home remedy for depression?

March 27, 2008 4:26 PM

Are there some natural or over the counter drugs that help with depression?

i have a friend who is experiencing dibiiltating depression/anxiety. Its so bad that they won't see a therapist because of the sense of abject hopelessness, thinking there is no way out of this hole, its just the way life is.

are there any supplements or whatever I can suggest jsut to get enough better that they are a little open to getting some help?

posted by stormygrey to health & fitness (25 comments total)

St. John's Wort
posted by samsarah at 4:34 PM on March 27, 2008

Food rich in Omega 3 fatty acids (or supplements of same).
posted by Good Brain at 4:43 PM on March 27, 2008 [1 favorite]

as far as a home remedy for depression, sunlight + excercise + healthy food + enough sleep works wonders. it might seem like a lot to tackle all at once, but you can start small and work your way up quickly.

good luck.
posted by radiosilents at 4:44 PM on March 27, 2008 [2 favorites]

5-HTP and B-complex vitamins were recommended in this previous AskMe. I've been on them for about a month and it seems to work nearly as well as my prescription antidepressant.

If they do end up taking something on their own, no matter what it is, check in with them regularly. Everyone reacts differently to different meds, some people not at all, and it's best to have someone keep an eye on you in case anything unusual happens.
posted by Metroid Baby at 4:49 PM on March 27, 2008

Second B Vitamins, and eggs.
posted by sweetkid at 4:50 PM on March 27, 2008

If you take St. Johns Wort, I recommend finding a very good quality brand, as the potency may vary widely between bottles of even the same brand.

" Just how closely herbal supplements should adhere to their labeled potency is a matter of some debate. FDA regulations state that the concentration of labeled ingredients in dietary supplements, including herbal medications, must equal 100% of the amount claimed on the package throughout the product's shelf life.

In reality, though, holding herbal products to that standard can be difficult because the chemical composition of a plant varies from crop to crop, and analytical techniques for measuring key compounds can yield somewhat different results, an FDA official said.

So some experts argue that herbal products containing 80% to 120% of the labeled potency are close enough. "That might be reasonable," said Sally Guthrie, a University of Michigan clinical pharmacist.

Others narrow the margin to 90% to 110%. "At this point, 90% of label claim is what I would specify" as a minimum, said V. Srini Srinivasan, a senior scientist at the U.S. Pharmacopeia. "
posted by frankie_stubbs at 4:57 PM on March 27, 2008

Supplements, like medications, can take a while to build up in the system to kick in.
While you're waiting for that...

Get up during daylight hours, bathe/groom and dress in clean clothes, walk one mile or more to somewhere that serves healthy foods, eat, and walk home. Repeat. Does wonders. Effects can be improved, but not always, by having company.

Bonus tip: if alone for the walk/meal, listen to audiobooks. The narration helps suppress negative thoughts, gives you something to think about while eating alone besides the fact that you're eating alone. Depressed people tend to choose depressing books sometimes, but are also often succeptible to humor when alone, especially snappy-dialogue/wordplay type humor for some reason (two recommendations - P.G. Wodehouse books and the podcasts from Decoder Ring Theater - these helped two different people).
A good walk in sunshine, even if it's cold, and lunch with a few laughs, helps a lot.
posted by bartleby at 4:57 PM on March 27, 2008 [1 favorite]

Exercise is the best miracle cure-all remedy that nobody bought any insiduous tv ads for. Preferably outdoors. radiosilents has nailed it - exercise, a good diet and sleep - if they are doing all that right and there is still a problem then move onto remedies, if they aren't, then suggest those things. If they don't do it then they don't want to make the change and you can reconsider your involvement with their problems.
posted by fire&wings at 5:01 PM on March 27, 2008

If you go the St. John's wort route, please be aware that there's some evidence it can screw up birth control pill efficacy. (Which may or may not be an issue depending on your friend's gender, birth control choices, and whether the whole depression thing is making a sex life a moot point anyway.)
posted by Stacey at 5:20 PM on March 27, 2008 [1 favorite]

buy a mountain bike. Ride for an hour a day. Forget your troubles and watch the dead come back to life. By the time the trees are in bloom your friend will have a renewed perspective on the only thing that is truly important in life - breathing fresh air.
posted by any major dude at 5:59 PM on March 27, 2008

A (doctor) friend of mine swears (for himself) by SAMe aka S-Adenosyl methionine (1, 2).
posted by ericb at 6:33 PM on March 27, 2008

Again with the 5HTP. It's the best, hands down, everything I want in an anti-depressant with fewer of the side affects. If it's as intense as you describe, there are a couple brands that blend it with Valerian Root. The Valerian tends to help anxiety pretty effectively, but will drain a smidge of energy, or at least it did for me.
posted by piedmont at 7:33 PM on March 27, 2008

My stack for anxiety (and concomitant depression):

1. Magnesium (in a 100mg/200mg Mg/Ca liquid)
2. Omega 3 fish oil
3. Multivitamin (whole-food)
4. Bike to class

Obviously hard to control for placebo effect, but I noticed marked changes after about 2 weeks of use for all the supplements. Mg is really great for anxiety.
posted by norabarnacl3 at 7:49 PM on March 27, 2008

sunlight, exercise, sleep and multivitamins, and two weeks is usually my turn around
posted by oliyoung at 7:59 PM on March 27, 2008 [1 favorite]

Being out in the sun is good. I used to poo-poo the idea, but now I am a believer.

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil), vitamin B-12 (dissolve small tablet under tongue for absorption), and St. John's Wort.
posted by swarkentien at 9:23 PM on March 27, 2008

GABA.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:21 PM on March 27, 2008

I have twice been in the same condition as your friend -- it is a difficult trap to escape. If this is a serious DSM-IV style depression, your friend may need medication prescribed through a psychiatrist. My first time around, I wanted to avoid prescription drugs and dragged myself to a therapist. It didn't help; I stopped going; things got much worse and I eventually landed in a hospital. There I was started on some antidepressants that helped get me back on track (but only for a few years). The second time around I again wanted to avoid medicine and went to a therapist -- where it became clear that I was again too far gone into hopelessness for therapy to be any help at all. I needed the help of a psychiatrist to get into a mental state that made therapy useful and hopeful.

Alternative remedies are great, I am not trying to say that western style pharmacology is the best thing out there, but remember that your friend needs something that will get them out of the impossibly deep hole of "nothing will work to change this" to the workable deep hole of "life is awful right now and I'm not sure why." For me, that something was Celexa. I really hope that I don't need to take this drug forever, but right now it is helping me avoid the trap of feeling like there are no options, which is letting me examine my life and make some positive changes.

As a friend, see if you can help your friend spring their trap -- shake it up and pop it and find that little way out. Maybe a referral for a good psychiatrist? Maybe the St. John's Wort will do something. Keep pushing and pointing out that there are always one or two choices available that are marginally better that the other ones. It is quite probable that your friend will not appreciate you to the level that you deserve, but keep at them if you can and know you are doing a very loving thing.
posted by cubby at 10:48 PM on March 27, 2008 [1 favorite]

also to remember -- each person responds to each drug or supplement in a unique way. This is why it can be helpful to get regular advice from a knowledgeable source like a psychiatrist or herbologist. bad side effects may exacerbate problems, but it should be possible to find a substance and a dose that is effective without bad side effects.
posted by cubby at 10:52 PM on March 27, 2008

I had a family member who was so bad they couldn't make themselves go to the doctor. I drove them to the hospital and let the intake social worker convince them to seek treatment. It wasn't one of those, "I'm feelin' blue" situations, it was a very non-functioning person who couldn't eat, sleep or take care of themselves due to the depression. If someone is so hopeless they can't seek treatment, vitamins and supplements aren't gonna help.

If your friend is seeking to harm themselves, call an ambulance and let them talk to your friend. I'm serious. It would have been easier all the way around if I'd done that instead of try and convince someone who's severely depressed to seek help. So if there's no self-care (showering, eating properly, staring into space) that's something you need outside help for because ain't no way the person can handle it themselves with supplements.

By the way, said family member is fine now on the right dose of meds after being treated.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 3:56 AM on March 28, 2008

Sunlight helps me immensely. Getting outside, into the "fresh" air also helps.

I find when I'm depressed, I really don't want to mingle with people, but spending even half an hour in the company of other human beings helps a lot, whether I make much conversation or not. The trick is pushing myself out the door. Depression = not wanting to be around people = hibernating = greater depression. Its a nasty spiral. I'm not talking a big party with a million people you have to make small talk with - an informal, short get together with a couple of close friends is usually all it takes to feel less isolated and unworthy.

Sunlight and and fresh air and your company might not be enough. But it certainly cannot hurt.
posted by sandraregina at 5:15 AM on March 28, 2008

The book Feeling Good is often mentioned in these threads and is based on cognitive-behavioral therapy.
posted by mecran01 at 6:30 AM on March 28, 2008

I have flirted with mineral supplements a couple of times but the benefits seemed to be diminished by a kind of "out of balance" feeling. Taking supplements of one mineral can affect the absorption of others e.g. taking zinc can reduce copper absorption and I just found I was worrying a lot about what might be happening to me as the result of these effects.

I think in general it's better to try to consume as many servings of fruit, veg and whole grains as possible, combined with fat, oil, sugar, or salt as necessary to make them enjoyable to eat. The latter point is important, I've failed to maintain healthy eating regimes any number of times because once the initial enthusiasm faded I couldn't ignore the fact that what I was eating tasted like ass.

Water is also an awesome mood booster but intake needs to be properly spread out over the day - when I realized I'm dehydrated I tend to want to replace the water too fast which inevitably leads to unpleasant effects.
posted by tomcooke at 7:43 AM on March 28, 2008

My doctor advised:

Omega-3 - daily supplements plus oily fish twice a week. The EPA and DHA are vital for brain structure and function.

B-vitamin supplement (of a full spectrum multivit that includes them)

Exercise, fresh air and a healthy diet based on 'real' food like my granny ate (In retrospect I think he'd been reading Michael Pollen)

Together these worked loads better than (admittedly low dose) antidepressants.
posted by dowcrag at 10:11 AM on March 28, 2008

I switched from Paxil to Sam-e. When I remember to take it right (1 200mg pill AM and PM...I keep forgetting the PM dose) I feel pretty good and not as "disconnected" as I did on Paxil. Bonus: it eases the joint pain I get in my bum knee when it's humid.
posted by foxydot at 11:59 AM on March 28, 2008

My psych prescribed me folic acid to enhance the effects of Zoloft. Might try that with the St. John's Wort or 5-HTP.
posted by blahtsk at 2:59 PM on March 28, 2008