Depression

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This is the handout I use in my practice to determine the core cause of depression. The causes for depression are numerous and many times have multiple causes. After finding the core causes, I then test out which techniques or modalities would best suit the body to heal that depression.

Sometimes we need a combination of natural treatments and allopathic medicine (“real drugs”). Like any disease process, we eliminate what we can and minimize those things we can’t get around. Health is a journey and a choice. The patient has the hardest task…to do what will work for them.

Statistics and Facts about depression 

  • Women experience depression twice as often as men
  • The age group 25-44 has the highest incidence of depression, but
  • Pre-school children are the fastest growing market for antidepressants
  • Statistics show that 15% of all Americans will have at least one bout of depression during their lifetime that will be serious enough to warrant medical attention.
  • Depression affects our health. Studies show heart disease increases with depression
  • 80% of depressed people are not currently getting any form of treatment
  • 18.8 million American adults are considered depressed (9.5% of the population)
  • Everyone will at some time in their lives be affected by depression by experiencing it themselves or knowing someone who has it.

Note: When taking doctor-prescribed antidepressants, you will want to slowly eliminate them over a period of several months after developing healthier habits and fixing those things in your body that are initiating the depression. Going “cold turkey” off your medications for this particular syndrome is a dangerous thing to do. Work with your doctor on the withdrawal program.

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Life in Five Short Chapters

Signs of Depression: 

(Signs should be rated on a scale of mild, moderate or severe.)

Note: Depression is not the same as being sad or discouraged. These feelings are a normal part of life and generally pass on. True depression is severe sadness and hopelessness that does not go away over time that makes normal activities impossible.

  • Anxiety
  • Change in sleep patterns
  • Changes in eating patterns
  • Decreased energy
  • Decreased interest in activities
  • Dejection
  • Disconnected w/ Life Purpose
  • Eating disorders
  • Feeling like a “Low Achiever”
  • Feelings of Guilt, Shame, Hopelessness, Anger, Grief, Indecisiveness
  • Mood changes
  • Physical illness
  • Poor concentration
  • Real or imagined unsympathetic attitudes of friends/relatives
  • Sadness
  • Shrinking inward
  • Significant weight loss or gain
  • Social isolation
  • The Blues
  • Thoughts of suicide
  • Withdrawal from society

Teenagers often show these symptoms of depression as well:

  • Alcohol or substance abuse
  • Boredom, sulking
  • Changes in routine
  • Difficulty with relationships
  • Extreme sensitivity to rejection or failure
  • Frequent absences from school
  • Frequent headaches
  • Increased irritability, anger, hostility, or crying
  • Muscle aches
  • Neglect of clothing and appearance
  • Poor performance in school
  • Reckless behavior
  • Stomach aches
  • Talk of or efforts to run away from home
  • Tiredness

Causes of Depression 

Depression may involve one or many factors. Each person is different. The goal is to find the core causes so we can do something about as many as possible.

  • Adrenal gland dysfunction
  • Alcohol
  • Birth Control Pills
  • Caffeine
  • Chemical imbalance
  • Chemical sensitivities
  • Cholecystokinin
  • Choline blocked
  • Choline deficiency
  • Death
  • Disease
  • Disruptive life events
  • Divorce
  • Dopamine imbalance
  • Drug addiction
  • Emotional
  • Estrogen imbalance
  • Fat intake imbalance
  • Food allergies
  • Genetics
  • High cortisol levels
  • Hormone Replacement Therapy
  • Homocysteine increase
  • Hormonal imbalance
  • Inositol, not enough
  • Interleukin-6 excess
  • Isolation
  • Lack of exercise
  • Lack of raw enzymes
  • Lack of sleep
  • Malnutrition
  • Mental challenges
  • Mineral deficiency
  • Mold allergies
  • Near Death Experience
  • Negative self-talk
  • No down time
  • Norepinephrine decrease
  • Not of this world cause
  • Nutrasweet/Aspartame/Equal
  • Phosphatidyl inositol deficiency
  • Phosphatidyl serine
  • Physical problems
  • Poor circulation
  • Poor eating habits
  • Post-Partum hormone changes
  • Progesterone imbalance
  • Recent emotional trauma (Separation, Divorce,  Widowed, Other:
  • S-adenosylmethionine (SAM-e) deficiency
  • SAM-e
  • Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
  • Serotonin imbalances (Not enough, Too much broken down,  Re-uptake mechanism problem)
  • Side effects of medication
  • Spiritual lessons to learn:
  • Structural imbalance
  • Substance abuse
  • Sugar
  • Testosterone decrease
  • Too many saturated fats
  • Thyroid disorders
  • Trying to be Super Human
  • Tryptophan deficiency (Uptake problems or Availability)
  • Tyrosine deficiency
  • Vanishing Twin Syndrome: /SpecificDiseases/vanishing_twin.htm
  • Vitamin B deficiency (Folic Acid,  Riboflavin (B2),  Pyridoxine (B6),   Thiamine (B1),   Cobalamine (B12))
  • Vitamin C deficiency

Chronic or life-long (endogenous) depression is caused by:

  • Trauma in childhood including:
  • Abuse– emotional, physical or sexual
  • Conflict in the family
  • Criticism
  • Divorce
  • Family addiction
  • Inappropriate or unclear expectations
  • Neglect (even two parents working)
  • Poverty
  • Racism
  • Violence in the family, neighborhood or on TV
  • Yelling or threats of abuse

Treatments for Depression:

Treatments are organized into several lists including alternative treatments, food/herbs/vitamins, homeopathics, aromatherapy, gem elixirs, flower essences and “real drugs”.

I muscle-test each list to see which therapies would work. It is up to the client to determine which treatments, modalities and therapies will best fit into their lifestyle. Of course, the more of the suggestions utilized, the faster the healing process occurs. Sometimes the body just has an imbalance and being on something to balance it for the rest of the body’s life is what it takes. Other times, depression is seasonal. Attending to those seasons will do the trick. And sometimes, depression is just a one-time thing.

My job at an intuitive working with your guides and angels is to create a plan for you that you can fall back on for one-time and recurring depression challenges.

Alternative treatments used in treating depression:

  • Counseling
  • Determine and focus on Life Purpose
  • EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Response)
  • Emotional release work
  • Exercise (30 min 5x/wk preferable outside)
  • Get a pet
  • Massage
  • Positive mental attitude
  • Prayer
  • Rerouting negative patterns
  • Stress avoidance
  • Sunlight, full-spectrum lights, sun boxes
  • Volunteer in a service activity

Foods/Herbs/Vitamins used in treating depression: 

Foods used for Depression: 

  • Chocolate, Dark
  • Halvah
  • Lemons
  • Mushrooms, psychedelic
  • Raw Fruits/Vegetables
  • Salmon
  • Sesame Seeds
  • Tahini
  • Turkey
  • White fish
  • Other:

Herbs used for Depression: 

  • California poppy
  • Ginkgo biloba
  • Hawthorne berry
  • Jujube seed (Zizyphus spinosa)
  • Kava Kava
  • Lavender
  • Licorice root
  • Rosemary
  • Salvia miltiorrhiza
  • St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum)
  • Valerian

Vitamins/Supplements used for Depression: 

  • Antioxidants
  • Vitamin C
  • Vitamin E
  • Selenium
  • Grape Seed Extract
  • 5-HTP
  • Choline
  • DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone)
  • DLPA (DL-Phenylalanine)
  • GABA
  • Inositol
  • Iron
  • L-Phenylalanine
  • L-Tryptophan
  • L-Tyrosine
  • Lithium
  • Phosphatidylserine
  • Vitamin B 12
  • Vitamin B Complex
  • Vitamin C
  • Vitamin B 6 

Homeopathics used in treating Depression:

  • Arum metallicum
  • Brain liquescence
  • Cadmium metallicum
  • Caulaphyllum thalictroides
  • Cholecyctokinin (CKK)
  • Choline
  • Cimicifuga racemosa
  • CoQ10
  • Dopamine
  • Ferula asafoetida
  • Ignatia amara
  • Inositol
  • Lachesis mutus
  • Lithium carbonicum
  • Magnesia phosphorica
  • Medicago sativa
  • Musa sapientum
  • Natrum muriaticum
  • Oleander
  • Passiflora incarnate
  • Petroleum
  • Phosphatidyl serine
  • Pineal liquescence
  • Pituitary liquescence
  • Pulsatilla
  • Scutellaria lateriflora
  • Sepia
  • Serotonin
  • Sulfur
  • Valeriana officinalis

Aromatherapy used in treating depression: 

  • Basil
  • Bergamot
  • Chamomile, Roman
  • Clary sage
  • Coriander
  • Frankincense
  • Geranium
  • Grapefruit
  • Juniper
  • Lavender
  • Lemon
  • Marjoram
  • Orange blossom (Neroli)
  • Orange
  • Patchouli
  • Pettigrain
  • Rose Otto
  • Rosemary
  • Sandalwood
  • Ylang-Ylang 

Gem Elixirs used in treating depression: 

  • Agate, Botswana
  • Agate, Mexican Lace
  • Agate, Regency Rose
  • Ammonite
  • Beudantite
  • Coral, red
  • Cuproadamite
  • Genthelvite
  • Gold
  • Idocrase
  • Jasper, Royal Plume
  • Jet
  • Lapis Lazuli
  • Manganosite
  • Mordenite
  • Opal, Black
  • Quarts, Harlequin
  • Staurolite
  • Tephroite
  • Thoreaulite 

Flower essences used in treating depression: 

  • Ashoka tree
  • Bisbee Beehive cactus
  • Black cohosh
  • Blackberry
  • Borage
  • Copper Beech
  • Cucumber
  • Daffodil
  • Grape hyacinth
  • Immortal
  • Larch
  • Moss Agate
  • Mustard
  • Olive
  • Orange
  • Periwinkle
  • Pine
  • Plemomele fragrans
  • Primrose
  • Rainbow cactus
  • Red Beak orchid
  • Red rose
  • Scotch broom
  • Skullcap
  • Sugar beet
  • Sycamore
  • Yerba Santa
  • Zinnia 

“Real Drugs” used in treating depression: 

  • Amitriptyline (Elavil)
  • Amitriptyline w/ Perphenazine (Triavil)
  • Aventyl (Pamelor)
  • Bupropion (Wellbutrin)
  • Celexa (Citalopram)
  • Citalopram (Celexa)
  • Desipramine (Norpramin)
  • Desyrel (Trazodone)
  • Doxepin (Sinequan)
  • Effexor (Venlafoxine)
  • Elavil (Amitriptaline)
  • Fluoxetine (Prozac)
  • Imipramine (Tofranil)
  • Lithium
  • Mirtazapine (Remeron)
  • Nardil (Phenelzine)
  • Nefazodone (Serzone)
  • Norpramin (Desipramine)
  • Nortriptyline (Pamelor)
  • Pamelor (Nortriptyline)
  • Paroxetine (Paxil)
  • Paxil (Paroxetine)
  • Phenelzine (Nardil)
  • Prozac (Fluoxetine)
  • Remeron (Mirtazapine)
  • Sertraline (Zoloft)
  • Serzone (Nefazodone)
  • Sinequan (Doxepin)
  • Surmontil (Trimipramine)
  • Tofranil (Imipramine)
  • Trazodone (Desyrel)
  • Triavil (Amitriptyline w/ Perphenazine)
  • Trimipramine (Surmontil)
  • Venlafaxine (Efferor)
  • Wellbutrin (Bupropion)
  • Zoloft (Sertraline)

Helpful Links and References for Depression: