Depression and anxiety are common illnesses worldwide. More than 264 million people are suffering from depression across the globe, as reported by WHO in Jan 2020 (World Health Organisation). This figure must have risen sharply during COVID-19 Pandemic.
There are many reasons for depression and anxiety however main reason is lack of education in programming our mind towards seeing difficulties, unwarranted situations as a part of life which is a normal routine since human evolution.

What is depression?

Though Depression is classified as mood disorder however it is different from usual mood fluctuations and short-lived emotional responses to challenges in everyday life. It is normal to be sad and upset with various events of life however if the feeling of hopelessness is on regular basis, then it is worrisome. If a person’s feeling of sadness, loss or anger affects day-to-day activity then we can say that the person happens to be in depressed state. People experience depression in different ways, in several cases it influences relationships, it may affect daily work lowering productivity, lost interest in studies causing waste of time and leads to chronic health issues for some people.

What are the causes of depression?

• If a person’s family history shows mental illnesses, then chances of affecting a person is likely.
• If a person is under severe stress for long duration or a traumatic situation in childhood triggered body to react with fear can also be the reason of depression.
• Medical conditions such as insomnia, chronic illness, chronic pain and some disorders on mental level can lead to depression.
• History of drug and alcohol abuse for a long period can also contribute for this disease.
• Divorce or any firmly bonded relationship parted away or lost…
• Poor performance compared to siblings or peer group or failure in exam.

Whenever you are depressed, just think or act upon some of the points to realize how fortunate you are

• Visit a site where our brave soldiers are protecting our boundaries with full commitment, love and happiness where we cannot even think of our survival…
• Meet a farmer who has given his soul for a particular crop and even borrowed money and lost everything owing to natural calamity…
• Just visit a mental asylum and see the condition of patients…
• Meet people who have lost their vital organ or facing issues since birth and still living happily…
• Visit to a cremation/burial ground and realise that ultimate destination will be getting crushed into ash/get buried, what’s the point in holding every disappoint/failure in the head…

Ways to come out of depression

• Exercise regularly at least for 30 minutes or as advised by doctor, it helps in releasing endorphin which lifts up the mood and develops feeling of well-being.
• Low serotonin levels also lead to depression, anxiety, aggressive behavior. Balanced food habit, swimming, bicycling, brisk walking, jogging can increase the serotonin level to help come out of depression, anxiety, digestive system issues and so on…
• Yoga, Pranayama coupled with Meditation is the best answer for all mental health related issues adding benefits to physical and social health. Daily meditation for 20 minutes helps greatly to reduce stress, synchronizing brain functions to eliminate/reduce various kinds of diseases on mental level, improving memory function.
• Go and serve needy ones or deprived. Sharing and caring takes a person out of “ME” attitude and transforms it to “WE” attitude.
• Good sleep for 7 to 8 hours.
• Herbs/medicines taken under Doctor’s advice also helps a lot.
Long term depression lead to suicidal tendencies, hence it is better to adopt above mentioned lifestyle changes in time and see life with gratitude.

We really need to go back towards our spiritual wisdom to bring about change in our life and disseminate it worldwide on the road to overcome mental issues and towards improving social health. We really need to admire organisations whole heartedly who are driving efforts in this direction, Art of Living, Isha Foundation, Patanjali, ISKCON and so many….

DISCLAIMER: The author is solely responsible for the views expressed in this article. The author carries the responsibility for citing and/or licensing of images utilized within the text.