If you work long hours, suffer from insomnia, and find yourself suffering from anxiety, unable to relax unless actually working, you may actually be suffering from a high functioning depressive disorder.

This type of depression doesn't yet have an "official" name - but has become increasingly common since the 1990's. Typical of its victim:

•  Contract work with no benefits or self-employment
•  At least 3 periods of unemployment within the last 15 years
•  Financial difficulty
•  No time for leisure or hobbies
•  A family to look after financially

Granted, the nature of jobs has changed completely since the early 1990's.  The sort of guaranteed 9-5 job, with benefits, long tenure, pensions, vacation time and weekends and evenings guaranteed free has turned out to be a universal phenomenon peculiar only to those who served in World War II - and the generation immediately after it.

The rest of North America's population now has to scramble for existence.

This has given rise to great entrepreneurship and ingenuity - but also great stress. "We are probably seeing the most stunning multitude of high functioning depressives this world has seen in decades," says former counselor, Susan B.

What many of these high functioning depressives are turning to, however, is natural therapies.  As quickly as this type of disorder mushroomed, so too did the realization that these work habits are not healthy.

6 Popular Natural Tactics

Among successful anxiety and stress release tactics reported on an entrepreneur's forum:

•  Massage
•  Reiki treatments
•  Natural ingested remedies
•  EFT
•  Biofeedback
•  Behavior Modification

There is a particular stress nowadays on diet as an aid to curing depression. It's recognized that B vitamin deficiencies may have a large part to play, particularly among vegetarians, since the body can only absorb vitamin B12 from meat. Omega-3 fatty acids have also been reported to improve symptoms of anxiety and depression. These can be found mostly in tuna, salmon and flax seeds. However, this is one case where ingested in food, levels may be inadequate in counteracting depression and anxiety.  Supplementing your diet with a recognized Omega-3 fish oil or Evening Primrose oil may prove more effective.

3 Tips In Overcoming Insomnia and Depressive Anxiety

The biggest 3 tips in overcoming insomnia and depressive anxiety:

•  Don't drink coffee, tea or cola after 4 p.m.
•  Use timers to signal when tasks are to be completed
•  Eat or drink a light snack containing L-Tryptophan

Not drinking caffeine after 4 has been reported as the single most effective remedy for insomnia caused by this type of depressive disorder, followed by the L-Tryptophan containing snack. (Dairy, poultry or nuts should do the trick.)

Using a timer to "cue" you as to when to "switch off" - but too many people abandon this technique, ignoring the timer alarm and pushing through to keep working.  However, if you stick with this method long enough for it to become a habit (6 weeks, according to an unrelated NASA experiment), it can actually make a difference.

(Can anyone say "Pavlovian Conditioning?" ;-) ) 

Take a few minutes to download and read this free report, and you'll have a much clearer idea if natural remedies really do sound like the best depression treatment option for you - and how they can help you beat all types of depression.

I'll guarantee there's more to this subject than you might have realized when your health food store clerk was trying to make you purchase that expensive supplement!

=> Discover The Benefits Of Natural Depression Fighting Remedies

Bach's flower remedies are not something found at the corner store - but they're surprisingly "present", without one having to do backflips to obtain them. Quiet English doctor Edward Bach died in 1936 – but his simple, gentle remedies are still in demand today.

These gentle homeopathic remedies still come in traditional tiny glass bottles with droppers – dark-colored to block out potentially harmful effects of light; and glass as the most neutral container.

A house surgeon at University College Hospital in London, England, Dr. Bach also had an office in fashionable Harley Street, the “medical district”. He specialized in bacteriology, and worked on vaccines - and 7 “nosodes” which later brought him fame.

What is a “nosode”? It’s Bach's first homeopathic group of natural remedies, each dealing with a particular primary negative emotion - created when Bach grew convinced that man's disorders were tied to his emotions.

Under each nosode, or group, Bach created remedies to break these emotions down even further, targeting specific causes. Bach’s original groups were:

• Fear
• Uncertainty
• Insufficient interest in present circumstances
• Loneliness
• Over-sensitivity to influences and ideas
• Despondency or Despair
• Over-care for welfare of others

As he saw real success with his experiments, Dr. Bach lost interest in the omnipotent and patriarchal medical establishment, which he felt was out of touch with real human beings, thanks to their fascination with only the symptoms and pathological causes of disease. In 1930, he abandoned his successful and prestigious Harley Street medical practice and left the city, devoting all his energy to continuing his research with flower essences.

He enjoyed locating plants during the spring and summer, experimenting with them. During the winter, he offered holistic medical healing to local residents. At this time, he became even more convinced that his patients’ emotions played a major part in the physical symptoms each manifested, and worked hard to isolate specific remedies further.

There were many success stories – and of course, many detractors from traditional medicine. And both trends continue to today. What is particularly telling, however: Edward Bach’s 38 remedies remain exactly as he invented them. And are still readily available across the world, in almost every Natural Health store.

An example just 7 of these remedies, and what they are for (remember – these are homeopathic tinctures of flowers:)

1. Gorse - To counteract despair
2. Rock Rose - To counteract panic attacks
3. Star of Bethlehem - To counteract sudden shock, severe loss
4. Gentian - To counteract being too easily discouraged, crushed by the slightest setback
5. Mimulus - To counteract fear – of everything (loss, poverty, loneliness, etc.)
6. Pine - To counteract guilt and a tendency to blame oneself for every small thing
7. Willow - To counteract bitterness and a tendency to blame life

Finally, there is Bach’s famous “Rescue® Remedy, a combination of flowers said to be especially good for traumatic situations. It’s formulated from a blend of 5 flowers:

• Star of Bethlehem
• Rock Rose
• Clematis
• Cherry Plum
• Impatiens

Depression patient Mary P., also reminisces about carrying tiny bottles of Rescue Remedy with her, when she first began to leave her house. “I don’t really care if it was a placebo effect – the point is, a few drops of Rescue Remedy under my tongue would relieve the worst anxiety attack.”

Holistic practitioner Sandi Chadwick, R.N., swears by Rescue Remedy; and says she finds it particularly beneficial against shock, especially with the elderly.

And the best part about these gentle, homeopathic remedies?

They can be taken by anyone – even pets – and won’t interact badly with any other medication. The interesting part about giving it to pets, says Chadwick: “They don’t know anything about `placebo effects’. And it really works.”

To answer the question of Omega 3 fatty acids and their relationship to depression, let’s go back to when your great-grandfather was a little boy. He most likely would have been regularly dosed with Cod Liver Oil, directly from a bottle. This sort of supplementation was common in post-WW2 Europe and North America, with people suffering the after-effects of rationing and poor diets, but died out to a great degree during the 1960’s.

Perhaps surprisingly, it did not make a strong comeback with the natural food movement during the 1970’s.

Why not? Fish oil not only tastes, well, fishy, but the natural food trend at the time leaned heavily towards vegetarianism. Killing innocent fish was firmly frowned upon by many (along with the Vietnam war, male chauvinists and bras.)

And what’s the relationship between Omega 3 and Cod Liver Oil? They’re both the same thing – and yet not. The bottle of Cod Liver Oil your great-grandfather ran from and fought so hard to avoid taking cost pennies, and was considered a bare necessity.

Your bottle of premium Omega 3/DHA fish oil supplement may cost half your grocery bill for the week.

But both help in the fight against depression. More than that, one of the main reasons Omega 3 oil has become expensive is its admitted effectiveness in combating:

• Cognitive problems in children
• Dysfunction in motor skill ability
• ADHD
• Depression
• Some learning disability symptoms

In short, 21st century diets are suspected of shorting out DHA (Docosapentaenoic acid), a crucial fatty acid normally found in the brain – and the most essential component of Omega 3. With our dizzying selection of highly processed and chemically-engineered foods, Omega 3 now has to be artificially supplemented in many children’s diets.

Why Do Modern Omega 3 Capsules Cost More Than Great-Grandpa’s Cod Liver Oil?

Well, for one thing, back in great-grandpa’s day, fish-oils contained mostly EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid.) Nowadays, the label “Omega 3” means that top manufacturers like Xtend-Life, of New Zealand, have gone to extra expense and trouble to boost its DHA content. Studies have shown that DHA has a better effect in combating the above symptoms in adults and children, rather than EPA (which is much cheaper to extract.)

When you are buying Omega 3 supplements, however, pay attention to 2 things:

• The smell – it should not smell “fishy”, a sign of stale oil
• The source – Is it from a chemically compromised area of the ocean?

Xtend-Life’s supplement in particular does not come from the now highly-polluted and over fished North Sea, but from the Southern Ocean near their native New Zealand. They extract their oil from 2 distinct fish, the Hoki and the Tuna. Natural triglycerides are provided by the Hoki fish, their effect boosted by concentrated oil from the Tuna, as extensive testing proves.

In addition, rather than using fish oil extracted from fish meal ground on board the ship, Xtend-Life’s exclusively-contracted fishing company goes to great lengths to preserve each whole fish in “just-caught” condition, using nitrogen blankets and Spacekraft containers, with the temperature at a precise 2°C.

Any fish oil or Omega 3 you purchase should come with a COA (certificate of analysis), says Warren Matthews, the founder of Xtend-Life. He points the way to independent compelling evidence that Xtend-Life’s Omega 3 possesses a noticeable lack of chemical pollutants, with only the most miniscule, scientifically-discernable traces of mercury, dioxin and PCB’s.

Omega 3 also benefits those suffering from muscular or bone pain, having anti-inflammatory properties. Since this is a strong symptom of more than one type of depression, it offers depression sufferers a double-duty relief and benefit. (It’s reported to be easier on the stomach, too.)

And I’m sure my great-grandfather would tell you – it goes down a whole lot easier than Cod Liver Oil. With no nasty after tastes!