Dr. Connie Omari:
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All right, it’s time for the show. Here is your host, Dr. Connie Omari. Dr. Connie Omari specializes in working with women, families, and children who are struggling with trauma, depression, and anxiety. Today, I’m here because I want to talk to you about 10 natural treatments for reducing depression. This is very important because we live in a society where a lot of times people just deal with depression because they don’t want to have to deal with the psychotropic medication way of maybe going through a nurse practitioner or working with a doctor. So stay tuned. And I’ll give you 10 tips that will hopefully help you get on the right track and be able to manage your depression in a healthy and natural way. The first thing I want to advise is that you set goals. Okay, it’s very easy. When you’re struggling with depression and get kind of in a fog, as it was, I would like to say, Well, you don’t want to go anywhere; you don’t want to do anything. But that just kind of gives in to the depressive symptoms. So I’d like to encourage you to instead find a way to step outside of that. And be really intentional about trying to develop something that’s important to you. Come up with something that’s important to you and focus on that so that you can work to reduce your depressive symptoms.
The next thing I want you to do is take on more responsibilities again. We can easily get into a place where we don’t want to get out of bed or don’t want to deal with anything. You might not want to go to work, and we might not want to take care of your kids. Well, this is a time when it’s even more important that you do something. Because if you don’t, we’re going to, again, find ourselves really stuck. And that’s not going to help you break the pattern of depression. Next, I advise that you do something new. I mean, sometimes people want to do things like go to a restaurant and eat their favorite food. I know personally that I like Ethiopian food. And it was like going to the movies, and sometimes I find myself not having a partner who can do those things with me. So I have to do it by myself. And when you do these things for yourself, you’re challenging yourself to step outside of what you’re used to to do something that you enjoy. Getting a good night’s sleep isn’t very important. I know it’s very difficult to get sleep, especially when you’re depressed, and a lot of times it’s one of the major symptoms of depression. If you haven’t the time, go and look at my advice corner on my website, which is www.tiktok.com. I have a full video on how to get better sleep. But you do want to certainly try as much as possible to focus on your sleep so that you can at least have some form of energy to be able to face the feelings of depression that you will have while awake.
Next, I encourage you to challenge your negative thoughts. I know you know that depression is real. And I’m not one of those people who says, Just get over it and deal with it. But you know, you do have a certain amount of time to try to be intentional about working with your thoughts. And there are many ways that we can do that; of course, at the end of this video, I’ll let you know how to get in touch with me. But there are resources on the internet, right? Now, there are creative ways that you can go about doing things, and there’s tons of information on how you can challenge your negative thoughts. So I strongly encourage you to get into one. Next, I encourage you to try to find a routine. Each of us again falls into the ability to just really get used to our feelings and get used to where we are, and you’ve got to break that because if you don’t, you’re going to find yourself feeling the same way a month from now, three months from now, or six months from now.
And chances are, if you’re watching this video, you’re probably tired of hearing it that way. So it’s a good way to learn to manage time and opportunities to get into a routine and do something. So next, try to get some exercise, okay? Exercise is good because it boosts the feel-good hormone endorphins. So I’m not saying you have to run a half marathon. But you know, get out there and walk in with a kit, or I know some people will get a little watch that will monitor their steps. If you have steps in your home or maybe go walk around the block to supplement that, it can get your endorphins up here, which are associated with feeling better. So please try to tap into that. Next, I would encourage you to get healthcare. Specific foods that will be helpful with that are foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon and tuna, or formic acids, such as spinach and avocado. And research shows that these types of foods actually help reduce depression. So you can work on your depression in a natural way by changing your diet.
Next, I’d like to encourage you to try to have fun. I know, I know, it’s really hard. But if you get invited to dinner with a friend that you haven’t seen in a long time and the only thing that’s holding you back is your depressive symptoms, unless you take a chance on that opportunity to connect with that friend, and again when they break the monotony of the depression that you’re feeling, And finally, certainly, but not in these different sessions. Hey, I’m your therapist, like myself, and there are people out here who want to see why, but that’s the only way we can reach out. So again, my name is and thank you for listening to this episode of The Black Marriage and Family Therapy Matters podcast, where we connect black families to black therapists. Since you’ve listened all the way through, come on in and join the family. If you haven’t done so yet, please join our free community, where we offer weekly trainings and monthly giveaways. We can be found on Facebook under the Black Marriage and Families Matter Facebook group. And since you’re serious about joining our family, we also invite you to join our all-in ad campaign, which signifies your commitment to go all in not only for yourself but in helping us reach more people by downloading this podcast wherever you are listening to it, leaving us a review, and subscribing to our YouTube channel. This really helps us reach more people and change more lives. After all, Dr. Martin Luther King once said, we can all get more done together than we can apart. With that said, I want to encourage you to share this episode with just three other people who you think might also benefit from our community and what we are offering in the hopes that all of you can join the campaign. When you’re done, simply click the link all in the campaign in the bio and receive a free copy of my course entitled Goodbye Toxicity, which is valued at $297. This course will help you work through some of the difficult experiences that arise in most of our relationships. And it’s completely free to you with your commitment to join our all-in campaign. We look forward to connecting with you every Monday and Wednesday. Thanks for listening.