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SELF HELP - THE BEST MILD DEPRESSION TREATMENT

By Tess Thompson

Clinical depression is a condition that is far removed from the everyday meaning of “feeling depressed”. Occasional sadness or absence of motivation does not classify as clinical depression. A clinical diagnosis that refers to a prolonged state of sadness, melancholia or despair is what constitutes clinical depression. The sadness needs to have reached a level where it starts hampering work schedules and social activities for it to be apt for drug treatment.

Mild depression basically means that there are some symptoms of depression but the individual is still able to do justice, although with difficulty, to family, societal or job commitments that he may have. Treating depression with antidepressants is not advisable if you are suffering from mild depression. Mild depression can be managed using natural remedies for depression.

Even though it may not need drug treatment, mild depression should not be ignored. Simple solutions can save the day if such cases of depression are identified and addressed. Sometimes it is a simple case of giving vent to your feeling in front of a relative or a friend. Sometimes sharing your experience with others who have undergone similar experiences can help a lot. Self help groups or local agencies can be approached.

Select a self help group that deals with conditions in certain specific areas like bereavement, marital issues, and childhood abuse. If all this does not work, you can consult a counselor who can give professional guidance and can suggest workable tools and methods to meet the challenge head on.

If you are hesitant to seek external help, try some of the following methods. Some of them may sound a bit far fetched but they have proven to work for many people. All you need is an open mind and a positive approach.

Depression is usually triggered by negative thoughts like fear. This could be fear of the future, some perceived impending disaster and sometimes even fear of success. Fighting depression that emanates from fear involves trying to find positivism in what is actually feared.

Read books that tell of how to meet challenges can be helpful. This therapy called bibliotherapy has known to show good results in treating mild depression. The books that are chosen should deal with situations that are similar to the ones that you are facing. Reading about how someone else fought and struggled and ultimately emerged victorious can be a great motivating factor.

Even though depression may pull you down, force yourself to go out for parties with friends. Once in the party, the mood is likely to change, making you feel better. Try to keep away from people who always tell doomsday stories and are critical about everything.

Join a laughter club. To start with you may find it a bit odd to laugh without reason. With the passage of time you will realize that you can even laugh at sorrow.

Treating depression naturally can also be achieved by listening to music. There are many music albums that you can find that help you relax. This kind of music can help you ease the tensions that have been troubling you.

Meditation and deep breathing are easy to learn. Just find a quiet place where you can introspect about what is going wrong with your life. You may realize that you can actually come up with solutions to problems that seemed impossible to handle before.

You should not get too disturbed with passing phases of depressive moods. Avoid medication and try your hand at self help to get out of them.

References:
http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/23068720/
http://www.yoga.com/ydc/connect/connect_document.asp?ID=281§ion=13&cat=0
http://www.abc.net.au/health/depression/treatment.htm
http://www.depression.realage.com/content.aspx/topic/5