Depression is a mental health disorder which affects the way a person eats, sleeps, feels about oneself and the way he perceives things around him. Depression should not be considered as just a passing mood, because it is not. It is also not a personal weakness that can be wished away. It is a disease which is curable and from there you can start a new lease of life. If a depressive episode is left untreatable, it can last for months and even years. The worst thing about depression is that ignorant people don't consider it as a real disease at all and think that a person can actually snap out of it. Depression requires medical attention and treatment.
Below are 101 ways to beat Depression at home without any prescription drugs.
1)Find hope. Understand that today may be a bad day, but tomorrow will not be the same. Whenever feelings of depression hit you, find something you can look forward to. Start concentrating on things which you like.
2) Eat apples everyday. They contain Phosphorus, Vitamin B and potassium which build the nerve cells and help keep depression at bay.
3) Practice positive self-talk. Speak to yourself about the goodness in your and the people around you. Make yourself say everyday that you will enjoy life no matter what.
4) Believe in God. No matter what religion you follow, try to understand the meaning of the principles and draw happiness from its teachings. Get inspired by the beliefs.
5) Make new friends. Start conversations with people you like and form new friendships. Talk to them regularly and try to be a good friend.
6) Be around people. Try not to be alone. Chat, share a joke and laugh with friends or family. Make the home environment a pleasant one to be in. It is true that "An idle mind is a devil's workshop". So try not to give any chances for this.
7) Join a Social club, take a class, meet someone for lunch or just chat with your next-door neighbor. Simple mundane talking can take care of a lot of mental unhappiness.
8) Find a hobby. Collecting stamps, reading and listening to music are a few of the common hobbies people enjoy. Find out what you like and spend a few hours everyday doing it.
9) Do what makes you laugh. Watching a funny sitcom on television, reading the daily newspaper cartoons or watching a funny movie on DVD, do things regularly that make you giggle.
10) Make New Friends. Find people on the street who look like they are having a good time. Get the spirit from them and pump fresh energy when ever you meet people like that.
11) Listen to Music.If you listen to music, chuck the melancholy ones and listen to music that makes you feel happy. Music can actually lift your mood. This can touch your soul and give an immediate cure to most of the problems.
12) Volunteer for helping out somewhere. You can opt for a pantry centre that feeds the poor or an abused women's shelter. You will feel a peace within yourself that you have never known.
13) Go for a walk. Walking is the best thing to do when you are depressed because it does not require a lot of motivation and is healthy as well. Stop thinking about your past while walking. Try to enjoy the nature and motive yourself to be like a great leader.
14) Make exercise a part of your daily routine. Exercising releases the endorphins of the body and helps you feel positive. It will also make you feel happier. Choose an exercise you are comfortable doing everybody.
15) Physical closeness is a mood-lifter. Give somebody a hug when you are feeling low. It may be a friend, a colleague at work or your mom. It works wonders. This is the best medicine found for depression and most recommended by any physician. A sharing of love and care will lift your spirits. Try to get a hug from a person whom you love the most.
16) Spend time with nature everyday. Gardening, walking or just sitting and breathing in the fresh air early in the morning will make you feel thankful to god that he created you. It will definitely improve your mood.
17) Spend time with yourself. Meditate, pray or just think about the positive qualities you have and the people who love you. But do remember that too much solitude may make you more depressed.
18) A lot of people feel depressed because they feel they are guilty of something. Face your demons. Ask for forgiveness from the person concerned and then put the whole episode behind you. Don't drag out the issue everyday and brood about it.
19) Let go of grudges. If you feel someone has done you wrong, forgive him or her. This is important to make peace with yourself. For instance, divorced people often hold grudges against their ex-spouses and feel angry and depressed. It is important to let go.
20) Open yourself to love. Embrace the love of family members and friends and try to reciprocate it. Basking in the warmth of love is the best way to reduce depression. Sharing of thoughts and true love will change the face of problems. You can get so many shoulders to share the responsibility and all off a sudden, all your problems might be solved.
21) Count your blessings. Instead of thinking about the negative things in your life, spend time everyday thinking about the positives. It could be anything; a great job, your best friend, your loving family or even your beautiful skin.
22) Reduce stress. Find out the areas in your life that make you most stressed and think about how to improve them. Eliminating stress will give you greater control of your life.
23) Do not procrastinate. When you keep off till tomorrow the work that can be done today, you are spending time thinking about ways you can avoid working instead of doing the work. Don't waste your time and energy in doing something so useless. Try to make the best use of your time.
24) Eat fats which are good for the body. Eat foods like fish, pork, beef and dairy because these contain Omega-3 and Omega-6 which help in the creation of new brain cells. Healthy food habits will keep away ugly thoughts and make you fresh.
25) Eat granola, sweet potatoes, starchy vegetables, whole fruits, stone ground bread, potatoes with their skin and popcorn. They provide the necessary carbohydrates to the body.
26) Eat a balanced diet. Have little protein at night and instead have complex carbohydrates. They help in the production of serotonin.
27) Having fruit before going to bed is a very good idea. The fruit will help you sleep and keep your depression at bay. On the other hand, it will supply all the essential nutrients and keep you healthy.
28) Take Vitamin B-6 supplements everyday. It will increase the levels of serotonin in the body. If you have a medical condition, consult your doctor before starting.
29) Eat your meals at approximately the same time each day. This is important as your body will not be starved of energy at any point of time.
30) Don't skip meals. When you skip meals in the condition of depression, your body cannot produce energy. This will make you feel down. Skipping meals is something you just can't afford to do.
31) Chinese medical research suggests that acupuncture can help to balance the positive and negative energies of the body. You can try it as it is a well-known way of treating depression.
32) Try not to be anxious in your day to day life. Everyday you may feel that you are constantly fighting with certain situations and people. Have a composed life style and try to balance all your feelings.
33) Don't while away time doing nothing. If you are a student, make notes or study or go out. If you are a housewife, you can find a job or start a small business. Being busy does not let you have time to think any depressing thoughts.
34) Be Social. Go out with friends for shopping or coffee. Meeting people and talking about mundane things will release happy-hormones and make you feel good. Try to spread happiness like a forest fire. You will never be depressed.
35) Get a massage done. It is a mood lifter and it help in alleviating depressive symptoms. The anticipation of a massage is almost as good as the massage itself. The massage should be got from a professional person so as to relieve all the stress.
36) Eat dark chocolate. Eating a small square of chocolate everyday will not make you fat. It has anti-oxidants which will help your mood. Anti-oxidants will help you to keep fresh the whole day and you will never have the feeling of being tired or depressed.
37) Eat less of refined sugar. Your body craves sugar when you are depressed but in the long run it actually makes you more depressed. Cut it out from your life as much as possible.
38) Even if you are eating well, you may not be getting all the essential nutrients your body requires. Consult your doctor and have a multivitamin everyday. Health supplements are important and play a vital role to eliminate stress.
39) Go swimming. It is a great exercise and gives your body a natural adrenaline rush. You will be happy and refreshed after a half-hour spent in the pool. Time spent in the pool will pump in fresh energy.
40) Don't spend the entire day in a cold grumpy office or house. Get some sunlight for at least 15 minutes. It is a wonderful natural mood-lifter. Start enjoying the beauty of nature outside.
41) If you live in an area where there is little sunlight, buy yourself a light box and look into it everyday for 15-20 minutes. It a great way of relieving depression.
42) It is important that you get enough sleep. Though it varies from person to person, 8 hours sleep a night is enough for most of the people. Make sure to have a regular routine and timing to sleep. If you change it frequently, the body system will get confused and you might face sleepiness all the day.
43) Napping in the afternoon for 30 minutes does not make you lazy. It could actually energize you and make you ready to spend the rest of the day productively. However, make sure that you do not become an addict to it.
44) Do not hide from the world. Make friends. The internet is a wonderful place for making new friends. Find online friends with whom you can share your thoughts, dreams and passions.
45) Break up your goals into smaller achievable parts. It will be easier to achieve them and make you feel confident. Pat yourself when ever you achieve a short term goal. You are the best motivator for yourself and take pride of all your actions.
46) This is important. Do not blame yourself or anyone else for your depression. You have it in you to overcome it yourself.
47) Don't decide on important things of your life such as divorce, marriage and career before you get out of the depressive state.
48) Accept the love and support your friends and family offer you. Be grateful for it. Reciprocate in the same way. The feeling of helping others and to see a smile in their face is a great way to root out depression.
49) Don't hide your depressive state. Let people around you know you are depressed. Get the help from professionals.
50) Take steps everyday to build confidence and self-esteem. A confident person can beat all odds. It will give the power to win odd situations.
51) Always remember that there is someone who is less fortunate than you. You are a lucky person. Think that you are having 10 full fingers with which you can win the world.
52) Find happiness in little things such as a great book, your favorite TV show or just the fact that your mother made your favorite baked roast today.
53) Eat cashew nuts everyday because the Riboflavin and Vitamin B it contains is good for you.
54) Another option is to have Vitamin B supplements.
55) Whenever depression hits you, get up and get active. Don't while away time in your bed brooding. Do not let depression to depress your mind state. Get going with your daily routine inspite of difficulties.
56) Whenever you feel one of your moods coming, try to shift you attention to someone else's problems. Try to find solutions instead of worrying.
57) Pamper yourself by having a bubble bath or buying an expensive book you have been eyeing to get the happy hormones flowing.
58) Understand what it is that depresses you. Stop doing it. Getting to the core of the issue is important.
59) Try to have beautiful relationship with your partner. Bickering, arguments and quarrelling are no-no's. You can have them once in a while. If this persists for a long time, try to find an immediate long term solution.
60) Smile to yourself at the mirror everyday. It will make you want to do it all day. Start developing the sense of feeling that you are the most beautiful or handsome person in this world. It will boost your confidence level.
61) Smile to people around you. On the road, at your office or in the departmental store, smile! A gentle smile would pave way to beautiful relationships.
62) If you have diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney or liver trouble get them treated as soon as possible. Make sure that you are under proper medication and do not feel the pinch of diseases.
63) Make a schedule of your daily life. Follow it religiously. Stick to your own rules. Act accordingly. It will give you a disciplined life and will make you fit.
64) Laugh everyday. Join a laughing club or just laugh looking at yourself in the mirror. This has become a rare commodity. However, you do not give a chance. Share a good joke with your friends and family members.
65) Don't live in denial. Accept the fact that you are depressed and take steps to treat it. The state of being denied is very painful. Hence, find an immediate answer and try to analyze the causes for that.
66) Know your limitations and liabilities. It will help you look at life with a practical eye. A practical approach to all the problems would find the much awaited key. Do not be extravagant while finding a solution. Be calm.
67) Stop worrying about things that are not in your control. Do as much as you can and then let go. Accept the proceedings of fate. But do not be idle and a mute spectator.
68) Patience is a virtue you need to develop. You won't just snap out of depression one day, it will take time and effort but will surely go away. Have this in your mind. There can be no problems which are permanent in life.
69) Always take one step at a time. Everyday try to do a little bit more to get rid of your depression. Find out the ways and things that will cheer you up. So stick to activities of that kind.
70) Practice a healthy lifestyle. Sleep, eat a balanced diet and get proper exercise to stay happy. A life with a perfect combination of all these activities will give you more.
71) Avoid consuming alcohol. It will make you more depressed. Don't try burying your sorrows in alcohol. Consuming alcohol is not good for health. It means you are inviting problems on your own. There might be health complications too because of this problem.
72) If you are a smoker, quit. Nicotine may make you feel good as long as you have the cigarette in your hand, but it is actually bad for your mood in the long run. It will make you an addict to this habit.
73) Popping pills to treat everyday ailments without them being prescribed by a doctor will ultimately make you feel down. Stop this habit. This will further lead to complications. Do not encourage self medication.
74) Take a carrot and some spinach and put it in the blender. Drink the juice everyday. Prefer fresh juices instead of junk food items. You will get tons of energy and it will make good for the health.
75) Bananas contain serotonin, norepinephrine and potassium. Have two ripe bananas everyday. You can stay healthy for the life time.
76) Avoid having too much coffee. If you cannot do without it, limit yourself to a couple of cups everyday. The main ingredient will make you an addict which is not good.
77) Drinking ginger tea everyday improves the blood and oxygen circulation of the body and keeps you feeling good. Having a proper supply of oxygen is very important for the health. This will make you a fit personality and will keep you fresh round the clock.
78) Have sage tea with honey. It will sharpen your brain power and alleviate depressive symptoms.
79) Drinking peppermint tea will relax your system and improve your mood. Have it everyday. A happy mood will find a solution to any of the problems.
80) Do not have sugar with your tea. You can have honey or jaggery instead.
81) Have milk with apple and honey every alternate day. It may not sound very appetizing but the combination will improve your mood.
82) When shopping for groceries, load up on citrus fruits and vegetables. They help in lifting the mood. They will lift up your spirits.
83) Try yoga. A lot of people all over the world are effusive about the usefulness of yoga in treating depression. This will improve your concentration level and also will help you to remain calm at times of problems. A calm mind is very much essential to analyze the root causes of the problems.
84) If it is something in the earlier part of your life that makes you depressed, try to put it all behind you. Remember, tomorrow is a new day. Make your day as the best one as you will never get a chance to make a better yesterday.
85) Boil a cup of water and put fresh rose petals in it. Drink it after straining the petals. This is a nice way to enjoy the beauty of life.
86) A lot of people have found relief from depression by drinking 2-3 cups of liquorice tea everyday. Take the help of medicinal herbs like these and get rid of depression.
87) Dry root of asparagus, if eaten daily after being crushed and mixed with honey, is known to help in depression.
88) Have a good breakfast. All types of foods, that is, proteins, carbohydrates and fats should be a part of your daily breakfast.
89) Have a glass of orange juice early in the morning. The Vitamin C boost will be good for you.
90) Soak 5-10 almonds in water at night and eat them first thing in the morning everyday. This will make your body light and will keep you away from all the worries. You will never think about the problems and instead will solve it easily.
91) If tiredness and lethargy is what you feel even after waking up after 8 hours of sleep, you have to make the effort to get out of the cycle. Remember, the moment you decide you are going to give in, your depression wins over you.
92) Don't indulge in self-pity. It is a cycle that you have to end the moment it starts. Do not get in to this bad habit. You will never be able to come out of this problem and it might spoil your character too.
93) If you are depressed about a relationship with somebody, may be your spouse, a parent or a friend, speak to the person about it. You need to get it solved. Don't brood over it. A gentle conversation sparked will solve all the misunderstandings. Remember that communication is the shortest distance between two people.
94) Keep a diary. Vent all your frustrations, anger and moments of happiness in it. Keep a track of how you feel everyday. This will help you plan the next day better.
95) Research has shown that watching too much television can actually make you feel more depressed. You will be better off doing something productive. Those television programs will make you think about them and not about your problems. Do not waste much of your time. On the other hand, do not miss out on the entertainment too.
96) Painting, clay modeling, stitching and knitting make you feel at peace with yourself. Do take out sometime everyday for any one of these everyday. People who have interests on these kinds of activities might pursue this. This will give those good hopes and satisfaction.
97) Reading good books is a great mood enhancer. But when you are choosing books, make sure you don't choose depressive dark and sad books. Comics are something that will always help.
98) Consult your doctor and ask him to recommend a good calcium and magnesium supplement that you can take everyday.
99) Cooking is something that will make you happy whether you are a man or a woman. Cook with love, involve your partner and get creative with your cooking. It will make you a lot happier.
100) Drinking green tea is another home remedy that works to treat depression. Green tea contains natural antioxidants which will help you deal with stress better.
101) It`s a good idea to look for a professional counselling. Depression is a disease which is completely treatable. A therapist or counsellor can lead you to the path of complete recovery.
A huge percentage of people around the globe are suffering from depression and the number is increasing everyday. The one thing worse about depression is not to take any steps to treat it. If you are depressed, follow the tips given here. Depression if left untreated may even lead to self-harm and suicide. Don't wait before it's too late. A lot of people will be cured by following the tips, but some may need professional help. If you deal with depression with courage and confidence, nothing can stop you from winning the battle. Have a wonderful life ahead of you free of depression.
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kriti_Arora
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