Clinical depression is the most severe form of depression and isn’t caused by a medical condition or the loss of a loved one. It’s characterized by feeling hopeless, sadness, loss of interest in hobbies and sex, lack of energy, outbursts of anger, increased appetite or decreased appetite followed by weight loss or gain, feeling worthlessness, guilt, trouble concentrating and thinking, suicidal ideation, anxiety, and explained physical symptoms. Traditional treatments include therapy and medication.

Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels and acts. Its risk factors include different brain chemistry, genetics, and environmental. Schizophrenia features positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms such as hallucinations, flat affect, agitated body movements, difficulty with life activities, poor executive functioning, and delusions. Traditional treatments involve antipsychotics and psychosocial techniques.

Yet, many patients seek out the following natural ways to treat their depression and schizophrenia. Just be sure to consult with your health care professional beforehand:

1. Exercise
Research has shown that exercise can greatly improve depression symptoms. Exercise releases endorphins or feel-good chemicals. Over time neurotrophic factors get released and that causes cell growth in nerves. This promotes cell growth in the hippocampus, the part of the brain that regulates your mood.

2. Mood-enhancing Supplement
Studies have shown that taking certain supplements can be effective in reducing symptoms of depression. These supplements include 5-HTP which raises your brain’s serotonin levels, St. John’s Wort which acts similar to antidepressants, SAMe helps produce dopamine, serotonin and melatonin and vitamin B-12 which studies have shown to reduce depression symptoms.

3. Change your diet
Eating a diet rich in serotonin foods has been shown to increase serotonin levels in your brain. This can boost your mood. Some mood stabilizing foods that have omega-3s fatty acids are salmon, chia seeds, walnuts, and mackerel. Coconut oil and high protein diets also help with boosting your mood.

4. Vitamins and supplements
While some supplements are recommended by doctors to take with medication to reduce side effects, they have shown to reduce actual symptoms. Vitamin B-complex, C, D, and E in schizophrenic patients tend to be deficient and when supplemented, symptoms improve. L-Lysine supplements reduce positive symptoms. Ginkgo Biloba is an anti-inflammatory herb that helps with memory loss, anxiety, and increases cerebral blood flow.

5. Acupuncture
Acupuncture has been used for thousands of years in treating various ailments including mental health. It has effects similar to antipsychotics and can reduce hallucinations, improve sleep and daily life functions, motivation, and depression.

6. Ketogenic diet
A diet consisting of low carbs and high in fats have been shown to drastically reduce both positive and negative symptoms. The mechanism for why this diet has been successful isn’t known but some of the foods that are consumed in the diet might be the reason why. Anti-inflammatory foods like salmon, broccoli, nuts, broth, and avocados are a staple for this diet.

7. Alternate forms of therapy
Therapy is routinely a part of treatment for schizophrenics but many different types differ from the standard therapy. These include animal-assisted therapy, EMDR or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, music therapy, and Morita therapy.