Natural medicine for depression?!

Natural medicine for depression?

I'm depressed almost all the time. Is there any stuff which can help me? No weed,or ecstasy..Something natural?

St. John's Wort is supposedly the best. Though natural it does have side effects for a few. Exercise helps. I write poetry about my feelings when I'm going through it. You go back later & read it & often you'll understand better what triggered it. Sometimes I get the answer while writing it.

But the best advice I ever rec. was getting outside of my own pain by volunteering to help others. There's a big wide world out there with more problems & needs than you could ever imagine. I became a volunteer youth counselor at my church & I got so wrapped up in helping others it did wonders to help my depression. I began to see how much others needed someone who had lived through their same kind of pain & help walk them out of it, instead of judging or giving pat answers.

It also helped me to see more clearly all I had to be grateful for. Everyone always says yeah, I got a roof over my head, a little money, clothes & food, so what? But it takes on a whole new meaning when you help a homeless family who literally have nothing but each other. Or someone who has no family or friends. Or someone dumpster diving for spoiled food.

We tend to turn off the desperation when it's in our face on TV all the time or blame them for their circumstances. But life is terribly unfair. I've known some who had it all & did absolutely nothing to earn or deserve it & greedy & self centered. I've known many more that despite their best efforts & always sharing what little they have barely keep their head above water & go under more than once.

It's when you get involved in the lives of this latter group that the depression in your own life lifts or at least eases. I truly believe it's in our DNA to make a difference that we lived and when we fail to do this our soul grieves, thus unexplainable depression.

Pills can numb it to a certain extent but it doesn't remove it entirely, only alters it's effects temporarily. Pain is what pushes you to find a cure. But it's also what makes you more equipped to help others & understand what they're going through.

It's never easy to reach out but well worth the effort. Take a afternoon & go to a soup kitchen to eat & observe others. Very few fit the lazy, welfare cheater you hear said so often. Most are just like you only with needs. Many work hard for very little just to survive. Some have lost everything due to no fault of their own. It's not easy being homeless & then suffering judgement & humiliation makes it even worse. I've heard the statement hundreds of times that "I don't help them as much as they help me". It's really true.

So no matter what you do to help it try this. It works much faster than a pill & you can do it as often as you want to.