The recent story I ran about pushing antidepressants on kids in state foster care systems feels all the more tragic and pointless to me, based on new research that found these toxic drugs seriously elevate a child's risk of committing suicide.

Interestingly, the study didn't pinpoint selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) as generally being the problem, except for Zoloft. But the serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) Effexor raised the risk more than anything else.

There is no doubt that depression, or more accurately, un-repaired emotional short-circuiting, can absolutely devastate your health. In my estimation depression can cause far more profound, negative health consequences than all the poor food choices, lack of exercise, toxins and poisons we expose ourselves to.

Most people with depression have never even been formally diagnosed. If you feel sad or "blue" you can review the depression diagnosis guidelines for specifc criteria that will help you know if you truly are depressed.

The drug companies would have you believe that the solution to depression is to pop one or more pills daily for many months for the rest of your life to restore your "chemical imbalance."

But the fact is, you don't need to take a dangerous drug. There are safe, natural methods you can use instead.

Optimizing your diet is an important step in treating depression, and one of the most important tools will be to make sure you are getting enough omega-3 fats. I have had large numbers of patients spontaneously take themselves off their antidepressants once they started taking omega-3s. I recommend a high-quality krill oil as your best choice.

Also, it is known that exercise, insulin and sugar are strongly related to depression, and appropriate cardiovascular exercise is one of the most effective ways to normalize insulin resistance.

Interestingly, when the federal government recently came up with the first new dietary guidelines in 25 years, they supported the exercise recommendations I have been recommending for some time now.

However, you can have no problems with insulin resistance, follow a perfect diet and an ideal exercise program, and still struggle with serious depression. That is where effective energy psychology tools like the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) can intervene to help resolve depression. EFT is based on the same energy meridians used in traditional acupuncture to treat physical and emotional ailments for more than 5,000 years, but without the invasiveness of needles.

Because depression is such a serious challenge I would not advise using self treatment for it, but rather only as a supplement to a trained EFT practitioner. Here is a list of EFT Practitioner Referrals from the United States and the world.