Let's face it periodic bouts of depression are terrible. Living with depression is even worse. There will be over 130 million people who wake up depressed today most of which will be trying to figure out what to do about it. Statically, more than half of the people who are in need of treatment for depression will not seek help. One large study on depression conducted in the United States found that only 37 percent of those struggling with depression sought help within the first year and the average length of time waited before seeking treatment was an incredible eight years.
The most common conventional way of treating depression are the widely prescribed antidepressant medications known as SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which include recognizable names such as Zoloft, Prozac, Paxil, and Celexa. Other names you might recognize are Wellbutrin, Serzone, and Remeron. According to Dr. Jeffrey Wood the antidepressants listed above, and others like them, need to taken regularly for six to eight weeks before the benefits will start to be recognized, and all of the medications in this category produce a wide range of potentially serious side effects.
Due to inherent risks of treating depression with antidepressant medications many people will choose to forego these drugs in favor of psychotherapy as an alternative. What might come as a surprise to most people is that research seems to suggest that psychotherapy is just as effective as antidepressant medications without the side effect risks. Additionally, many natural health minded individuals how found the combination of psychotherapy combined with homeopathic or herbal remedies for depression to be a powerful one two punch for treating depression effectively.
Psychotherapies often suggested for depression are cognitive behavioral therapy, behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, brief psychodynamic therapy, couples therapy, and family therapy. There are others as well so be sure and check with your medical professional for additional possibilities.
While I am big believer in therapists in general from a layman's point of view it is difficult for me to understand how extreme ways of treating depression such as electroshock therapy can be of benefit. My brother had electroshock and as far as I am concerned it did irreversible damage to both his personality and the way he views the world. The bottom line as far as I am concerned is if you are thinking about electroshock (ECT) think long and hard and get more than one professional opinion before considering this extreme therapy.
Other people have found relief with the help of alternative treatments. For example, many of those suffering from a type of depression known as seasonal affective disorder have found help in a form of treatment known as light therapy (daily exposure to sunlight or special sun lamps).
Homeopathic or herbal depression remedies seems to be quite effective and can be used in combination with many other alternative treatment options.
Exercise can also be produce good results. On study consisting of 156 adults over the age of 50 compared the use of antidepressant medications with participation in an exercise regimen. At the end of the study both treatments produced equally good results. Perhaps the part of the study that was most interesting to me was that ten months after the study had concluded volunteers in the exercise group had less of a chance of relapsing into depression, especially if they had continued with their exercise program.
In conclusion, there are no easy answers when it comes to treating depression with no one treatment being foolproof. Additionally, when feeling depressed talking through your concerns with close friends and family is an important part of recovery. If you are elderly and are in need of a geriatric psychiatrist to help you work through your depression call the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry at (301) 654-7850.
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