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Health Matters: Dealing with Depression
If you have ever suffered from depression, you know it can be a debilitating problem, seemingly freezing you from taking action, doing things you should do, and especially from just enjoying life. Many people who suffer from depression want to break out of their comfort zone and travel abroad, but are fearful of living without their anti-depressant medicine or their therapist. Before you decide to give up and just stay home, try and find out if there could be a natural cause to your depression and therefore, a natural cure. Below are some of the most common natural causes of depression, which your doctor may not suggest, but might be worth considering as a long-term, natural, and medication free solution to depression.
Natural Cause of Depression 1: Too Much Glutin
Flour is such a normal part of the everyday diet of trillions of people around the world it is hard to think such a common food item can cause depression in so many people. And yet, scientists are increasingly finding a link between gluten, a part of the regular flour everyone uses in bread, pasta, cake, pizza, and more, is causing depression. In fact, an Educators Overseas teacher has this to say about it, "I suffered from depression for most of my adult life. I went on and off anti-depressants, but I really wanted to teach abroad and didn't want to be dependent on a medication that might not be available where I was going, so I started to look for natural solutions to depression. When I read somebooks about gluten and depression I realized this could be my problem. I thought it would be so hard to give up pasta, but after just a week of eating gluten-free, I no longer want it because of how happy I am now. My mood is 200% better and for the first time in my life I feel "normal". Yes, giving up flour products can be daunting, but if it means the difference between depression and happiness, it just might be worth a try.
Not Enough Sun
Many people who live in northern parts of the world lack a good deal of sunlight for many months out of the year. Without an adequate supply of sunlight people can suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, or depression caused by lack of sunlight. A simple solution is a Sun Therapy Lamp to fool your body and your mind into thinking it has received its full dose of sunlight for a day, even though it is dark outside.
Not Enough People
You can develop definite feelings of depression if you don't have enough meaningful contact with other people. In our globalized world of the internet it is easy to submerse oneself in online forums, blogs, news, email, etc. which feed our immediate need for connection with others, but which to not foster deeper relationship bonds. No man is an island and without those deeper relationship bonds and the in-person communication with friends or family for more than a few days at a time, most people (even introverts) run the risk of feeling depressed. Even if you are getting enough contact with people in-person, be careful of spending too much time on the internet, as an internet addiction can cause serious depression because an internet addict is continually seeking that "high" from the perfect email, information, solution, game, person, etc: in their online world. Just like drugs, that "high" gets increasingly harder to reach and further between and depression ensues.
Many other causes of depression can be caused by your lifestyle - includinglack of exercise, lack of adequate nutrition (eat your fruits and veggies!), not enough sleep, too much alcohol, and more. But, the three above were what we have found to be the most common natural causes (and solutions) for depression, and the ones that make the biggest impact on a person's mood.
We know that serious depression is serious problem and if you have persistent thoughts of suicide or you have a real reason to be depressed, you should seek help immediately. But if you just feel like you are "in a funk" or are living under a perpetual black raincloud every day for no reason, try one or all of the above possible natural solutions to depression before you turn to medication. You should try each natural remedy for at least a week before giving up.
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