When it comes to treating depression, conventional medicine typically focuses on two things: diagnosis and symptoms – and the treatment method of choice in the vast majority of cases involves a prescription. It comes as no surprise, then, that one out of every 10 Americans takes antidepressants.
The problem with this is that in the long run, antidepressants ultimately make matters worse. Long-term side effects of antidepressants include emotional numbness, reduced positivity, apathy towards others and suicidal ideation. Sounds pretty depressing, doesn’t it?
What need to be treated are the causes of your depression, not just its symptoms. So in a world virtually flooded with antidepressant drugs, what’s the alternative?
Symptom-Based Depression Treatment Misses the Big Picture
Ultimately, it’s questionable how helpful a depression diagnosis is. If you’re depressed, chances are you know it. Conventional medicine takes a one-size-fits-all approach to depression, even though it may vary drastically from person to person. And while antidepressant medication may mask depression’s symptoms, it arguably does a poor job of it – and severely disrupts your brain chemistry in the process.
Where Does Depression Come From?
Depression often becomes compounded by the maladaptive coping strategies used to mitigate it – often drugs, either illicit or prescribed. But we at The Sanctuary don’t believe that you’re chemically imbalanced. In fact, there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that chemical imbalances cause depression, anxiety or other similar disorders. There’s an underlying reason for your depression, and we’re here to help you uncover it and shine light on it so that the fear surrounding it can dissipate.
We do believe that depression is a symptom of something deeper. Depression itself can be a coping strategy that enables you to avoid facing parts of yourself that you’re not ready to confront. And let’s not forget the physical causes of depression, like inflammation, gut bacteria issues, vitamin D deficiency and hormonal imbalances.
How Alternative Depression Treatment Can Help
The causes of depression are unique to each person it affects, and treatment may look different for you than it does for the next person. But whatever your particular case, you certainly don’t have to take antidepressants for the rest of your life. Mounting evidence proves the efficacy of holistic approaches to depression treatment, like this study which found that hatha yoga significantly reduced depression symptoms in male veterans over an eight-week period.
At The Sanctuary at Sedona, we’ll help you identify why you’re depressed and address it using a well-stocked toolkit that includes holistic modalities like bodywork, brain supplement protocol, biofeedback, heart mapping and energy healing. We’ll also take an inventory of your prescribed medications and help you figure out a plan that’s balanced and works for you.
Holistic depression treatment can help you reconnect with your inner self, reignite your passion and rekindle your joy. While it is important to alleviate the symptoms, it’s also important to dig deeper and heal what’s really going on – and we’re here to help you do just that.
To learn more about depression, read our article, Dual Diagnosis Depression and Addiction: It’s Complicated, But Treatable.
Many clients come to us after having taken antidepressants for some time, and we’re able to help them move beyond their depression and their need for medication.
To learn more about how we can help you, call us at (877) 710-3385 or email us at [email protected] today.
He is the Founder, Administrator, Counselor at the Sanctuary at Sedona.
He has a BA in Political Science and is currently Senior teaching staff at Four Winds Society, an international school of energy medicine. His credentials also include being an Ordained Minister; a Certified Shamanic Breathwork® Facilitator; a Founding Member Society for Shamanic Practitioners; a Member of Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology; a Member of the National Institute for Holistic Addiction Studies. [email protected]