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What do you do if you believe “life sucks?” If you tell yourself that life sucks on a daily or even hourly basis, then yes, life will suck. You will find more and more reasons to justify your belief and that will lead you deeper into depression. If you believe it strongly, then nothing anybody says about positive affirmations, meditation, or even exercise will sway your belief that “life sucks.”
To get out of this mindset, one of the best things you can do is to lie to yourself. At least, it will feel like lying to yourself when you say, “I’m a loving and lovable person…” or whatever positive affirmation you select. It will feel like *BS* at first, and you’ll want to give up immediately. But stick with it and then add a reason that you’re grateful. It could be as stupid-sounding as, “I’m grateful for brakes on cars.” If you keep it up, you’ll find more personal things you’re grateful for.
If you really don’t feel like “lying to yourself”, then start with your diet. Change what you eat. For real! I’m not saying “go on a diet.” I mean look at what you eat and make sure you’re giving your body the proper vitamins and minerals. This is a little more challenging than taking a single vitamin pill a day.
Feed your body “brain foods” and you will begin to find it easier to find things to be grateful for. Fish, especially cold water fish like wild salmon, are rich in DHA, and are at the top of most healthy brain food lists. If you can’t eat fish twice a week (please, not deep fried!), then go to the health food store and pick up some DHA rich fish oil softgels. You may be surprised how quickly you forget how negative you used to be after taking DHA. (For vegans, take algae capsules.)
I find it interesting that the question “what are you eating” is not the first approach for a health care practitioner or alternative care specialist when seeking to alleviate the problem of depression in patients. Check out the below description of an expensive class designed to help lift depression:
“Draw on psychiatric medicine, mind-body techniques, reflective exercises, guided imagery, affirmations, thought-stopping tools, and spiritual exploration, to transform anxiety, distress, and depression. You will learn and practice tools for continued self-healing at home.”
Proper diet and nutrition is nowhere in the above description. And in my research into both psychiatrist-authored and allopathic physician-authored books on depression and mental health, proper nutrition is not mentioned very often, either. Most often, these books, as well as the commercials on television, tout pharmaceutical solutions to the problem of depression. Pills like Prozac are serious drugs, with serious complications in some people, and moderately negative side effects for most people. After months of research on the side effects of antidepressants, it is my humble opinion they should be used with caution, and should be a last resort after other types of therapies are tried, including nutritherapy.
So, if you’re down in the dumps and don’t see anything positive going on in your life, try getting some brain foods into your diet first, then add another type of therapy like meditation with Holosync or talk therapy, or yoga and exercise. You’ll have a powerful combination for improving your mood quickly. I have prepared a recommended reading page so you can start exploring this issue further if it moves you.
4 comments
Roy Hewitt says:
July 4, 2008 at 2:59 am (UTC -7 )
Hi Jessica,,
Interesting writing. Lavender was a great help to me in overcoming depression. Please check out my site and would you pass it on to a few of your contacts. Thanks Roy.
PURE THERAPEUTIC-GRADE ESSENTIAL OILS ~ NATURE’S LIVING ENERGY
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jessica says:
July 4, 2008 at 7:29 am (UTC -7 )
Roy:
How did you use the lavender? I’ve heard it is great for helping with insomnia, but I’ve not heard that it can help lift your spirits when you’re depressed.
Roy Hewitt says:
July 4, 2008 at 8:06 am (UTC -7 )
Hi Jessica,
Thank you for your question.
I used the lavender aromatically by putting a few drops in my hand, rubbing my hands together and cupping my hands over my nose and breathing deeply. I only recommend Young Living oils because they are pure. When I first used YL lavender it gave me energy and calming. We always have lavender on hand in our home because it is such a universal oil. Good for the skin also.
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I pasted the following from the YL website
LAVENDER (Lavandula angustifolia) has a fresh, sweet, floral, herbaceous aroma that is soothing and refreshing. Because it is the most versatile of all essential oils, no home should be without it. Lavender is an adaptogen, and therefore can assist the body when adapting to stress or imbalances. It is a great aid for relaxing and winding down before bedtime, yet has balancing properties that can also boost stamina and energy. Therapeutic-grade lavender is highly regarded for skin and beauty. It may be used to soothe and cleanse common cuts, bruises, and skin irritations. The French scientist René Gattefossé was among the first to discover these properties when he was severely burned in a laboratory explosion. Lavender may also be used to enhance the flavor of foods. Lavender has an approximate ORAC of 3,669 (TE/L). TE/L is expressed as micromole Trolox equivalent per liter.
jessica says:
July 4, 2008 at 8:53 am (UTC -7 )
This description confirms that lavender is good for insomnia and adapting to stress. I suppose if it gives you stamina and energy, it may help in alleviating depression if the aromatherapy is combined with nutritherapy or talk therapy or meditation. However, I wouldn’t rely on aromatherapy alone for such a complicated issue as depression.
For all readers, I would like to point out a contraindication in using lavender and tea tree oil. Be sure that young boys under age 4 are not continuously exposed to these oils for extended periods of time, in the form of soaps, shampoos, essential oil drops on pillows, ect. There have been some preliminary scientific findings that these oils may be the cause of a condition called gynecomastia: (the abnormal growth of breasts in young boys.) Lavender and tea tree oil are estrogenic. Since the findings are preliminary, there is little evidence to support this claim save a few doctors who found the common denominator of the long term use of either lavender and/or tea tree oil by the boys with the condition.
Single exposures should be fine for young boys. Once I heard about this last year, I stopped buying lavender baby bath for my young boy. I’d rather be safe!
Wikipedia: Lavender-see contraindications