What is your best natural remedy for postnatal depression?

9 Comments

1. badjakx2 says:

   November 2, 2009 at 12:00 pm

   A qt of chocolate icecream did the trick for my wife……
2. peace&love says:

   November 2, 2009 at 12:24 pm

   think about what lilfe has to offer, and just live every day to its fullest. dont think about the past or the future, just live in the present and live for yourself while not worrying about anyone that is not directly associated with you.

   goodluck<3
3. Joe E says:

   November 2, 2009 at 1:19 pm

   happy thoughts!!
4. jettesimone says:

   November 2, 2009 at 1:32 pm

   exercise. support of friends and families. but also seriously consider going to counseling. postnatal depression is serious. the new mom needs as much help as she can get. i know women who’ve gone through this and counseling helped tremendously.
5. General Jelly Bean, Esquire says:

   November 2, 2009 at 2:23 pm

   1.Exercise is the best thing you can do for yourself and depression. Exercise has been touted to do everything from treat depression to improve memory, with the power to cure a host of problems while preventing even more. In particular, exercise leads to the release of certain neurotransmitters in the brain that alleviate pain, both physical, emotional and mental. Additionally, it is one of the few ways scientists have found to generate new neurons. Much of the research done in this area has focused on running, but all types of aerobic exercise provide benefits. Although the exact nature of these benefits is still being determined, enough research has been done to provide even skeptics with a motivation to take up exercise. Exercise exerts its effects on the brain through several mechanisms, including neurogenesis, mood enhancement, and endorphin release.

   2. Eat bread-
   Bread is said to break the waistline. But it seems that at the same time it can make you happy. A new research at the University of York and Hull York Medical School has established the connection between depression and low levels of folate (also called vitamin B9), which comes from vegetables (leaf vegetables, beans, cereals, sunflower seeds).

   The team led by Dr Simon Gilbody reached this conclusion based on their review of 11 previous researches made on 15,315 subjects. In May 2007, the Food Standards Agency recommended to UK Health Ministers the introduction of mandatory supplementing of either bread or flour with folic acid to impede neural tube defects, which can lead to miscarriage, neonatal death or lifelong disability. To that list the anti-depression effect is added.

   “Our study is unique in that for the first time all the relevant evidence in this controversial area has been brought together. Although the research does not prove that low folate causes depression, we can now be sure that the two are linked.
   Interestingly, there is also some trial evidence that suggests folic acid supplements can benefit people with depression. We recommend that large trials should be carried out to further test this suggestion.” said Gilbody.

   Recently, the same research team has also discovered that people with depression commonly have a gene that makes them process folate less efficiently. Folate has been connected to the production of serotinin, the “feel good” good brain hormone. This gene explains why extra folic acid is beneficial for people with depression.

   Serotonin plays an important role in the regulation of anger, aggression, body temperature, mood, sleep, vomiting, sexuality and appetite. Serotonin shortage leads to an increase in aggressive and angry behaviors, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, migraine, irritable bowel syndrome, tinnitus, fibromyalgia, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders and intense religious experiences.

   3. Breast feed your baby. You may have heard that there is nothing that takes fat off the new mother faster than breastfeeding and while that is true. Breastfeeding raises oxytocin and lessens depression and anxiety! While you are at it, ask your doctor to check all of your hormonal levels to ensure that you are as you should be. For example, sometimes thyroid problems can cause depression too.

   4. AVOID SUGAR- it supresses the immune system for 30 minutes when eaten. And can cause an increase in depression and anxiety for some people. Sugar can cause disease and does cause wrinkles!

   5. Vitamins and minerals to recover. I head a doctor describe the fetus as the ultimate parasite. This makes sense when you think that your nutrients are being syphined to your baby and away from you! Now, is the time for self care, so heal away. Also, carrying a baby to term is as hard on the body as running a full marathon, so yea healing yourself is NOT secondary it is simultanous. Get all the help you can with your baby and for yourself! May you find even more ways to take care of yourself and baby!

   PS I recommend psycho therapy and reading “Feeling Good” by Dr. David Burns. It may be enormously helpful to try a medication too! But make sure that you don’t do that while you are breast feeding. If you need to stop BFeeding in order to take it then that may be wise because the combo of counseling and medication has been shown to be healing to the brain and speed recovery from depression.
6. Sally N says:

   November 2, 2009 at 3:20 pm

   Try St John’s Wort, it helped me and is available at health food stores in tablet form. (If you are breastfeeding, make sure it is ok to take as I’m not sure about that).

   Goodluck, it will get better xx

   PS Add me as a contact if you ever want to chat with someone who has gone through it, realizing that you’re not alone on the way you feel can help enourmously as well xx
7. CrunchyCon says:

   November 2, 2009 at 4:01 pm

   I don’t know that I could ever actually do this, but…I’ve heard from a LOT of people that eating the placenta does wonders. But that may be a little TOO crunchy for me, lol.
8. snowangel_az says:

   November 2, 2009 at 4:58 pm

   Well….after a year of the most horrible suffering that a human being could possibly imagine, I turned to St. John’s Wart and that seemed to do the trick. God bless whoever discovered that stuff!!!!!!!!!!!
9. shi_cuttie28@verizon.net says:

   November 2, 2009 at 5:12 pm

   I would go and do some shopping for the baby and live every moment to the fullest with a smile for a new born baby is beautiful.