There Are Better Ways to Deal with Depression than Drugs

Between 1989 and 1992, the number of prescriptions for antidepressant drugs exploded from 2.5 million to 33.2 million—a 1328 percent increase! As of mid 2014, over 41 million Americans are taking Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa, Wellbutrin, Luvox, and other antidepressant drugs. These drugs have serious side effects, including increased depression, violence and a high risk of suicide.

Fortunately, there are other ways to deal with depression. Often simple things like keeping a journal, exercising, changing your diet, getting plenty of fresh air and sunshine, talking to a trusted friend, listening to uplifting music, and taking a few supplements can work wonders. For more serious depression, counseling is just as effective as drugs at easing depression, has no side effects, and actually results in a long-term benefits.

The most important thing to do, however, is to determine what’s causing the depression and fix it. We’ll give you some great ideas on how to do that in this issue of Sunshine Sharing.