Thanks to modern techniques, people suffering from depression can be successfully treated and relieved of the symptoms with professional diagnosis and timely treatment. When symptoms are evident one should seek assistance as soon as possible. A professional can then suggest the appropriate treatment required to alleviate the condition.

Treatments that are Available For Clinical Depression?

Several avenues of treatment are available today. Learning as much as possible about the cause and treatment will help sustain your ability to see the treatment through and achieve total relief now and in the future. It may be found that a combination of treatments is required to achieve relief from the symptoms as quickly as possible.

Proper diagnosis may reveal that successful treatment may need to combine allopathic treatment with alternative medicines or natural remedies. Careful and qualified observation throughout the treatment process will indicate the path of treatment required for each particular individual.

It is always wise to consult with your personal doctor when seeking treatment and follow advice from him. Your actual treatment will most likely be supervised by a specialist in mental disorders but your medical doctor should be fully aware of the condition as well.

Clinical depression is a very serious mental disorder which can lead to fatal results due to a variety of reasons. Professional assistance is definitely indicated. Learn as much as possible about the various treatment options and consults with experts. It is important to act quickly and seek a program that will target your individual needs.

Clinical depression treatments basically fall into two basic types of treatment. The first type would be described best as medically approved treatments, The second avenue of treatment might be classified as alternative medicine and cures.

The types of Medically Approved Treatment

Medication and psychotherapy requires the use of prescribed drugs that will control the most severe symptoms. In combination, there would be mental therapy treatments. These sessions will serve to reveal the causes of mentally stressing conditions. The cause of the mentally stressing condition must be revealed, rationalized and relieved.

Once revealed, a professional can then suggest a proper course of action to deal with the issues that have been nagging at your brain and contributing to the stressing condition.

ECT or the electro-convulsive therapy can best be described as a treatment that utilizes electric shock therapy. This may seem a bit medieval and sounds like a disturbing course of treatment. In fact the process had become very refined and scientific. The professionals administering this treatment precisely understand every region of the brain and will know in advance the areas that need and will be affected by electrical stimulation.

Trans Cranial Magnetic Stimulation is a clinical depression treatment that may only be in the infancy stage at this point. It is showing positive results when conducted in the presence of persistent mental disorders that are proving difficult to treat by more conventional methods.

This technique to treat mental disorders makes use of a mild electro-magnetic current passing through the brain to stimulate the certain brain cells. Understanding which brain cells require stimulation and the action resulting from that stimulation is the key to using this method effectively.

The Second Broad Treatment Group

Some people will experience relief from mental stress and depression through the practice of Yoga. This simply incorporates a course of physical and mental exercises which help to relax both body and mind. The meditation that yoga prescribes in combination with a number of predefined postures (asanas) have proven to be very effective in reversing clinical depression in many people.

This is not really anything new. Several eastern cultures have successfully made use of yoga to treat a wide range of medical and physical conditions over hundreds of years.

Although in many instances they would not be the first choice of professional psychiatric practitioners, there is available a multitude of herbal and home remedies.

Similarly to the practice of Yoga, many old cultures incorporate the use of herbs to treat a wide range of medical and physical conditions. In fact it has been clearly shown that many herbs act as natural anti-depressants and have been shown to provide mental stimulation. For these reasons many herbalists will suggest the use of these herbs to reverse the effects of and eliminate clinical depression completely.

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Current depression studies indicate that out of all adults who are at least sixty-five years young, only about fifteen percent show any symptoms that could be associated with depression. Since many of the symptoms that accompany depression can limit one’s ability to perform even daily care tasks, factor that in with the similar problems that come with aging, and many of those adults end up needing help in caring for themselves. So, if you are a senior citizen, it is important that you find ways to deal with your depression before it impacts your life, especially if you value your independence.

Another scientific study shows that elderly people who often have symptoms of severe depression for at least a six year time period are at a much greater risk of being diagnosed with cancer sometime in the near future. Not only are you more prone to develop cancer, leaving your depression untreated can also put you at risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease, which is the reason that many seniors end up in skilled care facilities each year. Family members just do not have the skills needed to handle this disease, no matter how much they want to care for their elderly, they are just unable to do so. Sooner or later, they will realize that they have got to seek help.

Depression should be treated, before it impacts your life. It is often more difficult to diagnose and treat in aging adults, but it can still be done. There are many diseases that have similar symptoms, which may cause a physician to overlook the underlying cause of all of the problems, severe depression. If there is a simultaneous medical illness, it is easy to focus on treating the illness, bypassing the depression altogether.

Elderly people often feel ashamed or embarrassed to discuss their feelings. They fail to seek treatment, thinking that they are just in a funk, and will get out of it on their own. Another reason that many elderly fail to seek medical treatment for their depression is the fact that they often live off of very limited incomes, and simply cannot afford to pay for an extra visit to the doctor, or for a new medication each month. If they do have Medicare, chances are they will still be left with a hefty bill that Medicare will not cover, especially due to all of the prescription plan changes that have been taking effect recently. They may have family that they could turn to for financial help, but for many it is a matter of pride, they don’t want to ask their children for money because they feel as though they should be helping their children, not the other way around.

If they do bite the bullet and schedule an appointment with their physician, they may have problems with the medication that is prescribed. The elderly tend to be more susceptible to the dangerous side effects of many medicines, and antidepressants have a long list of side effects with them. If they are taking medicine for other conditions, their antidepressant medication may cause dangerous interactions, especially if they see a new doctor and forget to tell him all of the medications they currently take. Seniors are often on so much medication that they have a hard time remembering when they are supposed to take what, and what the correct dosage of each is. The best thing that a senior who is suffering from depressive symptoms can do is talk to their physician. The physician should be told what medications are currently being taken, what the problem is, and how the patient feels about treatment. The physician should work with the patient to help find the best treatment plan, so they can start feeling normal again.

Seniors may respond better to treatment sessions with a mental health therapist, or a combination of therapy and medication. If you seek help and don’t feel that your treatment program is working for you, don’t be afraid to speak up and say so. You are the best judge of how you feel, and your doctor cannot help you if there is a communication problem. They take the information that you give them, and combine that with test results to try to come to a diagnosis and treatment plan. You are in integral part in your own treatment, regardless of the condition!

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So how does all this affect you if you are depressed? Despite NICE guidelines recommending counselling rather than antidepressants for mild to moderate depression, you are still likely to find your GP offering you antidepressants. If your doctor is enlightened enough to refer you for counselling you are likely to face a wait of several weeks, or perhaps even months, for an initial assessment and then sometimes a further wait of weeks to start your therapy. The counselling itself is then likely to be limited to six to twelve weeks, although the Department of Health’s own report in 2001 stating that ‘often 16 sessions or more may be required for symptomatic relief and longer therapies may be required to achieve lasting change in social and personality functioning’.

The government is promising to pour money into the provision of more NHS counsellors, but this is going to take some time to have any impact on the patient in the doctor’s surgery. So if you are facing depression now what can you do to help your recovery?

Private Counselling

This is an obvious alternative to waiting for limited counselling on the NHS and for those that can afford it and I would certainly recommend it as your first step. There is much talk today about Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). This has gained in status because it has been subjected to more scientific studies than other forms of therapy. This is largely because CBT has its roots in behavioural and cognitive science. Other forms of counselling have traditionally focused more on case studies, individual success stories, and so there is less scientific data to support their effectiveness. Governments like to look at hard data to make policy. However, a good therapist from any of the disciplines will be able to help you.

The most important factor in the effectiveness of counselling is the relationship between the client and the therapist. Sometimes therapy may be difficult and you may not always feel comfortable in the therapy room, but you should feel at ease with your therapist. There needs to be a degree of trust and you need to feel safe in order to explore your inner world and move forward. So if you don’t feel that the relationship with your therapist works then it may be better to try someone else.

I would recommend using the Therapist Directory on the BACP or UKCP websites to locate a therapist in your area. This ensures that your therapist has been properly trained and is following an appropriate Code of Ethics. Or, if you have found someone locally check whether they are a member of either of these bodies.

However, not everyone can afford to go private, so what other options are there?

Exercise

Exercise is increasingly being recognised as a useful tool in aiding recovery from depression. We are not yet sure why it helps. It may be to do with the effect it has on body chemistry, the social impact of exercising with others or the psychological impact of getting out of the house and doing something. Any exercise is helpful, but it is particularly beneficial if you can get out in the open air and/or exercise with other people. It can be very difficult to motivate yourself to do anything when you are depressed, so it may be a good idea to recruit a friend to help you exercise. Perhaps arrange to go to a class with someone else, if you know that will make you more likely to make the effort. Yoga postures and breathing have been suggested as particularly helpful.

Diet and Nutrition

There is some evidence that diet may be a factor in depression for some people. Certain foods can have a direct impact on your body’s physiology and hence your mood and are best avoided or reduced when depressed. These include alcohol, caffeine and sugary foods. It is also thought that deficiencies in certain substances can contribute to depression e.g. omega 3 oil and the Vitamin B complex. Some people have even found that food intolerances have contributed toward their depression. I would recommend visiting a qualified nutritionist for advice on changing your diet. Food is often a difficult issue for those who are depressed as appetite is often affected and our relationship with food is highly emotional. You may therefore find that you need to make changes gradually if they are to be effective. It is best to discuss this with your nutritionist so that they can put together a schedule for change that is manageable for you.

Herbs

The herb most commonly associated with the treatment of depression is St John’s wort. This has been widely researched and it is widely prescribed for depression in Germany where the most research has been done. Some people do seem to find it helpful, although (as with antidepressants) there is some debate over whether the effects are more of a placebo. If you want to try taking St John’s wort then you need to stop taking antidepressants first, as there are reports of negative interactions. In fact there is an increasing list of reactions with various medications, so if you are taking any medicine it is best to check with your GP for interactions first. You should also be aware that there are some reported side effects with St John’s wort, although these are relative minor e.g. dry mouth, dizziness, gut problems. As with all herbal medicines, the safest way to take them is to consult a qualified herbalist.

Complementary Therapies

There are a number of complementary therapies that claim to be able to help with depression. The most common are probably homeopathy, acupuncture and reflexology. There is anecdotal evidence of success with all three of these, but little scientific evidence at this stage. More research is needed and new ways need to be found to gather evidence as many complementary therapies are not easily tested by traditional scientific method due to their nature. If you can afford it then there is no harm in trying any of these approaches and they may actually help.

Self Help

There are things that you can do to support yourself whilst undergoing or waiting for treatment. Many of these are simple steps to surround yourself with positivity, rather than negativity. For example:

* Watch funny films, comedy TV shows, etc.
* Avoid watching the news
* Read inspiring books
* Listen to music that makes you feel good, avoid music that makes you feel bad
* Have a regular massage to help you relax
* Where possible avoid people who make you feel worse
* If you can spend more time with supportive family and friends See if there is a Depression Alliance local group in your area

Self Acceptance

Many of my clients talk about feeling guilty or lazy. They feel they should be able to ‘just snap out of it’, that they are letting other people down. There is often a lot of self hatred associated with depression. This will not help you. Accepting that you feel how you feel, that you are who you are, is the first step to recovery. This does not mean that you will never get better, or that you don’t want to get better, it’s not giving up, and it’s just accepting that in this moment this is how you feel and that’s ok. This level of self acceptance allows you to let go of a lot of guilt and negativity, which will have been using up a lot of energy and blocking your path to recovery.

Hopefully this has given you an insight into some of the steps you can take to aid your recovery. Just the act of taking a small step to help yourself can have a positive impact. However bad you may be feeling and however hard it is to believe right now, it is important to remember that most people do recover from depression.

Nancy Hine is a qualified counsellor and the author of ‘THE DEPRESSION TRAP: Ten Ways to Set Yourself Free.’ She also writes a blog on depression. For more information visit www.thedepressiontrap.com or www.nancyhine.co.uk

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