Depression - what to do, How to cope, ways and methods of getting out of depression You can talk about depression at length and smoothly, or you can simply remain silent. Doesn't matter. Nothing will happen until You take action. What is depression? Let us turn to Ozhegov’s dictionary: “Depression is a depressed, depressed state; decline." Depression is often described as an emotional state (or state of mind) of sadness, disappointment and hopelessness. Depression is one of the most common and one of the oldest mental illnesses of humanity. In depression, any effort is difficult. But still... Try to take this step. For your own sake. For the sake of the world in which You live. For the sake of Your life, which can still be changed if... If You take this step. To date, no remedies have been invented for depression that act instantly. Getting out of depression is truly a WAY. And it really means movement, action, effort, and if you are ready to do it, then let's start. Signs of Depression Classic signs of depression are: indifference to life and loss of interest in previously favorite activities; disturbance of appetite and sleep; lethargy, loss of concentration, depression; inactivity, chronic fatigue; increased feelings of guilt or feelings of worthlessness and worthlessness, and, as a result, negative thoughts about oneself, life and others, and in some cases, thoughts of suicide. Depression is often compared by people to deep darkness. Some even called depression being buried alive. The world-famous theologian Charles Spurgeon called depression “the horror of the God-forsaken soul.” Ways to get out of Depression, how to cope, what to do: Running and exercise for Depression If you don’t run while you’re healthy, you’ll have to run when you’re sick. (Horace) We can say with complete confidence that this helps everyone to one degree or another and with any depression (regardless of severity). Although this is a double-edged sword. Physical activity really gives you strength, but where can you find this strength to start these very physical exercises? When your soul is empty and cold, and it’s dark outside and -20, it’s difficult to get out of bed onto the icy floor, put on your sneakers and run. It’s very easy to promise yourself to do exercises every day, but it’s incredibly difficult to actually do it. If hardly one out of a hundred people in normal condition is able to undertake this “feat,” then what can we say about a person in depression. But the fact remains that any physical activity contributes to the production of endorphins, which, of course, has a positive effect on mood. According to many psychiatrists, regular jogging is no less effective than psychotherapy or antidepressants. Moreover, improvement occurs not only as a result of changes in biochemical processes. The attitude towards oneself gradually changes, self-confidence grows. Fasting - will help with Depression. It is one of the most radical methods. In Soviet psychiatry, there are methods of therapeutic fasting, developed specifically to overcome depression. In some psychiatric institutions, people suffering from depression fast under the supervision of doctors for 2-3 weeks and fully recover. This technique is especially popular among women, because... allows you to get rid of not only depression, but also extra pounds. During fasting, powerful cleansing mechanisms are launched, not only at the level of the body, but also at the level of other systems. After all, a person is not just a body, but also a Soul and Spirit. During fasting, be sure to move and spend a lot of time in the fresh air. And the most important thing is that you should under no circumstances start fasting for long periods of time, since if the body is suddenly desoxidized, the consequences can be very unpleasant, even fatal. Since fasting is a whole science, you should treat it with all due care.responsibility. Sleep deprivation This technique is quite simple. You just “miss” one night, i.e. in the evening you don’t go to bed as usual, but continue to stay awake throughout the night and the following day. After which in the evening you go to bed at your usual time, resulting in a period of wakefulness of approximately 36-40 hours. The most important thing is to overcome strong periods of sleepiness, which usually occur in the morning. Moreover, it is almost useless to kill time waiting for wonderful changes, staring at a screen or a book - you will almost certainly fall asleep. It is necessary to alternate them with something active - you can clean the apartment, exercise, etc. Changes in condition begin to occur somewhere around 3-4 am. The dream passes, energy and strength appear. The rest of the night and the next day pass like this. True, out of habit, at first you feel sluggish, and at times you feel very drowsy. It is fundamentally important to fight these attempts, because If you fall asleep even for a short time, the entire effect of deprivation may be lost. In the evening of the second day, you go to bed as usual, because practicing for more than one night is quite dangerous. So - in the morning of the next day, you wake up, and ... you feel that depression has returned, and you feel just as bad. Although most often the morning condition shows some improvement even after the first DS. You must be prepared for this, because there are no miracles in the world. So what's the point? Is the game worth the candle? Everyone decides this for themselves, but sometimes, after long hopeless months, one day... It’s like... a ray of sunshine in the middle of a long polar night. And when it seems that depression will never end, such a day gives hope. How can you live without hope? To achieve a sustainable effect from DS, it is necessary to go through several sessions. Their number may vary depending on the condition and tolerance, but on average it is 6-8 sessions. Light therapy for Depression This procedure can become a panacea for those who suffer from seasonal depression, which in official medicine is called SAD - seasonal affective disorder. Most often, the symptoms of SAD appear when our body lacks enough sun (usually in the autumn and winter). During light therapy, a person is exposed to light from a bright lamp (about 10 lux), which is equivalent to the amount of light passing through a window on a sunny spring day. Thus, this method, as it were, compensates for the lack of a natural light source - the Sun - with an artificial one. Treatment usually continues for 4 weeks, with improvements occurring within 3 days to 2 weeks. The duration of procedures can vary from half an hour to several hours a day. There is also a way to artificially increase the length of daylight hours. In the West, devices are produced consisting of a special lamp and a time relay, which turns on the lamp two hours before getting up. According to medical statistics, light therapy helps two thirds of people suffering from SAD. If you belong to the remaining one third, then you need to adjust the rhythm of your life to the vagaries of the weather. Spend sunny days outside or take a vacation in winter to spend it in areas where there is a lot of sun. Aromatherapy as a way out of Depression Aromatic oils penetrate the blood through the skin and then spread throughout the body, and through the membranes and base of the nose into the brain and directly affect mood, as they reach the parts of the brain responsible for emotions. There are many ways to use essential oils - you can inhale them from a bottle, sprinkle them in a room, use them for massage, but the most common and effective is an aroma lamp. An aroma lamp is a small (usually porcelain or ceramic) vessel, in the lower part of which there is a burning candle, and in the upper part there is a little water to which a few drops of oil have been added. When heated, the smell of oil quickly spreads throughoutroom and is stored in it until the water boils away. There are a huge number of oils or oil mixtures that can be used to reduce depression. Below are just the main ones: anise, orange, basil, bergamot, oregano, spruce, jasmine, cedar, coriander, lavender, lemon, tangerine, lemon balm, peppermint, rose, rosemary. Aromatherapists do not recommend using the same oil or mixture of oils for too long - they may lose their effectiveness. I would also especially like to note the beneficial and calming effect of baths on the psyche, the effect of which can be enhanced by dissolving a few drops of oil in water. Thomas Aquinas also recommended that during the blues (along with sleep) one should contemplate the passions of the Lord (that is, turn one’s gaze outward, away from oneself to great suffering) and take baths. Pets can help with Depression Those who already have a four-legged pet in their home know how much they can change their life by bringing joy into it. Since we are considering ways to overcome depression and stress, we would like to pay special attention to ordinary domestic cats. In ancient Egypt, there was a goddess of the moon, fertility and childbirth, named Elurus, and this goddess had a cat's head. The cat was inviolable for the Egyptians; they worshiped it, considering it a sacred animal. In Ancient Rome, the cat was a symbol of freedom and independence; it was depicted next to the goddess of freedom Libertas. Then a dark period began in the life of these flexible and graceful animals - cats were burned at the stake, seeing in them the night prototype of witches. And it was in vain - soon the man was punished for his cruelty - millions of lives were claimed by the plague, which was carried by hordes of rats and mice. Their immense proliferation was facilitated by the absence of their main enemy - the common gray mook. Today - times have changed. In Japan, at the gates of the house there are figures of cats - a symbol of comfort and home; in Russia, according to tradition, a cat should be the first to enter a new house. Cats are very sensitive animals - they subtly sense good and bad places in the apartment, and often predict the approach of danger. It is not for nothing that in the cities and villages located on the slopes of Vesuvius on the eastern shore of the Bay of Naples there is not a family where cats do not live. The amazing abilities of cats have been tested more than once in various studies. Cats have been proven to provide significant assistance to people suffering from mental illness, heart disease, brain damage, and have even contributed to the complete recovery of alcoholics and drug addicts. They help hypertensive patients and people who have had a heart attack, normalizing blood pressure and pulse. Studies conducted in psychiatric institutions have shown that caring for a cat restored self-confidence in patients, reduced physical arousal to a level achieved by weekly relaxation exercises, and finally, a unique The cat's character, its independence, turned out to be a very important factor in treatment. Unlike people, they never deceive or flatter, conveying their devotion with silent signals - rubbing their legs, arching their backs. It is the “cat’s” caresses that explain the medical talents of cats. It turned out that cats are magnificent, one-of-a-kind specialists in responding to touch. A person has a natural desire to stroke it, and when we plunge our hands into the thick fur, it becomes easier for us. Through such energy exchange, a person finds long-awaited peace. By the way, the method of treatment with cats itself received from specialists a rather long name “Pet facilitated therapy” - “favorite animals heal.” Prayer for Depression Prayer is the most powerful form of energy emitted by a person. It is as real a force as gravity. When we pray, we connect ourselves with the inexhaustible life force that moves the entire Universe. We pray that at least some of this power will come to us. By turning to God in sincere prayer, we improve and heal our soul and body. Impossible,lest even one moment of prayer bring positive results to any man or woman. Despite the fact that the very concept of depression appeared in Russia relatively recently, depression, of course, has always existed. Many methods of overcoming it have also become widespread only recently. But for centuries, practically the only consolation of the Russian people, their universal “anti-stress” method was prayer, as well as the Church and its sacraments. We all have different paths, and not everyone reading this article is Christian. But even if you look at any church ceremony not from the point of view of faith, but from the point of view of normal logic, many of them, especially confession, are a very powerful means, a kind of catharsis that allows you to get relief and consolation. Music for Depression Music is an acoustic composition that evokes in us appetite for life, as well-known pharmaceutical compounds cause appetite for food. (V. Klyuchevsky) We do not know when a person came up with the first melody, but we know that it was a very, very long time ago. The chapters of the Bible tell us how David, with the help of playing the lyre, healed the spiritual wounds of King Saul. Music therapy has a thousand-year history - dating back to the 6th century BC. Pythagoras used music to treat certain diseases, and Avicenna in the “Canon of Medicine” prescribed people suffering from melancholy to listen to music and birdsong. George Sand wrote to the composer Giacomo Meyerbeer that music helps her with melancholy much more than a doctor. In 1954, the French musician and electroacoustic engineer M. Jos began research on getting rid of stress and depressive disorders with the help of musical works. The music itself was very carefully selected in accordance with the person’s psychotype, his age and other parameters. The results were so successful that soon two music therapy hospitals were opened in France, where more serious personality disorders - psychosis, in particular schizophrenia - were treated using this technique. When using this method, one or two sessions are held per week, each of which consists of three different pieces of music, which together allow one to achieve the desired effect. The first part is usually consonant with a person’s sad mood, the second part is the opposite in mood and, as it were, neutralizes it, and, finally, the third and final part has the greatest emotional impact and evokes exactly the mood that needs to be created. Here is an example of a music program for stress and depression, which gives good results for people aged 20-30 years: 1. Fragment from S. Rachmaninov’s concert No. 2 (1 part)2. Aria from Suite No. 3 by J. Bach.3. A very short excerpt from the first movement of P. Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1. When we feel uneasy, we often strive to be alone, and then music helps us survive this state. Music is always written in complete solitude, but it is music that can unite people. Loneliness befell many great composers - Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, Bruckner, Brahms, Ravel. Music can be used to release strong destructive emotions, such as aggression. For example, the music of Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” is perfectly suited for this purpose. The premiere of this ballet in 1913 in Paris ended in scandal. The musical passages so excited the listeners that they began to talk loudly, forming groups of supporters and opponents, and things almost came to hand-to-hand combat. Rimsky-Korsakov’s militant overture “The Woman of Pskov” and Bartok’s expressive music (suites and ballets “The Wooden Prince” and “The Marvelous Mandarin”) have a similar effect. Nutrition as a cause of Depression Depression and stress initiates the production of large amounts of hormones in the body - adrenaline and cortisol. The “production” of these hormones requires a significant amount of reserves of vitamins C, B, zinc, magnesium and other minerals. According to the law of conservation of matter, thesethe necessary elements are urgently “confiscated” from their workplaces in the body, where, in turn, their shortage occurs. A lack of vitamin C and zinc prevents you from producing enough collagen to keep your skin clear and healthy. A lack of vitamin B inhibits energy production and mental performance. Magnesium deficiency leads to headaches and hypertension. One of the components of a complex attack against stress is a diet aimed at replenishing the body with those substances that are intensively “eaten” by stress hormones. Vitamin A - Green leafy vegetables, carrots, apricots, pumpkin. Vitamin C - All vegetables and fruits, including features - citrus fruits, black currants, kiwi, broccoli, white cabbage, rose hips. B vitamins - All cereals, yogurt, liver, pumpkin, avocado, bran bread, lean meat and fish, nuts, brewer's yeast. Vitamin E - vegetable oil .Magnesium - "Green" vegetables and herbs, grapefruits, figs, carrots, tomatoes, nuts, buckwheat, oatmeal, peas. Calcium - milk and dairy products. Zinc - Lean meat, seafood, eggs, yogurt, cheese, nuts. Choline - egg yolk, beef liver, sprouted wheat grains. Glucose - bran bread, sweet fruits, honey. Also, during depression, the body needs adaptogens - substances that increase the abilities of adaptive systems. These include herbal products - today many herbal teas are made from plants containing adaptogens - ginseng, lemongrass, licorice, kombucha, echinacea, green tea and many others. Their use is also found to be particularly effective in cases of nervous exhaustion resulting from intense mental activity. Usually, with depression, a person begins to consume a variety of foods in large quantities, since for some time this really helps. Although, of course, the consequences of such behavior often cause even greater depression. But, probably, it was not in vain that our ancestors, and in almost all religious concessions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) there were fasting periods or fasts. For example, Christian fasting naturally prepared a person for the change of seasons. Lent (March-April) prepared him for summer and the transition to summer products, Uspensky (in August) - prepared the body for products characteristic of autumn, Christmas - for winter. Dance for Depression Dance is the oldest of the arts. It reflects the primordial need of a person to convey his feelings to others using the universal language of the body. For a person in a primitive society, dance was both a way of thinking and a way of life. Almost all important events in the life of an ancient person were celebrated with dances: birth, death, war, election of a new leader, healing of the sick. The dance expressed prayers for rain, sun, fertility, protection and forgiveness. Love, work and ritual - all these concepts were embodied in dance movements. Dance was not just associated with life, dance was life itself - for example, in the language of the Mexican Tarahumara Indians, the concepts of “work” and “dance” are expressed by the same word. The ancient man did not have a regulated dance technique, but excellent physical preparation allowed the dancers to completely devote themselves to the dance and dance with absolute dedication. Dances of this kind can still be seen in the South Pacific islands, Africa and Central and South America. The concept of “dance” has changed a lot over the past centuries - unfortunately, in the understanding of modern people, dance is nothing more than body movements at a disco, or dances of professional dancers; dance requires the presence of a special room, etc. But we will try to return to the origin of dance, when dance was life, and life was dance - to what was called in the East by the word “nritta” - dance for the sake of dance. The most important thing is that there are no people who do not dance. As the classic said, everyone dances. Naturally, this does not mean traditional dance, which has its own rules, numerous steps and.