Ayurvedic and herbal products belong to the Alternative methods of treating any disease.

Can ayurvedic or herbal treatments Cure Depression?
Because Ayurveda believes that Human Body positively respond to the natural healing which includes natural remedies. It might take some long time(with compare to Allopathic methods) to achieve full cure from Depression with help of Herbal medicines, but when you are fully cured then it would last throughout your life. Herbal medicines dosn't make you dependent and the best part is that There is almost NO side effect in most of the herbal products.

What Is Depression?

Depression (everyday general usage) commonly refers to a downturn in mood which may be relatively transitory and perhaps due to something trivial. The common usage of this term differs significantly from the medical term clinical depression, which is a mental disorder marked by symptoms that last two weeks or more and are so severe that they interfere with daily living.

In the field of psychiatry the term depression can also have the everyday general meaning but it refers more specifically to a mental disorder when it has reached a severity and duration to warrant a diagnosis. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) states that a depressed mood is often reported as being: "... depressed, sad, hopeless, discouraged, or 'down in the dumps'."

In a clinical setting, a depressed mood can be something a patient reports (a symptom), or something a clinician observes (a sign), or both.

Clinical depression (also called major-depressive disorder or unipolar depression) is a psychiatric disorder, characterized by a pervasive low mood, loss of interest in usual activities and diminished ability to experience pleasure.

Although the term "depression" is commonly used to describe a temporary depressed mood when one "feels blue", clinical depression is a serious and often disabling condition that can significantly affect a person's work, family and school life, sleeping and eating habits, general health and ability to enjoy life. The course of clinical depression varies widely: depression can be a once in a life-time event or have multiple recurrences, it can appear either gradually or suddenly, and either last for a few months or be a life-long disorder. Having depression is a major risk factor for suicide; in addition, people with depression suffer from higher mortality from other causes.

Clinical depression may be isolated or be a secondary result of a primary condition such as bipolar disorder or chronic pain. When specific treatment is indicated, this is usually psychotherapy and antidepressants.

Signs and symptoms

Clinical depression can present with a variety of symptoms, however almost all patients display a marked change in mood, a deep feeling of sadness, and a noticeable loss of interest or pleasure in favorite activities. Other symptoms include:

Persistent sad, anxious or "empty" mood

Loss of appetite and/or weight loss or conversely overeating and weight gain

Insomnia, early-morning awakening, or oversleeping

Restlessness or irritability

Psychomotor agitation or psychomotor retardation

Feelings of worthlessness, inappropriate guilt, helplessness

Feelings of hopelessness, pessimism

Difficulty thinking, concentrating, remembering or making decisions

Thoughts of death or suicide or attempts at suicide

Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities that were once enjoyed

Withdrawl from social situations, family and friends

Decreased energy, fatigue, feeling "slowed down" or sluggish

Persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment, such as headaches, digestive problems, and chronic pain

Not all patients will present every symptom, and the severity of symptoms will vary widely among individuals. Symptoms must, however, persist for at least two weeks before being considered a potential sign of depression, with the exception of suicidal thoughts or attempts.

Diagnosis of clinical depression in children is more difficult than in adults and is often left undiagnosed, and thus untreated, because the symptoms in children are often written off as normal childhood moodiness. Diagnosis is also made difficult because children are more likely than adults to show different symptoms depending on the situation.

While some children still function reasonably well, most who are suffering depression will suffer from a noticeable change in their social activities and life, a loss of interest in school and poor academic performance, and possibly drastic changes in appearance. They may also begin abusing drugs and/or alcohol, particularly past the age of 12. Although much rarer than in adults, children with major depression may attempt suicide or have suicidal thoughts even before the age of twelve.

Diagnosis

Before a diagnosis of depression is made, a physician should perform a complete medical exam to rule out any possible physical cause for the suspected depression. If no such cause is found, a psychological evaluation should be done by the physician or by referral to a psychiatrist or psychologist. The evaluation will include a complete history of symptoms, a discussion of alcohol and drug use, and whether the patient has had or is having suicidal thoughts or thinking about death. The evaluation will also include a family medical history to see if other family members suffer from any form of depression or similar mood disorder.

There are several criteria lists and diagnostic tools that can also aid in the diagnosis of depression. Most are based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), which is a book published by the American Psychiatric Association that defines the criteria used to diagnose various mental disorders, including depression.

The Beck Depression Inventory, originally created by Dr. Aaron T. Beck in 1961, is a 21-question patient completed survey that covers items related to the basic symptoms of depression, such as hopelessness and irritability, cognitions such as guilt or feelings of being punished, as well as physical symptoms such as fatigue, weight loss, and lack of interest in sex. The Beck Inventory is one of the most widely used diagnostic tools for self-diagnosis of depression, although its primary purpose is not the diagnosis of depression, but determining the severity and presence of symptoms.

There are also two Patient Health Questionnaires available that are also self-administered questionnaires. The PHQ-2 has only two questions that asks about the frequency of depressed mood and a loss of interest in doing things, with a positive to either question indicating the need for further testing. The PHQ-9 is a slightly more detailed nine question survey covering some of the major symptoms of depression and the frequency a person has experienced them. It is based directly on the diagnostic criteria listed in the DSM-IV and often used as a follow up to a positive PHQ-2 test.

Following are some disorders which feature depression : -

Dysthymia is a chronic, mild depression in which a person suffers from a depressive mood almost daily over a span of at least two years without episodes of major depression. The symptoms are not as severe as those for major depression, although people with dysthymia are vulnerable to co-occurring episodes of major depression (sometimes referred to as "double depression").

Bipolar disorder is an episodic illness characterized by alternating states of mania, hypomania and depression. In the United States, bipolar disorder was previously called "manic depression", however this term is no longer favored by the medical community.

Postnatal depression or postpartum depression is a form of clinical depression that occurs after childbirth. Postnatal depression primarily occurs in women, less commonly in men, with similar symptoms and treatment methods as clinical depression, however postnatal depression generally lasts only a few weeks with proper diagnosis and treatment.

Recurrent brief depression (RBD) is distinguished from clinical depression primarily by differences in duration. Patients with RBD have depressive episodes about once per month, with individual episodes lasting less than two weeks and typically less than 2–3 days. Diagnosis of RBD requires that the episodes occur over the span of at least one year and, in female patients, independently of the menstrual cycle. People with clinical depression can develop RBD, and vice versa, with both illnesses having similar risks.

Overlapping psychological features : -

Anxiety

The different types of depression and anxiety are classified separately by the DSM-IV-TR, with the exception of hypomania, which is included in the bipolar disorder category. Despite the different categories, depression and anxiety can indeed be co-occurring (occurring together), independently (without mood congruence), or comorbid (occurring together, with overlapping symptoms, and with mood congruence). In an effort to bridge the gap between the DSM-IV-TR categories and what clinicians actually encounter, experts such as Herman Van Praag of Maastricht University have proposed ideas such as anxiety/aggression-driven depression. This idea refers to an anxiety/depression spectrum for these two disorders, which differs from the mainstream perspective of discrete diagnostic categories.

Although there is no specific diagnostic category for the comorbidity of depression and anxiety in the DSM or ICD, the National Comorbidity Survey (US) reports that 58 percent of those with major depression also suffer from lifetime anxiety. Supporting this finding, two widely accepted clinical colloquialisms include

Agitated depression - a state of depression that presents as anxiety and includes akathisia (heightened restlessness), suicide, insomnia (not early morning wakefulness), nonclinical (meaning "doesn't meet the standard for formal diagnosis") and nonspecific panic, and a general sense of dread.

Akathitic depression - a state of depression that presents as anxiety or suicidality and includes akathisia but does not include symptoms of panic. Some consider it a form of mixed state.

Even mild anxiety symptoms can have a major impact on the course of a depressive illness, and the commingling of any anxiety symptoms with the primary depression is important to consider. A pilot study by Ellen Frank et al., at the University of Pittsburgh, found that depressed or bipolar patients with lifetime panic symptoms experienced significant delays in their remission. These patients also had higher levels of residual impairment, or the ability to get back into the swing of things. On a similar note, Robert Sapolsky of Stanford University and others also argue that the relationship between stress, anxiety, and depression could be measured and demonstrated biologically. To that point, a study by Heim and Nemeroff et al., of Emory University, found that depressed and anxious women with a history of childhood abuse recorded higher heart rates and the stress hormone ACTH when subjected to stressful situations.

Hypomania

Hypomania, as the name suggests, is a state of mind or behavior that is "below" (hypo) mania. In other words, a person in a hypomanic state often displays behavior that has all the hallmarks of a full-blown mania (e.g., marked elevation of mood that is characterized by euphoria, overactivity, disinhibition, impulsivity, a decreased need for sleep, hypersexuality), but these symptoms, though disruptive and seemingly out of character, are not so pronounced as to be considered a diagnosably manic episode. In a psychiatric context, it is important to identify the possible presence and characteristics of manic and hypomanic episodes, since these may lead to a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, which is medically treated differently from depression.

Another important point is that hypomania is a diagnostic category that includes both anxiety and depression. It often presents as a state of anxiety that occurs in the context of a clinical depression. Patients in a hypomanic state often describe a sense of extreme generalized or specific anxiety, recurring panic attacks, night terrors, guilt, and agency (as it pertains to codependence and counterdependence). All of this happens while they are in a state of retarded or somnolent depression. This is the type of depression in which a person is lethargic and unable to move through life. The terms retarded and somnolent are shorthand for states of depression that include lethargy, hypersomnia, a lack of motivation, a collapse of ADLs (activities of daily living), and social withdrawal. This is similar to the shorthand used to describe an "agitated" or "akathitic" depression.

In considering the hypomania-depression connection, a distinction should be made between anxiety, panic, and stress. Anxiety is a physiological state that is caused by the sympathetic nervous system. Anxiety does not need an outside influence to occur. Panic is related to the "fight or flight" mechanism. It is a reaction, induced by an outside stimulus, and is a product of the sympathetic nervous system and the cerebral cortex. More plainly, panic is an anxiety state that we are thinking about. Finally, stress is a psychosocial reaction, influenced by how a person filters nonthreatening external events. This filtering is based on one's own ideas, assumptions, and expectations.

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