If you are experiencing persistent feelings of sadness or anxiety you're not alone and help is available. There are several treatments available for depression sufferers. Some opt for therapy alone, or therapy plus medication is often a suggested path to recovery by doctors. Options include talk therapy, which breaks down into two schools of thought, one being cognitive behavioral therapy. This type of therapy is the most prevalent today and involves incorporating methods of psychology to correct negative behavior and alter negative beliefs to alleviate your mood and improve your outlook. Another option is psychotherapy. Often more expensive for sessions, psychotherapy is a method for examining your life from your earliest formative experiences, up to your present state of mind, to seek answers to what is bothering you, and find resolutions for your suffering long term. In some cases, medication is an option rather than a necessity and it is most often used in severe depression and in bipolar depression it's often required in order to maintain stable mental states. Antidepressant medications like Prozac and Wellbutrin are common for treating depression Antidepressant medication can help to relieve depression symptoms like fatigue, weight gain or loss, and persistent anxiety or sadness. Antidepressants and therapy also allow you to make needed life changes to improve your circumstances dramatically. There are a few types of drugs used as antidepressants: 1. Tricyclic drugs for example amitriptyline are widely used to prevent reuptake of norepinephrine or serotonin or both into the presynaptic nerve endings which will increase synaptic concentrations of these neurotransmitters. 2. Monoaimine oxidase inhibitors such as isocarboxazid block the enzymatic degradation of norepineephrine and serotonin. 3. SSRI antidepressant medication such as fluoxeine, paroxetine and sertaline are used to treat sleep and anxiety problems and users can often experience an alteration in sexual desire and functions in a negative capacity. Medication as those listed above are traditionally prescribed through a psychiatrist, who is a medical doctor that works in conjunction with your therapist to prescribe the best course of medication to work alongside your therapy to comprehensively improve your situation. Psychological treatment of depression assists the depressed individual in several ways Supportive counseling helps to ease the pain of depression and identify the feelings of hopelessness. It is followed by cognitive therapy to change the pessimistic ideas, unrealistic expectations and excessive critical self-evaluation that contribute to depressive and sustain it. This therapy will help patients to the main issues they are facing. It also leads patients to develop positive life goals and be more successful at assessing their strengths and long term courses of action for their career, relationships and so forth. The third stage is problem solving therapy which helps the patients to develop better coping skill to change the areas of life that contribute to stress and depression. Interpersonal therapy is required to those who have issues in their relationships. The length of treatment may differ according to the severity of depression and numbers of factors that contribute to depression being identified. Most people may begin to experience some relief after 6 to 10 sessions and some recover after 20 to 30 sessions. Mild depression may be treated with less sessions and more severe depression may require extended treatment. There are alternative treatments for depression and each of these treatments recognizes human suffering in different ways. In general, these methods such as aromatherapy, vitamins and diet factors help to re-establish balance or harmony within the body in the lifestyle of the person being treated. For minor depression, one may consider natural treatment which helps to alleviate depression such as exercise, yoga and meditation. BM
