Are you looking for a drug-free approach to battling your depression?

I think I may have the answer.

Granted - this may not work for all depression sufferers. But this can work for many mildly depressed people -- and it might just work for you!

Mary's Story
Mary is a beautiful and very personable thirty-something woman. She has a pretty good job and lots of friends and family. She does not have a family history of depression, but does have a family history of prescription drug use -- so we assume that there is some undiagnosed depression in her family.

Lately, she has been using prescription drugs recreationally, because she is feeling a bit blue. About what? Nothing in particular. The quality of her life. The quality of her friendships. She's not sure. She thinks its simply a biochemical thing. Something out of her control. Much like other women in her family.

While her new therapist explored that option - I proposed that Mary do something out of character. Out of ordinary for her. And that was to perform 3 selfless acts of kindness for others within a two week span.

While Mary did need a bit of prompting during the first week to get her butt in gear for the challenge - finally she did her first act of kindness. She remembered a show she saw once where someone paid the toll of the person behind them on a bridge. So she did the same. The person drove through and beeped Mary down. "Thank you so much! That was so nice." Mary said the smile on the driver's face made Mary feel good.

The next act - was to do something she was always a bit uncomfortable with. Visiting the elderly. She made an appointment at the nearby retirement center and decided to read a few books to some residents. They were extremely happy that she came by, and told her as much. Two women even told her she reminded them of someone in their families. Someone evidently who made them smile. That made Mary feel good as well.

For her last act of kindness, Mary decided not to plan it and wait for it to come to her. It did. Mary was in a neighborhood supermarket and was in line behind a woman who had brought her two children with her. They were young and were growing tired of the trip. When the woman went to pay for her groceries, she could not find her debit card and realized that she must have left it at home in another pocketbook. The cashier told the mother that she would have to leave the cart of groceries on the side and go back and get her card. The cashier said that she would only keep them on the side for 30 minutes.

Mary could see that the kids would not make it home and then back again without driving their mother crazy. She was tired and so were they. Mary said that she looked at the cart and tried to decide if she could afford the expense - and then looked at the mother's face (she almost wanted to cry) and felt as though she could. So she offered to pay for the woman's groceries. Of course the woman politely declined. Perhaps embarrassed - but Mary gave her her name and address and told her to mail it to her whenever she got the chance.

While Mary wasn't sure about how comfortable the woman was with the whole thing, she didn't care. Because she felt good knowing that she did something kind for this woman and her family. She didn't need the woman's gratitude. In fact - Mary spent the next 45 minutes telling me all about how great she felt "just doing it."

She hadn't been dwelling on her darkest spots since the challenge began. She felt great - and she planned to do more. Proof that a great depression treatment might be the drugless act of giving to others!

What can you do today?

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Lisa Angelettie MSW, "GirlShrink" is a psychotherapist, author, and online advice authority. Her site GirlShrink.com is the #1 "Advice & Counseling" site on the web. Please visit us for more discussion on this topic in the depression forum to talk about it further. Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter for topics in the news, new articles, website & book reviews, and other useful depression resources. Subscribe below.