Natural Help With Post Op Depression

Your doctor is likely to have already let you know about the potential for depressive feelings popping after your surgery, a side effect that isn’t terribly common when you go “under the knife” but something that definitely has the potential to rear its ugly head every now and again.

This is pretty understandable.

After all, your body is going to undergo a seismic shock when the surgeon cuts you open and operates – and it isn’t just your physical body that is going to be impacted. Your brain is going to have to deal with the stress and chaos of dealing with the wounds that need to be healed and all of the other demands your physical body places upon it, and that means that your psyche is to have to deal with a significant workload as well.

And while some doctors will recommend a couple of different prescription medications to help you deal with post operation depression, the truth of the matter is there are a number of all-natural solutions that can give you the same kinds of benefits without risking any further complications during your recovery.

Let’s dive right in!

It all starts before your surgery even begins

The most important thing you can do to avoid having to deal with post operation depression in the first place is to make sure that you are completely squared away before you get to the hospital and undergo your procedure.

Every single surgery is going to start with a pre-operation checklist and your doctor is going to be very thorough about running through this checklist with you to make sure that you are good to go. At the same time, you’ll want to ask them to screen you for the potential of postop depression rearing its ugly head and they’ll have to conduct a handful of tests to determine whether or not you have certain risk factors that could point to this kind of trouble later down the line.

We’re talking about risk factors like a tendency to already feel depressed, a family history of depression, anxiety, or mental disorders, and even lifestyle factors such as whether or not you smoke, have high cholesterol, lead a high anxiety life, or are single can play a role in your likelihood to fight back against postop depression.

Recognize the symptoms

Even though your doctor is going to keep a close eye on you during your postop recovery, absolutely no one is going to have your recovery as their top priority any more than you will!

You’ll need to look out for depressive symptoms so that you can get out ahead of postop depression ASAP with the all-natural solutions that we are going to share with you in just a moment.

You’ll want to look out for symptoms such as always feeling fatigued and worn out, insomnia or sleeping more often than you traditionally do, eating significantly more or significantly less than usual, struggling to contain your emotions, and losing interest in activities you used to enjoy or feeling like you have lower levels of motivation.

Fight back against post op depression

There are numerous different things you will be able to rely on in the fight back against postop depression, but some of the most important all-natural solutions include:

Starting up exercising again ASAP

By getting out and exercising as soon as you are physically able to (and only after you have been cleared by your doctor) you are going to be able to better fight back against depression. This will give you a much-needed change of scenery to pick up your spirits, but it will also trigger “exercise endorphins” that will provide your brain with the happy biochemicals it needs to jumpstart itself again.

Take control of your sleep schedule

It’s really, really easy to slip into sleeping all the time after you have had surgery – especially if you are recommended to get bed rest immediately after your procedure. What you want to take control of your sleep schedule just as soon as you are able to, getting back to between six and eight hours of sleep (and no more or less) and making sure that you go to bed and wake up at roughly the same time every day.

This will get you out of any funk that you might have otherwise been in, and will actually pull you out of your recovery shell much faster than you would have thought possible.

Let go of all of that anxiety, stress, and pressure

There is always the potential to feel like you are a bit of a burden during your post operation recovery, and that’s going to lead to a lot of “woe is me” kinds of feelings as well and as anxiety, stress, and pressure.

Blow the lid off of those feelings as best as you are able to through journaling, talking to friends and family, or just “raging out” in a safe and controlled way and you’ll find that your depressive feelings disappear and dissipate almost effortlessly.