Natural And Home Remedies For Depression

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IN our experiencing here on earth, we often need both sorrows and joy to help us mature and progress spiritually.

Some events in life make us feel really good and elevated, while others make us feel very sad or weighed down (or feel depressed) or make us feel low-spirited.

Every difficulty or sorrow, even the most traumatic situation, means progress to him that has spiritual knowledge.

Such a person will always look for the positive side or the lessons to be learned from such life events, even though sad, in order to become optimistic.

However, he/she that lacks knowledge or confidence in the almighty power of the Almighty may continue to ponder or continue to analyse such situations intellectually, seeing only the negative sides, which will continue to weigh him or her down or aggravate his/her feeling of sadness, hopelessness and despair.

A medical condition known as depression results when the emotions of this morbid sadness dominate and cause the patient to lose interest in his or her daily life activities.

Depression is the most prevalent of all the emotional disorders or psychiatric health problems that can strike at any age, as children, adolescents, adults and the aged suffer this disease.

It is a disease that affects the nervous system, thoughts, emotions, moods and behaviour. It may be mild and transient, i.e. the patient may just be feeling down cast or low-spirited for a short while, but the condition may be less severe or moderate.

There are also cases of severe depression, where the patient may break down emotionally or have an increased urge to commit suicide or attempt suicide.

Globally, millions of people suffer depression. In 2000 World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that depression was the leading cause of short-term disability in our present- day societies that is bursting with materialism.

The report further noted that billions of dollars are lost in productivity because of depressed employees.

The disease is known to disrupt the normal activities and lives of millions of people all over the world, resulting in decreased work productivity of the patient, absenteeism in work places and negatively affect families and mutual relationships.

Statistics suggest that women are more likely to suffer from a depressive illness than men. In fact, two out of three patients in hospitals with depression are women, and most of them are married.

Medically, different types of depression have been identified, and these include:

Major Depression
This kind of depression may develop slowly and becomes very severe and long lasting.

It is usually associated with problems, worries, anxieties, fear or horrible events of life, and usually marked by an overwhelming feeling of sadness or grief.

It is believed that approximately 15 per cent of patients who suffer from major depression may equally show symptoms of psychotic depression, delusional thinking, hallucinations, hearing voices, seeing people or things, having thoughts of death, or may eventually commit suicide if they are left untreated.

Dysthymia (Melancholic Depression)
This condition is long-lasting, with chronic symptoms of depression, but usually less severe than major depression.

It may not disturb the patient’s normal daily activities. It is believed that dysthymia is caused by an imbalance in the body’s chemistry.
Bipolar Disorder (or Manic Depression)

Those suffering bipolar disorder may experience dramatic mood swings of euphoria period mania and rapidly change to an extreme low mood (depression) with suicidal thoughts.

Bipolar disorder causes a major disruption to lifestyle and health. If left untreated, a manic depression episode could worsen into a psychotic state and the patients have an extremely high rate of suicide.

Postpartum (or Postnatal) Depression
This is commonly seen among new mothers (and it is also known as “Baby blues”). It may happen within a few days after childbirth.

Most women recover from this type of depression, but it may re-occur in about six weeks later.

Seasonal Depression (Seasonal Affective Disorder)
This kind of depression always occurs and gets resolved at a particular time of the year.

It is tied to seasons of the year and usually occurs during cold weather or during winters.

Clinical Depression
These may be secondary to some medical conditions, like some types of cancers, bacterial and viral infections, anaemias, heart problems, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, genitourinary problems, such as incontinence, administration of some drugs prescribed for medical conditions, etc.

Symptoms Of Depression
The symptoms of depression depend on the severity and may vary from person to person. But generally, depression affects the person’s pattern of thinking, his or her emotion, behaviour and physical wellbeing.

The symptoms include:
Persistent feelings of sadness, helplessness and hopelessness.
Past guilt, worthlessness, emptiness and as if life is not worthwhile.

Pessimism about the future, loss of enthusiasm.
Frustration and lack of motivation, poor self-confidence, etc.

Acute feeling of loss, not being wanted and loved.

Disconnection with God and spiritual matters.

Negative thinking, thoughts of death, suicide and attempted suicide, in severe cases.

Social withdrawal, wanting to be left alone, avoiding people, increased conflict with co-workers, schoolmates, family, etc.

Stopping normal activities due to lack of interest in the world and everything around him.

Irritability, uncontrolled outburst of anger, violence and restlessness.

Lack of care and concern for physical appearance or constant worries about physical health.

Crying for no obvious reason and excessive self-criticism.

Difficulty in concentrating, poor memory, difficulty in making decision.

Sleep disturbances, insomnia, waking up depressed around 4 to 5am and the patient may have problem in sleeping again, or excessive sleeping, nightmare, etc.

Loss of appetite for food or excessive appetite for food that may cause increased weight loss or weight gain accordingly.

Very low or complete loss of sexual desire.

Excessive use of alcohol, narcotic or drugs.

Persistent lack of energy, feeling fatigue at all times.

Persistent physical symptoms, like headache, poor memory, backache, digestive disorder, changes in menstrual cycle, etc that do not respond to their usual therapies.

(To be continued)