Self-help for Depression

We use the word "depression" in so many ways, it's no wonder people get confused about what it is and how to deal with it.

Circumstantial depression

If you're depressed because something bad has happened in your life, that's normal. You're allowed to feel down if a loved one has passed on, or your partner is cheating on you, or your child is ill! In fact, covering up your sadness with drugs may be the worst thing you can do, because we humans need time to work through our sad feelings if we're ever going to deal with them and recover.

That's not to say you have to be stuck in misery. The important thing is to take care of you. Make sure you get enough sleep (see tips below if that's a problem), eat sensibly and try to give yourself a treat occasionally, even if you don't feel like it. Don't be afraid to ask for support!

Grieving takes a long time - at least two years to get over the loss of a loved one, for instance. However, if you're still constantly in tears and unable to function normally after the first month or so, something is wrong - you may be heading for more serious depression and should seek professional help.

SAD

If you get depressed when the weather changes for the worse, you may have Seasonal Affective Disorder. Yes, it's a real illness! Treatment is as simple as getting more light - 30 minutes a day sitting in front of a bright fluorescent lamp should do the trick.

Clinical Depression

You have clinical depression when the situation or event that caused your depression is well and truly over, but you still can't "snap out of it".

At one time, it was thought clinical depression was caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, because taking a drug that increased serotonin levels helped. But that was a big leap of logic - it's like saying when I have a headache, aspirin helps, so my headache was caused by a lack of aspirin!

Despite extensive trials, there's no evidence that clinical depression is caused by a lack of serotonin. You'll still see "chemical imbalance" blamed on older websites, but the more reputable ones have stopped using the term. Yes, drugs that increase serotonin will make you feel better, but it may only be a temporary fix if the real reason for your depression isn't addressed. As more and more people use anti-depressants, it's becoming clear that people who use drugs often have poorer outcomes than people who don't, for that very reason.

This is where you need professional help to work out what is making you depressed. It can be painful to open up old wounds, but that may be what you need to do. Or could the culprit be something in your life, right now?

Perhaps your marriage is unhappy and you don't want to admit it to yourself - because then the only way to stop being depressed is to leave, and that's too frightening. Or you hate your job, but can't face the challenge of retraining for something new.

It can be hard to face up to the causes of your depression on your own, and even harder to face up to the solutions - this is where professional counselling can be a boon.

Regular, daily exercise will also help improve your mood and is well worth trying. If you don't want to take anti-depressants, St John's Wort has been proven to be just as effective for some people - but it must be used with caution if you're on other medication (see below)

One of the simplest "free treatments" for depression is to smile. Smiling releases a small amount of "feelgood" chemicals in the brain.

If smiling is the last thing you feel like doing, put a pencil or pen sideways between your teeth, which will bend your mouth into something like a smile. Your brain can't tell the difference, and will start releasing feelgood chemicals.

If you're depressed, it's very common to have trouble sleeping. If you can't sleep, you feel tired - and if you're tired, you're going to feel listless, which makes you feel even more "down". So taking steps to improve your sleep should be high on your list:

1. Keep your bedroom just for sleeping and sex. Remove the TV and the computer to another room.

2. Have a hot milky drink just before bedtime. The tryptophan in the milk helps you sleep. If you're lactose intolerant, it's worth seeking out lactose-free milk - soy doesn't have the same effect.

3. Don't do anything mentally stimulating for at least an hour before bedtime. That includes anything on your computer - surfing, chatting, working, etc.

4. Don't eat anything in the last hour before bedtime.

It's worth trying a few variations in your routine to see what helps you sleep. Some people find that gentle exercise last thing at night, like yoga, helps them sleep - whereas others report the exact opposite. A warm shower or hot bath just before bed also helps some people. Reading a book may send you off, or wake you up - it's an individual thing.

A treatment that is not just free, but can actually SAVE you money, is to give up alcohol. Drowning our sorrows is tempting, but alcohol is a depressant - so in the long run, it will make you feel even worse. It also has a rebound effect: it may make you feel pleasantly drowsy as you fall into bed, but when it wears off you'll wake up. If you find a nice whisky soothes you off to sleep, but then find yourself wide awake at four in the morning - that's the rebound.