Depression

• Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. It also affects how one feels, think and behave and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems.

How is Depression Diagnosed?

• No laboratory tests to diagnose depression.
• To be diagnosed with depression, someone must display five of the following symptoms for at least two weeks:
  • Sadness or depressed mood
  • Lack of interest or pleasure in almost all activities, especially those that used to be pleasurable
  • Trouble sleeping or sleeping all the time
  • Fatigue or lack of energy
  • Feelings of worthlessness and guilt
  • An inability to concentrate or focus
  • Change in appetite
  • Agitation or feelings of moving in slow motion
  • Recurring/ Continuous thoughts of death
    
    

Symptoms

Although depression may occur only once during lifetime, people typically have multiple episodes. During these episodes, symptoms occur most of the day, nearly every day and may include:

• Feelings of sadness, tearfulness, emptiness or hopelessness
• Angry outbursts, irritability or frustration, even over small matters
• Loss of interest or pleasure in most or all normal activities, such as sex, hobbies or sports
• Sleep disturbances, including insomnia or sleeping too much
• Tiredness and lack of energy, so even small tasks take extra effort
• Reduced appetite and weight loss or increased cravings for food and weight gain
• Anxiety, agitation or restlessness
• Slowed thinking, speaking or body movements
• Feelings of worthlessness or guilt, fixating on past failures or self-blame
• Trouble thinking, concentrating, making decisions and remembering things
• Frequent or recurrent thoughts of death, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts or suicide
• Unexplained physical problems, such as back pain or headaches

Causes

1. Physical Factor
   • Changes in Neural Circuit Activity
   • Poor Digestive System (mainly pitta vikar)
   • Endocrine Gland Dis-function (mainly thyroid disease)
   • Hormonal Changes
   • Infertility
   • Long time untreated disease
2. Mental Factor
   • Loss –  Loss of job, money or any other thing.
   • Death – Death of closed ones
   • Break ups – This is something that is increasing day by day.
   • Abuse – Physical mental or sexual
   • Shaming –  Body shaming , cast shaming , Look shaming, color shaming etc.
   • Ego
   • Excessive work
   • Weather change( it’s very short time depression but sometimes it gets worst)
   • Change of surrounding
   • Bad result – People gets depressed when they don’t get the expected results.
   • Failing in exam, not getting promotion.
3. Spiritual Factor
   • Fear of sin
   • Doing meditation without any proper guideline.
4. Deficiency of Vitamin D

Naturopathy Treatment

1. Medication – It does not work if not done instantly rather it  brings side effects which makes the condition worst
2. Talk therapy – It gives a little relaxation after talking but talk therapy is not the ultimate cure of Depression.
3. Light therapy – It has a positive effect but doesn’t have a proper cure.
4. Homeopathy – It’s also a medicine like allopathy but  is better since it has no side effects.
5. Ayurveda – Medicine and Panchkarma both work positively .
6. Counselling – It doesn’t work because the brain is already preoccupied with a lot of other thoughts. Counselling involves taking challenges and depressed person can’t take challenges. A counsellor suggests the depressed person to go for morning walks, meditate and attain social gatherings but depression makes a person lethargy and monotonous. Hence Counselling doesn’t work.

Yoga

Yoga is classified on the basis of capacity and interest.

1. Sukshma vyayam
   • Thunderpose
   • Cat pose
   • Half camel pose
   • Rabbit pose
   • Frog pose
   • Setubandha asana
   • Suptaudrakarshanasan
   • Crocodile pose
   • Bhujangasana
   • Tiryak bhujangasana
2. Suryanamaskar
3. Shithalikaran
4. Pranayam
   • Anulom vilom
   • Kapalbhati
   • Bhramari
5. Mudras
   • Gyana Mudra
   • Prana mudra
   • Apan mudra
   • Vayu mudra.

Key Notes

• Patient should always take care of its own capacity. Capacity of movement, holding the posture and capacity of repetition.
• If patient is unable to seat calmly  they are suggested to start with standing poses asanas,  surya namaskar followed by shithalikaran and lastly pranayam Mudra.
• If patient is unable to work hard or suffering from other diseases or feels always exhausted they should start from mudra,  pranayam,  laying down asanas and then sukshma vyayam.

Diet

1. 6am – Kadha (saunf, Ajwain, methi dana, jeera, ilaichi).
2. Breakfast – Daliya , sabji , small cutting salad, one sweet fruit or 4 pieces of dates.
3. 12 pm – One glass butter milk (no sugar no salt but could be added some jaggery according to taste)
4. Lunch (2pm-3pm) – Brown rice, roti, kadhi, sabji, patli daal, one bowl of minutely chopped salad.
5. 4pm – sweet lime juice.
6.  7pm to 9pm – Fox nuts ( full makha), one sweet pulpy  fruit, a cup of warm milk.

Psychological Treatment

• The patient should be kept in a healthy environment and with people they are comfortable with.
• The main aim of attendant should be to convince the patient for the treatment. Positive results are seen in a very few days.
• Never blame the patient for the situation they are in.
•  Talk to the patients on the topic they want to talk about and in between the talking tell the patients some right things in a very few words.
• Always tell the patient that he/she is correct and someone is there who needs them.
• Always make the patient feel good about themselves by telling good things about them and their surroundings.
• Never force the patient for anything like getting up early do exercises , yoga or meditation.

Do’s and Don’ts

Say YES to:

1. Wake up before sunrise.
2. Take proper rest.
3. Pray and have positive and generous thoughts.
4. Take pure natural satwik food.
5. Milk, butter milk, sprouts, fox nuts dates, raisins, fig, honey, jaggery, and sweet pulpy fruits.
6. Fruit juice and vegetable’s soup.

Say NO to:

1. Laziness, stress, selfishness.
2. Maida, pickles, papad, Mathias, bhujiya, nimki, biscuits.
3. All kind of packed food and juice.
4. Tea, coffee, white sugar and red chilly.
5. Avoid to eat without hunger and over eating.
6. Avoid all sour food including lemon and tamarind.

Key Notes

• The person suffering from any kind of mental aliment should avoid wearing dark colour clothes.
• They should avoid sleeping on dark coloured bedsheets
• They should also avoid keeping sharp edged furniture and household things.
• Before sleeping they should not watch or play violent movies or games.
• They should have a poster or a wall decoration of big yellow flower in their bedroom, which they should see before going to bed and after getting up in the morning.

All the information available on this website is for education and awareness purposes only. Follow these practices only under the guidance of a trained Yoga and Naturopathy practitioner. Punam Agarwal and her Yoga and Naturopathy initiatives are not liable for any injuries caused during the process.