I’d like to welcome you back to my blog. So quite recently I was online searching up on Google “cure depression naturally” and not to my surprise a bunch of websites popped up with natural remedies that were supposed to help cure depression. Yes it is true that the Internet has brought many benefits to society, however it has also evident that many of the websites on the Internet are not very reliable. Many of these websites about curing depression naturally are just trying to persuade their readers to buy their product. This becomes an issue when the reader believes everything the website claims and buys the product without doing any background research about it. To help you understand how to tell which websites are just trying to get your money, I will show you an example of an unreliable website and explain the features that make it unreliable.
Here’s one of the websites that I found from Google search:
http://curedepressionwithoutmedication.com/
At first glance, what is off about this website?
Okay, first of all, we can already see that this is a word press website, meaning that it is a “blog”. Blogs are written merely based on a person’s opinion and we cannot fully rely on personal evidence because the person could ultimately be lying. We know nothing about this author except the information in his about section.
So basically this person has no medical degree nor states any other sort of degree he has. He is just a normal everyday person. Can we really trust this person's opinion? He is definitely not an expertise so that tells us that we should be doubting some of the things he says.
The second thing to point out is that this website is FILLED with advertisements. There are ads linking to a product or program in majority of the posts. I've screen shot some of the ads from the website for you to see.
Bloggers who have advertisements on their website are paid for putting it there. This author is recommending these links possibly because he makes more money as more people click on the links. So in other terms, the author is just benefiting mostly himself. How can we trust his recommendations when we know that he is getting paid to promote these recommendations? He does not seem very genuine so in my opinion I do not see him as reliable.
Thirdly, there is no evidence or proof that tell us how well the products that he is recommending actually work. For some, he lists out what the product does for your body, however he does not back it up with any scientific or other evidence. In some of the posts, he doesn't even tell you why he thinks that product works. He just states it works! For example in one of his posts, he says ,"The fastest way I know of to Cure Depression Naturally is to take an amino acid called 5-htp, which is available here -" We cannot believe something that has not already proven to have worked.
Fourthly, the author seems to show his biased view of opinion. He highly recommends something and does not appear to show the other opinion of it such as the side effects. For example he talks about how Chromium Picolinate is a good treatment for Atypical Depression Symptoms is. "Picolinate is the most easily absorbable form of Chromium that stabilises blood sugar, so it is also recommended for Diabetics and a plus it practically eliminates sugar and carb cravings so is a great aid to effortless weightloss too!" From a credible website that gives information about chromium, we can find out that chromium does aid in weight loss however, it does not necessarily work for everyone. The effects of weight loss can vary amongst individuals using chromium. Some people have found that it works for them, while others have no effect. Also, he does not list any of the precautions of using Chromium Picolinate supplements. Precautions such as the side effects from taking it with other medications can be dangerous. Also as a supplement, taking very high doses of this can actually reduce how effective insulin is at maintaining blood sugar and can cause stomach irritation, itching, and flushing. It is obvious that the weight loss factor he adds to the post is just another way of convincing people that it is beneficial to take these supplements. Again he doesn't support his claims much, so it seems questionable whether or not he is telling the truth.
Lastly, notice how he mentions a lot in his posts about curing depression fast. In fact, it is the title of his blog! In one of his posts he claims that if you follow the things that he had suggested, you would already feel better within a week. I read over from this website that treatment takes time and commitment. It seems common sense that the supplements he is promoting are not "magic pills" that can suddenly heal depression within a month. It doesn't seem to be rational to think that these so called supplements can help a person recover so fast. In addition, the author does not mention the account of a relapse occurring. This is very common in individuals recovering from depression. From an article, it says that the recent survey data provides some evidence to suggest that while clinicians widely view SSRIs as effective in the short treatment of depression, many see some degree of relapse while ongoing treatment is occurring.
So furthermore this concludes my analysis of the website and I hope this helped. There are many websites out there that are just made to earn money. You should always be careful not to get tricked by them and do your background research first before actually believing what they say. Sometimes we may be attracted by the "easy ways out" and just think that there is a quick fix to everything, however everything takes time and we need to be patient. Depression is serious, and sometimes though it seems like it will never end, there is always a bright finish line waiting for you. My best friend struggled with depression ever since grade seven all through high school. She went through therapy, drugs, and much more. Sometimes you just can't lose hope and keep trying. Things eventually do get better! :)
Good luck everyone !
-Vivian
