Did anyone reduce their depression naturally?

[Suziee37]

Tried medication, tried councelling many times and types of treatments. I’m now interested in natural methods. I’ve heard nutrition might play a part. Not gone well today as having a bad day so eaten a lot of junk! Any one experienced in healing themselves from depression

Well I guess it depends on ones sense of humour

For those of you who recommend wild swimming and do not have access to water, look at having a cold shower everyday. Research Win Hoff.
Great for improving mood. Ease in slowly though.

Online test says I'm not suffering from depression right now, which feels absolutely right. Interesting, as I have a LOT of stressors and changes in life right now and I'm struggling with them, but not in a depressed way. In a very normal sometimes-life-is-tough way. The difference is massive.

marriedtoDave
Actual depression CAN respond to natural treatment. Of course you should take anti depressants if you need them and there is no harm in that but as a lot of people find they don't always help long-term.
Exercise, early morning light, change of mindset and diet changes ultimately cured me when drugs didn't.

MarriedtoDaveGrohl

I'm not teetotal, or a vegan.

Coming off hormonal contraception has enormously improved my depression and anxiety symptoms.

Another one here who found that when I stopped drinking my mental health improved leaps and bounds.

I also eat a plant based diet and don't have caffeine.

I meditate. I journal.

Exercise: in controlled studies people who exercises found their depression lifted as much as people who were in medication. Of course sometimes you need medication to feel motivated enough to exercise...

Best of luck OP. It's not easy.

hallucinogenics.

Be careful, someone suggested this to me during my first breakdown, didn't know it was a breakdown.
I tried to walk into a mere under the influence.
It was sometime between 1989/91, in Diss, obviously don't know much except it freaked my then bf, now dh.
There again, had no idea what I was preparing or taking.

Was on antidepressants for years but stopped them when I was pregnant. Was fine, then my Dad died when my baby was 7 months old so really needed them, despite this I decided to stay off the pills.
I still have hard days but putting things into perspective helps, and recognising when am tired and hungry things feel so much worse..Also "this too shall pass".
Good luck with doing this, and if you end up back on them it's not the end of the world, I would if I really need to.

ooh this is an excellent thread. I just started one in MH but needn't have bothered

Interesting thread.

Not sure about cures but self care definitely makes a difference as others have said.

Hallucinogenics are a strictly under medical supervision thing, just to be clear. Same with ketamine. However they were running trials so if you have long standing treatment resistant depression you could be a good candidate. Unless they are the kind of trials that only men are allowed on.

In fact I just went off to find a link for trials and found a page full of clinics (not trials) and a link to the final approved drug. It's a nasal spray. Not cheap but then depression is a very expensive disease.

Lots of trials for hallucinogens though. Kings college s as mc imperial college. Plus clinics.

I googled 'ketamine trials depression UK' and 'hallucenogen depression trials uk'

I also want to just say that when you are in the throes of clinical depression the idea that you are going to go and exercise or want to eat salad is unrealistic. Putting makeup on is ambitious. I've walked my dog every day I've had her (except at work where a guy walks her twice a week) including in depression. It made no difference.

Not everything can be cured by healthy eating and exercise. It just can't.

Exercise 5 times a week minimum, am slightly addicted to it now but because I fear for my depression coming back.
Vit d and vit b12 sprays.
Going for a walk every single day rain or shine

@MarriedtoDaveGrohl - exactly. Depression is very different to low mood.

An (ex) good friend of mines husband was in therapy years ago. He was a big runner and she made sure he ate exceptionally healthily. It was around the time of my useless therapy and she told me some of the things he used to tell the therapist week after week.

Mine got much worse and we were not friends but not long after I went to the GP (losing her as a friend tipped me over the edge) and then when I was on meds I realised that he was depressed too. Absolutely textbook.

Functioning, thanks to the running. But, really, 'hanging on in quiet desperation' as pink floyd would say. Thinking the thoughts and trying to be brave, and trotting off to therapy every week (years of it) and running and being healthy. Poor fucker. Depressed as hell and his useless therapist must have known and said nothing. His wife being all chirpy, healthy eating, self care, lifestyle. And every day was a struggle for him.

They got divorced I heard. She was a nice girl but misguided. She had friends on prozac so wasn't anti it but had absolutely zero idea what depression was. She spent so much time eating salmon and veges and being positive and her husband and I were drowning in front of her eyes.

He would have been better off without the running. So he could see it for what it was and understand it's seriousness. All the running did was plaster over the cracks and allow everyone including him to think he was fine. And he wasn't.

@Devlesko if you have had more than one breakdown I would be very very wary of anything like hallucinogens. I hope you have an excellent psychiatrist who helps you get the most out of the nhs and can talk to you about your options both medical and non.

If there's PTSD in the mix anywhere I am constantly recommending and seeing recommended EMDR therapy, It's very quick (weeks not years) non invasive, can be done over zoom/Skype, evidence based and used by the military.

Depression is impossible if there's something causing it that's not being fixed.

MarriedtoDaveGrohl

There was a long time between the two, the first one I worked out what it was through counselling and it was one of those of course moments.
That was when I took the mushrooms, but haven't since.
I had a similar effect on medication though, long before prozac was being dished out to anyone who asked, whether ill or not.
Diazepam and temazepam both together.
For the last 30 odd years I've had ups and downs and just managed it ok, you tend to see it coming and know you aren't going there again. I was managing well, although it was always there.
Then during lockdown I had some terrible news, the kind you don't want to hear and never should, and has been very traumatic over the past 2 months, so still pretty recent.

Sorry did the mushrooms bring on a breakdown or depression? I really don't think I would try them without a trained person present. They can make some people an awful lot worse and someone trained would ensure (hopefully) the wrong person didn't take them.

I was young, and was in the middle of a breakdown when I took the mushrooms, certainly nobody who knew what they were doing were with me.
Yes, they did make me worse, and no way would I recommend.

Yes I don't buy the 'they are harmless and natural' line. I know some people microdose them or even LSD (where you get that from god knows. Think it's a us thing). A friend has bipolar and has to avoid anything like that. I'm probably ok. But still. Poor you

MarriedtoDaveGrohl

I don't buy into the fame and fortune lifestyle really, but for comparison not only has mh illness held me back in life, covid took my remaining professional life, taking both me and my dh (same business) into a deep depression. Then I got the news I mentioned.
I can go from crying to laughing hysterically, I never know tbh.
Thanks for caring

Ah I know. Life's a bitch and then you die. If you can bear to take another risk see if you can get one of those alpha stims on PayPal credit - you can always flog it on eBay if it doesn't work. But they do.

Watching your life go down the shitter is the least fun thing ever. That's why I get a bit annoyed at the 'eat healthy and go for a walk' brigade. Yes that works for low mood. But for depression that's anything but the mildest? Just no fucking way. And it stops people from getting proper help. I was eating healthily. Exercising. Made no difference then or now.

I had a flat in Kensington ffs. Which I'd still have if not for that cunt therapist and my belief that 'taking pills is bad, m'kay'. Fucks sake do what you have to - I would do literally anything if I knew it would work.

Treating it effectively gives you the space to do other things to improve your life and to treat the practical causes of it. If your life is crap no amount of pills will make it not crap but if you're depressed you have zero chance of making the changes you need to.

Anyway I can recommend 'comedy therapy'. I've just watched all of the IT crowd, half of Friday night dinner, Mandy, and am going to do Schitts creek next. Definitely helps. That and wine! 🍷

Exercise (anything, daily)
Yoga
Fresh air
No junk food (it really does screw up your system, even if it's a temporary 'fix')
Creature comforts
Lavender oil

@MarriedtoDaveGrohl your binary black and white opinion is no different to people offering their suggestions. The OP says they want to try some natural alternatives, so may not have tried "exercise, good food, fresh air" as reasonable lifestyle changes that can contribute to feeling better.

If a person has "black dog" depression where nothing but ADs work then of course the alternatives won't be effective on their own. But ruling out exercise as just not working may be throwing the baby out with the bath water when the OP might want to give that a try. My brother suffered from clinical depression (forever), and his weekly rounds of golf absolutely helped him. He was unbearable without them!