Depression affects billions worldwide as a part of a silent epidemic of mental diseases. According to The Lancet Global Health journal 2020 estimation, mental diseases might affect one billion people worldwide, with depression being highest contributor on the list. Approximately 250 million people are struggling with these conditions globally, with numbers increasing yearly. At this moment, medication is the main cure, worth $15B each year.
There has been a failure of modern psychiatry and science to provide explanation of depression and the typical pharmaceutical medications based on the Serotonin Hypothesis are not effective with many side effects, with many patients becoming more and more treatment resistant, forcing scientists and researchers to find alternatives.
The following alternatives have been found to be working most potentially, and surprisingly enough, they are all natural:-
- Natural Medicines: which include Holy Plant-based Medicines such as the Holy Medicine of the Holy and Divine Mother Ayahuasca, and Psychedelics such as Psilocybin found in Magic Mushrooms etc. The ritual-based Sacred Ceremonial healing modalities, especially organised around the Holy Medicine of the Holy and Divine Mother Ayahuasca, have inspired researchers to look at mental diseases differently, helping them come up with different methods like Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy (PAP), to treat depression with a deeper understanding. For example, Psilocybin showed evidence of improvement across most depression measures including anxiety symptoms, work, social functioning, suicidal feelings, psychological wellbeing, etc. The side-effects of the medicines were found to be much higher than Psilocybin, where the medicines had drowsiness, dry mouth, sexual dysfunction, and anxiety, the Psilocybin group had only minor headache the following day of consuming the medicine.
- Meditation: is a natural cure for depression, with countless research supporting the benefits of meditation from all across the globe.
- Community: being around family, friends and a trusted community is known to be a cure for depression, which is also known to increase longevity and quality of life, with many studies done on the subject. Certain specific communities in the world have been studied uncovering the secrets behind their happiness and longevity, which was community.
- Serving and Helping Others: also known as ‘seva’ in hindi and Sanskrit, serving others and helping others has been known to bring about fulfilment and happiness in life.
