While the day could keep going and pass us by, barely even noticing it, let's take some time right now, yes, now to do so. Put everything aside and just notice for a few minutes what is going on inside and around you. Use this guided relaxation to give yourself a moment of relaxation, of deeper reflection. This is a chance to step back from all the 'doing and just 'be'. You will be amazed at what can come out of such an opportunity. I invite you to give it a try and share your experiences with us below.

We are living in tough times. It seems, in this world of the 24/7 news cycle, and constant streams of information, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. Anti-depressant use is at an all-time high. According to the US Government Statisticians who published the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a whopping one in every 10 Americans are taking some type of antidepressant, and a full 23% of American women in their 40’s and 50’s rely on them daily. There are those who say this is a good thing, because depression has been under-diagnosed and under-treated in the past, but other critics say that aggressive pharmaceutical marketing may be, in part, responsible for the 400% rise in antidepressant prescription use in recent years, and antidepressant usage certainly does not come without significant risk and side effects. What if there is some middle ground? What are the secrets used by people who seem “happy”? Keep reading for 10 strategies that actually work to help you to feel better, and take control of your mental health.

We have all heard that laughing is good for our health. But now there are studies proving that laughter improves cognition, insomnia and depression. So, here is what researchers found when they put 48 elderly through laughter therapy.

Noradrenergic dysfunction is caused by an irregularity on the Noradrenergic neuronic system, which is responsible for the mechanisms that regulate the release and synthesis of the neurotransmitter called noradrenaline, also know as norepinephrine.

A meta –analysis of 27 studies, involving 3,126 subjects diagnosed with depression, has revealed that St. John’s Wort extract is equally effective to antidepressants, and have superior safety for treating depression.

The onset of depression is far more complex than a chemical imbalance. If depression could be cured by improving an imbalance, there would be a much higher success rate for the current antidepressant medications on the market today. Antidepressant medications are ineffective for about 50% of patients.

Antidepressant use can be risky to unborn babies. New research from Canada highlights the dangers of antidepressants taken during the first 3 months of pregnancy.

Music therapy has many benefits including stress management and pain relief. Researchers also find it beneficial for children and adolescents suffering from depression.

Botulinum toxin A, also known as Botox, could be a welcome wrinkle in the treatment of depression. A new report presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association noted that the drug beat placebo in managing this all-too-common condition.

In a first study published in the journal Lancet researchers have found mindfulness therapy, also known as cognitive behavioral therapy to be as effective as antidepressant medications that can often have side effects that are intolerable.

Although Facebook has made it easier than ever to stay connected with friends and family, spending too much time on the social network has been linked to depressive symptoms.

It’s still too early to tell, but treating severe depression could be a matter of giving a dose of laughing gas. No joke. Results of a proof-of-concept clinical trial suggest that nitrous oxide could be a quick and temporary treatment for depression that has not responded to other therapy.

Major depression is characterized by mood symptoms, disturbances in sleep, appetite, energy, psychomotor function and suicidality. Cognitive disturbances like problems with learning and episodic memory while an integral part of major depression have been relatively neglected until recently primarily because the available treatments have shown little efficacy in improving these symptoms. Only 35% of patients with MDD achieved remission on monotherapy with citalopram in the STAR-D trial and even after four levels of treatment almost 40% of patients had not achieved remission. Moreover the rates of relapse and recurrence were extremely high over a one year follow up period even in those who achieved remission.