Natural depression management

I have been struggling with depression for about 3 years now, and it sucks. It also sucks to hear that your prescription won't be covered. Is there any way to fight it? Some medications have dual purposes, is there any way your doctor could "tweak" your diagnoses so your provider will cover it?

If that doesn't work, I personally partake in cognitive therapy. Perhaps it could help you at least a little? Sometimes I will just fall into a emotional trough for days or longer. After a while, I try and reason. It's hard, because being depressed makes it harder to think positively (some people think we are just negative, but our brain chemistry literally makes us perceive differently). When I'm riding a bad wave, I try and think about the good things that are happening, whether to myself or others.

I was taught to sit back and think, "okay, mwar, It's not that bad, really. It sure seems like it, but what do I have? I have my health/pet/years of life/friends/favorite thing to do/etc" and try to think of a bigger picture. Even little things, like "My allergies weren't bad today," or "it was a nice day out" helps give a bit of perspective, even when all I want to do is lay in bed and hide.

Other things that have helped me: own a plant if you don't have one. They help reduce anxiety. An animal, if possible, can also help with depression. Plants help me a lot. Especially starting from a small plant.

What do you like to do? Do you like to write? Is there a way you like to express your feelings through a medium? I have taken up painting. I suck, but it helps me calm down. I also write poetry. It might be graphic and gory, but throwing it on the page almost exorcises it from me.

I take melatonin to help me sleep. Regular sleep cycles improve mood. Healthy eating also helps. Going on short walks, exercise, or yoga releases endorphins to help out.

Additionally, you can see if there are sliding scale counselors in your area. Some can cost as little as 20 dollars a visit. It might be a lot, but even going once every other week, if possible, can help. They can give you tools to help you out.

I hope this helps. Feel free to message me if you'd like.

i'm going through this with my Mister now, he get depressed like that (he's having one of those days today too, been in bed all day) his doc said the medication was doing him more harm than good and wont give him anything else so we've been trying him on different strains of pot and doing exercise, got him a puppy (which has helped a LOT) but he still has his days like this

We are working on getting moved in together, a lot of his is due to his current living situation, we hope that once he's with me and eating healthy everyday and having a more normal family type routine at home with my child and i that he'll be less likely to get so down and depressed

be very careful taking yourself off that med, it can be very dangerous thing to stop taking them

Wish you lots of luck, feel free to message me if you need to talk

Some of the better natural solutions I've heard about/tried are making sure to get a lot of sunlight/vitamin D, a regular sleep schedule, and meditation/walking

Doesn't work for everyone, but exercise makes HUGE differences for me.


Also recommend: Sunlight, healthy sleep, and caffeine, unless you are the anxious type.

I agree with MrWilly. When I'm on a good exercise routine (especially the ones that get me outdoors during the day), I have a much easier time controlling my mood.

Obviously it's not a cure all or awesome solution, but it could help as a part of a larger routine to help you. Wishing you lots of luck!!!

Your provider is ethically obligated to help you safely withdraw from the medication before stopping providing it! I just wanted to let you know that.

Please, check a free clinic to see if they can help. At the very least, they may be able to refer you to places/people who can help. As you're unemployed, you might want to check out social services as well, the worst that can happen is they can't help & you'll be no worse off than you are now. If you qualify for help, say for medicaid, it will cover existing conditions. I know lots of people think it won't, but that's usually for private insurance. They even have programs that allow you to continue receiving medical help, but allowing you to work!

You should not have the added worry of all this on top of your condition! It just makes me so angry to hear this & see others have had to stop an effective treatment due to finances, or whatever, that's beyond their control!

I applaud your desire to find a holistic/natural way to help manage your condition & I hope you find some relief!

Thanks for the help and advice, everyone.

Vocational rehabilitation was paying for my meds, but they don't normally deal with those who have chronic lifelong depression, so they're getting antsy about me "not being cured yet". I'm also near the end of the money they allotted for my case, and they're using the rest of it to pay my job placement counselor.

My psych doc who prescribes them has not been informed yet, so I need to get a hold of him to find out what to do. I've had to withdraw from anti-depressants before, so I know the routine.

Exercise is definitely on the list of things for mood improvement (despite how much I hate it), but I am having good results with yoga's calming influence. I'll also be looking into St. John's Wart (very good for my dysthymia) and 5HTP (good for the depression, anxiety, and insomnia), but not at the same time.

Sort of scared, but it feels more empowering to be more proactive in the management of my depression.