Thursday, April 3, 2008

Dont Seek Anti-Depressant Drugs For Depression Help - Self Treat Naturally Instead

If youre taking anti-depressant medication, its quite possible you dont need it. If you want safe depression help, self treating using natural methods is the best option, especially where general depression exists.

Recent stats show that the most commonly prescribed drugs in the U.S. today are anti-depressants, more than high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, or headache medications. Often, its not necessary, except in certain extreme cases.

The Centre for Disease Control conducted the study which revealed that in 2005, 118 million prescriptions were for antidepressants. One reason for this is that doctors dont have the time to counsel people suffering from depression.

Its quicker to prescribe something to ease their suffering. In many cases, the patients simply ask for the lastest depression treatment they saw advertised, hoping for fast relief.

The problem is that there is a huge list of potential side effects related to anti-depressant drugs, depending on the specific drug. Heres the incredible list, taken from http://www.depression.realage.com:

  • dry mouth
  • drowsiness
  • dizziness
  • constipation
  • nervousness
  • increased perspiration
  • nausea
  • weakness
  • weight gain (Remeron)
  • weight loss/decreased appetite (Effexor and Effexor XR)
  • increased cholesterol
  • risk of seizure
  • withdrawal symptoms when drug stopped
  • fatigue
  • anxiety
  • sleep problems
  • vomiting
  • tremors
  • muscle twitching
  • confusion
  • memory problems
  • sexual dysfunction
  • dangerously high blood pressure
  • stroke
  • blurred vision
  • headache
  • heart palpitations
  • mood swings
  • nightmares
  • hair loss
  • gastrointestinal distress
  • diarrhea
  • thirst
  • restlessness
  • arrhythmia
  • possibility of toxic effects
Having taken antidepressant medications myself years ago, I recall being in a constant state of tiredness, lack of concentration, weakness and an overall listlessness. It was almost impossible to get my work done on my job. Today, Ive discovered other ways to deal with my intermittent depressive episodes, which arent nearly as bad as they were 25 years ago. Mostly, they include keeping busy, doing things I enjoy and that give me a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment, staying active by walking in the woods and in my neighborhood, and relaxing whenever stress gets too much.

To accommodate for dull days of winter and especially dreary days, Ive rearranged my living room so my chair is beside the huge picture window which allows the sun to pour into my house.

So rather than seeking the latest miracle drug, choose other options for depression help. Self treatment can include:

  • exercise
  • light therapy or phototherapy (for seasonal affective disorder (SAD) only)
  • massage therapy
  • relaxation
  • dietary improvements
  • increased B-Vitamin intake
Lets take two of these: Exercise and Relaxation. Exercise Exercise is a natural mood enhancer. It is very effective for depressed and non-depressed individuals. Evidence supports the fact that exercise might be equally as effective as medications as a depression treatment. Exercises such as walking, running, bike riding, swimming, weight training and stretching are proven to be equally effective as mood enhancers.

The effectiveness of exercise on mood is believed to be both biological and psychological. It stimulates the endorphins in the brain. These are hormones that reduce pain and trigger a sense of well-being. For someone with depression, this makes exercise and physical activity a great natural depression treatment.

The side-effect of this exercise and boost in endorphins is an increased sense of self-esteem, feelings of accomplishment, and a release from daily worries and negative thinking. As well, its a way to expel built-up hostility that can exist this is hostility from feelings of inadequacy, stress, and other causes. Relaxation The goal of relaxation is to decrease physical and mental tensions. Some exercises you can try include progressive muscle relaxation, diaphragmatic breathing, biofeedback, yoga, guided imagery, meditation and other techniques that involve the body and the mind.

Also, consider seeking professionals for treating depression. These include massage therapists, shiatsu, therapeutic touch and hypnosis experts. My favorites are guided imagery, biofeedback and music relaxation.

Now, I havent seen music relaxation suggested anywhere. Its a technique I came across on my very own that proved to be the absolute best method to ease tensions and put me in that euphoric state that overtakes any depression. Heres how it works.

I happen to absolutely love Hawaiian music, especially the instrumentals. As a teen, I was listening to island music while my friends were ogling over Pat Boone and Elvis Presley.

When my depression hit in the 70s, I turned on my favorite album and lay on the floor in front of the hi-fi my head between the two speakers. Then I closed my eyes and added imagery.

I imagined myself dumping all my troubles into a huge urn on the beach, laying out my beautifully colored blanket and lying down in the warm sun. The sweet smelling breeze drifting over me. As the music played I envisioned birds flying in the blue sky overhead.

Suddenly, my blanket began to rise off the sand. Just off shore there was a tropical island, filled with birds of every color. My blanket circled the island, allowing me to enjoy the sounds of the forest, along with the music. The blanket then drifted back to shore and onto the sand.

This is my magical self treatment for depression and just to relax and escape, without the stress of train, bus or plane travel.

Find your own magic and youll discover that you can eliminate your depression as I did.

Biofeedback is another method I highly recommend. It involves putting electrodes onto your fingers while you watch a video. The goal is to use your mind to control your tension relax your muscles and see the results on screen. The better you get at this, the more relaxed you'll be.

If you want to try biofeedback, Wild Divine is a computer program that is hosted by one of the meditation gurus of all time, Depak Chopra.

Read my review of Wild Divine

Sylvia Dickens is an award-winning journalist who has struggled and overcome depression, panic and anxiety. Stop Smoking, Natural Anxiety Relief, Dog Training, Music Instruction (piano, guitar) and Travel ideas are some of the topics covered on her site at http://www.book-titles.ca. Visit her Fat Loss and Fitness Blog for more information on fitness and health-related topics. Get coping tips from her Natural Anxiety Relief Blog.

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Aesthetic Surgery - It's Aims and Possibilities

With age comes wisdom and experience. Regrettably, quite opposite things happen about youthful and attractive appearance as, with age, it is gone. Plastic surgery gives people a second opportunity in their life to look young and beautiful.

The plastic surgery specialist Gintaras Papeckys from Kaunas (second largest city in Lithuania) has devoted more than thirteen years to helping people and creating beauty. the surgeon worked on probation in Belgium at St. Lukes University Hospital and took part in conferences in Greece, America, France as well as Check Republic. Although the time of life is running at a cosmic speed, says Papeckys, we can still slow it with the help of technical tools.

Many patients think that a plastic surgery specialist will miraculously change their body shapes into something totally perfect, but this is not so. Aesthetic surgery does not pursue records. The idea of aesthetic surgery is not creating ideal beauty. The aim of present-day aesthetic surgery is to stop the aging process and help everyone look younger, more beautiful and attractive. When somebody says to my patient: Hey, you are not getting old! You look as beautiful as in your youth, for me it is the best evaluation of my work, says Papeckys.

Women start aging earlier than men. The first small wrinkles appear at the age of about 25. Therefore, a woman must become worried about her beauty much earlier. For the beginning, specialists recommend prophylactic procedures such as using creams containing fruit acid (AHA). It smoothes wrinkles and tightens skin. Later, at the age of 35, creams are no longer effective to prevent aging. The wrinkles from nostrils to the corners of the mouth become deeper, and the mimic wrinkles get more visible. Due to the fatty tissue atrophy, the cheeks sink in. Therefore, the surgeon recommends a bit more aggressive procedures. They are not complicated and include micro-suction, fat transfer or Botox and Matridex injections into wrinkles.

Mens skin is tighter, therefore micro-suction or fat transfer operations are recommended when they are about forty. At this age, there appear changes in the lower eyelid and cheek areas. For the fair sex, the critical age is over 40. The wrinkles of aging become clearly noticeable: the skin loses elasticity, falls and gets wrinkled; there appear laugh wrinkles, double chin and pouches under the eyes. A plastic surgery specialist evaluates the traces of age with the help of computer and suggests ways of correcting those changes.

At the age of about 40, surgical intervention is also recommended because the excess of skin needs to be removed. To restore sunk-in cheeks, specialists use synthetic and biological implants or the patients tissues. A special operation is done to remove double chin. All these operations are done for men as well.

Also, it is a frequent case when after childbirth womens breasts lose their former shape. The most popular choice to restore and correct their former shape is the implants.

Children may also have problems with their appearance. Inborn defects often lead to psychological traumas. A typical case is sticking-out ears, the treatment of which is recommended for children of 5-6 years old, before starting school. Burn scar correction is recommended before the period of adolescence, when appearance becomes very important among teenagers. Hare lip correction is recommended for new-born children before taking them home from the hospital.

So when 40-year old celebrities with not a smallest wrinkle on their face tell you stories of the saving grace of yoga, balanced food and similar things, dont take it for granted: very often it is the result of a plastic surgery specialists scrupulous work

Donatas is an author of the most cosmetic surgery articles on the official Team Holiday web site.

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