More depression and so forth advice

I just want to pass along two simple tips today, one very easy to do and one more complicated, especially in these economic times.

Here's the simple tip. Aromatherapy has received so much hype and buzz for many years, along with candle burning and so forth. I do not advocate lighting candles because I'm a safety freak, but I do enjoy having them around for their scent. However, in the attempt to be "mysterious" and so forth too many fragrances are not beneficial to people who are subject to depression. In contrast, it is proven scientifically that citrus fragrance has a positive and healthy effect on mood. So I would like to suggest that everyone (whether depressed or not) place a citrus based source of fragrance in the kitchen. It's great for both men and women. The kitchen is your laboratory for feeling better in the sense that as I've written before I believe people need to return to it as the place where meals are hand made and shared. People were less depressed when they ate good not-chemically changed home made food with family or friends at a regular dinner time and a sitdown table. So I recommend that you place a citrus fragrance at all times in your kitchen. Don't do the whole house because you want to create the effect of uplift whenever you walk into your kitchen. I've done it and it works great. I used to use orange peel years ago when I had my house. Now in my apartment I use a wonderful set of candles I bought at Walmart that is jasmine-tangerine! It is awesome. Whenever I walk into the kitchen I have the whiff of that very unique and uplifting combination. I'm the type of person who enjoys spending time in the kitchen doing simple things like preparing fruit and vegetables and who does not view it as a waste of time. So while dicing celery or tomatos I have that great citrus undercurrent too. And when not cooking it still is uplifting to smell that citrus whenever I walk into the kitchen. People used to live in homes that smelled more "alive," back before depression became epidemic. That's because they had windows open, often onto gardens, when it used to be safe, and they had fruits and vegetables or home grown flowers within the home. Real wood was used throughout so there was also the benefit of scent of wood (science studies have also shown that real wood floors are healthier to breathe than artificial materials). So take my advice and do some safe (not burning) aromotherapy of citrus in the kitchen.

My second piece of advice is to reconsider the size and complexity of the home that you own. This whole past two generations have grown up thinking you should buy the largest size and expense of home that you can afford. It didn't used to be that way. Now people think to get the best they can as a given assumption. But several generations ago people lived much more happily in a house that was smaller and simpler than the maximum that they could afford! Young couples started out in a "starter home," which was often cottage, bungalow or small ranch size. Now young couples dive straight into the top of the line house that they can afford. This is both the source of needless stress AND it deprives them of a bond-building process. When you start with a small simple house you, by default, have more time for each other. You also can learn how to do things together to improve the house. My brother and I still admire the small two bedroom ranch that our parents had, even though we have both in our days owned much "finer" and grander houses. When I first married our first house was a grand Tudor, but that was for a specific reason; I had very serious security concerns. I was attracted to other smaller and more "homelike" houses but I had security issues that had to come first and so we went for the larger and more private rugged tudor house. But the generation before us, including my brother's generation, did the "starter" through "retirement" house progression and it was excellent for them and their children. They had many house problems, as everyone does, but none of the problems were from having "too much house to handle" and "having the chain around one's neck" of the pressure of a large, high maintenance and expensive house.

Some of you may be facing loss of your home due to the mortgage crisis. If you do I encourage you to consider a positive, rather than a negative, downsizing. Don't think of the house as being a thermometer of your success. Think of it as a home rather than a house. Think of it as a home rather than a multimedia center on a foundation. Think of it as a home that encompasses you and your family rather than being a high maintenance (of time and money) investment. Many people are depressed because of the load of responsibility that they carry, and a too grand house that is not a real home is a large, often unrecognized, source of depression and anxiety.

I hope this helps.