Flower Essences Overcome Depression

                                                     Judy (not her real name) was in her thirties when she met
                                                     with me. She had been suffering from depression for six years
                                                     and felt overwhelmed by the weight of her sadness and lack of energy.
                                                     She had been married to George for ten years and they had three young
                                                     children. Although she had tried several different antidepressants in the
                                                     past two years, they didn't seem to help. She felt unfulfilled, yet she didn't
;                                                    have the energy to do anything beyond taking care of the house and children.
                                                     If she did have extra energy, she didn't even know what she would like to do.
                                                     Judy's self image was suffering as well. She had gained weight with each of
                                                     her pregnancies and hadn't been successful in regaining her figure. She felt
                                                     quite unattractive. We began by exploring her past. She had suffered from
                                                     sexual abuse while a teenager.

                                                     We started her on Star of Bethlehem to assist her in overcoming the trauma
                                                     of her abuse. Mustard was also chosen to treat her depression. We chose
                                                     Crab Apple to help her overcome her poor body image,and Wild Oat to help
                                                     her identify what she might enjoy doing with her time.

                   Our last essence was Walnut. This essence was chosen to help break the link with her depres-
                   sion and pave the way to a happier future. After two months on these five essences, she began
                   to feel less depressed. However, she was now able to talk about her feelings of anger towards
                   George. She had a long list of complaints about how he ignored her, sat in front of the tele-
                   vision set and didn't participate in raising the children or helping her around the house.
                   She was upset that he made cutting remarks about her weight and also criticized
                   how she ran the household. We replaced the Star of Bethlehem with Willow,
                   which is useful in treating resentment and and feelings of being victimized.

                  Judy began feeling more energized, and she started taking art lessons. They gave her
                  a creative outlet that she just loved. She also began to talk to her husband about how
                  unhappy she was with their relationship. She loved him, but she wanted more of what
;                 they used to share, not what they had now. They gave couples therapy a try and their
                  relationship began to improve remarkably. She learned that he withdrew from her be-
                  cause he didn't know how to make her happy, not because he didn't love her.

                  She is still working on her weight. She lost a few pounds, but more importantly,
                  she began to accept herself as she was. She even bought some new clothes
                  that made her feel attractive rather than just hiding herself in baggy sweats.
                  The essences helped her move forward in her life, and allowed her to trade
                  depression for self-empowerment.

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