Conquering Depression: 3 Most Common Treatments Explained

If you’ve been following the article on depression in this blog, you now know what causes depression and what its symptoms are. Whether you’re familiar with clinical depression or not, you may be curious about the ways people deal with depression.

Most Common Treatments for Depression

Because every case of depression is different, there are many different treatments, and each person responds to them differently. Entire books have been written about how to treat depression, but I will give a quick overview of the three most common treatments for depression in this article. You can find here → A Detailed Overview of the Treatments for Depression.

What are the 3 most common ways people deal with depression?

1. The first treatment, you may be surprised to learn, may have nothing to do with drugs or therapy. Many people, especially those with mild cases of major depressive disorder, or those with situational depression, can treat their symptoms with a combination of lifestyle changes. These changes often include exercise, change in diet, and getting enough sleep.

This may not correct a severe brain chemical imbalance, but it’s often enough to treat mild cases of clinical depression. It can also be effective for cases of depression that are triggered by stress or significant life changes.

    Read more here: Natural Remedies for Depression

The Most Common Treatment for Clinical Depression or MDD

2. Probably the most common treatment for clinical depression is with antidepressant medications – it’s very likely that you know at least a of couple people who have experience with these drugs. Antidepressants work by altering levels of neurotransmitters in the brain, thereby getting these chemicals back into the correct balance.

Different antidepressant medications affect different brain chemicals, and so every person who suffers from major depressive disorder may require a different type of medication. In addition to this, everyone responds differently to certain medications, so it may take a while to find the one that’s best in any given case. These medications also have side effects that may be more or less intense depending on the person taking them, so some experimentation (with a doctor’s supervision, of course) may be required.

    Learn more here on → Antidepressants: Types, Uses, Side Effects, Effectiveness and Withdrawal

3. The final depression treatment I will discuss is psychotherapy (which you may have heard called “counseling,” “therapy,” “talk therapy,” or several other things). This is often used in conjunction with antidepressant medications to deal with moderate-to-severe cases of clinical depression and helps those suffering from the disorder learn to properly deal with the things in their lives that trigger their depressive episodes.

While therapy won’t change a chemical imbalance in the brain, it can help people deal with their symptoms and can be very helpful as a standalone or augmentative treatment. Several types of psychotherapy are used for treating depression, including interpersonal, psychodynamic, and cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Why is psychotherapy effective for treating depression?

Psychotherapy can help you identify untrue and distorted thinking patterns. These thoughts are illogically negative thoughts that often dominate daily life. Thinking is often characterized as bad or good. There is no in-between or neutral ground.

Talk Therapy can also...

- Helps you to identify and understand life circumstances that contribute to your depression.

- Helps you identify the learned behaviors that may contribute to depression.

- Helps you regain a feeling of control over your life.

- Helps you to nurture a more positive and realistic outlook on life.

Not only is there evidence that psychotherapy can reduce depression but there's proof that therapy also reduces the risk of relapse.

Of course, many specialists would also prescribe anti-depression meds.

Unfortunately, there are sometimes grave side effects that range from insomnia to suicidal thoughts and actions.

And yes, there are cases where meds do suppress the symptoms of depression. But this isn't the same as getting to the root cause of depression.

However according to a Swiss study involving over 15,000 patients the most effective psychotherapy  treatment options are Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Problem Solving Therapy, and Interpersonal Therapy.

If meds make you a bit skittish consider combining natural, drug-free remedies for depression along with psychotherapy.

3 Effective Psychotherapy Treatment Options for Depression

Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on the problem areas that influence and worsen your depression-usually personal relationships.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is focused on evaluating, challenging, and changing distorted and unrealistic beliefs.  As a result,  you're empowered to change thought and behavioral patterns often associated with depression.

Problem-solving therapy (PST) identifies the causes of depression and recommends multiple solutions for each problem.  PST takes it one step further by recommending ways to select, implement, and evaluate the best solution.

Though there are many other ways, these are the most common treatments for depression. It’s important to remember that any type of treatment may be very effective for one person, but completely ineffective for another. Just as the symptoms of depression vary a great deal, so do the most effective treatments.

If you’re being treated for depression and you feel that your treatment isn’t as effective as it could be, let your doctor know and he or she will help you find the most effective treatment for your depression.

Further Thoughts on Depression Medication

The good news is depression can be treated, especially when diagnosed early – depressed men and women can truly be handled by way of therapy and depression medication, though it may be a little bit pricey, a person’s quality emotional well-being is one thing that shouldn’t be scrimped on.

Cognitive behavioral therapy and interpersonal therapy are exceptionally healthy depression therapies that are just a portion of the accessible psycho-social depression treatment options that cognitive behavior therapists can provide to their sufferers, each truly proves to be in a position to produce fruitful and good outcomes even for just short-term periods.

Before starting with depression medication, the individual with depression must first get him or herself to a trustworthy medical professional, and get a diagnosis of which kind of depression he/she is suffering from, may it be clinical depression, manic depression (bipolar depression), or what-have-you.

There is a wide assortment of anti-depressant depression medicines accessible to help treat individuals who are battling depression problems. The more prevalent ones are those which can be of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs variant, then you’ll find the tricyclics although the other popular variant is the monoamine oxidase inhibitors or MAOIs.

These types of depression drugs (the SSRIs variant in addition to the other modern depression medication available inside the marketplace) are a much safer alternative than the tricyclics, given that they have much fewer side-effects as compared to the tricyclics depression medicine variant.

In some instances, physicians find it far more useful to combine these depression medicines, based on the demands of the particular person, the medical practitioner may well really prescribe a range of depression medicines to help cure one’s depression condition.

On top of that, the dosages of depression medicine can be increased or decreased depending on what the medical doctor confirms to be one of the most effective.

Even so, about taking these depression drugs, patients are strongly advised to in no way combine depression medications with picking out which dosages to take without referring to their medical doctors first.

Anti-anxiety or sedatives, however, need never be mistaken as depression medicine. Even though these anti-anxiety medications are sometimes prescribed along with depression medication, they do not support a cure for one’s depression illness. Their sole purpose is to help ease one’s nerves, which is why depression medicines are still essential to be taken by the depressed individual.

Medications, like the trinity - Lexapro, Prozac, and Zoloft, are designed to balance the chemicals in the brain that regulate mood. 

But Do Antidepressants Work?

It seems like there's no hard and fast answer to this question.  

According to most studies, 40-60 percent of those who take antidepressants see symptom improvement in four to six weeks.

Some studies also show that antidepressants can work to prevent depression relapse. 

Other studies claim that antidepressants are no more effective than the inert sugar pill. 

And let's not forget the side effects.

Many people who take antidepressants experience side effects from dry mouth to low sex drive. In some cases, antidepressants increase the risk of suicide. 

Some individuals typically do not bother with a lot of these side effects from depression medicine, nevertheless, if it does grow to be too much of a hassle and may end up ruining one’s potential to operate correctly, it is best to go immediately your medical professional and report the side-effects.

Very widespread side effects from depression medicine are the following:

• Dry mouth: always acquiring the irritating feeling of currently being hydrated, it’s best to always have some clean, drinking water nearby to get one thing to drink whenever dry mouth takes place, chewing sugar-free gum together with brushing your teeth right after every single meal can be a great thought.

• Constipation: cure such irritation by consuming and taking in a lot of fiber to assist with your digestion.

• Blurry vision: another temporary side-effect, this one’s straightforward to pass but when it proves to be an excessive amount of a bother, talk to your doctor right away.

• Headaches: typical with all the newer kinds of depression medicine, it’s truly not a big thing and can go away quickly.

• Insomnia: first-time consumers could encounter this depression medication side-effect however it usually just takes place throughout the initial number of weeks of taking the depression medicine, asking your doctor to decrease the dosage of the depression medication might help you with this particular side-effect, as well as the time of day wherein you take your depression medication can truly have something to do with your sleeping problem.

If you're considering using antidepressants keep in mind that, despite the negative news stories and research studies, many people have benefited from these meds.  

If you're still not sure if meds are the right for you...

- Keep researching.

- Speak with your mental health professional and primary care provider to form the best course of action to treat your depression. 

But also keep in mind that there are many other treatment options for depression. 

After all, meds shouldn't be the only weapon in your treatment arsenal.

  See also → Natural Remedies for Depression

Unfortunately, two-thirds of people who are diagnosed with some form of depression every year do not seek further treatment for various reasons. Patient surveys have shown that 80% of treated patients reported significant improvement in their quality of life. If you or a loved one displays any symptoms of depression, please seek help immediately. Studies have shown that the earlier the treatment is started and more effective the treatment will be successful.

  Read also → A Detailed Overview of the Treatments for Depression.