Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act, and helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices.

We all experience anxiety or depression from time to time. Depressive disorder, or depression, is a common mental health condition that can happen to anyone. Possibility that we have the capacity to maintain our brain health and prevent poor brain health outcomes by focusing on unprocessed foods and movement in the long term.

Bright light exposure also has some antidepressant effects for patients with nonseasonal depression, although the magnitude of the effects is smaller, less predictable, and may be less sustained. Light therapy is generally well tolerated; insomnia is probably the most common side effect of depressions.

In other words, in areas with larger seasonal changes in hours of daylight or areas with higher annual percent of cloudy days, the prevalence of SAD is higher.

Bright light early in the morning seems to be most effective. In most trials of light therapy, the patient receives 2000-10,000 lux for 30-120 minutes daily.

Nutrients are essential for optimal production of neurotransmitters affecting mood such as serotonin (made from tryptophan with B vitamins and zinc as cofactors).

Long-term meditators compared with age-matched controls exhibit increased cortical thickness in brain regions associated with attention and sensory processing, including the prefrontal cortex. Side effects of meditation may include improved ability to cope with stress, reduced pain, reduced anxiety, and enhanced immune function.

Wake up the body, uplift the spirit, and aid secondary concerns coexisting with mood symptoms (ie. lack of nourishment, chronic stress, digestive upset, etc)

HERBS which can help to reduce stress and imrove mood

Analgesic: soothes and relieves pain. Also known as anodyne.

Lavender, rosemary, ginger, turmeric

Hypnotic: deep healing and induces sleep.

Kava Kava, valerian, passionflower

Sedative: calms and soothes the mind and body.

Melissa, chamomile, verbena

Anxiolytic: relieves mental and physical symptoms of anxiety.

Cannabidiol, ashwagandha, saffron

https://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/medscape-now-hot-topics-neurologic-and-mental-health-june-2024a1000aot/1

https://www.who.int/health-topics/depression#tab=tab_1