Reading Can Help Ease Symptoms of Depression

Reading can help ease the symptoms of depression, according to multiple studies.

Many a bookworm will tell you that curling up with a paperback is a salve for the mind. And it seems scientists agree — with research suggesting reading can ease depression.

While it is not a cure, experts believe it is effective and could reduce the reliance on antidepressants in some cases. GPs in England dished out a record 64.7 million antidepressant prescriptions in 2016 for patients suffering with depression, anxiety and panic attacks. Read more

Herbal Treatments for Anxiety

Although it's normal to feel anxious from time to time, if you feel anxious without reason and if these worries persist and affect your day-to-day life, you may have generalized anxiety disorder. Herbal treatments may offer direct relief from anxious feelings.

When faced with a perceived threat, your body undergoes biochemical changes that trigger feelings of anxiety. The symptoms of anxiety include, but are not limited to: restlessness, obsessive thoughts, trembling, difficulty breathing, sweating, faintness and muscle tension. The Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine reports that unwarranted anxiety may be the result of a past trauma, stress, a phobia, substance abuse, an overactive nervous system or an underlying disease. Some herbs may help in the treatment of anxiety, but consult your doctor before discontinuing current medications/therapies or beginning new ones. Read more

Melatonin May Be the Safest Remedy for Anxiety

Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland that helps regulate other hormones and maintains the body's circadian rhythm. For some people, melatonin seems to help improve sleep. It also may be the safest remedy for anxiety.

... Melatonin may be the best remedy for people suffering from anxiety disorders. Also, you don’t have to suffer from an anxiety disorder to use melatonin.

All of us experience anxiety occasionally when faced with or stressing over a challenging situation and melatonin can be used for that as well.

As it is also a sleep aid, it can be used for white-knuckled fliers trembling at the thought of boarding an airplane. Read more

Vaccines, Depression, and Neurodegeneration after Age 50

Vaccines are credited with reducing the rates of infectious illness though improved sanitation and diet undoubtedly played a role as well. Whatever their virtues, vaccines also have drawbacks, which people need to know in order to make an informed decision as to whether to get vaccinated. Below are a few excerpts from an important article about the danger of the overuse of vaccines.

Public health authorities and physician societies are in an all out campaign to have every elderly person vaccinated every year with the flu vaccine as well as a growing number of newer vaccines. When I was practicing neurosurgery, the hospitals had an automatic written order on all older patients' charts mandating a flu vaccine, unless it was countermanded by the physician, which I always did.

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Many elderly report that the flu shot gave them the flu. Proponents of vaccines, retort with a condescending laugh; that it is impossible because the flu vaccine contains killed flu viruses. In truth, what these people are reporting is a prolonged, intense "sickness behavior" response to the vaccine. To the body, it is worse than getting the flu.

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Anxiety is a major problem with depression, and vaccinations will greatly worsen the condition. In fact, vaccination, especially multiple vaccinations, will maintain the brain in a state of inflammation that will be self-perpetuating, because the excess release of glutamate in the brain, as well as glutamate in the diet, will further enhance microglial activation and excitotoxicity. Read more