Life and its travails can tire you out, or tie you down at times. You might find yourself sinking into a bottomless dark pit without any hope of coming up and seeing the light of the day ever again. The truth is, this pit and it’s darkness are all temporary, you do come out of it. No matter how dark or how deep the pit is, you latch onto the thinnest sliver of hope and find your way out. But if this feeling lasts and starts to affect your lifestyle and health, you have a problem; and the problem may be serious!

The symptoms you need to watch out for as signs of depression are:

• Lack of concentration or short term memory loss.
• Lack of interest in day to day activities.
• Uncontrollable anger or emotional outbursts.
• Fear of failure, loss, death and regrets.
• Feelings of guilt, sadness and discontent.
• Reduced sex drive.
• Slowing down of cognitive abilities.
• Insomnia.
• Suicidal tendencies.
• Loss of appetite.
• Irritability, anxiety, agitation.
• Extra effort needed to perform trivial tasks.

These symptoms are only indicators but if you’re experiencing them at this point of time, or have been through such an experience in the past, there is no need to panic. These are not sure shot signs of mental illness or presence of depression.

They are just a measure of your overall mood and your tendency to lapse into depression. However, if you do find yourself coping with a lot of these symptoms, relax, its just time for you to stop worrying, to get a hold on yourself, pick up the pieces and control your thoughts and actions in order to find a way out.

How effective alternate therapies are in curing depression?

Interestingly enough, most of our troubles have their roots in the fact that over the centuries, in our effort to civilize the world and ourselves, we have actually managed to alienate ourselves from nature.

The source of most of our ailments both, physical and mental is because we have disturbed the natural balance and are completely out of sync with all things natural.

It comes as no surprise then, that the recent trend is one of trying to return to the roots and falling back on the goodness of traditional and natural methods i.e. “alternative therapy” to alleviate our problems.

Alternative therapy is the natural way of healing our bodies and minds and relying on the benefits of natural resources; plants in particular, so that a balance is maintained and we can maintain perfect harmony with nature. Alternative therapy makes use of natural ingredients such as herbs, the best essential oils and other nature derived things, that have no added chemicals or unnatural ingredients. Hence, there are no side effects of these therapies.

Alternative therapies apply a number of methods in order to cure depression. Essential oil benefits are put to optimum use for uplifting moods and have become extremely popular for yielding significant results.

What are Essential Oils? How can they help?

Essential oils are volatile compounds with distinctive aromas. They are made up of highly complex mixtures that contain a bouquet of nearly a hundred distinctive fragrance compounds. They are extracted, generally from natural sources, such as flowers, leaves, barks and even roots of plants.

Techniques such as steam distillation, cold pressing and maceration are used for extracting essential oils. The list of useful essential oils includes thousands of useful oils that are known for their varied range of uses.

Some of the most popular oils include:

• Clove oil, lavender oil, orange essential oil, lemon oil, ylang ylang, bergamot, frankincense, pine, etc.
• Essential oils for depression include the essential oils of lavender, jasmine, chamomile, orange, lemon balm, bergamot, clary sage, etc. They are not exactly oils as such, but are generally not very soluble in water.
• Essential oil uses range from food flavouring, perfumery, relieving stress, anxiety to curing a number of diseases and ailments such as: headaches, arthritis, dyspepsia, indigestion, skin ailments, allergies, mouth ulcers to name just a few.
• Essential oils are usually prepared by fragrance extraction techniques such as distillation (including steam distillation), cold pressing or extraction (maceration).

Essential oils for depression- Methods that can be applied:

Air Diffusion:

Essential oil recipes and blends may be used in diffusers, candles and lamps, or incense sticks to purify and fill the air with rich aroma that will permeate through your sharp olfactory system and infuse your body with its rich aroma. This is the best way to uplift your mood and leave a soothing effect on your mind.

Massage:

Essential oil benefit the body by relieving aches and pains and soothe and refreshes the entire system. When a few drops of a single essential oil or an essential oil blend are massaged into your skin, they seep through the pores and directly enter your body to relieve you of your exhaustion and pain.

Bath:

The earthy, rich aroma of a few drops of the required essential oil recipe, diffuses through your bath water into your body, relaxes you and can open up your heart and mind. It can even relieve your depression.

List of Essential Oils for Depression:

1. Chamomile:

The Chamomiles (German and Roman) essential oils have an earthy, rich and a grounding yet subtle fragrance. These essential oils have a number of uplifting qualities. These essential oils are used for solving severe depression issues. They are used to provide relief to people suffering from earaches, toothaches, flatulence, headaches, insomnia, dysmenorrhea, allergies, boils, etc.

2. Jasmine:

The jasmine bower forms the background of many a romantic tales and even has a very famous Arabian heroine as its namesake. The exquisite, intoxicating, floral – fragrance of this essential oil has a number of uses. It comforts the mind, roots out depression, exhaustion, provides relief during labour pain and is good for irritations on sensitive skin. It is no doubt one of the best essential oils for depression.

3. Frankincense:

An exalted place is reserved for this ancient essential oil that is not just valued for its benefits but, also has great religious significance. The three kings of the East had supposedly gifted the Baby Jesus with this precious gift and it has retained its position in the alter.

This light, golden oil has a slightly woody, fresh and fruity fragrance. It is used to provide relief in cases of extreme coughing, asthma, anxiety and is a very useful stress buster. No doubt a very useful essential oil for depression.

4. Lemon balm (Melissa):

It is more or less an all-in-one essential oil that has a multitude of benefits. It alleviates anxiety, depression, menstrual cramps, hypertension, asthma, insomnia, migraine, indigestion, nausea, bronchitis, coughing and also acts as an insect repellent!

5. Clary sage:

It is a light golden essential oil derived from the fruit and leaves. The fragrance has a fruity undertone and has a number of benefits in relieving stress arising out of gynaecological disorders. It relieves menstrual cramps and other gynaecological disorders. It also soothes sore throats.

6. Orange:

The versatile aroma with its tangy freshness, immediately lifts up the mood and adds a certain amount of cheeriness to the ambience. One of the great essential oils for depression, it can also act as a disinfectant. Orange essential oil has strong antibacterial properties and is also used to cure gum boils, mouth ulcers, dyspepsia, constipation, flatulence and a number of other stomach ailments.

7. Bergamot:

This greenish liquid is cold pressed and obtained from the peel of the bergamot fruit. It has a citrusy aroma that helps to relieve acne, pimples and boils. It is an effective essential oil for depression and anxiety.

Blends of Essential oils for Depression:

1. Peace and calming:

Peace and calming essential oil blend is deliciously soothing. The essential oil recipe that goes into the making of this essential oil for depression, brings about a marked change in the ambience and soothes anxious and agitated minds. It creates a feeling of complete serenity.

2. Patchouli essential oil:

This essential oil for depression also soothes the digestive system and cures it of flatulence, vomiting tendencies and giddiness. It has a sweet and full bodied fragrance and is good for the skin especially for flaky and dry skin. Patchouli essential oil prevents wrinkles and keeps the skin looking young and supple.

3. Orange essential oil:

This essential oil cures depression instantly.  Orange essential oil uses are:

• It is a very good antioxidant and helps in the creation of new cells in the body.
• It has a soothing and calming effect and creates an ambience of peace.

The presence of orange essential oil makes the fragrance of this essential oil blend a favourite with children who generally tend to have an affinity for things flavoured with orange.

4. Blue Tansy Essential oil:

Also called Moroccan Chamomile for its sweet and herby aroma, it has a calming effect on the brain and helps to prevent anger, outbursts and negativity.

5. Ylang Ylang essential oil:

This oil cures depression, is of Asian origin and is responsible for creating a sense of balance and instilling confidence. This essential oil for depression also benefits the skin and hair.

6. Tangerine essential oil:

This essential oil for depression is a powerful stress buster. It has a tangy, refreshing aroma and is rich in antioxidants. It eases anxiety, irritability and has a soothing effect on the nerves.

How to use:

• This essential oil blend is used to induce feelings of peace and calm, to cure insomnia, stress, undue anxiety, for relaxation and to maintain your equilibrium.
• It can be applied directly to the wrists, ears, neck and feet.
• It can be added to your bath water or directly used in a diffuser.
• It should be combined with Lavender essential oil to increase its effectiveness as a cure for insomnia which may be on of the symptoms of depression.
• Add it to a vegetable oil for massaging purposes.

Joy:

This is a refreshing and elevating blend of fascinating aromas that can be used as a perfume or cologne. It has a certain magnetism that helps it to attract joy and happiness. It contains the essential oils of Lemon, Tangerine, Ylang ylang, Bergamot, Geranium, Coriander, Jasmine, Rose, Palmrosa and Roman chamomile.

How to use:

• Can be applied directly as cologne or perfume.
• Can be used in bath water.
• Can be massaged on skin.
• Can be diffused directly in air.

Nature has bestowed us with a surplus of treasures. Essential oils are just one of those astounding gifts. Essential oil uses have been known to human beings since time immemorial. It is only now, however that the modern world has woken up to their effectiveness in dealing with a whole host of diseases.

Studies show that essential oils for depression have a direct effect on our bodies, emotions and consciousness. Inhaling them has a strong and immediate influence on our senses.

Volatile plant oils sensitize the olfactory nerves which send up positive signals to the brain. A powerful effect is created on all the systems of our body. It has an almost immediate effect on our emotions, since aromas have a great influence over our feelings.

The oils themselves do not root out the underlying cause, they are effective in creating a path that persons suffering from depression can use, in order break free from the shackles of depressive cycles.

They create the environment and provide the momentum for long lasting positive changes. The use of essential oils for depression is a powerful means by which the bounties of nature permeate into the body and create a feeling of bliss and harmony so that we can live our lives to the fullest.

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