Americans now spend more money on anti-depressants than the gross national product of two-thirds of the world’s countries, yet studies consistently show that in up to 70 percent of the time, these drugs are no better than sugar pills. Suicide occurs more than twice as much on anti-depressants than on sugar pills in clinically depressed individuals under the age of 25. These are hard facts to swallow, considering the rate of anti-depressant use in our country has more than tripled in the last 10 years.

The true question is WHY is America so depressed? What is the reason for this signifi cant increase? If we can find out why and get to the underlying cause, won’t we be able to resolve it from the inside out? The answer is an emphatic YES! Since there are three sides to a perfect health triangle (chemical, physical and emotional), we must look into each one to find the answers.

The chemical side to the triangle is anything you put into or onto your body. American soil has depleted by over 70 percent since the 1920s. This depletion has lead to an extreme decline in the vitamins and minerals in our everyday diet. B vitamins, for example, are so important for producing and maintaining optimal neurotransmitters that a deficiency in any of the B vitamins will lead directly to anxiety and depression symptomatology. The B vitamin folic acid is very specifically linked to depression and bipolar disorders. Not enough folic acid is one of the most common nutritional deficiencies in our country, and 1/3 of depressed adults are low in this vitamin.

There are many studies showing the effectiveness of supplementing folic acid in patients with depression and/ or schizophrenia. Results showed as much as 92 percent of individuals treated with folic acid had a complete recovery within 23 days. A word of caution: if you decide to use this natural form of treatment for depression, make sure you speak to your natural health care provider for information on how much to take and in what form. It is paramount to get the "whole food" version of the folic acid as well.

The physical aspect to health includes staying active and keeping your physical structure fit and properly aligned. Remember those little neurotransmitters called endorphins? These are the ‘feel good’ molecules that are released by the pituitary gland in the brain during exercise. With continual endorphin release, we can experience less pain and fewer negative effects of stress and depression.

While exploring the emotional side to the health triangle, we have been using a wonderful tool called Emotion- al Freedom Technique (EFT) in our clinic. This amazing technique uses acupuncture meridians (no needles required), and is based on new discoveries regarding the connection between your body’s subtle energies, your emotions and your health. EFT is very successful in handling cases covering a huge range of emotional, health and performance issues. (For more information on EFT, visit educatingwellness.com.)

It is very important to understand that when you are dealing with depression, your body is not deficient in Zoloft or any other antidepressant medication. Think of these medications as band-aids or something used to cover up symptoms, not something that will heal or re- solve your issues over time. I am not saying that these medications are not needed in some cases. What I am saying is that searching for the underlying cause of your depression may lead to faster healing, better and more lasting results and the absence of side-effects.

For a complete list of references for this column, please email [email protected].