a warm bath at night with the addition of a decoction of these herbs, the body will plunge into a calm deep sleep.
  • Kenaf flowers, hop cones, mint, valerian root (proportion 1:1:2:2.5) pour warm water for 6-8 hours. Drink warm as a medicine, after straining.
  • Fill a small pillow with dried St. John's wort, lavender. Going to bed, keep close to the head.
  • Fragrant soothing tea for the treatment of depression will turn out if it includes strawberry leaves, hawthorn fruits, oregano, valerian root, peony root, linden flowers, calendula. Brew with boiling water, drink warm. The composition can be simplified, depending on which plants are available.

Foods High in Magnesium

How to cure depression at home without using medication? To remove the feeling of despondency, anxiety, blues, melancholy, some products that uplift the mood will help. On the table of people who have decided to regain a sense of calm and confidence, there must be food rich in the amino acid tryptophan, as well as tyramine, magnesium, and fatty acids. To avoid the side effect of an allergic reaction to some components, consult your doctor. Product leaders to help overcome signs of depression:

  • vegetables, fruits that have not only a rich vitamin complex, but also a bright color (bell peppers, oranges, carrots, beets, persimmons, bananas);
  • sea ​​fish with a high fat content in meat;
  • chicken broth and white poultry meat;
  • dishes from frozen (not canned) sea kale;
  • cheese of all kinds and varieties;
  • dark chocolate with a high content of cocoa beans;
  • nuts;
  • buckwheat, oatmeal;
  • eggs.

How to deal with depression at home

Even being outside the walls of the hospital, depression must be fought and not only with the help of drugs. It will be especially easy to defeat him at the initial stage, when the first signs appear. Do not know how to get rid of depression at home without the help of drug psychotherapy? A few effective recommendations will help you return to a normal state without the use of drugs, then life will not seem gray, dull and hopeless.

Lifestyle change

If you take a closer look at the suggested tips for getting rid of depression without using drugs, you may be surprised to notice that some obvious actions help you get out of a passive state. What does it mean to change your lifestyle? If you have not yet applied any of the actions from the proposed list, try it - and you will notice that oppression and anxiety recede without the use of medicines, and your state of mind has begun to improve:

  • do a morning warm-up, starting with such elementary exercises as swinging your arms, legs, tilts;
  • alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, drugs, if present in your life - it's time to part with them;
  • daily walks, the time and routes of which are better to change often;
  • start taking care of someone - an elderly person, an animal;
  • remember your childhood dreams and make at least one of them a reality;
  • getting rid of a pessimistic environment, communicate more with positive people;
  • find time for rest;
  • take a vacation and travel on an unfamiliar route;
  • buy a new thing for yourself or as an interior detail.

Music for relaxation and calming the nerves

During anxiety, the calm, enchanting sounds of the melody help to find peace of mind without using medication. Even professional psychotherapy sessions include listening to soothing music as a treatment. To get a relaxing effect, you need to take a comfortable position - lie on the couch or sit in a comfortable chair. It is desirable that there is no bright light in the room. The music should be soft and pleasant to listen to. The theme of the melody for relaxation can be chosen according to individual taste:

  • classical;
  • sounds of nature (the sound of the surf, the singing of birds, the slight sound of wind and leaves);
  • melody played on the saxophone;
  • light instrumental music.

How to treat depression without medication

Information on how depression is treated without the use of drugs will be of interest to all those who want to improve their mental attitude without resorting to medications. Psychotherapist sessions can be done individually or in a group. A patient experiencing a period of oppression chooses for himself, according to which scheme it is more comfortable for him to undergo a course of therapy. The doctor, based on the analysis made during the conversation with the patient, prescribes a method that is suitable in a particular case, or offers a comprehensive approach to the treatment of depression without drugs.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

A feature of the use of CBT for depression is to start treatment without using drugs. The point is to separate negative thoughts, the patient's reaction to the event and the situation as such. During the session, with the help of various unexpected questions, the doctor helps the patient to look at the ongoing action from the outside and make sure that nothing terrible is actually happening.

There is a gradual exploration of the patient's thinking. Gloomy thoughts, which entailed severe stress, are concentrated only in the mind of the patient. Reviewing the attitude to a particular situation helps to get rid of the forcing feeling of anxiety, insecurity, to increase one's own assessment of significance as a person. The result is a change in thinking that positively affects the behavior and general condition of the patient.

Hypnosis

An experienced psychotherapist, having carefully examined the patient, in order to obtain a greater effect of non-drug and cognitive-behavioral therapy, will advise using hypnosis sessions through effective alternation. Plunging into a trance, the patient has the opportunity to "look inside himself" to get rid of depression. During a hypnotic session, moments emerge in the mind when a person felt a feeling of happiness, joy, satisfaction.

It can be both childhood memories and adults. Sometimes vivid dreams, fantasies can float in thoughts, which, according to the patient's feelings, are no different from the events that actually happened. During a hypnosis session, the doctor helps the patient to remember the feeling of joy, euphoria, happiness, so that, after coming out of a trance, it would be easier to overcome depression and anxiety without medication.

Discuss

Treating depression without medication

Without drugs? There is no single answer to this question, since it is necessary to take into account the severity of the course of a mental disorder.

Non-drug expedient at the initial stage of the development of the disease. But only a doctor can diagnose. The patient cannot independently determine what form of depression he has. Therefore, do not neglect the advice of a specialist.

It is important to consider how to get rid of depression without drugs, in which category of patients non-drug methods of dealing with the disease are contraindicated.

Expert opinion

Psychologists provide answers to the following series of questions:

Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapy

It is important to consider how to get out of depression with the help of cognitive behavioral therapy. First you need to understand why this method has a highly effective therapeutic effect:


Depression is not always treated with medication. After all, it is not uncommon for a person to suffer from a misunderstanding of the events taking place in his life. Life is seen in gloomy colors. It seems that no one understands or hears you, that there is no way out of the impasse in life. And to understand that sometimes there are circumstances when victory is impossible, and despite desperate efforts, you will not achieve your goal, but will only waste your energy.

Guilt

People who are depressed experience an overwhelming sense of guilt. Consider how to deal with this phenomenon:

  1. Guilt is an unjustified attempt to go back in time and change it. It is important to understand that it could not be otherwise, otherwise you would have acted differently. The decision you made depended on a number of factors for which you are not responsible. Therefore, psychologists urge not to allow feelings of guilt, because it makes it impossible to act and realize your dreams.
  2. Guilt is the other side of megalomania. Depression arises because you simply cannot forgive yourself for the mistakes you have made. For a great and wise man, as you should be, never errs. For this reason, the patient refuses to accept the fact of non-compliance with high requirements. Self-flagellation saves from the recognition that a person is far from ideal. With non-drug treatment, the psychologist draws the patient's attention to his own imperfection, which is normal and natural.

What else can be done?

How to cure depression at home? It is necessary to consider what actions can be taken at the initial stage of the development of the disease:

  1. Keep a daily diary. Write down everything that worries you and depresses you. Thus, you can track recurring thoughts about hopeless situations, unwillingness to live, unrequited love. In a month, you can re-read your notes. If your problem is resolved, then be sure to indicate what contributed to the harmonization of the personality. Learn a useful lesson for yourself.
  2. Talk to a close friend you trust. It is said that depression resolves after a month of antidepressant treatment, but this is a common misconception. After all, pills are drunk in courses for six months, and we treat mental pain with love. Therefore, it is the support of friends that contributes to the release of negative emotions. You are freed from oppressive thoughts, cease to suffer from mental anguish.
  3. Get rid of depression gradually. This is work on yourself, requiring strong-willed actions from you. Analyze mistakes, engage in self-development. Depressive disorder at the initial stage of development is not a sentence, so actively overcome the laziness of the soul.

Proven ways to fight depression

If you do not trust the pills, then you can give preference to the following events:


We fight depression more effectively when we eat right. Bananas, parsley and chocolate improve mood. But it is important to exclude an allergic reaction to the above foods in order to avoid disastrous consequences.

Depression cured at home indicates a competent program of therapeutic effects. It is recommended to consult a specialist before carrying out the above procedures.

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