1. Sleep 睡覺

　　Losing out on sleep can lead to a downward spiral of depression. According to the National Sleep Foundation:

　　失眠會引起抑郁的惡性循環。根據國際睡眠基金會的研究發現：

　　The relationship between sleep and depressive illness is complex–depression may cause sleep problems and sleep problems may cause or contribute to depressive disorders.”

　　睡眠和抑郁性疾病之間有著很復雜的聯系，抑郁會引起睡眠問題，睡眠問題又會導致焦慮。

　　When you lose out on sleep, you become more depressed and when you become more depressed, your sleep can be disrupted. It’s a vicious cycle that can culminate gradually over weeks and months.

　　睡眠質量差，你會越來越抑郁，要是抑郁的程度增加，你的睡眠質量也會下降。這樣會形成一個惡性循環，甚至在數周，數月會達到頂峰。

　　The correct amount of sleep a person requires varies depending on lifestyle and age, but a general rule of thumb is to aim for 7 to 8 hours every night. If you don’t manage to get this amount of sleep, make sure to sleep longer the next day.

　　合適的睡眠時間也隨著年齡，生活方式的不同會有所變化，但是大體來說，每天晚上還是要保證7-8小時的睡眠時間。要是你這樣都做不到，那么第二天一定要睡久一點。

　　2. Exercise 鍛煉

　　Not only did exercise work as well as medication, it worked for longer. There are thousands of studies showing the effects of exercise to be extremely beneficial for our physical and psychological health. It could be the most important, yet undervalued, treatment to prevent depression.

　　鍛煉起到的效果和藥物的治療都很有效，而且鍛煉產生的效果會持續得更久。有成千上萬的研究表明鍛煉對我們的身體、心理很有好處。但是可能最主要的，還沒有被注意到的就是：它能夠有效地防治抑郁。

　　3. Meditation 冥想

　　Meditation has been around for thousands of years, but for most of that time it was practiced mainly by monks in spiritual settings. Over the last few decades, however, scientists have started to discover that meditation is one of the most powerful natural interventions for anxiety and depression.

　　冥想已經存在了數千年，但是主要還是僧侶打坐的時候會用到。但是，近幾十年，科學家開始注意到冥想是一種治愈焦慮，抑郁的最有效地方法。

　　People who have more activation on the left side of their prefrontal cortex tend to be happier, while those with more activation on their right side tend to be more broody and depressed. If you look at a bell curve, most people fall somewhere in the middle.

　　那些大腦左側前額葉皮層比較活躍的人可能更容易感受到幸福，但是那些大腦右側前額葉皮層比較活躍的感受到的可能更多的是沮喪。要是你有看過這個鐘形曲線，你會發現大多數人是居于這兩者之間的。

　　We don’t need to study for eight hours a day to get the benefits of meditation like the monks. Studies have shown that 15 minutes a day can produce incredible results with just eight weeks of practice.

　　我們不必像僧侶那樣每天打坐8小時。研究表明每天冥想15分鐘就能夠達到每天打坐8小時的效果。

　　4. Find your passion 找到你感興趣的事

　　People adapt very quickly to life’s pleasures and pains. If we win a lot of money, we feel a high and then we get used to having lots of money. If we get fired, we feel low and then eventually bounce back.

　　對于生活中的幸福與苦難，人們適應的很快。要是贏了很多錢，我們會覺得很開心，然后會習慣又很多錢的生活。要是被炒了，就會覺得很沮喪，但是最后還是會打起精神。

　　There are some things, however, that we don’t adapt to: passion. I would wager that the best actors in the world would continue to act even if they became the richest people on Earth. I would also wager that the richest CEOs in the world use only money as a measurement of their success, not as a means to live extravagantly.

　　但是還有有一些事是我們不適應的：激情。我敢說：那個最好的表演家即使成了世界上最富有的人，他還是會繼續表演。我也敢說：世界上最富有的老板還是會以錢作為評判自己是否成功的標準，而不是用奢靡的生活來衡量。

　　You must find your passion. It is a happiness well that never dries out. It could be writing, creating, helping people, self-improvement, sport, or anything that engages you and provides the right amount of challenge and stimulation.

　　你得找到你所感興趣的事情。那是快樂不竭的源泉。可能是寫作，創造，幫助他人，自我的提升，運動，或者是任何一種吸引你，能給你帶來挑戰，刺激的東西。

　　If you follow these 4 steps, not only will you be able to prevent depression naturally, you’ll also be even happier than people who aren’t depressed.

　　要是你遵循了這幾個步驟，不僅能幫你治愈抑郁，還能讓得到你比那些不抑郁的人更多的快樂。