To help find ways to improve your overall mood, I consulted with a number of mental health experts to get their best advice on natural ways to fight depression. If you've been feeling down and want to avoid taking medication – or even just want to supplement your current treatment — consider picking up one the seven below habits that have been proven to lower your risk of depression.
1. Exercise
"One of the best natural ways to fight depressions is regular aerobic exercise," says Wendy A. Suzuki, Ph.D., Professor of Neural Science and Psychology at New York University. "Exercise can increase levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin, noradrenaline, dopamine, and endorphins. These are some of the same neurotransmitters that we know are decreased in depression, and increases in these neurotransmitter levels are what gives people that mood boost after a good workout."