Depression Treatment and Seeking Help

No one should have to live with depression. Left untreated, the disorder can be truly debilitating and even life-threatening. Worse yet, children and teenagers are just as susceptible as adults.

 

Fortunately, there's good news. With appropriate treatment, depression does go away. Depression is not a sign of inner weakness; it is a disease. And like other diseases, it can be fought and overcome.

There are a wide variety of treatment options for dealing with depression. Each person is affected differently by depression, and the prescribed treatment varies from person to person. Some treatment options include:

Once a patient is diagnosed, treatment can begin. Treatments vary depending on the type. Does the patient suffer from dysthymia? Cyclothymia? Bipolar disorder? Each type requires a slightly different approach to treatment. Combinations of antidepressants and psychotherapy are very effective in most cases. Sometimes it's even possible to let the episode run its course — most depressive episodes resolve themselves after three or four months, although this won't work for long-term conditions like dysthymia and cyclothymia.

The weapons used in the fight against depression are more sophisticated and varied than ever before. Antidepressant medication has advanced in leaps and bounds over the last few years. The new drug treatments for depression are safer and have far fewer side effects than medication used as recently as ten years ago. Psychotherapy is, of course, completely confidential (no danger of your therapist contacting your boss), and is a much friendlier form of depression help than the popular notion of Freud quizzing you about your childhood!

In most cases, treatment for depression is most effective when several different treatment approaches are used. Psychotherapy and drug treatment often go hand-in-hand in cases of clinical depression. Antidepressants help remove the energy-sapping qualities of depression, making it easier for the patient to do the often hard work of therapy. Adding a support group gives the patient a sense of community and understanding, and self help techniques reaffirm that the patient controls his or her own life. With such a range of treatments for depression available, the disorder can be successfully overcome.

Resource

National Institute of Mental Health. (updated 2002). Depression [NIH Publication No. 02-3561]. Retrieved May 30, 2003, from www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/depression.cfm.