Is there a natural antidepressant?
These are questions that I think are important to ask.
Depression can be defined as “feelings of severe despondency and dejection.” Other words to describe the feelings of depression are melancholy, sadness, low-spirits, downheartedness, hopelessness, despair and more.
To summarize, depression could be described as a lowering of one’s mood and emotional state.
You could say that a “normal” emotional state would be to feel at a minimum of contented. You might not feel gloriously happy all the time but life isn’t too bad, things are going OK. There are times you do feel really happy or enthusiastic about life. Can you remember a time when you passed an exam which secured your future?
Or you got the job you really wanted? Or you were at the early stagings of falling in love ❤ !
These could be looked upon as the “high” points of your life. But of course, life does contain quite a few lows as well as highs. You lose your job. You end a relationship. You get into financial hardship. All of these things affect one’s mood and emotional state.
I think it’s impossible to go through life without a few knocks here and there.
The important thing is how you deal with them.
The dangers of antidepressants
One reason for asking if there’s an alternative to antidepressants is due to the antidepressant side effects along with the serious withdrawal symptoms when people try to stop taking antidepressants.
Taking antidepressants can have side effects (PDF download).
Withdrawing from antidepressants can bring about side effects.
It was recently in the news that the Royal College of Psychiatry has finally admitted that there can be extreme withdrawal symptoms when coming off antidepressants(1). This is not new news but something that people have been talking about for a long time(2).
A large number of responses to an article in the British Medical Journal say suicide and suicidal thoughts have occurred as a result of coming off antidepressants(3).
A psychiatrist from Scotland, Dr Peter Gordon, describes his own bad experience with antidepressants and trying to come off them(4).
Do you want to start taking antidepressants?
With this in mind do you want to start taking antidepressants?
Do you want to suffer from these side effects and make your situation worse?
On a personal note, I’ve had some ups and downs in life – who hasn’t? But I’ve never been in the situation where I couldn’t drag myself out of bed and felt totally depressed about life. When I’ve felt down I’ve applied the various things I talk about in the articles on this website.
However, I do have personal experience with others who have been taking psychiatric drugs. I work with an organisation that helps people who have had their human rights abused by psychiatry. I have read so many stories from people who have taken antidepressants and the resulting horrific side-effects – either whilst on the drugs or when trying to get off them.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are taking antidepressants or any other psychiatric drugs please consult a doctor and get help before ceasing to take them. Here are some references that may help:
How to get off psychiatric drugs safely
Brain Bio Centre (London)
Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal
Stress in life causes physical problems
When you’re under stress and get knocked around by life this has an effect on your body. It causes fatigue. It causes hormone imbalances – which in turn cause fatigue. It causes inflammation in the body.
Long term stress causes long term damage to the body.
Dr. Daniel Nuzum, a Naturopath and Osteopath, explains the relationship of toxicity in the body to depression and anxiety:
“If you’re dealing with anxiety or depression you are toxic, it’s already happened. It’s probably one of the preceding factors that brought those symptoms. They’re symptoms. Those aren’t diseases, anxiety is not a disease. Depression is not a disease. They’re symptoms of things going on in your system. Natural depression and fatigue are your first cousins. So people dealing with fatigue – you almost always have some sort of depression because they can’t get up and do what they want to do. If they’ve got kids, they can’t spend the time with them, they don’t have the energy to do stuff or if they’re older they can’t spend time with their grandkids. Because they’re fatigued, they’re tired all the time. That’s depression, is a natural outcome.”
According to psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz:
“There is no blood or other biological test to ascertain the presence of a mental illness, as there is for most bodily diseases. If such a test were developed, then the condition would cease to be a mental illness and would be classified, instead, as a symptom of a bodily disease.”
And so it would make sense to a) tackle the underlying physical problems and b) locate and handle the life situation that caused the depression.
Is there an alternative to taking antidepressants?
Yes, I like to think there is!
There are a number of things to do address your low mood, some are physical some are mental:
- Vitamins and herbs: There are a number of vitamin and herbal supplements that can help with depression. These are:
Vitamins B & D, Omega 3, kava-kava, St John’s Wort and Turmeric - Exercise: Taking part in regular exercise increases endorphins – hormones that help you to feel good. Exercise also gets the heart pumping and lungs working to increase the inhalation of oxygen and exhalation of carbon dioxide.
- Go outside for fresh air: You may feel you can’t drag yourself out of bed but if that’s the case that’s exactly what you need to do! You need to get outside, not only for the fresh air but also to get your attention out. When you’re stuck inside your attention is stuck on yourself and your problems. By going out and having a look around you start to get your attention out. Go for a long walk and look at your surroundings – don’t just walk and keep thinking about how you’re feeling. You could even take up a hobby and take photos while you’re out and about!
- Get a physical check-up: Get a check-up to find out if there’s an underlying physical issue. Get your blood pressure checked, find out if you can have some blood tests etc. Not many medical doctors are trained in nutrition so it’s also a good idea to see a Naturopath. They will be able to advise you on physical issues such as candida, hormone issues, leaky gut etc.
Here are some other articles on this website that may help:
- How do you relieve stress?
- Sometimes you’re sad, it doesn’t mean you have a mental illness
- Self Help Counselling – Keeping More Than Your Head Above Water
- Toxic People and Their Effect on You
- How to improve emotional tone
(1) https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/30/antidepressant-withdrawal-symptoms-doctors-side-effects
(2) https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1999/oct/30/weekend7.weekend1
(3) https://www.bmj.com/content/366/bmj.l5102/rapid-responses
(4) https://www.madinamerica.com/2018/05/dr-peter-gordon/