Many people experience the 'blahs', or grief, or situational unhappiness. These can be called 'problems of daily living'(NOT depression). Many people experience temporary depression or anxiety that is 'self limiting' (goes away by itself). They often conclude, 'Well, the tea worked!' or 'Well the pep talk worked!' AND that it will work for every one, every depression! They're wrong.
For one thing, these feelings can very well be due to a completely undetected other, medical problem, such as heart disease or other condition that needs treatment. Anxiety and depression can form after months of chronic pain, too. Alcohol use can also cause these feelings, as can pot and other 'recreational' substances.
Anxiety can be mild or severe or anything in between. It can happen in certain situations or suddenly pop up randomly. It can be a general, all day long feeling or a sudden 'attack' that lasts only minutes. It may wake you in the middle of the night or prevent you from falling asleep. You might feel as if you're going to fall, go nuts, die or have a heart attack. It can be very, very unpleasant. Some people even turn to alcohol or sleeping pills to try and deaden it.
Depression isn't the same in all people either. It can make a person feel numb, dull, listless, unable to concentrate or make decisions. It does not always make a person think unhappy thoughts or feel self blame. It can interfere with eating, sleeping and working or studying. It can effect decision making or it can seem as if the entire world is going 'down the tubes' and current events are a catastrophe. Depression can EVEN cause a person to see things or hear things that others do not, or want to harm themselves. It can also cause aches and pains, often with fatigue and sudden 'fatigue crashes', where a person feels as if they cannot move.
Some people will need medication, some will not. Just because a home remedy worked for one person, does not mean it will work for another.
It's very, very dangerous to insist everyone 'should pull themselves up by their own bootstraps', do without medication or that medication is a 'cover up' or a 'cop out'. OR to even subtly imply that 'tis so much more noble and strong a person that does not need it, so much a superior person that others MUST copy or feel embarrassed and ashamed and inferior.
For SOME people medicine is unnecessary. For some it IS. Some of the toughest and most accomplished people in history have had real big time depression.
If home remedies are not working for you, act and act quickly, make an appointment with your doctor. Don't just suffer along for months and months!
Keep in mind the very real possibility that these symptoms COULD be due to something you haven't even considered, such as heart disease or something compressing nerves, such as arthritis. Something that needs a completely different focus. That is only one more reason to head to the doctor, pound on his desk and insist this is important. BEWARE that anxiety and depression are often ignored by doctors when the patient is a woman! Be persistent.
When these feelings are related to a situation and are temporary, it's more likely someone can manage with home remedies like positive thinking, positive self talk, and exercise, pleasurable activities and a friendly listener.
But when these feelings are much more general and persistent, or when they are incapacitating and unrelieving no matter what home remedies are tried PLEASE, DO NOT stick to home remedies.
The simple fact is that all people aren't the same. All depressions and anxieties are not the same.
The only 'noble' thing in this is finding out what works for you and making it happen. The only 'bad' course here is sticking with something that doesn't work for YOU. The 'better' person, the 'stronger' person, is the one who finds what works for him, whatever that solution is does not matter. What matters is that YOU GET BETTER.
It's important to recognize that while 'barely surviving' might be considered noble, EVERYONE deserves to not just barely survive, not just barely drag themselves through every day, but to LIVE and ENJOY it.
Take care of yourself, and go hug a chicken!
