Causes and Cures of Depression

by Rivka Levy

CAUSES AND CURES OF DEPRESSION is the ultimate pocket guide to understanding the real reasons why you're getting depressed, and what you can do to start making your depressions a thing of the past, the drug-free way.


You'll


What situations could be sparking-off your depressions;
What types of people to avoid, and how to set healthy emotional boundaries; and
Why tackling depression holistically, across mind, body and soul, will give you the best-ever chance of beating it for good.


You'll also discover why the infamous 'chemical imbalance' theory of depression is actually just an urban myth, uncover the mysterious energy dimension to depression called 'The Homolateral Energy State', and learn an easy method of overcoming depression that's scientifically-proven to be more effective and long-lasting than taking meds.


'Causes and Cures of Depression' also sets out practical strategies for how to stay out of depression, and what you need to do to turn things around once you're already depressed.

Genres: Mental Health

ebook

First published October 1, 2015

About the author

After 20 years’ experience as a journalist, ghostwriter and PR person, I took a few years’ off to learn about alternative health and to found the Jewish Emotional Health Institute (JEMI), that promotes God-based holistic health techniques.

Until a few of years’ ago, I thought I was pretty much done with writing – but man plans and God laughs. Since then, I've published a number of books, including:

HOLISTIC HEALTH TITLES:

*The Happy Workshop
*Talk to God and Fix Your Health: The Real Reasons Why We Get Sick and How To Stay Healthy
*49 Days: An Interactive Journal of Self-Development

**NEW BOOK**

*People Smarts: The System - Understand yourself, understand others, and crush your stress

JEWISH INTEREST TITLES:

*Unlocking the Secret of the Erev Rav
*One in a Generation, Volumes I & II, the biography of Rabbi Eliezer Berland
*The Secret Diary of a Jewish Housewife I - Move to the Golden City


**NEW BOOK**

*Questions for God - The Secret Diary of a Jewish Housewife II

I blog at: www.rivkalevy.com, so come say hello!

Reviews

[D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The truth is, I read this book a while ago, but I wanted to try out its recommendations in different situations before posting a review.
So here it is.
The author covers the following:
If you're already depressed or at the beginning of an emotional plummet
This book can help because it is so short and digestible. (If you've ever been depressed, you know that even normally manageable things become quite overwhelming, so a pocket book like this is your best bet.)
If you're not currently depressed
This is a great resource because following the recommended ideas and exercises really can prevent depression.
Furthermore, the author has tons of free stuff on her website that expand on the ideas in the book. (Several links are provided within the book.)

Also, I hadn't known about dealing with the body's energy meridians before, and I found that information to be very helpful. For example, it is a cinch to learn how to trace the spleen meridian to help alleviate or prevent depression -- and it takes only 5 seconds.
The book itself acknowledges that preventing depression is MUCH easier and more effective than wrangling your way out of it once you're already mired in. Even so, the author definitely provides effective suggestions for both prevention and healing.
Scientific evidence is also provided to back up the author's claims.
____________________________________________
But I wondered whether these ideas could help for depression that really IS chemically induced -- or rather, induced by your hormones.
This was my personal experiment as the book does not address hormonally induced depression separately.
So what about PMS or post-partum blues?
POST-PARTUM: The answer is yes -- with some adjustments. For example, sleep deprivation is a huge factor in post-partum depression and sleep deprivation can hit pretty fast -- like even while you're still at the hospital. It is a HUGE struggle, but focusing all your remaining mental energy on gratitude and things to be grateful for can really help, even if you're still at the hospital or in a situation where you can't follow all the recommendations in the book (like staying away from negative people, taking special baths, the exercises, or getting enough sleep or the right food). Notice I say they can help -- and help a lot -- but with post-partum blues, it can still be up-and-down because there is still so much else going on, both internally and externally. Nonetheless, the recommendations in this book do help.
PMS: Also yes, but if you are already in a PMS depression, it is very, very hard to get out at that point. Fortunately, PMS depression (as compared to other types of depression) is pretty short-term and you more or less know when it will end. ;)
However, following the exercises in this book do help, and prevention is the key here. (Tanking up on GLA via borage seed or primrose oil also greatly impacts PMS-prevention.) With PMS, the main thing is to follow the guidelines in the book and ask your body what it is trying to tell you regarding underlying causes (which the author covers in Chapter 1).
It's not "just hormones."
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In addition to my own experiences, I was strongly impacted by the experiences of others with depression.
Example #1: I've personally known normal, nice, competent, intelligent people who drifted into a depression that was treated psychiatrically, but then ballooned into non-specified mental illness, followed by trials of various medications and included temporary hospitalizations at a mental health institutions.
Example #2: I had to ease myself out of a friendship with someone who had been taking Prozac for 10 years because the Prozac desensitized her, causing the most hurtful things to come crowing out of her mouth, then followed by her mocking people the people she hurt, insisting that their hurt feelings indicated a need for them to be on medication, too.

Altogether, everything I've described here (and more) have convinced me of the need for deeper and more holistic approaches to depression, which deal with depression at its soul-source -- and that is what this book and its accompanying website succeed in doing.

I've been following this author for a while, before she started writing books, back when she focused on producing very eye-opening and helpful articles. This book is yet another jewel in her crown of well-researched and insightful work.

[Sarah Prais · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is well researched and full of easy-to-follow tips for people suffering from mild to moderate depression. The section on effect of spleen imbalance on mood was particularly interesting. The section about the dangers of medication made good points; however I felt that the author should have been more aware of the risks of discouraging people with clinical depression from getting the help they need.

[Troy Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very easy to read and is written in a way that's friendly and understanding. The book does an amazing job of explaining what’s really causing depression in a very straightforward way (useful when you’re finding it hard to think…) and describing the importance of understanding it. I’d never heard about homolateral energy before, but keen to learn more after reading this.