Depression and Homeopathy
By John C Cassone, MS, CNC
Classical Homeopath

Tom is 37 years old, has 2 kids, a decent house, likes his job, and usually likes his wife.  Although he should be enjoying some of the most productive years of his life, he doesn’t sleep very well, is not excited about anything in particular, has been gaining weight, and generally wants to be left alone.  It’s not surprising that when he went to his doctor last year, for acid reflux, along with his stomach medication he was also put on antidepressants. 

de?pres?sion \di-`pre-shen\: a psychoneurotic or psychotic disorder marked especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty with thinking and concentration, a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal thoughts

Fortunately Tom is not suicidal and basically functions as a responsible adult.  He is not happy, however, and doesn’t know where to begin.  He is indifferent towards his wife and feels cut off from his own kids.  His acid reflux is one of many little problems getting worse. 

Drug therapy for mood disorders can be necessary at times to manage the severity of emotional ups and downs and to avoid becoming entirely destructive.  But in Tom’s case, the antidepressant is only helpful up to a point.  Drug therapies are designed to have specific mechanical effects on particular aspects of the body; they are targeted to only one piece of the entire puzzle.  A problem with this approach is that it ignores the rest of the picture. 

Depression as a description of poor mood resulting from low serotonin, for example, is a narrow view of what is truly a holistic condition; affecting the entire organism.  In psychotherapy, this description might include a person’s belief system based on difficult childhood experiences.  The psychotherapy approach can also be very useful and with increased awareness, can teach someone like Tom how to better manage the unwanted changes in his mood.  Once again, managing the core problem does not mean that it has been reduced or eliminated, but instead just better managed.  So what is the core problem?  What is the depression?.  Is it purely emotional? Is it in the brain and mind, or it is physical or neurochemical? 

Homeopathy is a form of complementary alternative medicine that can have a therapeutic effect on almost any disease or condition.  Homeopathy does not compartmentalize emotional, mental, or physical phenomena but rather views them as expressions of the organism as a whole.  Depression, then, is seen as part of the pattern of illness from which the whole organism suffers.  In Homeopathy, here is no specific diagnosis of depression but rather the study of the entire pattern of disruption. 

This pattern will always be expressed mentally, physically, and emotionally at the same time because it is the same organism suffering.  The separate disorders that can be experienced at the same time are not really separate but instead one disorder with one compromised immune system that expresses the pattern of that disorder.  We call that disorder the STATE, as its effects are global.  Instead of symptoms representing isolated conditions, they are indicators of the state.  This is perhaps why homeopathy is uniquely effective at reducing depression and anxiety, because it looks at the underlying pattern and treats the core disruption within the entire organism.  A well prescribed homeopathic remedy will trigger a global response.  With time and follow up care, this can begin to restore health mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Most would agree that if one symptom is medicated while the rest of the person is still sick, that would not be a good definition of health.  Suppression can be understood as a symptom that improves while the core illness has not.  If the illness is still getting worse, then it will continue to manifest in some part of the body and mind even though the original symptom that was treated may have improved. 

If you understand the holistic view of the organism, then you can clearly see the concern.  What is called “depression” is a part of a disorder that will eventually show up physically and mentally if not reduced entirely. 

Health occurs, not just when one symptom improves, but rather when the entire organism restores its ability to function and freely make choices.  When people are healthy emotionally and mentally, they are more present versus stuck in an emotional state that is disproportionate to reality; they are simply OK.  They are less sensitive and better equipped to flexibly manage life’s many situations.