Both types work by helping to stabilise the chemical imbalance in the brain that is synonymous with depression. SAD sufferers can find relief in lamps that mimic natural daylight . For very severe, deep depression, electric shock treatment can sometimes yield results, scary as it sounds, while a combination of therapy and anti-depressants is often the most powerful weapon against depression. Natural anti-depressants One of the most common and popular of these is St. John's Wort, usually extracted into daily tablets and available from many health food shops. Like all anti-depressants, it doesn't work for all people, but some studies have shown it to be at least as effective as some of the pharmaceutical drugs in alleviating the pain of depression.
Several plants contain anti-depressant compounds, including bananas.
Eating a banana every day, though, is more likely to help than to harm. Because a reasonable amount is known about the causes of depression at a biochemical level, there are several ways in which the illness can be treated. Anti-depressant drugs have been around for many years in various different forms. For other types of depression, different pharmaceutical treatments are prescribed. Manic depression, for example, is often treated with a lithium compound which can stabilise mood swings.