Consult with your doctor to determine the best way to treat your depression or anxiety. The following methods may help to reduce depression and anxiety.

Depression is a very common mental health condition and is more common in women than in men. Depression is a feeling of sadness, unhappiness, loss of hope, or dysphoria. These feelings are often accompanied by a lack of energy, lack of motivation, loss of interest in things that used to be interesting, lack of joy, trouble concentrating, feelings of worthlessness, lack of social behavior, feelings that life is pointless, appetite changes, changes in sexual activity, and increased sensitivity to physical pain.

Life events and environmental circumstances such as the death of a loved one, diagnosis of an illness, loneliness, lack of exercise, lack of sunlight exposure, hormonal changes(after child birth), constant stress, and use of alcohol or drugs can lead to depression. Everyone experiences these negative feelings from time to time and in response to life events. It is a normal experience and usually goes away within a matter weeks or a month.

Some people are predisposed to feeling depressed when there are no environmental triggers, these people may experience cycles involving a few weeks of depression, then a period of time with no depression or they may feel slightly down and depressed for longer periods of time. Depression can occur at any age, but commonly beings from the teen years to age 30.

If you feel as though you are persistently feeling depressed for no apparent reason, you should talk with your doctor or see a psychiatrist or psychologist. There is a large variety of very effective treatments for depression including a large variety of medications, lifestyle modifications, behavioral or talking therapies, and electroconvulsive therapy. New research and therapies are always being developed and are improving our ability to treat depression.

Effective Natural Ways to Treat Depression and Anxiety:

1) Healthy diet (see lifestyle section)

2) Regular aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise triggers pathways in your brain that suppress anxiety and release neurotransmitters that are associated with euphoria and positive feelings. (see lifestyle section)

3) Spend time with friends and family. Laughing and spending time with people who you like can help you to engage and boost your mood.

4) Getting outside and exposing yourself to the sun awakens and activates your nervous system. You can also purchase lights made for this purpose. People with depression sometimes have under active brain activity when they are depressed.

5) Supplements and Herbs: B Complex vitamins, St John's Wart, Magnesium, fish oil, flaxseed oil. Some of these supplements can interact with prescription drugs. Check with a doctor before taking these supplements.

6) Avoid alcohol and caffeine.

7) Meditation. Meditation has shown benefits in anxiety and depression. It has been shown to increase matter of the frontal lobe, and also suppress activity in parts of the brain that cause depression and anxiety. These benefits can come from meditating from 30 minutes to 1 hour per day. (See lifestyle section).

10) Think positive thoughts. It may sound simple, but the thoughts you have evoke emotions, if you are thinking negative thoughts all the time, those thoughts can evoke negative emotions. Try to consciously choose to only think positive thoughts. During meditation, you can "go to" an experience you had that caused great joy, and re live it which can evoke positive emotions. Over time you can learn to consciously choose to evoke positive emotions.

11) Process your negative thoughts once in a while. There is great benefit in verbally processing the worst experiences you have had, or what it is that makes you angry or sad, to a professional therapist. Studies show that individuals who experience trauma and never verbally express it to anyone(bottling up their emotions), have higher rates of anxiety and depression.

12) Get 7-9 hours of sleep per night.

13) Follow a daily routine that involves doing things you enjoy, such as work, games, sports, or hobbies.