# Interesting little study on effective anxiety/depression treatments



## something6789 (Oct 7, 2013)

Stumbled upon this and thought I'd share:

http://curetogether.com/blog/2011/05/03/23-surprisingly-effective-treatments-for-depression-one-year-later/

Highlights of the article:

Highly effective (non-pharmaceutical) treatments:


exercise
spending time with pets
getting enough sleep
playing outside
meditation
talk therapy
massage
yoga
art therapy
talking with family and friends
sticking to a daily routine










Take note that exercise has the HIGHEST effectiveness.

I don't know the validity of the data but it seems rather intuitive. Although this is not directly related to "DP" it helps things many people with DP experience and so these things would ultimately help with recovery.


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## Surfer Rosa (Nov 27, 2015)

That is excellent. Every few months or so, I'll see a webpage that makes me wish I kept bookmarks.

I'd like to comment on a few of the treatments.

Xanax

I would imagine this works. It is somewhat similar to getting drunk to deal with despair, except for the fact that Xanax is a much simpler and more stable drug than alcohol. Many prescribers are hesitant to use benzodiazapines, because of 1.) how they might prevent someone from being inspired to make life changes (because the drug works so well), and 2.) the huge drug abuse problem in the US. However, effective and cautious use of benzodiazapines can be highly effective in most patients. Lots of times we look at what we are supposed to be doing to feel better, but we are in too much despair to actually take the healthy steps. It's hard to have a "pleasant conversation with friends," when our mind is going, "I'm going to die. I want to die. I don't want to die..."

Light Therapy

I've experienced huge success with light therapy. I haven't undergone any specific kind of light therapy, but I have installed applications on my electronic devices to change the hue of the screen, taking blue out of it. Now I can go right to be after using my devices and not be kept awake by blue-light that my mind interprets as the daytime sky. This daytime sky effect can start effecting your sleep, early as 5:00PM (or at least the app's functions indicate so), so I recommend you start using these free applications on your phones and computers.

Tai Chi & Yoga

Tai Chi has been super effective for me. If anything good came of the mix of eastern and western culture, it's yogic and martial arts practices. Our only equivalent involves doing work in place, or simply stretching out as if we were about to go to bed. Instead, these practices engage your whole body and mind, to do an exercise that can feel extremely satisfying. If you want to get entirely into the culture, but are agnostic/atheistic, that is fine too. Lots of people take the eastern religions as helpful folk-tales or anecdotes, and adopt the better practices involving peace, relaxation, kindness, etc.. Just be careful of the new-agey, overly mystical hacks. In conclusion: I would highly recommend, and you can check out martial arts like Shaolin as well.

Music Therapy
Maybe my music is not the most positive or calming, but music got me through the very worst parts of my life. If my music is no longer helpful, I can say it got me through the bottom 50% of my recovery. It's fulfilling, free, and always there for you. What other treatment can make all of those claims? Sharing and playing music with others is regarded by many people as the pinnacle of human experience. If you've outgrown or gotten bored with the music you have already discovered, you can always find something new and interesting. There are about 18 albums released in the US every day, and there are places for musical performance in every locale, except some rural areas might not take to your synth-pop or rap.


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