Today is Bell's Let's Talk day. A day where they will donate 5¢ for every applicable text, call, tweet, social media video view and use of their Facebook frame or Snapchat filter. It's a day to raise awareness of mental health issues and to help end the stigma that surrounds mental health disorders.

Why is there such a stigma that surrounds mental health disorders? It's not like a person chooses to them. Throughout my life I have experienced many bouts of depression. And because of the stigma that surrounds being depressed, I have kept it to myself. Luckily my depression wasn't too serious and I was able to work with my tools to move through it.

Depression is a really hard to thing to go through. You often feel alone, misunderstood, unmotivated to take care of yourself, and helpless. Many, many years ago, after having our son, I became really depressed. When I saw the doctor, she had me answer some questions, then told me that I should try an antidepressant and sent me home with a few samples. She told me to come back when I picked the pill I liked the best.

When I tried one of the sample the next day, I found myself super stoned and very scared. Seriously, I was sinking into the couch, I could barely move, and my body and mind felt completely detached from reality. That pill clearly wasn't for me and I was too afraid to try the others. 

I didn't realize it at the time, but now I understand why the antidepressant didn't work for me. It was because my depression was not caused by a form of depression that can be successfully treated with a SSRI medication (anti-depressants).

In this post, Dr. William J. Walsh, PhD talks about The Five Biotypes of Depression & Advanced Nutrient Therapies. It is a huge eye opener!!

I learned that, not all forms of depression respond well to anti-depressant medications. In fact some forms of depression can actually get worse with SSRI's.

I now know that the depression I was experiencing was most likely related to thyroid issues and heavy metal toxicity, and this type of depression often doesn't respond well to anti-depressants. 

I am a firm believer that getting to the root cause is super important, not just with depression, but with all disease. We live in a world where the conventional medical systems is not about healing, but about band-aiding up symptoms. This system leaves a large number of people chasing symptoms with medications that are causing more symptoms and dysfunction.

While there are some medications that are absolutely necessary and life saving, including anti-depressants, there are many times that I have seen drugs prescribed and not be effective or make things worse. And that's just outright scary!!

That is why getting to the root cause is so important. If you suffer from depression and take medications, have you ever stopped to thinkwhy do I feel this way? or do you simply fill the prescription and hope for the best?

It is important to know where your depression is coming from so that you can put the best recovery plan in action. You want to be weary of standard protocols that treat your depression the same as the person next to you. Remember we are all different and what works for one person might not work for the next. This goes for food and for the medications we are prescribed.

Listen to your body. It is very wise and knows what it needs to be happy and healthy. If you are taking anti-depressant drugs and not feeling better, it's a sign from your body that you need to look at different avenues for healing. Seek help from a professional who can help you get to the root cause of your depression so you can live life to the fullest!

Please share if you know someone who could benefit from this post.