7 Unusual Ways to Deal with Depression

This is the age of Instagram and Snapchat, and alternative is the new cool. There seems to be a fad for having alternative everything; from food, clothing, music, and now medicine. Talking of medicine, there are plenty of solutions available to deal with all sorts of issues: losing weight, stretch marks, and now depression. It is the latter that this article focuses on and the alternative solutions suggested for dealing with depression can stretch into the outright outrageous. Discussed below are some of those ways, not promising anything too weird, but still, it’s the unconventional, right? Brace yourself.

Using Mantras Overcome Depression

Yes, that says mantras in their conventional sense, and it is not a completely baseless suggestion. Words have a profound impact on the human mind otherwise hypnosis would not work. Using mantras, however, is not as intense as self-hypnosis. It is as simple as it sounds; you find a positive mantra that you keep repeating in your head when you feel like you cannot keep going. Oprah Winfrey once demonstrated the power of mantras by saying that just saying “Thank You” can suffice as one’s daily prayer. So in the face of depression, you could forge a mantra such as “I am ok, I am healthy, I am centered.” You say it enough time to believe it and you are well on your way to recovering from depression as Hinduism attests.

Proper nutrition

You are probably wondering what on God’s good earth is the relationship between food and the brain, but it is there. A very close relationship, actually. Generally, all nutrients obtained from food help the body repair itself, grow, and stay well. Lack thereof means that the body is not working at full capacity. Some foods such as Vitamin C contain antioxidants that help free the body of free radicals that damage body cells, more so brain cells. Other foods relate directly and

Puppet Therapy

This is not a crazy idea pulled out of a movie, although it could very well be. Remember “The Beaver”, that Mel Gibson movie from 2011? A grown man used a toy beaver to get out of a depressed state of mind. It just happens that the story was not complete work of fiction, at least with regard to this therapy. Dolls, puppets, and stuffed animals have been established to be useful in therapy for people of all ages dealing with depression. The explanation for this is that most people will find it much easier to talk to an inanimate doll than a human being. Of course, the best way to handle depression is opening up your mind by communication. An eight-year-old case study was found to turn responsive and communicate easily once a puppet was introduced in therapy while he had problems opening up about his underlying disturbances before its introduction. This is why some therapists stock their practices with dolls and puppets, which they often invoke during therapy.

Medical Marijuana

Hold on, there actually exists scientific proof that medical marijuana may help ease depression. McGill University conducted a study that found THC, the primary component of marijuana, caused a spike in the body’s levels of Serotonin when taken in small doses. Serotonin is the brain’s feel good hormone. Ironically, the same study established that in high doses, weed or pot caused a deterioration in depression. To walk this fine line, therefore, it is best that you only turn to pot on a doctor’s prescription.

Art therapy

The idea behind this recommendation is that expressing oneself artistically allows you to connect the underlying causes of depression on a deep level. You do not need to be Pablo Picasso; after all, it is only about expression and that hacks back to the principle around which most treatments are developed. There is an especially common approach among therapists, in which they get patients to create artistic stuff such as puppets from materials that have been disposed such as old socks. This is symbolic, that even things that have been cast off and seem useless can be used to come up with items of value. Proof that this works is the number of therapists that have received art therapy training under the American Art Therapy Association. They learn arts such as painting, drawing, sculpting, drawing, and even music.

Rub your ears

Read on for a minute, before you fall over with laughter and dismiss as utter madness. Maybe backing up a bit will help understand the exact basis of this solution. Massaging your own ears for a while is known to be a stress killer, and there has definitely been a link between stress and depression. In fact, most instances of depression start off as stress and then progress upwards, or downwards. So by rubbing your ears, you can tone down your depression or arrest it before it gets to a critical level. You may even find a guide on how to rub your ears correctly here.

Write yourself love letters

Depression often turns your eyes blind to all positive things, or even casts a negative shade over them all. Your emotions are then thrown into disarray and you spiral deeper into depression. Perhaps the best step in this regard is appreciating your level of emotional intelligence. Knowing how to navigate your emotions intelligently can help a great deal in this regard. However, once you are in depression you are advised to show yourself love consciously. One way to do so is by writing yourself love letters. A partner may be of great help here, especially one who sees many positive things about. But in a depression, most people are not comfortable involving others. So self-love comes in handy for every individual. You will find that as you lose yourself finding positive things that you love about yourself, you discover so much more than you are looking for. In the process, the positive aspects of your life steadily help you overcome all the negatives that have you sent you into depression, and voila! You are free.

Source: expandedconsciousness