How to Fight Depression Naturally with Katey Yurko [Podcast EP 44]

Katey Yurko went for years of starving herself, taking prescription pills and isolating herself to numb the pain of her depression. Now, she wants to share her best tips for fighting depression naturally and healthily.

Katey Yurko lives in Austin, Texas with her boyfriend Dan and is the creator of The Violet Fog blog, where she writes about topics like mental health, love, and holistic well-being. She has SUCH an important message to share with us about how loving and KNOWING yourself more intently can help those who live with depression.

Do you fear that dark cloud will come back to loom over you and your life? Do you know how to fight it off? Through her research, Katey has some amazing tips about how to spot the signs that depression is coming back and how to soften its blow the next time around. Her tips for mental wellness can be so helpful for anyone and everyone.

Katey went for years not understanding her depression well and developed really unhealthy coping mechanisms like starving herself and taking pills to numb the pain. She isolated herself from others, too afraid of being judged or misunderstood. She didn't want to feel like a burden to anyone even though her friends and family told her to come to them with anything.

She went on like this for three years until she realized she needs to change her behavior or she's going to die. So, she became obsessed with researching more into living with depression and finding ways to handle it better that don't include taking prescription medication.

Listen in to episode number 44 of the Love Intently Podcast to hear how Katey realized she had depression thanks to her grandma who had experienced it herself, what it looked like in her darkest days, research-based tips for depression and mental wellness, and what it looks like for her to share with her boyfriend and family how she's feeling when she's having a depressive episode.

How did you realize you were dealing with depression?

Like you hear in many stories of people with depression, Katey was always smiley and happy for everyone around her. She says it’s important to remember you never know what’s going on behind closed doors. You never know who’s dealing with depression.

She was visiting her grandma one summer and felt really down. She was telling her grandma about what’s going on in her life and how she feels. Her grandma had dealt with depression all her life as well, so she recognized the signs. She gave Katey some amazing advice, which was: Know that the depression will keep coming back into your life, but know that you are not alone. Don’t hold in your feelings, talk about it with the people that you love.

What were your darkest years of depression like?

Katey did not take her grandma’s advice at first. She held everything in and didn’t talk to anyone about it because she was afraid of being judged. She also didn’t feel like she had anyone to talk to who could really relate.

Katey Yurko opens up about her battle with depression on her website, The Violet Fog

She didn’t understand her depression well. She had a psychiatrist, but she says he was the kind who would talk to you for 15 minutes and just wants to keep you on medication, even when she wanted to come off of it. She felt totally out of control of her emotions. As a result, she developed unhealthy coping mechanisms like starving herself and taking pills to numb the pain. She was just 13 years old at the time.

“I felt like a fake to the world because I was smiley and happy to everyone but inside I was crumbling.” -Katey Yurko

What helped you come out of the darkness and into the light?

“I went for years like this and thought, if I don’t start doing things differently, I’m going to die.” -Katey Yurko

Katey became obsessed with researching about depression. She realized she needed to become much more aware of her behaviors and triggers. She also began to think about health in a holistic way. She envisioned herself in this healthy mind, body and spirit.

Her relationship with God has been her number one thing that helps her. She noticed the times when it’s the darkest is when she feels most furthest from him. So when she starts feeling down, she’ll take a walk and pray.

Becoming more self-aware can help lessen the duration and intensity of the depressive episode

What Katey came across in research is that if you go through one dramatic episode of depression, there’s a 50% chance it will come back a second time. If comes back a second time, there’s a 100% chance it will come back again and again. So, it’s important to become aware of what triggers you and how you respond.

If you are aware of your triggers, and you know what’s coming on the horizon, you can be more prepared and proactive.

For Katey’s own example, she noticed that she starts napping a lot more, and becomes a recluse. She doesn’t text people back and spends longer and longer time alone. She starts eating poorly and not exercising, from the mindset of, “who cares anyway, why do I deserve to eat well or treat my body well.”

When that starts to happen, now that she’s aware of these triggers, she does something about it. She’ll call up a friend to have dinner or go to a yoga class .

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Katey’s six best tips for mental wellness

Contrast Shower: Take a shower and turn the water as hot as you can stand it for one minute, and then as cold as you can stand it for the next. This is good for your limbic system, it energizes you.
Adaptogenic Herbs: These are healing plants that balance, restore and protect your body by reducing your stress levels. Katey recommends putting them in your coffee or tea in the morning. Katey personally uses Ashwagandha (Indian Ginseng).
Be mindful of inflammation in your body: Chronic inflammation plays a role in almost every Western disease like heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s. Tumeric is a natural Indian herb that helps fight chronic inflammation.
Go for a walk outside, no technology: Give yourself some stillness and quiet
Stretch for 10min before bed: Before you go to bed, having an intense stretch session can release toxins in the muscles.
Talk to someone: The highest human need is to feel connected and understood. Even if you have just one person who you know you can always talk to, you won’t feel alone.

“The more nice things you can do for your body, the better you’re going to feel. The better you feel, the easier you can prevent or handle depression.” -Katey Yurko

How do you talk to your partner and family about your depression?

Katey wishes she had opened up to her boyfriend sooner about her depression. She admits she still finds it quite hard to talk to her friends and family about it.

Although one of Katey’s own tips is to talk to someone, she admits that it was a struggle for her to do and still is sometimes. Even though she knows she has people in her life who support her, love her, and are there for her, she’ll still hide it from time to time.

“If they were to question me on it, I might open up about it, but not unless they ask a very direct question. I was worried about moving in with Dan because I wouldn’t be able to hide it.” -Katey Yurko

Nowadays, she keeps it really simple for her partner and parents. She’ll just say, “I am struggling right now, I can’t get through the days without feeling down, I’m in a state of melancholy 24-7”. Each person has their different way of responding.

“My dad gives encouragement. My mom is very logical and will ask lots of questions. My sister is very similar so she’ll relate to me.” -Katey Yurko

Looking back, Katey wishes she opened up to Dan about it sooner. If she could go back, she would paint a better picture of what the situation is, what her depression looks like, and how she deals with it, so that he can be better equipped to support her.

What is The Violet Fog about?

If any of this has resonated with you, Katey would love for you to check out her blog, The Violet Fog, where she shares her personal journey with depression and articles on all things mental wellness like what kinds of vitamins and herbs to take, wash-off facials, and more.

She also loves when she can personally connect with followers, so she would love if you DM her on Instagram at @thevioletfog and say hello!