Improve your mood and beat depression without a prescription using these natural alternatives

Many people suffering from depression rely on their prescribed antidepressant drugs, which have been proven to cause adverse effects and are only making them more sick than ever. If you’re looking for an effective treatment for depressive symptoms without the frightening side effects, look no further than these five natural antidepressants.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Also known as “talk” therapy, CBT aims for mindfulness and enables a patient to make links between behaviors, feelings, and thoughts. This form of therapy helps you gain control of how you process and react to your thoughts or feelings, according to a study published in The British Journal of Psychiatry. Another study, which was published in JAMA Network, showed that people who enter remission from their depression are more than 10 percent less likely to relapse if they stick with CBT.

Folate and folic acid

Folate is a B vitamin that occurs naturally in certain foods, whereas folic acid is often added to foods and is also available as a supplement. Not getting enough folate can increase your risk of many health problems, including cognitive decline. Additionally, people with lower folate levels tend to exhibit symptoms of depression than those with normal levels. You can get folate from foods like beans, fruits, dark green vegetables, and fruits. You can also take a folic acid supplement to increase your folate levels.

Light therapy

Light therapy involves regular exposure to an artificial light source to improve overall mood. It is often used to treat people who have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a type of depressive episode during winter season because of the lack of adequate sunlight. It can also be used by nonseasonal sufferers of Major Depressive Disorders (MDD). Research also reported that depressed individuals who received light therapy showed a significant reduction in depressive symptoms compared with those who did not receive light therapy. Furthermore, receiving light therapy without taking an antidepressant was found to be more effective in fighting depression than the opposite, according to a study published in JAMA Network.

SAMe (S-adenosylmethionine)

SAMe is a naturally occurring compound found in the body. It plays a role in similar processes as folate. People with depression have lower SAMe levels than normal. Research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that taking oral SAMe supplements can treat severe symptoms of depression.

Yoga

Yoga is known for its many health benefits, including fighting depression. This gentle form of exercise is a great mood booster and almost everyone can practice it, regardless of age, health, strength, and most disabilities. You can take classes or practice it at home. A study published in the PLOS One journal reported that individuals with severe depression who participated in an eight-week yoga program experienced fewer depressive symptoms.

In addition to therapies, supplements, and exercise, your diet may also help fight depression. Healthy fats, such as those found in nuts and fish, are important for brain health. Eating fermented foods, leafy greens, dark chocolate, sweet potatoes, turkey, bananas, salmon, and oysters may also improve mood and treat depressive symptoms. Adhering to a Mediterranean diet also helps in fighting depression.

Antidepressant drugs may increase risk of early death

One of the many reasons not to take antidepressants is that they may increase the risk of death of depressed people without heart disease. Researchers from McMaster University in Canada revealed that those who regularly took antidepressant drugs had a 33 percent increased risk of premature death compared with those who did not regularly take these drugs.

The researchers reached this conclusion after they analyzed data from 17 previous studies involving nearly 380,000 people. The studies revealed that people who took antidepressants had a greater risk of death by suicide or via other life-threatening issues. However, it was not clear whether the deaths were caused by the antidepressants themselves, or by the depressive symptoms that they were made to treat.

Sources include:

SteadyHealth.com

Health.com