Is living with depression, okay?

Is living with depression, okay?

Definitely not. In the modern digital world, we come across so many people saying that, “I am depressed. I can’t handle this.” Are they actually depressed or it’s just an excuse? To answer, first we have to know what the term, DEPRESSION means. It is a state of mind where depressed persons are tired and find disinterest in any daily activities like, for instance, they don’t feel excited to eat what they like or don’t enjoy any web series they love to watch and they feel hopeless and sad always or most often in a day. This constant feel of hopelessness will lead to suicidal thoughts. They also have disturbed eating habits, sleep cycle and symptoms like headache, digestive disorders, etc. Their memory is impaired and they cannot focus and make decisions.

Okay. Why this depression happens? There are many reasons behind it. Beginning from genetic predisposition to various environmental factors, everything become the reason for depression to occur in a person. Even then, only few individuals suffer from depression because their inability to cope up with those risk factors.

Is depression preventable and curable? Yes. To prevent depression to certain extent, can be possible with lifestyle changes, e.g., practicing Yoga; with mental hygiene, e.g., practicing optimistic thoughts (“I am enough. I can handle my emotions”) and with proper diet. Diet in depression plays an important role in both preventing and curing depression. The diet should be healthy rather tasty.

To cure depression, seeking mental healthcare providers like psychologists, psychotherapists etc. is very essential. They would give guidelines to be followed in managing depression with or without medications depending upon the severity of depression.

Homoeopathy can also treat and prevent depression. In homoeopathy, patient’s personality, lifestyle, desires, aversion, intolerances and other general characteristics of the patient are taken into account along with disease symptoms, for the selection of medicine. In short, patient is treated based upon individualization and the medicine thus selected is called CONSTITUTIONAL medicine. This constitutional medicine would trigger the natural healing power of our body and helps to prevent diseases that the individual is predisposed to and also cure the individual with the disease.

Following are very few of the medicine that helps in curing depression.

1.      IGNATIA AMARA:

• Persons who are suffering from silent grief; sensitive; ailments from disappointment in love. (love failure)
• Broods over imaginary problems; they cannot be consoled; they have aversion to have a conversation.
• They have headache, which feels like as if nail is driven through the head.
• They have sudden changes in the mood; sad for a while and cheerful after a while.
• Characteristic symptom of this remedy is DEEP SIGHING. They sigh constantly.
• Best remedy for those who are hysterical with depressive symptom.

2.      NATRUM MURIATICUM:

• Suitable for persons who are reserved, serious and perfectionists.
• They also suffer from long-continued grief.
• They dwell in the unpleasant past memories; yet they neither cry nor be consoled.
• Angers easily even for small issues; feels hatred towards person those caused angry.
• Absent minded persons; desires to be alone.
• Headache as if thousand hammers are knocking in the head; headache after sun exposure; headache in anemic individuals.

3.      SEPIA OFFICINALIS:

• Persons who are indifferent to their own family or loved ones.
• They literally have no interest in anything.
• Persons who do more laundry works; intolerant to damp weather are best cured with this remedy.
• Cannot tolerate contradiction; any help or demand from their family members will make them angry and they desire to be alone.

4.      STAPHYSAGRIA:

• Suppression of emotions – not express or vent out their emotions.
• Person who has ‘reserved displeasure’ – cannot express their emotions due to their inner moral principles.
• Person who had mortification; indignation; with depressive symptoms.
• Sensitive to insults.
• Depression after being anger or from an insult; wants to be alone.
• Suffer from abdominal pain after an indignation.

5.      VERATRUM ALBUM:

• Suffer from despair of salvation.
• Melancholic – depressed; inactive; disinterested; sad.
• Constantly prays to God.
• Suicidal thoughts; wants to commit suicide by jumping.

These are very few remedies in homoeopathy for depression. There are above 300 remedies for depression. They are selected on the basis of individual characteristic features of the depressed person, as seen above.

Depression is a silent epidemic. According to WHO, depression becomes the second largest health burden worldwide. It should be our responsibility to prevent depression by following a healthy lifestyle, having a balanced diet and seeking help immediately if above mentioned symptoms are present. Hence living with depression is not at all okay.