If you know what depression feels like – the brain clouding, the flat moods, the tiredness – you’re not alone. You’ve likely felt butterflies in your stomach when you’re feeling nervous or anxious. Well, it turns out that the relationship between the brain and the gut is bi-directional. Our brains affect how our gut feels and our gut relays its signals of calm or alarm via the nervous system up to the brain. The goal when treating depression is to send a signal of safety – from your gut, from your mind and by lessening perceived stressors and burdens through detoxification.