How to treat depression?
Depression is one of the most common mental health problems in the world. We can all find ourselves depressed at some point, and many develop mild or severe depression that requires treatment to recover and return to a quality life. But what works in treating depression? There are three key aspects.
How to treat depression through psychotherapy
The first strategy for treating depression involves therapy. There are many approaches that have been shown to be effective in improving depressive symptoms and addressing the causes of this condition.
Gestalt therapy helps develop additional skills such as resilience, social skills, coping strategies and more. Gestalt not only helps reduce depression, but also provides the person with skills that they can use to prevent depressive patterns from recurring.
Somatic Experiencing therapy is a great combination with Gestalt because just becoming aware of the unconscious is not enough, letting go on a physical level is also necessary. Depression is a large amount of repressed sadness, and by resolving this sadness through somatic experiencing work, a large amount of energy is released. Repressed sadness, by becoming aware of it and letting it out, transforms that stuck energy into positive life energy and a greater will to live.
Through lifestyle changes
In most cases, professional support is needed for mild and severe depression. However, depressive symptoms can also be relieved by lifestyle changes. A regular sleep schedule that allows a person to get enough sleep, usually seven to eight hours, has a positive effect on depression. Better nutrition and exercise can change a person’s well-being and change their emotional state for the better. Explore natural antidepressants, Ashwagandha is one of them. Drink filtered water and eliminate sugar from your diet.
Treating depression through other lifestyle changes can also help a person. Walking outside, especially in the sun, and trying to walk in green spaces is an important habit to reduce depression. Pets have been proven to reduce depressive episodes. It is useful to adopt habits of self-reflection and self-expression, such as journaling, writing or any other creative activity. Also, sports, dance or any group sports activity are excellent in finding meaning in life again.
Through caring for the inner child
Considering that depression is the result of repressed large amounts of sadness, it is obvious that depression is actually the result of deep trauma. Very consistent work on yourself in the form of comfort is needed. The key is to learn to comfort the inner child. The inner child is the vulnerable part of us, which did not know or could not defend itself when it came to childhood injuries. It is important to realize that it is no longer us, but we are now stronger, older, more compatible and more experienced in dealing with life’s problems. Somatic Experiencing offers tools on how to talk to the wounded part of yourself and how to learn what it really needs, and then offer it from an adult caring parent.
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