You say your depression has never gotten better; it must be because you haven’t done these five things. Otherwise, you would have recovered long ago! As a doctor with 45 years of experience, I think treating depression is actually quite easy. So why can’t so many people recover? It’s simply because they haven’t clearly understood these five principles, which is why they’ve been stuck and haven’t improved.
1. Don’t treat depression as a burden; go see a doctor openly.
Just like hypertension and cerebral infarction, depression is also just a common illness, and there’s really nothing to be ashamed of. As long as we actively cooperate with treatment, depression can definitely be defeated.
2. Keep taking your medication and cooperate with treatment.
Remember to return to the hospital for follow-ups regularly and find the treatment method that best suits you. During follow-ups, talk to your doctor and nurse about your condition and treatment effects.
3. Eating well can improve your mood.
Increasingly more studies have shown that if your diet is relatively balanced, and you appropriately eat more fruits and vegetables (like cherries, bananas, oranges, etc.), fish, whole grains, nuts, lean meats, dairy products, and olive oil, it can help improve your symptoms of depression.
4. Try to move around more; your body will thank you.
Exercise is also a good helper in fighting depression because when you exercise, your body releases more dopamine, making you feel happy, which helps alleviate depression.
5. Get good sleep to replenish your energy.
Sleep is very important for our physical health and mood. Adults should sleep for 7-8 hours a day. However, for many friends suffering from depression, this might be a bit difficult because they often encounter insomnia. At this time, we need to find ways to solve this problem and ensure better sleep.
There was a patient named Ms. Xu, who had been tortured by depression for the past year, suffering tremendously, feeling very low, losing interest in everything, and often unable to sleep at night, managing only two to three hours, waking frequently from dreams, and finding it hard to fall back asleep. During the day, her mental state was particularly poor, she couldn’t concentrate, her memory had declined significantly, and she also experienced poor appetite, bloating, diarrhea, cold hands and feet, and occasional palpitations. These problems seriously affected her work and life. She had tried various Western medications and psychological counseling, but the results were not ideal, so she decided to try traditional Chinese medicine treatment.
When I treated her, I noticed her complexion was very haggard, her eye bags were swollen, her tongue color was pale, with a thin layer of white coating, and there were tooth marks on the edges of her tongue. Her pulse was very weak.
After diagnosis, I concluded that she suffered from liver Qi stagnation and spleen deficiency, along with heart-kidney disharmony type depression accompanied by insomnia.
Based on her situation, my treatment plan mainly focused on soothing the liver and resolving depression, strengthening the spleen and nourishing the heart, connecting the heart and kidneys, and calming the mind.
The specific herbs included: Chai Hu, Bai Shao, Zhi Gan Cao, Dang Gui, Bai Zhu, Fu Ling, Suan Zao Ren, He Huan Pi, and Yuan Zhi, among others.
