by James Strong

Created on: July 17, 2007

Are you prone to depression or taking an antidepressant, such as Prozac, Celexa or Paxil? If so and your depression has not ventured into the chronic disease arena, an alternative means to deal with this degenerating mood may be found no further than your refrigerator or supermarket.

A growing number of psychiatrists and researchers now recommend natural solutions to either replace or supplement current treatment for depression, which primarily focuses on antidepressants. The recommendations are significant, because since the dawn of time natural medicines have turned the pain of mental illness into a painless, stainless experience. Nowadays, however, natural remedies must yell and claw from a padded cell of neglect to gain recognition.

Nancy Schimelpfening, who is About.com's expert on depression, wrote an article titled "Vitamin for Depression?" explaining how vitamins and minerals help fight depression. Schimelpfening listed several vitamins and minerals that if taken in dosages recommended by current health professionals may bring some relief to those struggling with depression.

THE B-COMPLEX VITAMINS
"The B-complex vitamins," writes Schimelpfening, "are essential to mental and emotional well-being." Maintaining a sufficient amount of these vitamins in your system can fight not only depression, but also fatigue, irritability, anxiety and even thoughts of suicide. These vitamins include:

- Vitamin B1 (thiamine)
- Vitamin B3 (niacin)
- Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid)
- Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)
- Vitamin B12
- Folic acid
- Vitamin C.

The effectiveness of the B-complex vitamins is reduced when you digest too much alcohol, refined sugars, nicotine and caffeine. So you need to ingest these elements in moderation.

MINERALS
While the presence of the B-complex vitamins may reduce depression, a deficiency of minerals may cause depression. Schimelpfening notes the following minerals, a lack of which can also cause confusion, nervousness, apathy and hallucinations:

- Magnesium
- Calcium
- Zinc
- Iron
- Manganese
- Potassium.

When a person suffering from depression cries "Help, help!", some mental health experts are quick to prescribe antidepressants, which ironically may result in addiction to the antidepressants. When appropriate, necessity urges natural means. If the depressed person's diet does not contain enough depression-reducing vitamins and minerals, and under the supervision of a health or mental health professional, perhaps a simple change in diet or the addition of vitamin-mineral supplements can help.

Indeed, there is the hint of a healthy unhealthy compromise to this natural remedy: The vitamins we take can soothe our minds; the minerals we lack may wreck our minds.

Source
(http://depression.about.com/cs/diet/a/v itamin.htm)

Learn more about this author, James Strong.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.