What is a way to cure depression besides a prescription anti-depressant?

Question

What is a way to cure depression besides a prescription anti-depressant?

Answer 1

I have been battling depression since 8th grade. I"m going into the 11th...

what I can tell you about curing depression..is God. Accepting Jesus christ as your savior. He heals many and He died for our sins so we wouldnt have to. He encountered the most suffering in the world...He understands..and he has lots and lots of advice and stories and encouragement..in the bible

psalms and proverbs are the best

psalm 116 helped me when I was feeling suicidal

please just give it a try...

I hope it works out for you...I'll be preying for you

-hanna

Answer 2

Speaking to a therapist weekly about what's on your mind.

Answer 3

hannahxc has the right answer.

there is no better medicine than jesus,it happened to me too.

i really really hope u at least think about this.

Answer 4

St. Johns Wort is an herbal remedy for depression. Also, when you exercise, your body releases the "feel good" hormone Serotonin which, well....makes you feel good, so it is highly recommended that you exercise.  Also, sometimes just going to see a psychologist to talk can help.  No medicine necessary, as sometimes, anti-depressant medications can make it worse and/or have bad side effects. good luck.

Answer 5

Psychotherpy has been shown to be effective for depression.  Medication is needed in addtion in many cases.  It would be nice if religion worked for depression, but it is caused by a chemical imballance in the brain and religion does not work.

Answer 6

If it is clinical depression, a cure is not likely. Clinical depression usually has biological causes and that is why medication can be very important in the treatment process.

If the depression is caused by external, environmental situations- it's important to confront them (many people avoid them, escape them, etc) and that can be worked through with a professional therapist. There are many treatments that help with depression (cognitive behavior therapy for example)

Of course there is eating healthy, getting plenty of sleep/rest, exercise, and engaging in enjoyable activities.  

Answer 7

As the above person stated, clinical depression can be difficult to cure without medication.  If you think you may be seriously depressed then you should go see your doctor and talk about treatment options; depression is an illness that can have a profound effect on your life, and there's no need for you to live with it.

If you've just been feeling a little down lately, though, then there are a few things that I've found help me feel better.  Exercise is generally the first thing; it really helps to get moving for a while.  Eating healthily and avoiding alcohol also help - never drink because you're feeling down.  I think that spending time outside, especially on a nice day, is a good thing.  I actually have SAD (seasonal affective disorder) and start feeling grumpy and unmotivated when it's been grey and icky outside for a while (or even when I've been spending too much time in front of the computer screen).  Sunlight or other bright light helps that (I have a special light that I can use when it's not sunny out to keep myself from getting that way).  Finally, spending time with my friends and family and pets always helps.

Edited to add - not everyone realizes this about St. John's Wort, but it can interfere with hormonal birth control.  If you rely on hormonal birth control to keep from becoming pregnant, you probably want to avoid St. John's Wort.

Answer 8

There are a whole bunch of things that can help a great deal:

1.  vigerous exercise definitely.  constantly building your fitness level will build your mental strength.

2.  St. John's wort is an herbal remedy with properties similar to SSRI antidepressants.  5HTP is an amino acid precursor to seratonin, the mood and sleep chemical in your brain.  Taking supplements can help your brain make more of this chemical.  The Omega 3 fatty acids in fish oil have been shown to help depression even in people with bipolar disorder.  And B vitamins can help too.  Magnesium can also be a helpful supplement for stress-related depressions.  Especially if you have anxiety too.  

3.  Yoga has been found to reduce levels of the stress hormones in your blood even quicker than relaxation.  ....and it makes you feel good.  It's great if you can find a yoga studio that fosters a sense of community and connection among participants since disconnection is such a big part of depression.  A teacher that understands how to work with emotions through the body is helpful too.

4.  Behavioral therapy helps you out of depression by gradually easy you back into the normal routine you enjoy when you're happy.

5.  Cognetive therapy helps you understand how your thinking gets distortedly negative when you're depressed and helps you return to more balanced and realistic thinking...and it also helps you set practical workable goals for solving real problems you might be facing in your life.

6.  Interpersonal therapy can also help you improve relationships that may be contributing to depression or help you build social connections in general if loneliness is a problem.

7.  All of the above-mentioned therapies can be learned from books like "Feeling Good" and "Mind Over Mood."   If seeing a therapist for them, I'd recommend being really picky to ensure the therapist you see is committed to empirically researched therapies like these.  Unfortunately, a lot of therapists are more insane than the people they seek to treat and practice a lot of psuedo-science without getting informed consent from their clients.

8.  There are self-help support groups around the world called Recovery-Inc (www.recovery-inc.com  I think) that practice cognetive therapy in a peer setting.  They're great.

9. Some kind of mindfulness practice - whether it's meditation or going for regular walks or whatever - can help you get to know yourself better, your thought patterns etc., and can help you interupt the downward spiral of depression so that it stops getting out of hand.

10.  Being social and doing things you normally enjoy even if you don't feel like it in the moment is really important.  Even though it may seem overwhelming, the reality is, the more you cave into the desire to isolate, the worse depression will get.  Better is to accept that you don't feel well, lower your expectations about how you'll feel being out with friends, and then do it anyway.  

11.  Having said all of these things, once you get far enough down into a rut, it can be hard to get out without help from an anti-depressant, so I would say don't poo poo them if your depression is bad enough that it's interfering with your work or other major aspects of your life.  You may need to be on them a few times before you know your depression patterns well enough to not get that far down anymore.