We all go through periods of depression and stress. Maybe it's because of the weather-you know, a change of season. Or for women, it could be "that time of month." Of course, pressures at the office don't help, nor do tense relationships or problems at home. Then there are additives in foods and side effects from medications that can cause chemical imbalances that may lead to depression and stress.

Basic Solutions
If you are really ready to help yourself, you might start by cutting down on your sugar intake. Excessive sugar can help cause depression, nervous anxiety and spurts of energy followed by extreme fatigue. Caffeine products (such as coffee, non-herbal tea, cola, chocolate and some medications), cigarettes and alcoholic beverages may also contribute to nervous anxiety, depression and highs and lows of energy. Take them out of your life. They're taking the life out of you.

Natural home remedies
Lying down, in a dark room, maybe getting a 1/2 hour of sleep,will always make you feel better. Add a handful of fresh Rose petals to a cup of boiling water. Add sugar and drink as and when a feeling of depression sets in. Boil some seeds of cardamom in water with tea. It will give a very pleasing aroma to the tea.

Dietary Remedies
Have a pizza with lots of oregano. If you don't have the oregano, forget the pizza. In fact, forget the pizza and just have the oregano. Oregano may ease that depressed, heavyhearted feeling. If you have a juicer, whip up half a glass of watercress and half a glass of spinach. Throw in some carrots to make the juice sweeter. Then, bottoms up and spirits up. Eat two ripe bananas a day to chase the blues away. Bananas contain the chemicals serotonin and norepinephrine, which are believed to help prevent depression.

Other Mood Lifters
While running a warm bath, prepare a cup of chamomile tea. Add the used tea bag to the bath, along with a new one. If you use loose chamomile, wrap the herb in cheesecloth before putting it in the tub to avoid messy cleanup. Once the bath is ready, take a pen and paper along with your cup of tea and relax in the tub. Make a list of a dozen wishes as you sip your tea. Be careful.. the things you wish for may come true.

To lighten a heavy heart, drink saffron tea and/or thyme tea that has been sweetened with honey. (Incidentally, "thyme" was originally called "wild time" because it was thought to be an aphrodisiac.).

Sniffing citrus essential oils every hour you're awake may help you get out of a funk. You can buy lemon or orange oil at a health food store. Do not take the essential oils internally. If you have a citrus fruit in your kitchen, you can use a cardboard cutter to carefully make slits the peel and squeeze it so that the volatile seeps out. Then take a whiff hourly.

Cheer yourself up by wearing rose colors-pinks and scarlets. The orange family of colors are also picker-uppers. Making love can help people overcome feelings of depression-unless, of course, they have no one to make love to and thats they're depressed. If you're mildly depressed, simply change your physiology and your emotions will follow suit. In other words, do the physical things you do when you're happy-and you'll feel happy. Smile! Laugh! Jump up and down! Sing! If you're not willing to go along with this suggestion, then you're not willing to let go of your depression. There's nothing wrong with staying in a funk for a brief period. . .as long as. you understand that it is your choice.