Depression

There are many people in this world who crave for being loved and admired. They always long for praise. If you are one such a person, you are bound to feel severely upset when one criticises you. That way you would set yourself up for emotional outbursts at all times. Addictions to praise would place you to extreme vulnerability.

After years of anger, resentment and fighting, one wife reported to her mother the loss of her husband who had abandoned her. Her mother gave her some good advice. Based on those advice, while she initiated no contacts with her husband, she responded positively and affectionately to his calls. Rather than reacting to all the things about him that she did not like, she started responding to him in an upbeat positive and complimentary manner. Then he started re-visiting her from time to time. Every time he visited her, he was sumptuously fed with food, praise, affection and sex. At all those times, she avoided any criticism, arguments, demands or hostility. In a way she guaranteed that her behavior was pleasant to him. You know then what happened.

It is a case where a wife stopped consuming her energy in anger and depression. Instead she started focussing her efforts on motivating the husband. In the process she ‘shaped’ the behavior of her husband using rewards rather than nagging. The best part of the whole exercise was that her motivation technique improved her own mood as well. Her mother must have told her that

‘Nothing happens the way you want until you learn to motivate the other person to give you what you want.’

Symptoms of depression are insomnia, lack of concentration, fatigue and suicidal thoughts. If you are really affected by depression, you need to develop understanding of the others and compassion. You can also take up community service. Never keep idle. Keep doing something constructive. Even hobbies would do. Or keep reading and do physical exercises.

Depression is a mental problem and there can be really no external medicine to cure the patient. No pill can cure the mentally ill. The only cure is correcting your perceptions of the world and bring joy to yourself. The following Home Medicine can be tried.

1 In thin boiling tea water, add 1/4 tsp powdered cardamom seeds and drink

2 Mix 1/8 tsp nutmerg powder with 1 tbsp fresh amla juice and take 3 times a day