Depression is a serious medical condition that an estimated 19 million people suffer from on a yearly basis. A large number of individuals do not seek treatment for a depressive condition; however, such a condition often requires crucial attention in order to prevent the condition from worsening or other conditions from developing. Generally, those that suffer from this condition have a lack of energy or motivation, they lose interest in activities that were once enjoyed, have a loss of appetite, or become easily frustrated and irritable, which often interferes with daily life–work, family, and socialization. However, such a condition has become widely recognized and accepted over the years with the over-whelming number of people–children and adults alike–that suffer from depression.
Depression is not a condition to be ashamed of, and is an understandably accepted occurrence in today’s society. With mild, moderate, and even severe anxiety, there are all natural treatment options available–such as the use of fish oils. When most people seek treatment for depression they are initially prescribed medication from their physician in the form of a pill or are referred to a therapist for further evaluation of the condition. Although these anti-depressant medicines may work, there have been several dangerous side-effects linked with anti-depressant medications and the individuals that suffer from depression and take these medications on a regular basis.
If these side-effects occur, it could further hinder those that take the prescribed medications. In more severe cases, there have even been anti-depressant medications that have been linked to suicide or suicidal thoughts and tendencies. However, there is an all natural, side-effect free way to help fight depression and gain your life back. It has been scientifically proven that the use of fish oils is linked with increased serotonin levels in the body, which directly help ease symptoms of depression. Additionally, a daily intake of fish oil greatly helps to reduce, or even cure, a depressive condition.
What Causes Depression?
Depression is caused by physical changes in the brain and an imbalance of chemicals–neurotransmitters–that carry the brain signals to your nerves. Specifically, low serotonin levels in the brain are responsible for depressive changes. There is not one particular cause that triggers depression, and it usually develops from exposure to several different factors together. Such as genetics, which means the condition very well could have been passed on from a parent or from past generations. If you are aware of relatives that have suffered from depressive episodes or long term depression, the odds of developing the condition yourself automatically increase.
Traumatic events and stress are also substantial causes of depression. In today’s economy, people are stricken with financial woes and fears of where their next paycheck may come from or how to put dinner on the table. Also, those that suffer the loss of a loved one, or a person carrying a traumatic experience, such as an assault, with them on a daily basis also commonly battle depression. Most people often think individuals with low self-esteem already suffer from depression, and simply have low self-esteem because they are depressed. On the contrary, those that lack self-confidence or self-esteem are often found to be pessimistic people by nature, and eventually exhibit depressive symptoms at some point in their lives after dealing with low self-esteem issues for a substantial period of time. Individuals that are products of a sexually, physically, or emotionally abusive environment, or an environment with constant conflicts, such as an impending divorce, often develop a case of depression.
The consumption of certain medications have also been linked to cases of depression. It has been found that many individuals that suffer from high blood pressure and take medication to help control such conditions, such as beta blockers or reserpine, often develop depression because of the interference in the transmission of the neurotransmitters in the brain. Additionally, there are also individuals that suffer from other physical and medical conditions–such as cancer, HIV and AIDS, or even heart failure–that struggle to come to grips with the fact that they may have a decreased or limited amount of time with family and friends, and are unable to accomplish all of their desires before leaving everyone and everything behind them. With What is Emotional Sobriety and Why Is it Important, it has been established that other conditions often accompany depression. These other conditions include, but are not limited to, anxiety, schizophrenia, eating disorders, as well as substance abuse in order to acquire a small level of relief from such depression conditions. With the daily intake of fish oils, however, the odds of developing depression or additional condition that coincide with depression greatly decrease or become eliminated all together.
Why Use Fish Oils to Treat Depression?
There have been many beneficial scientific studies, which have shown that increased levels of omega-3 rich fish oils greatly decrease the symptoms of depression, and possibly even cure depression all together. In 1993, a psychiatrist from Harvard’s McLean Hospital stumbled across the link between omega-3 fatty acids and fish oils to decrease or eliminate symptoms of depression while researching for a new treatment to be used against manic depressive disorder, otherwise known as bi-polar disorder. In 1998, the first study results were released and published in the ‘Journal of Affective Disorders’, stating that individuals with lower than average levels of omega-3 fatty acids–found abundantly in fish oils–in their red blood cell membranes were prone to develop a depression condition or already suffer from a depressive disorder.
An article following in 1999 by a group of medical doctors was published in the ‘Archives of General Psychiatry’, declared results they found in a controlled study group of 30 severely depressed individuals, which received omega-3 fatty acids via fish oils. More than 60 percent of individuals in the controlled group that received a mere 10 grams of the omega-3 rich fish oils marked a vast improvement when the 10 grams of fish oils were taken on a daily basis for a 4 month period. In other countries with higher fish consumption, due to fish being the main delicacy, it has also been found that those societies in whole have tremendously lower rates of depression overall, which also directly enables scientists to further accredit their study results. Also, in 2007 a study was conducted that included 10 clinical trials of individuals suffering from varying levels of depression, which studied the effects of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oils, and the correlation between increased levels of fish oils and depression.
The conclusion of the studies found that fish oils, which are polyunsaturated fats that can not be produced by the body naturally and are derived mainly from the consumption of sea foods, had a significant impact on decreasing depression symptoms and essentially the fish oils acted as an anti-depressant. Scientists and researchers alike are pushing for the natural, side-effect free fish oils to be used more widely in order to help treat or cure depression, which in turn will help alleviate other conditions that are often developed due to depressive conditions. Given the largely positive results from the years of research, it is widely concluded that the use of fish oils is imperative to proper bodily functions and the reduction or complete elimination of depression symptoms.
How Fish Oils Decrease Depression
Biochemical researchers point out that cell membranes are all partially made up of omega-3 fatty acids, meaning the brain is made up of these omega-3 fatty acids, and the walls of neurons are also made up of the omega-3 fatty acids derived from fish oils. As a matter of fact, researchers from Harvard’s McLean Hospital say that most of the brain’s dry weight is made up from fat. Fish oils contain essential fatty acids that are not found in our bodies naturally, and our bodies only receive the beneficial fish oils through our diets. Fish oils cannot be manufactured or synthetically created–it must be ingested from a natural source or a source created with the natural fish oil ingredients.
If individuals increased their daily intake of the omega-3 fatty acids by consuming more essential omega-3 fatty acids, such as fish oils–by taking pill supplements or adding fish to their diet 2 or 3 times per week–it would be made simpler for serotonin–the chemical that carries messages from one brain cell to another–to pass through cell membranes, which would regulate bodily functions and minimize or eliminate symptoms of depression conditions. Since omega-3 fatty acids–found in fish oils–directly affect serotonin levels in the brain, as well as change the way our bodies function, the use of fish oils is strongly recommended, and there have even been talks of prescribing the omega-3 rich fish oils along with medications such as Prozac.
What Causes Low Levels of Omega-3 and Serotonin?
Researchers have found through multiple studies over the years that, within the last several decades, changes in dietary habits–such as ridding diets of saturated fats and cholesterol, found in red meats or eggs–are contributors to increasing low levels of the omega-3 fatty acids found in the body because the items cut from daily diets are rich sources of the omega-3 fatty acids. In today’s society, and with the many medial advancements and findings on cholesterol and hyper tension, doctors are increasingly counseling their patients to remove or reduce the amount of foods that once supplied them with the proper levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which were keeping serotonin levels in check.
