I thought I had it all figured out. I even had a book title picked out: Whole-ish — On Healing Myself Naturally from Depression and My Messy Path to Well. And I had outlined some of the chapters: Why restoring your gut health and generating good intestinal bacteria will improve mood The science behind optimal...

A picture may very well be worth a thousand words. A motion picture? Maybe even more than that. In a March 2016 article for Counseling Today, Bronwyn Robertson, a counselor and member of the American Counseling Association, writes: Barely able to breathe, a young man battling a panic attack hesitantly enters the group room and makes his way to...

Research has linked folate deficiencies to depression. According to a study published in the Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience, one-third of depression patients were deficient. Folate, also known as vitamin B9, is available in foods like dark green leafy vegetables, oranges, nuts, beans, and whole grains. The vitamin is critical in breaking down the food we eat and...

As a therapist, Mary Pipher, Ph.D., designed “healing packages” for her patients: activities, resources, and comforts to help them recover from trauma. Then, after her book Reviving Ophelia became a runaway bestseller, she herself suffered from an episode of major depression and designed a healing package for herself. “The essence of my personal healing package,” she describes...

Aerobic movement of any kind helps to relieve depression and anxiety by boosting our brain’s dopamine levels and providing endorphins. But some types of exercises are superior for healing chronic conditions, mood disorders, and addiction. Yoga’s therapeutic benefits have been studied in recent decades, with much of the research being in randomized controlled trials —...