Opt For Yoga Rather Than Drugs for Depression Treatment

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Opt For Yoga Rather Than Drugs for Depression Treatment

Thursday, January 28th, 2010 Subscribe To Our Feed

Research has demonstrated that some manner of anti-depression drugs are dispensed to more than 20 million Americans annually. But what should be the main basis for alarm are the numerous side effects all too often experienced by persons who take these anti-depression medicines. Useful as they might be for a period of time, it’s been demonstrated that these anti-depression medications cause a few adverse reactions that can consist of an unsettled stomach, tiredness, sleeplessness and libido problems. For this reason, a good number of individuals are seeking a means of managing depression without medication.

If you’d like to try treating your depression issues in a more natural approach to prevent these major side effects, you may want to think about taking up yoga. Yoga and its peaceful movements and positions are inclined to considerably increase the brain’s alpha waves (linked to relaxation) and theta waves (unconscious memory, dreams and feelings). This discovery is established on a research study that calculated brain waves before a two-hour yoga class, and again following it.

Due to the increased activity of these brain waves, people tend to have more contact with their subconscious and emotions. Additionally, following a yoga class, alpha wave activity improves in the right temporal region of the brain. Studies have established that people with depressive disorder tend to have enhanced alpha activity in the left frontal-temporal area, whereas positive, extroverted individuals have more alpha activity on the right side.

Additionally, when yoga is practiced, a substantial reduction in the hormone called cortisol happens, along with an increase in the hormone prolactin. This is believed by various researchers to be the primary factor in generating the anti-depressant effect of electroshock therapy.

If this all appears slightly too complex, perhaps a simpler illustration of how yoga is beneficial for depression treatment may be that it exercises the motor centers of the brain. This triggers the blood to flow away from the center of emotional activity; accordingly you become more receptive to upbeat situations.

Just doing yoga poses will not be sufficient to manage your depression. You also have to incorporate breathing exercises (known as pranayama), meditation, (which can be rooted in your religious practices) and a proper eating plan. These are all significant aspects of the yoga ideology that will have an effect on your mental health.

Accordingly, when you next feel depression taking hold of your mind, you might do well to try a new prescription for dealing with the problem: yoga. It won’t harm you, and it could potentially help you immensely.

Depression can have far reaching implications for those who suffer from it. It can negatively impact all aspects of a person’s life, from their job to their relationships. Learn more about this serious mental disease at Depression Help.

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