Reddit reviews The Instinct to Heal: Curing Depression, Anxiety and Stress Without Drugs and Without Talk Therapy

> I think depression caused by a real malfunction in the brain is much rarer than most people believe.

I didn't believe it neither... until my doctor showed me brain scans of a healthy brain and a depressive brain. The difference is notable. Depression is caused and cause atrophy in certain brain zones. It's a vicious cycle.

You might be interested in reading The Instinct to Heal by David Servan-Screiber. It deals with ways that the body and emotional brain naturally (the instinct part) uses to overcome depression. No drugs involved. The author is prominent psychiatrist and neuroscientist, so everything is fairly scientific.

>Please be as practical as possible as I am willing to give my very best this time. I just don't know how.

Highly recommended

• Supplementation: Vitamin D3 +K2 (Bodeyweight (kg) * 70 = IE/day), Vitamin B-Complex, Omega-3 (EPA 1000mg+DHA 500mg/day)
  
• Medication: St. John's wort (600-1000mg/day)*, plus: passion flower extract (850-1275mg/day) OR lavender oil capsules (80mg/day)
  
• Reduce: sugar, alcohol, porn, social-media, news
  
• Increase/Improve: sleep, water, fresh-air, body-exercise (yoga)/movement (a walk in the park), body-posture (stand up straight with your shoulders back), breaks, meditation, practicing affirmations, cleaning up your room
  
• Start a success journal (write down the things you have accomplished on that day, every day, to train your brain, to acknowlegde and look out for the positive events in your life; I recommend doing this in the evening), you may also want to write a gratitude journal (write down a number of things you are thankful for, every morning), you could even try praying from time to time (this is not so much about believing but much more about the process of wishing for a healthy world and the wavelentgh of your brain during that process)
  
• Talk about your struggles/situation and listen carefully / Ask for help: family, friends, therapist
  
• Find things you enjoy and if you are lucky enough, you will find someone whom you can share it with. But at least have a good bunch of that in your pocket so you can "have a good time" every now and than.
  
  Note: Medication and supplementation takes about 4-6 week to kick in
  
  *Herbal agents such as St. John's wort can cause problems in combination with other medicines. It is therefore important to pay attention to possible interactions when taking several medications.
  
  Reading List Recommendations
  
  
• The Why Cafe
  
• 12 Rules For Life
  
• The Power Of Habit
  
• See if you can find a translation of Glaubenssätze by Dr. Beate Guldenschuh-Feßler or another book covering the topic of Affirmations
  
  Coming from around 10 years experience witth depression and social anxieties. I have read about 100 books, many of them revolving around psychological and physiological health issues.

Looks like depression indeed. Go see a doctor.

Causes of the depression itself can be various. By talking more in details of your situation with your doc, he might find those causes.

I was going through something similar years ago. I read David Servan-Schreiber's book about curing depression without drugs. Helped alot. Try to get a hold of it. It's called The Instinct to Heal.

Read The Instinct to Heal, its really good I just read it today and it has a lot of discussion of non-med treatments for depression at least.

The Instinct to Heal: Curing Depression, Anxiety and Stress Without Drugs and Without Talk Therapy https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1594861587/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_0J9UCbAF7QQ7Y