Second, it releases endorphins which are chemicals that improve mood. Finally, exercise reduces chemicals in the immune system that are known to worsen depression. There are many kinds of physical exercise that help prevent depression, but exercising regularly is the most effective treatment for depression. Another preventative measure for depression is maintaining a healthy diet. There have been studies done that have proven regularly consuming a diet with high-fat has similar effects as chronic stress in terms of causing depression. Additionally, an unhealthy diet deprives the body of vital nutrients it needs to maintain mental and physical health. In order to prevent depression through maintaining a healthy diet, there are four guidelines you should follow. First being that your meals should have lean protein with fruits and vegetables. Second, make sure to cut out foods with high-sugar and high-fat. Third, eliminate as many processed food as possible. Finally, do your best to incorporate foods with Omega-3’s, which are salmon and nuts. In addition to maintaining a healthy diet in order to prevent depression, building strong and stable relationships is very important for our mental health. Research has shown that attaining even an “adequate” social support can help prevent depression. Attending social events as often as you can where you can meet new people and build new relationships is necessary to maintain a healthy mental state. Getting a healthy amount of sleep is necessary for both mental and physical health. There have been sleep studies that have proven people with insomnia tend to have a higher risk for developing depression than those who sleep well. Some tips to get better sleep include not looking at any screens at least two hours before bed, mediating prior to sleeping, having a comfortable mattress, and avoiding any caffeine after noon. There have been several studies done on how social media negatively affects an individual’s elf esteem. Decreasing time spent on social media is a given for preventing depression. Social media can be addicting but it is not a necessity. In order to limit time spent on social media, you can delete all social apps on your phone, use website-blocking extensions that only permit a certain amount of time spent on certain websites, and only having a purpose to go onto social media instead of using it because of boredom. The final way to prevent depression is to reduce drug and alcohol use. Excessive use of these substances are not only associated with higher risks of depression, but higher risks of depression relapse. Limiting alcohol intake while eliminating any drug use is your best bet for preventing depression. Despite limiting alcohol being difficult in some social situations, there are ways you can persevere. When it’s happy hour, you can order an appetizer and straight cranberry juice instead of an alcoholic beverage. You can also plan and invite friends to events where alcohol is not provided. Most people think preventing depression is out of their hands, but clearly it is not. All of the effort put in these areas add up and make it more difficult to develop depression.

Depression is a serious mental illness that patients, myself included, should not be ashamed about. Unfortunately, there is a stigma around depression that makes it seems like it is different from other mental illnesses due to the negative nature of the illness that makes individuals suffering from depression unattractive. I personally suffered trauma from an something that occurred 2 years ago and have recently been diagnosed with severe depression. When this event happened I personally ignored many of the warning signs that I am or going to suffer from depression but luckily my parents noticed and took action. I began seeing a therapist and eventually she suggested I need to begin antidepressant medication. I had to try several different medication before finding the one that works for me, but at the time I did not understand why I had to do that. The information I found perfectly explained why my experience with depression has been the way it has been. I have always known exercise can help prevent depression but I was not aware of the the importance of a healthy diet and stable relationships. The reason why I chose to research depression