Nook Self Improvement Blog

What treatments are there for Overcoming Depression? It is generally considered that treatment of depression is very helpful. A good start on the road to recovery could be visiting your family doctor or some type of community center who deals in health issues. Treatments of today can certainly help people suffering depression to rediscover themselves or return to more normal feelings to cope with and enjoy life again. Because we are all so different and have different symptoms including feelings about ourselves and our world (including subjective points of view), treatment can involve one or more of the following

Psychological Interventions

Endeavoring to help individuals to understand their thoughts and their behaviors can be a part of therapeutic intervention although specific techniques can be implemented from specific therapeutic interventions such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and/or Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. There are various psychological interventions and different therapists may use various or a combined type of approach to what their expertise is and also molded around each individuals response to particular types of therapy. This can include utilizing one or more theoretical approach such as C.B.T. (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), Interpersonal Therapy and more. Regardless of which type or approach is applied in psychological intervention, generally this type of intervention has a good success rate.

General Counseling

Counseling can support people and assist them to sort out or improve practical problems and conflicts, and help them also to understand the reasons for their particular depression (although some types of psychological intervention are not based on understanding the reasons about things).

Anti-depressant Medications

This can help relieve depressed feelings, can help in restoring normal sleep patterns and appetite, and also help reduce anxiety. What they do is generally help the brain restore a balance of neurotransmitters in the brain itself. It is very understandable from a patient’s point of view why one may be concerned or reluctant to use anti-depressants. There is no doubt they DO have side-effects however several of these side-effects are not long-term. Like any drug, our bodies get used to it, and will tolerate it much better after a period of time.

Doctors will ask specific questions in relation to prescribing an anti-depressant that may suit the person best. There is a fair chance that a different anti-depressant could be tried if there are any concerning longer-term side-effects. Most General Practitioners are very understanding and will usually listen very closely to their patients in relation to concerns with any anti-depressants, so it is important to keep in touch with your doctor. They will give you good sound advice and generally offer ongoing support.

Nobody generally wants to have to take anti-depressants. I will never forget when I started them myself. The emotional and other issues were just some factors that were to be overcome let alone concerns about side-effects. I had to change medication quite a bit until I got the right one for me. Hang in there as hard as it might be and some anti-depressant will most likely work for you.

Personally, I need to take anti-depressants as long as I live, but hardy experience any side-effects at all (and this is taking 4 of them every day). Your body will manage and as far as any psychological/emotional struggles you may have, there are always counselors and other people who can help you to put strategies into place to deal with these other possible concerns which you may have.

Also other specific medications can be prescribed by your doctor to help with particular problems such as mood swings.

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)

ECT is a highly effective treatment. There is no need to be frightened about this. I have personally had this treatment myself and have known others who have had no major problems at all with it. It is quite safe! Physicians (who perform this type of treatment) take thorough precautions such as performing scans and x-rays to ensure maximum safety for the patient. They will not administer this treatment if they think or feel there are risks or dangers to the patient. A medical fact is that it’s no more dangerous than any other medical procedure requiring an anesthetic, so there really is no need to be greatly alarmed by treatment. Yes, there are side-effects such as short-term memory loss, but the benefits can far outweigh any negative effects. ECT is used by properly trained psychiatrists and they might advise this treatment for particular patients.

Generally though, it’s only administered for some severe forms of depression (specifically talking about depression here) and not used as an early treatment in phases of depression. It’s sometimes used in other illnesses which are not mentioned here. It can literally be life-saving for people at high risk of suicide, including those who have stopped eating and drinking and at high risk of death.
Personally, my experience with it was not horrific at all. We have good thorough and professional doctors and helpers who know what they are doing, and they will not advise this as a treatment if there are any significant risks what-so-ever. Having it myself, I can somewhat relate to others’ concerns or reluctance to accept various forms of treatment for depression such as ECT. Fears and so-forth of procedures like this are likely to be closely related to a general lack of awareness of some facts and general information about such treatments that leads people to feel unnecessarily frightened, concerned or confused.

Physical Exercise

Exercise and other lifestyle changes can certainly help. From my own experience however, just the thought of exercise seemed way beyond my capacity. This is a hard goal to achieve if one is significantly depressed, but do try it, the benefits are rewarding.

There are also other methods or techniques which seem to help people who are battling depression such as positive affirmations or finding some benefits or comfort from spiritual connections. Depression is indeed quite complex and personally I can’t help feeling that finding ways of managing depression can come from far more than just one source. I am not a doctor, but I do work in mental health and I am quite confident that many professionals who work in mental health such as psychiatrists would agree that the causes of depression are also complex and that there is not just one and one-only treatment or solution as to treating depression. All-in-all, if anything helps a person with depression; great, but others may need some help from various other methods and perhaps utilize several different tools as mentioned.

It would be interesting to know if any readers may have had ECT and if so, what they may think about it.

How To Overcome Depression