How To Heal A Broken Heart

-By Gary Null PhD

Photo by KS KYUNG on Unsplash

A New Approach to Overcoming Depression, Anxiety and other emotional conditions of Life

Have you ever had a broken heart? Suffer an untimely death of a friend or family member. Have you been betrayed or lied to? Do people close to you treat you unfairly and unkindly? Have you experienced so much pressure and stress you felt helpless under the circumstances. All of these can lead to a plethora of emotional conditions including depression, anxiety disorders, loneliness, apathy and a loss of will to believe that a better day will come. Right now, almost anything that happens in a person’s life that makes them feel bad, or out of control, or that they cannot handle, we turn into a mood, a condition, a diagnosis. Just as we feel happy and laugh, or feel sad and cry, we now feel a label coming.

I believe we have gone so far overboard in how we define the normal emotions that all of us experience, at different times and to different degrees, that an entire industry has grown up around it. A pharmaceutical industry and a medical-industrial complex, working hand in hand, have made normal behavior into a pathology, a disease, something that can be named, given a number, given a code, given insurance reimbursement, and made to seem real because it appears in a book. The book is called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the DSM, now in its fifth edition. But for all its authority, much of what fills it is subjective.

Consider the cornerstone of the whole enterprise: the claim, repeated for decades, that mental illness is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, a deficiency of serotonin that a drug must correct. It was always more marketing slogan than science, and now even science has caught up. In 2022, Joanna Moncrieff and colleagues published a systematic umbrella review in Molecular Psychiatry, gathering the major reviews of every line of evidence for the serotonin theory: serotonin and its metabolites in body fluids, receptor and transporter studies, tryptophan depletion experiments, and the serotonin gene. Their conclusion was blunt. There is no consistent evidence of any association between serotonin and depression, and no support for the idea that depression is caused by lowered serotonin activity. The paper was downloaded more than a million times. The chemical-imbalance story that sold billions of dollars of pills was, it turns out, a story.

If the premise is false, what should we make of the only solution that premise ever offered, which is more drugs? Too often a person who is depressed takes a drug for depression and becomes more depressed; takes a drug for anxiety and becomes more anxious. It is pathetic, and it is avoidable.

So let us do the opposite. Let us look at what actually has science behind it, at the natural approaches that treat both mind and body gently, that carry a far lower risk of harm than conventional treatment, and whose results are often as good or better. These are not fringe ideas; many are now supported by clinical trials and meta-analyses. The guiding principle throughout is this: don’t merely chase symptoms. Address the underlying causes, and build long-term physical and mental health from the ground up.

Exercise

People who are depressed are typically withdrawn and physically inactive. Exercise boosts circulation and promotes a sense of well-being, leaving a person more energetic and ambitious. Activity is not only an important factor in preventing depression; it can help people overcome it, with lasting effect and a feeling of revitalization and accomplishment.

The hardest part is starting. When one is depressed, the tendency is to withdraw, and beginning any activity feels nearly impossible. So begin with simple movements. Just getting out of bed and going for a walk can afford a sense of well-being. Mild stretching and active hobbies are gentle ways in. As the activity begins to lift the mind and body, it can be increased to a level and type appropriate for the individual.

Whatever exercise you take up, do it regularly. A 2017 study found that regular leisure-time exercise of any intensity protects against future depression. A 2023 study from the University of Limerick in Ireland found that the equivalent of twenty minutes a day of brisk walking, five days a week, was associated with a 16 percent lower rate of depressive symptoms and 43 percent lower odds of a diagnosis of major depression. The response was dose-dependent: the equivalent of two hours of brisk walking daily was associated with 23 percent lower risk of depressive symptoms and 49 percent lower odds of major depression.

The most authoritative confirmation came in 2024, when Noetel and colleagues published a large network meta-analysis in The BMJ comparing exercise with psychotherapy and antidepressants for major depression. The greatest effects were seen for walking or jogging, yoga, and strength training, and the modalities people stuck with best were yoga and strength training. In other words, the very things that cost nothing and harm no one perform comparably to the pills.

Any form of exercise is beneficial and should be considered a fundamental part of treatment. Worthwhile options include Pilates, aerobic and resistance training, aquatic exercise in a chlorine-free pool or other unpolluted water, and even long-distance activity for those who are able. Simply standing and moving frequently during otherwise sedentary work or leisure has a protective effect of its own.

Proprioception, the sense of one’s body position in space, is worth cultivating too. Proprioceptive exercises improve joint position, stability, and mobility, reduce the muscle compensation that leads to fatigue, and build confidence in the body. They include strengthening, balance, and reaction-time work, ideally guided by a physical therapist. A 2020 clinical trial by Abdelbasset and colleagues found that two months of proprioceptive exercise improved functional capacity, anxiety, and depression in people with diabetic neuropathy. For people with kidney disease, among whom depression is common and associated with higher hospitalization, even pedal cycling during dialysis may help.

Diet

There is a strong association between inflammation and depression, and the relationship runs both ways. Depression is in many respects an environmental illness, tied to stress and to exposure to pollutants that saturate modern life: air pollution, wireless radiation, certain medications, ultra-processed food and additives, pesticides, excessive screen time, plastics, flame retardants, and more. A 2015 study by Kiecolt-Glaser and colleagues noted that when inflammation and depression occur together, treating both at once may speed recovery and reduce relapse. Disturbances of the gut-brain axis, including irritable bowel syndrome, are likewise bound up with depression, and improving that axis can ease depression’s severity.

The diet, then, should never be another source of inflammation. An anti-inflammatory pattern is the goal. The Mediterranean diet is the best-studied example, and the evidence has only strengthened. A 2025 systematic review of randomized trials found that the Mediterranean diet reduced depressive symptoms substantially, by roughly a third to a half in some analyses, owing to its abundance of polyphenols, omega-3 fats, and fiber, which lower inflammation and nourish a diverse gut. A 2025 meta-analysis in the Annals of Internal Medicine likewise found that dietary interventions produce moderate, durable improvements in depression and anxiety. Earlier work by Firth and colleagues in 2019 had already shown that improving dietary quality reduces depression, and that poor diet harms mental health. A Taiwanese vegetarian diet shows similar promise; Taiwanese vegetarians have lower rates of depression than non-vegetarians. High-glycemic diets, by contrast, appear to raise the risk.

Getting adequate amino acids matters, so concentrate on fresh raw vegetables balanced with quality protein. Fruit and vegetable intake is inversely associated with depression, and eating five or fewer servings a day raises the odds of it. Complex carbohydrates, such as whole grains like brown rice, millet, buckwheat, and quinoa, are particularly important. Build each meal around whole grains, plant proteins such as organic soy or legumes, and fresh, lightly steamed or sautéed vegetables. Sauté over low heat with an oil of high smoke point, such as avocado or sunflower oil; oils with lower smoke points, like olive oil, turn toxic over high heat, and refined oils may carry chemical residues from processing.

Soy should always be organic, since otherwise it will almost certainly be genetically modified and saturated with glyphosate, negating its benefits. Other foods associated with lower depression include organic orange juice, peanuts, extra-virgin olive oil and sunflower oil, blueberries and wild blueberries, mulberries, dark chocolate, nuts (especially walnuts), goji berries, citrus, papaya, peaches, cayenne, carotenoid-rich foods, and whole-fat yogurt. All should be organic, of the highest quality, and where liquid, sold in glass rather than plastic.

Be especially careful with olive oil. Much of what is sold is fraudulently labeled, with seed oils dyed and flavored to mimic the real thing. Genuine olive oil is green and viscous with a slightly spicy bite, and a trustworthy producer will be open to the public any day of the week to visit, watch the process, and buy direct. Counterfeit oils are unlikely to be organic and may be rancid or chemically contaminated.

Freshly ground flax seeds supply fatty acids important to recovery. Because of their high oil content, flax goes rancid easily; buy organic, check for rancidity, keep it frozen or refrigerated, and grind it just before eating. Do not buy it pre-ground. Fermented foods such as organic sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, or yogurt supply probiotics, which have also been found to ease depression; any salt used in fermentation should be the highest-quality sea salt.

One striking finding: a 2014 review by Ainiyet and Rybakowski reported that most research shows an association in depressed people between suicidal behavior and low total and LDL cholesterol, and between low total lipids and suicidality. Healthy fats are not the enemy.

A practical obstacle is that a depressed person often hasn’t the energy to think about food or cook. The remedy is to make easy meals in quantity once a week. A large salad keeps in the refrigerator; a big pot of spiced rice and beans or lentils feeds you for days. This lets you eat well without fuss.

Supplements

Begin any supplement regimen in consultation with a holistic practitioner who can determine what suits your particular needs and what might be contraindicated. Favor supplements derived from organic food ingredients, vegan and non-GMO. Avoid synthetic vitamins, especially those synthesized from petrochemicals or from toxins like the cyanide in cyanocobalamin. Avoid animal-derived ingredients, which can carry the contaminants of industrial agriculture, and avoid harmful additives, including food coloring, MSG and other excitotoxins (sometimes hidden under “natural flavors”), and nanoparticles. Research any supplement before taking it, even on a practitioner’s recommendation, and keep a daily health journal to track change over time.

Nutritional status shapes how we feel. The full B-complex is essential, since the B vitamins work together to balance brain function; in cases of deficiency, add 400 micrograms of folic acid individually, since deficiency can raise homocysteine. Essential fatty acids, omega-3 and omega-6, along with magnesium and niacin, are particularly important, though niacin must be monitored carefully because of its effect on the liver. Vitamin C serves as an immune-enhancing antioxidant and supports the body’s production of SAMe.

SAMe (S-adenosylmethionine) is present in every cell and is a precursor to glutathione, coenzyme A, cysteine, taurine, and other essential compounds. Its antidepressant effect can be fast-acting, and a 2025 meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials confirmed its efficacy and tolerability for depression. Suggested dosing ranges from 400 to 1,600 milligrams, raised gradually.

A 2022 meta-analysis by Yu and colleagues found that carotenoid antioxidants, including beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin, were associated with fewer depressive symptoms. Carotenoids are abundant in leafy greens like kale, spinach, collard, and mustard greens, and in colored fruits like kiwi and tomato. Their absorption improves when eaten with fats and when cooking, heating, or blending breaks down the plant’s cell walls.

Where DHEA is low, gentle rebalancing may help; this hormone, a precursor to estrogen and testosterone, can lift mood and improve well-being, especially in menopausal women, at a practitioner-monitored dose of 15 to 75 milligrams a day. In some people, 1,000 milligrams of acetyl-L-carnitine twice a day eased depression; in others, 5 to 10 milligrams of NADH did the same.

DMAE, a brain stimulant that raises acetylcholine, may help at 300 to 900 milligrams; choline, also involved in acetylcholine production and important to memory, can be taken at 2,000 milligrams in divided doses or obtained from foods like brewer’s yeast (ensure it is MSG-free) and organic soybeans. The potassium in bananas and peas, 1,000 milligrams of inositol twice a day, and 400 IU of vitamin D for the winter blues all have their place.

Other helpful supplements include coenzyme Q10, quercetin, resveratrol, vitamin C and vitamin E, and capsaicin (or simply cayenne). Omega-3 fatty acids outperform placebo, and the evidence suggests doses above 1.5 grams a day are especially beneficial for older adults; these can come from ground flax. N-acetylcysteine has shown promise as a rapidly acting anti-suicidal agent. Seaweeds such as organic blue-green algae, chlorella, and marine algae help fight the blues, as can propolis, a bee product. All such foods should be certified organic.

Some recommend “seed cycling” to rebalance hormones in PMS and other menstruation-related complaints that bring depression and mood swings: one to two tablespoons each of ground organic pumpkin and flax seeds for fourteen days from the first day of the period, then ground organic sesame and sunflower seeds for the following fourteen days. No clinical trials have tested it, but given its apparent safety it may be worth investigating.

Herbs

Herbs you buy should always be organic, whether certified or from a small grower who genuinely adheres to organic practice at every step. At minimum, a non-certified grower should use pesticide- and chemical-free fertilizers, test the soil for contaminants, use organic seed, and test and filter the water given to the plants.

Herbs are generally safe but should be treated like medicines: they can have side effects or interact with drugs. Read comprehensively about any herb before taking it, confirm it won’t interact with your other herbs or medicines, and ideally consult a qualified herbalist whose clients have returned to health under her care.

Several herbal extracts work much like conventional antidepressants but more gently and without the side effects. Foremost is St. John’s wort, very popular in Europe and supported by double-blind, placebo-controlled trials. Ginkgo biloba improves brain circulation and protects nerve cells. Ginger, an adaptogen, helps rebalance the system. Also worth considering are valerian, skullcap, hops, kava kava root, passionflower, Chinese schisandra berry, wild oats, and calamus root. Further options include ginseng, baicalin from Chinese skullcap, ashwagandha taken with piperine from black pepper, fenugreek, motherwort, Rosa damascena, rhodiola, rosemary, Bacopa monnieri (Brahmi), dandelion root and leaf tea, corn silk, amla, lavender, turmeric (its active constituent curcumin), lemon balm, maca, chamomile, black seed (Nigella sativa), Indian mulberry, and magnolia tea. Saffron and rhodiola may be taken alone or together; rhubarb and kudzu may also help. Habitual tea drinking is associated with lower depression, and organic shaded white or green tea offers particular benefit.

EMF Mitigation and Environmental Hygiene

Because of the strong links between the radiation and microwaves of wireless technology and mental-health problems including depression, an early line of treatment is simply to replace wireless devices with wired alternatives and reduce electromagnetic exposure to a minimum. A home or office can be made much cleaner through a few steps: a corded landline or VoIP service in place of a cell phone; activities normally done on a phone shifted to a properly shielded and grounded computer; incandescent bulbs in place of LED or fluorescent; and a wired ethernet router in place of WiFi. Essential tools are a radiofrequency meter, a meter for electric and magnetic fields, and an old AM radio to detect dirty electricity, as explained on the EMF Analysis website maintained by mitigation expert Jeromy Johnson.

Be aware that cell phones and similar devices are microwave transmitters, like a microwave oven at a lower but still toxic level. Do not assume “Airplane Mode” makes a phone safe; the newest phones may still emit microwaves in that mode, partly so they can be located remotely, unless you separately switch off Location Services, Bluetooth, WiFi, and cellular data. Always confirm with a radiofrequency meter. Further guidance on reducing household chemicals and other pollutants applies here as well.

Spirituality and Meaning in Life

Greater spirituality, and in particular intrinsic beliefs such as faith in a higher power, the value of prayer, and the ability to find meaning in hardship, is associated with less depression. Notably, the relevant factor is spirituality rather than religiosity: mere attendance at religious services shows no significant association with depression. Spirituality refers to an individual’s living experience of the sacred, while religion refers to organized activity that may or may not include that lived sense.

A 2014 study found that people who scored higher on spirituality had significantly lower hopelessness, fewer dysfunctional attitudes, and milder depressive symptoms at baseline, and that those who believed in God improved more during treatment, leading the authors to conclude that a more spiritual orientation is associated with both less severe depression and greater clinical improvement. Researchers have also found that people with depression tend to have lower religiosity and spirituality than healthy controls, and that among the equally depressed, suicide attempts were associated with “negative religious coping,” reflecting spiritual struggle, as opposed to the “positive religious coping” of a secure relationship with a transcendent force and a benevolent worldview.

A sustained sense of meaning or purpose is critical to mental and physical health, and increasingly so with age, when the risk of depression rises. As people grow older, greater depressive symptoms are associated with less sense of meaning, while a spiritual orientation is associated with both less depression and greater well-being. Spirituality may soften the vicious circle between depression and meaninglessness, partly through practices like prayer, meditation, and worship that feel inherently meaningful; partly through the social support that buffers depression’s effects; and partly through a mental attitude in which the spiritually oriented are less likely to blame themselves and more likely to treat suffering as a challenge to be met rather than a verdict to be accepted.

A 2016 study by Bamonti and colleagues found preliminary evidence that spirituality protects against the erosion of meaning during depression, and suggested clinicians assess spiritual beliefs as part of a comprehensive history and, where appropriate, incorporate them into treatment, including suicide prevention, since meaning in life is one of the few known protective factors against suicidal thinking. Most people seeking mental-health care, in fact, say they would prefer a spiritual dimension to that care.

One useful technique is life review, which reduces depressive symptoms by enhancing meaning: you deliberately recollect past events and reappraise their positive and negative associations, weaving in spirituality where it helps to build a coherent sense of identity and purpose. Because a depressed person tends to withdraw from activities, including spiritual ones, clinicians may gently encourage continued engagement with whatever practices are spiritually nourishing.

But what of the person who is not spiritually inclined, for whom the idea of divine meaning seems fanciful? If he wishes to develop a spiritual orientation simply for the health benefits, he can undertake intentional practices, what Sanskrit calls sadhana, despite his disbelief: meditation, prayer, spiritual reading, the repetition of a sacred word or name with devotion, moral action, pilgrimage, and others that aim to transcend the ego and touch the deeper nature of life. Such practices can not only deepen a sense of the spiritual but enhance resilience, attentional control, and emotional regulation while reducing rumination and negative emotion. Using religious teaching to guide conduct has been found to protect teenagers from alcohol and delinquency, and adherence to ethical precepts, such as refraining from killing, theft, sexual misconduct, dishonesty, and intoxicants, has been found to protect against the impulsivity and substance use that accompany poor affect regulation.

Spiritual practice may also help rebuild moral character, especially in cases of moral injury. A 2023 study by Weziak-Bialowolska and colleagues, drawing on Harvard, Baylor, and Polish institutions, found that people who live by high moral standards have substantially lower odds of depression, by 21 to 51 percent.

Dr. Abraham Varghese has called for a rapprochement between psychiatry and spirituality. He traces the old hostility, in which Freud and Charcot linked religion with neurosis and spiritual experience was treated as pathology, and points to newer research showing that religion and spirituality are fundamental resources for coping, recovery, and the maintenance of mental health. He notes proposals to formalize categories for normal religious and spiritual experiences, for spiritual problems leading to disturbance, and for disturbances with a spiritual context. Whatever the DSM’s failings, such a framework might at least protect people from being swept into the psychiatric system and onto drugs when they are merely having normal spiritual experiences, and might open more effective routes to recovery. Varghese insists this reconciliation is essential if psychiatry is to be effective at all.

Social and Lifestyle Factors

Trying to argue a despondent person out of his mood is usually futile; distraction works better. Contact with other people is enormously important, because it draws the mind away from negative thought. Doing things for others, above all volunteer work, is one of the best ways to get a person out of his own dark thoughts and into something that feels rewarding.

Mind-Body Therapies

Since inflammation and depression are so closely connected, and since life stressors, especially relational ones like rejection, can raise inflammation that in turn dysregulates mood, therapies that work on mental and emotional states to heal the body, and vice versa, are valuable. Relaxation practices such as yoga, tai chi, qigong, and meditation help a person cope better with stress.

A narrative review by Vasudev and colleagues found that tai chi and meditation-based interventions produced clinically significant improvements in depression and anxiety in late-life illness, along with gains in cognition and protection against cognitive decline. Yoga and meditation are well-studied, front-line therapies for depression, as are tai chi and qigong. Many forms of meditation exist, and some may suit depression better than others, among them Amrita meditation, Sahaja yoga meditation, gratitude meditation, Tibetan singing-bowl meditation, and long-term mindfulness practice. Indeed, mindfulness meditation has been found to outperform physical exercise in managing depression.

Among yoga forms studied for depression are laughter yoga, seated yoga, prenatal yoga, the chanting of the sacred mantra Om, and yoga nidra, and one study found that the more yoga, the better. Coherent breathing is helpful too, and breathing-based walking practiced for three months improved anxiety, depression, labored breathing, and quality of life. Humor therapy, through medical clowns or laughter therapy, relieves both depression and anxiety, and guided imagery aids relaxation and mood.

A 2019 trial of a five-week, yoga-inspired biopsychosocial-spiritual self-care seminar for graduate healthcare students, with sixty-minute sessions of breathing, mindful movement, meditation, and education, produced significant improvements in self-compassion, mindfulness, anxiety, depression, and stress. Another trial of a Meditation-Based Lifestyle Modification program in outpatients with mild to moderate depression, introducing the ethical aspects of yoga such as nonviolence and honesty, found that most participants experienced novelty and inspiration, nearly all reported less emotional distress and more self-confidence and self-acceptance, and depressive symptoms fell as well-being and mindfulness rose.

Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy, with a knowledge base accumulated over thousands of years, can rebalance mind and body, provide comfort, and elevate mood. Essential oils should always be organic, since pesticide, plasticizer, and other residues concentrate in oils distilled from huge quantities of plant material. Good choices include lavender, rose (Rosa damascena), basil, jasmine, rosemary, eucalyptus, peppermint, bergamot, sandalwood, neroli, ylang-ylang, marjoram, clary sage, and chamomile. Use them in baths, inhale them, or add them to a massage of the body or even just the hands. Never apply essential oils directly to the skin, which they can burn or irritate; dilute them in an organic carrier oil such as jojoba, sunflower, or sweet almond. Massage therapy itself, with or without oils, is significantly associated with relief of depressive symptoms.

Fine Arts Therapies

Art forms such as music, drama, and the visual arts give people a chance to voice the suppressed fear, anxiety, and uncertainty that may underlie their depression. A 2017 review found that elderly participants in particular improved impressively when they listened to or played music. These practices let people forget their troubles, engage the body in meaningful activity, develop creativity, and enter a world of imagination that opens new territories of interest. One may join formal dance-movement, music, or art therapy, or simply take up such a practice spontaneously, and better still, daily.

Forest Bathing, Sunlight, and Grounding

Forest bathing, known in Japanese as shinrin yoku, means spending immersive, meditative time in the forest as a therapeutic landscape, and it is an effective treatment for depression. The emerging discipline of Forest Medicine has reported that time among trees increases natural killer cell activity, lowers blood pressure, heart rate, and stress hormones such as adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol, shifts the nervous system toward parasympathetic balance, and reduces anxiety, depression, anger, fatigue, and confusion while improving mood and vigor.

A 2019 study by Furuyashiki and colleagues found that two hours of forest bathing produced a significant anti-depressive response; participants with depressive tendencies improved so markedly that they became indistinguishable afterward from those without. Another study found the higher one’s stress, the greater the calming effect. Even indoor contact with plants, watering them, looking at them, gently washing their leaves, may reliably lift mood.

Sunlight deserves mention, since reduced exposure is associated with greater cognitive impairment in depressed people, and severe vitamin D deficiency may underlie treatment resistance. Get outside daily and spend a little time in the sun. But take precautions: with the ozone layer depleted, UV levels can be harmful, so favor long, loose clothing and a brimmed hat, avoid the peak intensity of midday in favor of morning, late afternoon, and evening, and skip sunscreen, whose ingredients are themselves toxic.

Spend time outdoors only where the air is clean. Sadly, even seemingly pristine places are no longer reliably safe; air pollution correlates strongly with depression, and through factors including geoengineering, contamination now reaches former wilderness. Independent scientists found toxic aluminum in the snow on Mount Shasta, more concentrated in the snow than in the soil beneath. Go out when the sky is visibly clear and cerulean, free of haze, whiteness, smog, or chemical smell.

While in nature, make physical contact with the Earth, a practice known as earthing or grounding, whether standing or walking in socks (preferable to bare feet given soil pollution) or sitting or lying on a blanket on the ground. Earthing is a valuable therapy in its own right, and it requires no forest. Laura Koniver, MD, in a peer-reviewed article on its practical application, describes benefits for mood, the nervous system, and chronic inflammation, all relevant to recovery, and notes that the benefits accumulate with daily practice. Even passing through nature during an active commute, by bike, on foot, or jogging, has an antidepressant effect.

Light Therapy

According to Dr. Michael Norden, author of Beyond Prozac, light therapy helps overcome the mild depression of the winter season, seasonal affective disorder, in which the body chemistry of many people is thrown off by diminished daylight. Among the newer treatments is dawn simulation, in which a bedroom lighting system is set to mimic the sunrise, which has been shown to raise energy and ease the morning struggle to get out of bed. Bright-light therapy also works and can be added to any treatment, with good response even in difficult cases. Ideally, use old-fashioned incandescent bulbs, whose warm amber light avoids the electromagnetic interference, or “dirty electricity,” produced by halogen, LED, compact fluorescent bulbs, and dimmer switches.

Feng Shui

Because our environment affects us so powerfully, there is value in feng shui, the ancient Chinese art of arranging the objects around us at home or work. Every detail matters: colors, shapes, and materials each carry an energy that can lift or lower mood, and feng shui aims to restore the flow of life energy, or qi. Clutter breeds confusion, unclear thinking, and frustration, and is plainly depressing. Fiery reds, pinks, and purples suggest dynamism; green soothes. Our surroundings may mirror and extend our emotional, spiritual, and intellectual state, and adjusting them can have a noticeable effect in overcoming depression.

Thermal Therapy

In 2008, Shevchuk proposed cold hydrotherapy through adapted cold showers as an approach to depression. In informal testing among people with some depressive symptoms, the method relieved them and produced a significant analgesic effect with no noticeable side effects, though more rigorous study is needed. His protocol called for daily or twice-daily cold showers at twenty degrees Celsius for two to three minutes, preceded by a five-minute gradual adaptation, continued over several weeks to several months. At the opposite extreme, Waon therapy, a far-infrared dry-sauna treatment, has been found to improve anxiety, depression, and fatigue, and repeated dry-sauna use may help with depression and loss of appetite.

Emotional Freedom Technique

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), commonly known as tapping, is a clinical procedure for relieving physical and psychological distress. It shares with exposure and acceptance therapy the benefit of cognitive reprocessing while adding the energetic release associated with acupuncture and other energy therapies. It appears to be among the most effective interventions for psychological distress such as PTSD, phobias, anxiety, and depression, and for physical conditions including asthma, fibromyalgia, pain, and seizure disorders. More than sixty peer-reviewed articles report an efficacy rate near 98 percent, which is almost unheard of. It is an excellent self-help tool, and it has been combined with Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in a promising hybrid.

Acupuncture

A number of meta-analyses have found acupuncture and acupressure effective against depression. Acupuncture should not be performed in the presence of man-made electromagnetic fields, including the wireless radiation of cell phones, Bluetooth, and WiFi, since metal needles may conduct that radiation into the body. One 2015 trial found that ziwuliuzhu, acupuncture matched Prozac in efficacy and surpassed it for long-term depression and for safety. A second 2015 study likewise found acupuncture superior to the drug, and a 2014 study found that acupuncture combined with auricular acupressure outperformed an antidepressant in treating depression in breast-cancer patients. A novel tapping therapy at certain acupoints has also been reported to resolve depression and other symptoms after several months.

Chiropractic

A 2020 review by Kiani and colleagues examined chiropractic care for depression. Because spinal manipulation acts on the autonomic nervous system, it may engage the parasympathetic branch to counterbalance an overactive sympathetic system, which when overstimulated drives high cortisol and adrenaline, insomnia, agitation, and anxiety. The review, which also discussed vagal stimulation, concluded that chiropractic and spinal manipulative therapy, alongside vagal nerve stimulation, may be considered options for treating depression. One case described a man recovering from both depression and chronic migraine after chiropractic care.

Other Options

Some treatments carry greater risk than others. Hypnotherapy can be effective for depression, but under hypnosis a person is highly suggestible, and an inexperienced practitioner may produce unwanted outcomes or too little effect; consider it a last resort, to be tried only when other options are exhausted. The University of Manchester developed a system relating mood to colors that may help predict who will respond. Finally, hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been used to good effect for post-stroke depression.

What to Avoid

Diet shapes not only physical health but emotional health, and the wrong foods can cause or worsen depression. Avoid energy drinks, non-organic foods, GMOs and bioengineered ingredients, fast and junk foods such as instant ramen, commercial hamburgers and pizza, and fried foods, simple carbohydrates (particularly important for those with low blood sugar), alcohol, artificial sweeteners, white-flour products, and caffeine. A high-fat, high-sugar diet is associated with more depressive symptoms. Chemicals in frozen foods are neurotoxic and disturb the electrolyte levels whose disruption can itself induce mental illness. Do not eat microwaved food or drink tap water; reverse-osmosis-filtered or distilled water is better. Replace Teflon, aluminum, and other toxic cookware with non-toxic alternatives. Avoid alcohol and recreational drugs, including marijuana. It may also be worth investigating, with a biological dentist, the removal of mercury amalgam or other metal fillings.

As noted, exposure to man-made electromagnetic fields should be reduced to the bare minimum; Bluetooth earbuds, hearing aids, and blood-sugar monitors are not recommended.

A word on the drugs themselves. A 2015 study in BMJ Open found that antidepressant treatment is associated with an increased risk of later mania and bipolar disorder, and a 2016 study found that prenatal SSRI exposure is associated with more depression diagnoses in early adolescence. A 2016 meta-analysis by Cipriani and colleagues in The Lancet concluded that, weighing risks against benefits in the acute treatment of major depression, antidepressants offer no clear advantage for children and adolescents: the evidence is generally of low quality, the drugs show no discernible benefit over placebo, and they bring more adverse events leading to discontinuation. A 2019 review by Munkholm and colleagues in BMJ Open reached a similar conclusion for adults, and noted that published trials reported larger effects than unpublished ones. Across the literature, 65 to 80 percent of the response to antidepressants is reproduced by placebo, even in long-term maintenance studies.

This matters for how we read every other trial. When any natural substance is tested against an antidepressant as the comparator, remember that the antidepressant itself barely outperforms a sugar pill, so such results must be read with caution. A 2009 study by van Die and colleagues complicated the picture further by questioning the very assumption that a drug’s effect is simply “added to” a placebo effect shared by both arms of a trial. Examining the two arms of their own study, they concluded that drug and placebo effects may not be additive at all, and that distinct, even mutually exclusive, mechanisms may operate in each. Because antidepressants do not meaningfully beat placebo and are far more dangerous, the therapeutic potential of the placebo effect itself, harnessing the body’s own healing response, deserves far more serious investigation than the marketing of pills has ever allowed.

Alcohol deserves special mention, because it so commonly accompanies depression; people with depression carry roughly a threefold risk of developing alcohol-use disorder. Those who do not understand alcohol’s harms imagine a drink to lift the mood is harmless. It is not. Alcohol is easily obtained and can quickly lift the spirits and numb pain, but in every case it is doing damage, even as it feels good or anchors a comforting daily ritual. A single drink kills or damages millions of cells throughout the body; a daily glass of beer can shrink brain volume; and a number of studies conclude that no amount of drinking is healthy. If you have been drinking a daily glass of wine for your heart, switch to organic grape juice, and look for a bottle that says “not from concentrate.”

Air travel is harmful through exposure to engine-oil fumes; habitual flyers such as aircrew may experience depressive symptoms, brain damage, and cognitive impairment. Screen time is correlated with depression, and Facebook addiction in particular is comorbid with it, so keep television and screen use to a minimum. Office jobs are associated with nearly double the depression and more than double the anxiety of manufacturing work, likely owing to their sedentary nature and to an electromagnetic environment thick with radiation from computers, routers and extenders, Bluetooth devices, and security systems, along with fluorescent and LED lighting and the poor air of sealed buildings that off-gas fumes and breed sick-building syndrome. If you work in an office, take frequent breaks, perhaps every twenty minutes; walk or stretch, look out at nature, chat with a colleague, and otherwise counter the tension of sedentary, screen-bound work.

Urinary heavy metals, phthalates, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons from coal, oil, and gasoline are associated with adult depression, as are BPA, BPF, flame retardants, and the glyphosate of conventional agriculture, all to be avoided. Maintain a healthy circadian rhythm and avoid what disrupts it: eating late at night, sleeping in and staying up late, screens or bright LED light after dark, evening caffeine, and refined sugar, since circadian disruption itself can lead to depression.

Certain vaccinations have been reported to cause depression as an adverse event. Because U.S. monitoring relies on the passive VAERS system, because the Harvard Pilgrim study estimated that over 99 percent of adverse events go unreported, and because vaccination is nearly universal, the association between immunization, especially cumulative childhood vaccination, and depression may be larger than has been investigated. One study found that typhoid vaccination, but not placebo, produced neuroinflammation, with a rise in interleukin-6 correlated with mild depression, and a case report described new moodiness, depression, and uncharacteristic anger in a young person two weeks after a Gardasil vaccination. A striking increase in childhood narcolepsy followed the 2009 H1N1 vaccine in Finland and Sweden; among children whose narcolepsy developed after vaccination, 43 percent had psychiatric comorbidity, including major depression in 20 percent and generalized anxiety in 10 percent, against far lower rates in those whose narcolepsy preceded vaccination.

Even scurvy may lead to depression: a woman with a history of schizophrenia and depression, her mental health deteriorating, was found to have scurvy and recovered with vitamin C. And medical procedures including angioplasty, x-ray mammography, and vasectomy have all been associated with depression.

So, am I depressed? No. And if you are, understand that the feeling, however heavy, is in most cases not a permanent flaw in your brain chemistry to be managed for life with a pill that scarcely beats a placebo. It is a signal, often from a body and a life out of balance, and it can be answered. Move your body. Eat real food. Step into the sun and onto the Earth. Quiet the noise, electromagnetic and otherwise. Find meaning, and find other people. The tools are many, they are gentle, and most of them are already within your reach. The first step is simply to begin.