Natural Ways to Beat Depression

• There's evidence that vitamin D influences depression. Vitamin D deficiency, which often occurs in older adults, has been shown to be related to low mood and cognitive difficulties. The recommended daily dose of vitamin D was recently raised to 600 international units (IUs) for everyone up to age 71 and to 800 IUs for those 71 and older. Some experts still think this is too low and argue that more study is needed.
• The herb St. John's wort "has been demonstrated effective compared with placebo for more mild to moderate depression," says Dr. Freeman, who chairs the American Psychiatric Association's Task Force on Complementary and Alternative Medicine. She cautions that you not use St. John's wort without a doctor's supervision, due to various interactions the herb has with other drugs. St. John's wort acts like an antidepressant, so should not be taken with other antidepressants. It also interferes with the proper functioning of oral contraceptives, immunosuppressants, HIV medications, and oral anticoagulants, among others.
• Light therapy—originally used to treat seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a type of depression linked to the dark days of winter—is now showing year-round benefits for general depression. "It looks effective for major depressive disorder, even if it's not seasonally related," Dr. Freeman says. The light boxes studied in research provide 10,000 lux of bright light. You sit in front of the light (it's angled above eye level) for about 20 to 30 minutes each day, in the morning.