How to Find Alternatives to Antidepressants

With increased reports of serious side effects and the general trend toward natural or homeopathic medicine, more people are looking to find alternatives to antidepressants. While many patients may require conventional medications to treat clinical depression, some may benefit from lifestyle changes or alternative medicine. Your physician can assess your potential to benefit from antidepressant alternatives, including the following tips.

Instructions

• 1

  Obtain a thorough health check-up if you have not had one since your depression began. This will help rule out physical disease as a potential cause or may indicate which treatment path is best suited for you. If medications and/or therapy are recommended, follow your physician's advice. Obtain a second opinion if in doubt about treatment recommendations.

• 2

  Examine your diet. A balanced diet offers the basics for minimizing nutrition-related depression. More aggressive changes may provide increased benefit. Less sugar, more leafy vegetables, sufficient protein, balanced complex-carbohydrates, and antioxidant-rich fish and fruit can boost both your health and mood. Yet, it is sometimes difficult to obtain all of the nutrients we need. Supplementation may prove helpful.

• 3

  Look to nutritional supplements for lifting depression. Your health care provider can advise you on those which prove most useful as alternatives to antidepressants. Some of the most common recommendations include omega-3, Super B-Complex or B-12, B-6, B-9 (folate) along with other B-vitamins, inositol, and minerals such as selenium. Seek advice on obtaining a proper balance.

• 4

  Engage in more exercise for a fast and effective alternative to antidepressants. Though the connection to better mood is not fully understood, 30-minutes of exercise performed three to five days a week can boost certain brain chemicals, including endorphins, lacking in depressed individuals. Even shorter periods of exercise can distract and relax the mind, break cycles of negative thought, improve sleep, and may reduce cortisol, a stress hormone.

• 5

  Investigate alternative medicine, but use caution with homeopathic medications and herbal remedies. A variety of alternative remedies, not limited to St. John's Wort, Sam-e and tryptophan, may improve depression in some individuals. Studies are mixed as to effectiveness. The potential for side effects and medication interactions often present concerns. Additionally, certain herbs and compounds may induce mania in bipolar individuals.

• 6

  Try positive thinking even when you do not feel positive. The phrase “fake it until you make it” works here. Start the day with three positive affirmations about yourself and think of at least one thing that you are grateful for, then repeat the same at night before retiring. Use a new gratitude daily no matter how small it may seem. Though depression is a medical illness, negative thinking can be learned and unlearned. After three to four weeks you may be surprised at your new outlook.

• 7

  Keep a mood diary. This will enable you to track positive and negative changes including any correlations to medications or antidepressant alternatives in use. This may also help guide your health care provider on medical and non-medical causes for depression. This diary can be as simple as listing your primary symptoms on a scale of one to ten, such as hopelessness, sadness and anxiety along with physical symptoms such as fatigue and somnolence (oversleeping).