When you suffer from any form of depression, whether you have been diagnosed with mild clinical depression, major depressive disorder, or even manic-depressive disorder, you may find yourself struggling to find a balance of treatments that work. While finding that treatment balance can be a challenge, it is not impossible.
The care of your medical doctor and even your therapist or psychologist may not be enough to provide you with the comprehensive, holistic care that you need. But you also might not know how complementary medicine could help you with your depression. Get to know some of the ways that it can do just that so you can get the care and treatment you need to better manage your depression.
Complementary Medicine Can Relieve the Physical Pain of Depression
What many people do not fully understand about depression is that it does not just occur within the mind. It is a health disorder that also has significant physical symptoms, namely aches and pains.
People who suffer from depression often experience neck and back pain as the result of their condition as well as aches and pains in other joints and areas of the body. Generally, psychiatric medications and mental health counseling cannot deal with these physical aspects of depression. The problem is that the physical symptoms can actually worsen a person’s depression.
This is an area where complementary medicine can step in and provide supportive care. Acupuncture, massage therapy, yoga, and chiropractic care are all means by which alternative medicine can help provide pain relief.
These Treatments Can Relieve Stress as Well
When you are depressed, you may experience a great deal of stress as well. This stress can come about for many reasons. Depression can make it difficult to get out of bed, go to work, engage with loved ones, or participate in activities. On top of that, you will also likely feel stressed about everything you are not getting done and guilty for letting people down or avoiding responsibilities.
This all leads to elevated levels of stress which can be detrimental to your physical and mental health. Treatments like acupuncture can help with stress relief on a regular basis. During acupuncture treatments, the practitioner will locate energy points throughout your body that are out of balance or blocked. Tiny needles are inserted into these energy points.
The needles are designed to trigger the flow of energy throughout the body and bring everything back into balance. As an added bonus, when a person has an acupuncture treatment, they feel an instant wave of relief and relaxation, helping them let go of stress, at least temporarily. Other complementary treatments including massage therapy can have similar stress relief effects.
Herbal Remedies and Natural Supplements Can Help Relieve Depression Symptoms
In addition to the aforementioned alternative and complementary treatments, you may also be wondering about herbal remedies and natural supplements like vitamins. These too can be quite effective options when you are struggling with depression.
Chinese herbal medicine, for example, often accompanies acupuncture treatments. It can involve taking supplements, drinking specially formulated teas or even by using lotions formulated with those herbs. These herbal combinations are usually custom-made by a doctor of Chinese medicine for your condition and your symptoms.
It is important, though, that you talk to your medical doctor if you are currently on any prescription medications for your depression. Sometimes, the combination of certain herbal remedies and prescription drugs can be dangerous. The herbs may also interfere with the effects of the prescriptions. However, if your conventional medical doctor and your holistic medicine doctor communicate with one another (or you communicate between them), herbal remedies and vitamin supplements can reduce your depression symptoms and help to support other treatments.
These are just a few of the many ways that complementary medicine can help you manage your depression and improve your overall treatment outcomes.
