“Magical” lifestyle changes that help eliminate depression (hint: none of them involve drugs)

( Natural News ) Instead of grabbing the nearest bottle of antidepressant or alcohol, people crippled by anxiety and depression should consider lifestyle changes based on older, simpler, and wiser times. By making life simpler and more meaningful , a person could improve his or her mental health far better than resorting to pharmaceutical drugs. Mental disabilities and disorders affect around 450 million people around the world. Depression, in particular, is expected to become the leading financial burden on a global scale. “Americans are 10 times more likely to have depressive illness than they were 60 years ago,” warned University of Kansas researcher Dr. Steven Ilardi. “And a recent study found the rate of depression has more than doubled in just the past decade.” Ilardi believed that the higher rates of depression stem from modern, industrial, and urban lifestyles. The comforts and luxuries of a high-tech society force people to work more hours, sleep for shorter periods, and stress out over things that they wanted but didn’t need. He also noted the increasing isolation of individuals who are too busy to maintain social connections. As a result, traditional communities break apart. “We feel perpetually stressed,” he explained. “And the more we learn about depression neurologically, the more we learn that it represents the brain’s runaway stress response.” (Related: That’s pretty dumb: Is your smart phone ruining your relationships? ) The Therapeutic Lifestyle Change Project Ilardi investigated low-tech societies like the American Amish and the Kaluli natives of Papua New Guinea. He found that depression is virtually unknown among those people. After studying the similarities between these depression-free societies, Ilardi identified six variables found in all of the groups. He used these variables to develop what he called the Therapeutic Lifestyle Change Project . The power of the elements : […]

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