Welcome to Holistic Mental Health News

Welcome to our monthly newsletter. Holistic mental health and alternative healing news addresses the whole person - body, mind, spirit and emotions. Learn about natural holistic remedies through the reliable sources offered here.

Depression

Depression requires a holistic approach to its understanding and its treatment. Depression involves the mind the body and the spirit. It also takes into account the individual person and the environment in which they live in. lives. Additionally it involves what we eat, drink and how we move, and sleep. Depression takes EVERYTHING into account. It disrupts everything from social relationships, destroys friendships and marriages, alters our perception, takes away our jobs and our ability to enjoy the zest for life.

Depression appears to be on the rise. One reason depression has been on the increase is that our society has become so “fixated” with the pursuit of happiness that people become angry and impatient with any unhappiness at all. Statistics are on the increase because our brains are getting better at facing reality, the environment, violence, an unstable economy, and unfairness in the world, reality is far more difficult to ignore.

What is depression?
In American society so many people experience depression that it has been called the "common cold of emotional illness." About 15% of the population and 100 million people are depressed at any given time. About one in six people experience a significant depressive episode at some point in life. A depressive disorder is an illness that involves the body, mood, spirit, and thoughts. It affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about one’s self, and the way one thinks about things. A depressive disorder is not the same as a passing blue mood nor is it a sign of personal weakness or a condition that can be willed or wished away.

Many people will come to see you complaining about depression. Their complaints might include;
*Depressed mood or sadness most of the time (for what may seem like no reason)
*Lack of energy and feeling tired all the time
*Inability to enjoy things that used to bring pleasure
*Withdrawal from friends and family
*Irritability, anger, or anxiety
*Inability to concentrate
*Significant weight loss or gain
*Change in sleep patterns (inability to fall asleep, stay asleep, or get up in the morning)
*Feelings of guilt or worthlessness
*Aches and pains (with no known medical cause)
*Flu like symptoms
*Feeling bad or unlikable
*Pessimism and indifference (not caring about anything in the present or future)
*Lack of spiritual sense of self
*Thoughts of suicide or death

When someone has depression, it can cloud everything. The world looks bleak and the person's thoughts reflect that hopelessness and helplessness. People with depression tend to have negative and self-critical thoughts. Sometimes, despite their true value, people with depression can feel worthless and unlovable. Here is a table that shows risk factors of depression.

Alternative Treatments
Conventional antidepressants may be costly and have side effects and drug interactions that may inconvenience the patient, limit the use of a particular drug, or require the discontinuation of a particular drug. Alternative treatments for depression are helpful, carry little side effects and have been successful. There are such a wide variety of treatment options. This section will cover just a few of the many helpful alternatives.
Studies support that exercise can be an excellent antidote for mild to moderate depression. Researchers also say that in the long run, exercise may work better than medication in controlling symptoms.

Vitamins and Herbs
Omega fatty three has been tested in hundreds of studies that conclusively show the correlations between low omega-3 fatty acid levels and depression. In fact, omega fatty three is one of the most recommended treatments for depression. People must take at least 6,000-8,000mgs to get the therapeutic effect.

B vitamins are also effective in helping maintain adequate serotonin levels. The B-complex supplement should contain the essential B vitamins, which are thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, B6, B12, and pantothenic acid.

SAM-e, pronounced "sammy", is short for S-adenosyl-L-methionine. It's a chemical that is found naturally in the human body. SAM-e is believed to increase levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine and help with depression and anxiety.

Folic acid, also called folate, is a B vitamin that is often deficient in people who are depressed.

5-HTP is short for 5-hydroxytryptophan. It's produced naturally in the body and is used to make the neurotransmitter serotonin. Although taking 5-HTP in supplement form may theoretically boost the body's serotonin levels, many experts feel there is not enough evidence to determine the safety of 5-HTP. (5-HTP should not be combined with antidepressants.)
Calcium and magnesium are essential to the central nervous system. They work best when taken together.

Low dosages of iron are helpful for depression caused by anemia because being anemic results in lack of energy, and depression is often caused by illness or blood loss.
Evening primrose oil: The essential fatty acid in evening primrose oil provides additional nutrients to cope with depression. Evening primrose oil lifts the spirits because it produces prostaglandins, hormone-like substances that are key to many chemical processes, including those responsible for depression.

Amino Acids
These are very helpful however do not mix with certain medications so be sure to check our what not to mix with amino acids.

Bach Flowers
Agrimony is recommended if you tend to maintain a smiling appearance while suffering inner anguish and despair.
Centaury is helpful for depression accompanied by feelings of intimidation.
Cherry Plum relieves feelings of fearfulness, whether of real or imagined things.
Gorse may be chosen for a sense of hopelessness.
Honeysuckle is for those whose thoughts dwell on happier times past.
Mustard is the remedy for sadness and feelings of ineffectuality.
Rescue Remedy is the first choice to ease acute anxiety.
Sweet Chestnut is for bleak despair.
Walnut is useful for depression that results from difficulty in adjusting to change.
Wild rose is for people who have lost interest in life, become apathetic, or have stopped caring about anything—something many mildly depressed people experience.

Homeopathy
Ignatia is for depression caused by grief, with wildly fluctuating moods and inappropriate behavior such as bursting into tears or laughing for no reason.
Pulsatilla is for depression caused by hormonal changes.
Sepia is useful if you feel depressed and irritable, or dragged down by responsibilities and worries.
Arsenicum if the person is restless, chilly, exhausted, or obsessively neat and tidy.
Aurum if the person feels totally worthless, suicidal, and disgusted with himself or herself.

Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy helps relieve depression and bipolar disorder by relaxing the body and reviving the nervous system. Some of the herbal oils that are good for depression are floral oils, such as geranium, rose, jasmine, neroli, ylang ylang and melissa, and citrus oils, such as bergamot, lime, grapefruit and mandarin.

Spirituality

There are many different definitions for spirituality, and thus there are many forms of spirituality. The most common features in practice are that spirituality provides a sense of meaning and purpose in life, and includes a belief that after death, a person's soul or spirit continues in another realm or is reincarnated in this world. Most spiritual beliefs include supernatural beings or powers, such as a God or a hierarchy of gods, angels, and/or demons. The amount of interaction between the supernatural world and the physical world varies among different spiritual beliefs.

Spirituality is a word used in an abundance of contexts that means different things for different people, at different times, in different cultures. Although expressed in many ways, recent expressions of spirituality have become more varied and diffuse. This is reflected in the range of vocabulary used to describe spirituality. Some of the more common themes in the literature describe it using one or more of the following elements:
· A sense of purpose
· A sense of connectedness—to self, others, nature, “God”
· A quest for wholeness
· A search for hope or harmony
· A belief in a higher being or beings
· Some level of transcendence, or the sense that there is more to life than the material world

What does spirituality have to do with mental health?
First, part of taking a holistic approach when seeking treatment for imbalances and choosing to live a more balanced lifestyle means finding the connection between the mind, the body, and the spirit. We often forget the spirit in traditional psychiatry and counseling. So therefore spirituality has a great deal to do with mental health.
Spirituality can also help people deal with periods of mental distress or mental illness because it can bring a feeling of being connected to something bigger than oneself, and it can provide a way of coping, in addition to relying on ones own mental resilience. It can help people make sense of what they are experiencing.

Spirituality has been referred to as the forgotten dimension of mental health care. It has been described as being where the deeply personal meets the universal; a sacred realm of human experience. Spirituality is concerned with people finding meaning and purpose in their lives, as well as the sense of belonging. Because spirituality comes into focus in times of stress, suffering, physical and mental illness, loss, dying and bereavement, it is important not only in psychiatry but also throughout all of medicine. Spirituality has been called a quality that strives for inspiration, reverence, awe, meaning, and purpose, even in those who do not believe in a God.

Tips for using spirituality for depression- Add Hope, faith and Love

Hope
Hope is to our spirits what oxygen is to our lungs. Lose hope and you die.If you are depressed or love someone who is, never ever give up. Spirituality means having hope as Hope keeps our mind on the solution, not on the problem.

Faith
Faith is belief with strong conviction; firm belief in something for which there may be no tangible proof; complete trust; opposite of doubt. Faith keeps us hopeful

Love
To be known fully and loved fully is to know joy and peace and healing and love can remove the chains of depression.

Diet

Depression can result from hypoglycemia (low-blood sugar), a condition characterized by fluctuating emotions from extreme highs to extreme lows. Hypoglycemia is caused by too much sugar in the diet. To balance this extreme surge of blood sugar the pancreas overproduces insulin. This drastically lowers the blood-sugar level, causing fatigue, depression, and anxiety.

Fish oils: Contain omega-3 fatty acids. Research has shown that depressed people often lack a fatty acid known as EPA. Get omega-3s through walnuts, flaxseed and oily fish like salmon or tuna.

Brown Rice: Contains vitamins B1 and B3, and folic acid. Brown rice is also a low-glycemic food, which means it releases glucose into the bloodstream gradually, preventing sugar lows and mood swings.

Whole-grain oats: Contain folic acid, pantothenic acid and vitamins B6 and B1. Oats help lower cholesterol, are soothing to the digestive tract and help avoid the blood sugar crash-and-burn that can lead to crabbiness and mood swings.

Dark green vegetables such as spinach and peas are high in folate.

Chickpeas are rich in iron, vitamin E and fiber.
Chicken and turkey are both rich in vitamin B6, which also has an important role in serotonin production.
Fill your plate with essential antioxidants
• Sources of beta-carotene: apricots, broccoli, cantaloupe, carrots, collards, peaches, pumpkin, spinach, sweet potato.
• Sources of vitamin C: blueberries, broccoli, grapefruit, kiwi, oranges, peppers, potatoes, strawberries, tomato.
• Sources of vitamin E: margarine, nuts and seeds, vegetable oils, wheat germ.

Foods to Avoid
If you feel you are depressed or at risk for depression, you also need to avoid certain foods and substances. You should also avoid caffeine, smoking and Alcohol.

Refined and simple sugar (white sugar, honey, fructose, maple syrup, etc). These deplete your body of B vitamins. They also increase hypoglycemia linked to mood swings and depression. Aspartame, Nutrasweet and all artificial sweetners – Nutrasweet increases Central Nervous System tyrosine and phenylalanine, decreasing tryptophan availability. This leads to an increase in serotonin levels.

Foods high in saturated fats - These fats cause poor circulation to the brain, inhibiting the synthesis of neurotransmitters.
Very high protein diets – Excess protein tends to decrease brain uptake of tryptophan, a very important amino acid. (However protein is important in the diet, especially for those with depression. The diets referred to here are those that are very high in protein above all else.)
Simple Carbohydrates – Breads, pasta and other foods high in carbohydrates can lead to fatigue.

Food Chart

Exercise

Exercise may provide an immediate mood boost for people suffering from depression. Study after study concludes that exercise can do more than man antidepressants. In fact, studies show that simply taking a pill is very passive for many people suffering depression and people who exercised feel a greater sense of mastery over their condition and gained a greater sense of accomplishment.

Depression and exercise research confirms that one of the best exercises to help depression is walking. Do not set unrealistic goals that you can't achieve. Start off slow and increase. Remember the slower you go the faster you grow.

How might exercise help treat depression?
Exercise appears to help people feel better by:
Improving mood
Reducing anxiety
Reducing stress
Improving sleep

Why does exercise help lift depression?
No one knows exactly why exercise helps to relieve depression but it is likely to be due to a number of different reasons. Physical activity increases the amount of hormones (endorphins) in our bodies that help you to feel happy. Regular exercise can improve the way you look and boost your self-esteem. Exercise can give you something positive to focus on, providing new goals and a sense of purpose. Involvement in a social sport helps you to be more active and meet new people.

How much exercise can help treat depression?
Physical activity lasting between 20 and 60 minutes can help to improve your psychological well-being. But even shorter bouts of moderate intensity walking (10 to 15 minutes) can significantly improve your mood. But remember, do the best you can do not get stuck with how often and how long, just do the best you can.

Not ALL depressions have to be medicated. With proper use of supplements, diet, exercise, spirituality and a positive environment, depression can be not only relieved but cured.

Other therapies can include yoga, biofeedback, art or music therapy, hypnotism, acupuncture, guided imagery, visualization, and reflexology. Counseling can have a great impact on depression. If you find you want counseling, be sure to seek counseling from someone who uses a mind body spirit approach.

Hope you enjoyed this months newsletter, see you next month.