From Top 7 Tips to Treat and Prevent Depression

7. Share Your Feelings

Share your feelings with one or two close friends or relatives. Ask them to listen, allow you to get things off your chest, and be supportive.

Chronic illness, loss of family members and friends, social isolation, and financial worries all contribute to late-life depression. Though depression is one of the most common psychological disorders among those over 60 – affecting up to 15 percent of the population over 60 years of age – it is not a normal part of aging. To bolster your resilience, here are a few suggestions that can help you.

1. Brew Up Herbal Relief

One herb, hypericin has been found to cause significant reduction in symptoms of depression and anxiety. Several of its constituents all contribute, perhaps, synergistically to the increase in compounds that relieve depression. To try it, it is recommended using tinctures, or evening primrose infusions, in which the flowering tops have been steeped. Or use just plain old teas. Suggests steeping one to two teaspoons of the dried herb in a cup of boiling water for 10 minutes and drinking one or two cups of the tea daily for four to six weeks.

2. Try Déjà Vu All Over Again

One terrific antidote for the blues is doing an activity you used to enjoy but have not participated in for many years. Bowling, camping, fly-fishing, and other long-dormant hobbies can spark fond memories that will actually uplift your spirits. But if you just sit at home, none of these positive things are going to occur.

3. Try Seafood

Eating tuna, salmon, and other fish loaded with omega-3, a type of polyunsaturated fat, may help bolster your mood. The low levels of omega-3 in your nervous system may increase your vulnerability to depression. So regular consumption of fish once or twice a week may prevent the blues. Lobster, crab, shrimp, and other shellfish also contain some omega-3.

4. Keep Yourself Busy

If you keep yourself absorbed in gardening, woodworking, traveling, and other projects, it will prevent you from dwelling on whatever is making you feel unhappy. Write down a list of goals you want to accomplish in the next week or month and dive into them. Always have something to look forward to, and you will be less susceptible to the blues.

5. Try Writing

If you are uncomfortable talking about your depression with others or have no one whom you can share your thoughts with, write down your feelings in a journal. Writing will help you organize your thoughts and provide an outlet for your feelings that can help you organize your thoughts and provide an outlet for your feelings that can help dissolve unpleasant emotions. Set aside 20 to 30 minutes daily to jot down your thoughts, feelings, and observations about life.

6. Exercise Regularly

Regular aerobic exercise like walking, swimming, and dancing increases the production of mood-enhancing chemicals in the brain, such as serotonin, that can help pull you out of a funk. Try exercising for at least 20 minutes a day three times a week.

Can you prevent depression?

empowher.com/community/share/can-you-prevent-depression

Depression can be rooted in a chemical imbalance of the brain but is often environmental. It's normal and natural to be depressed after the death of a loved one, a sudden health diagnosis or losing one's job or home

Talk therapy, emotional support, a good diet and exercise routine.... and time.... is what can heal this kind of depression.

And go old school - a problem shared is a problem halved. Simply having someone to talk to, someone to share problems and advice with, can be instrumental in maintaining our mental health. Feelings of isolation and misunderstanding is a key factor in people who battle depression.

ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/story.php?id=6972

Emotional support from loved ones can help prevent depression among girls in the juvenile justice system—many of whom have experienced abuse, a new study indicates.