How To Help Someone Cure Depression

How Is Progress Evaluated In Therapy

While unstructured interactions with patients under their care can provide a window into patient functioning, therapists providing good care make regular assessments of a patients clinical status using criteria that have been validated in many studies. To know whether and how much depression is improving, they regularly monitor treatment progress by measuring the severity of multiple symptoms of depression on standardized scales. The most widely used assessment instrument is the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, or Ham-D, which gauges progress in 21 constellations of symptoms, from level of sadness to degree of guilty feelings to lack of energy to sleep problems. Severity is rated for each cluster of symptoms. Comparison of results over several sessions provides an accurate picture of treatment effectiveness and indicates areas where more intensive work may be needed.

Depression And Drugs And Alcohol

“Drowning your sorrows” is actually a bad idea when it comes to depression. Alcohol is categorised as a “strong depressant” which can make depression worse, and drinking or taking drugs to cope can lead to a downward spiral by having a negative affect on other parts of your life.

There’s evidence that cannabis can cause depression, particularly in teenagers, even if it helps you relax.

Knowing How Depression Works Can Help You Better Support Loved Ones Who Are Struggling

If youve never experienced clinical depression, it is hard to understand what it is like. Well-intentioned people will say things like, just think positive, or just snap out of it. Though they may not say it out loud, some people think a person with depression is just being lazy, or just trying to get attention. However, major depressive disorder is a serious psychological condition.

Before I became a clinical psychologist, I experienced a depressive episode after a divorce. The depression completely hijacked my thinking and feelings, and I even seriously contemplated suicide. A family member encouraged me to seek psychotherapy, and it really helped. This is what inspired me to become a psychologist, and I eventually became a board-certified clinical psychology professor. Through my research, writing, and international speaking, one of my personal life missions is to validate peoples struggles and walk with them on the path to recovery from depression.

If you know someone who seems depressed, it can be very difficult to understand, and it can be hard to know what to do. With more knowledge about how depression works, youll be in a better position to offer the most helpful support.

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Connect Them With A Social Worker

If your loved one is working with a mental health therapist, they can be referred for case management services through the mental health center. If not, you can help them reach out to a social worker or county caseworker. They are professionals who support someone with severe depression access community resources to improve their health.

A few examples of resources available include the following:

• Medical professionals

Helping someone be successful in other areas of their life may help ease their depressive symptoms.

What Are The Three Ways To Help Treat Depression

Cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, and psychodynamic therapy are three of the most widely used methods of treatment for depression. It is common to employ a blended approach.

It may appear impossible to recover and regain energy, hope, and interest in life when you are suffering from depression. Your actions and small goals can serve as a guide as you begin the process of recovery from depression. Depression can be treated with a variety of medications and therapy, in addition to medication and therapy.

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Assess The Parts Instead Of Generalizing The Whole

Depression can tinge recollections with difficult emotions. You may find yourself focusing on things that are unhelpful or perceived as difficult.

Try to stop this overgeneralization. Push yourself to recognize the good. If it helps, write down what was meaningful about the event or day. You can track what you achieved that day, and which activities were enjoyable.

Seeing the weight youre giving to one thing may help you direct your thoughts away from the whole and to the individual pieces that were helpful.

Help Them Seek Treatment

Although severe depression can be debilitating, it is treatable with medication, individual therapy, and lifestyle changes. Antidepressants can be temporary or taken for many years. They boost the chemicals in the brain associated with severe depression, like Serotonin and Norepinephrine. Working with a therapist to learn coping skills has been found to boost the effects of medication.

If your friend or loved one shows signs of severe depression and has tried medications and therapy without success, there are advanced treatment options to try. For example, ketamine therapy, administered by a psychiatrist, has been studied for years. Recently it is being implemented in more mental health treatment centers due to its successful outcomes. When combined with psychotherapy, the effects of ketamine are said to last even longer.

Encourage your loved one never to give up seeking the right treatment. Working with the right mental health professionals, a successful treatment plan can be created.

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Encourage Treatment For Symptoms

People with depression may not recognize or acknowledge their symptoms. They may have difficulty seeing the point of getting treatment.

Here’s what you can do to help:

• Talk to the person about what you’ve noticed and why you’re concerned.
• Explain that depression is a complex condition, not a personal flaw or weakness and that effective treatment exists.
• Suggest seeking help from a health care or a mental health professional, such as a licensed counselor, psychologist or psychiatrist. Often, the best place to start for a referral is your primary care provider, especially if a trusting relationship has been established.
• Offer to help prepare a list of questions and notable changes to discuss at an initial consultation.
• Express your willingness to help by setting up appointments, going along to them and attending family therapy sessions.

What To Say To Someone Whos Depressed

If your loved one does want to open up to you, its important that you respond to them in a compassionate and supportive way. You could use phrases such as:

• Im here for you if you need me
• What can I do to help?
• This must be incredibly difficult
• Its ok to feel like this
• Remember, asking for help is a sign of strength not weakness

• Try to look on the bright side

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What Are Symptoms Stay

Its clear that stay-at-home moms may experience a range of mental health conditions, but what exactly does that look like? Both Poole and Wright say that the way symptoms manifest can vary depending on both the person and the mental health condition. As Poole previously explained, a stay-at-home mom experiencing burnout may:

• Struggle to get out of bed
• Daydream about escaping motherhood

A stay-at-home mom experiencing depression may further isolate herself , explains Wright.

Someone experiencing anxiety may become hyper vigilant about anything related to the household or children in some cases, anxiety can lead to obsessive compulsive behavior, Wright continues. Depression or anxiety can also lead to substance abuse, she says.

You Deserve To Be Happy

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Understand The Downward Spiral Of Depression

Gaining perspective on what your loved one is experiencing can be critical to the support process. Visualizing depression as a downward spiral is one way to simplify and understand clinical depression.

The downward spiral may begin with the person feeling worse than usual from physical, social or psychological stressors. A worsened mood may lead to taking part in fewer meaningful day-to-day activities. Self-criticism and stress increase due to mounting responsibilities or missed opportunities. Depressive thinking may encompass guilty thoughts, pessimism and irritable behavior.

As the spiral develops, a complex dynamic emerges. Your loved one becomes increasingly stressed while simultaneously less capable of coping with this stress. The response of the brain to this dynamic is to slow, stop and depress. A person can get stuck at the bottom of the spiral for weeks, months or years.

The silver lining is that if people can spiral down, they can spiral back up. However, depression affects the motivation, energy and curiosity needed to spiral up.

It’s disheartening that you can’t fix a loved one’s depression or spiral up for them. But you can help them get started and continue moving on an upward path.

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Learn About Depression On Your Own

Imagine having to educate each person in your life about a mental or physical health condition youre experiencing explaining it over and over again. Sounds exhausting, right?

You can talk with your friend about their specific symptoms or how theyre feeling, but avoid asking them to tell you about depression in general terms.

Read up on the symptoms, causes, diagnostic criteria, and treatments on your own.

While people experience depression differently, being familiar with the general symptoms and terminology can help you have more in-depth conversations with your friend.

These articles are a good starting point:

• What Its Really Like Going Through a Deep, Dark Depression

Seeing A Doctor About Depression

Big changes in your life, like bereavement, losing a job, or even having a baby, can cause symptoms of depression. You’re also more likely to experience depression if you have a family history of depression. However, it’s also possible to become depressed without there being an obvious reason.

You can learn more about depression causes here.

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Never Stop Your Antidepressant Without Guidance From A Doctor

Quitting the medication abruptly without professional support could potentially make your symptoms worse. If you dont notice improvement after taking your prescribed antidepressant for several weeks, or if you experience unwanted side effects, its best to ask the prescribing psychiatrist or clinician about alternatives.

Helping A Suicidal Friend Or Relative

If you see any of the above warning signs:

• get professional help for the person
• let them know they’re not alone and that you care about them
• offer your support in finding other solutions to their problems

If you feel there is an immediate danger, stay with the person or have someone else stay with them, and remove all available means of committing suicide, such as medication.

Over-the-counter drugs such as painkillers can be just as dangerous as prescription medication.

Also, remove sharp objects and poisonous household chemicals such as bleach.

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How Will Know That Therapy Is Working

Feeling better is a good yardstick, but it is by no means the only measure of therapeutic effectiveness. Mental health professionals regularly assess the progress of therapy and rely on two important tools to monitor patient gains. One is their own experienced judgment of the patients ability to engage in the therapeutic process. The other is a standardized symptom rating scale that assesses patient standing on each of the constellation of symptoms of depression, from personal outlook to physical slowness. Has the veil on thinking or sluggishness of thought or speech persisted, lifted slightly, lifted significantly, or completely disappeared? Does the patient weep frequently, occasionally, or not at all? The most widely used symptom checklist is the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, often called the Ham-D.

Know The Different Forms Depression Can Take

Depression often involves sadness or a low mood, but it also has other, less well-known symptoms.

For example, many people dont realize depression can involve:

• confusion, difficulties with memory, or difficulty focusing
• excessive fatigue or sleep concerns
• physical symptoms such as stomach distress, frequent headaches, or back and other muscle pain

Your friend may often seem to be in a bad mood, or feel exhausted a lot of the time. Try to keep in mind that what theyre feeling is still part of depression, even if it doesnt fit into the stereotypical versions of depression.

Even if you dont know how to help them feel better, simply saying Im sorry youre feeling this way. Im here to help if theres anything I can do may help.

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Signs That Someone May Be Depressed

Depression has lots of possible symptoms.

You may notice that someone:

• has lost interest in doing things they normally enjoy
• seems to be feeling down or hopeless
• has slower speech and movements or is more fidgety and restless than usual
• feels tired or does not have much energy
• is overeating or has lost their appetite
• is sleeping more than usual or is not able to sleep
• has trouble concentrating on everyday things, such as watching TV or reading the paper

What Does Cognitive Behavoral Therapy Do

CBT takes straight aim at the distorted ways of thinkingoften acquired early in lifethat are typical of depressed people, and study upon study has proved its effectiveness. It is based on the evidence that negatively-biased thinking and beliefs give rise to the feelings of hopelessness and despair that are typical of depression, and changing thoughts changes emotions. Studies show that in depression, dysfunction in neural circuitry inclines patients to a negative view of themselves, the world, and their future, and therapy effectively alters patterns of neural transmission. CBT involves an active collaboration between patient and therapist that guides patients to challenge and test their own thoughts and beliefs, try out new behavioral strategies, and to curb reactivity to distressing situations.

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Ok Im Feeling Depressed So Now What

Now that you know the symptoms of depression, some positive coping skills can be useful. All of the following techniques are supported by scientific research and medication prescribers like psychiatrists and these skills are frequently recommended as important parts of treatment even for patients who continue to take antidepressant medications.

WARNING: Do not suddenly go off your prescribed antidepressant medications without first talking to your medical provider. Discuss any questions or concerns about the side effects of your medications with your provider.

How To Talk To Someone About Depression

Sometimes it is hard to know what to say when speaking to someone about depression. You might fear that if you bring up your worries the person will get angry, feel insulted, or ignore your concerns. You may be unsure what questions to ask or how to be supportive.

If you dont know where to start, the following suggestions may help. But remember that being a compassionate listener is much more important than giving advice. You dont have to try to fix your friend or family member you just have to be a good listener. Often, the simple act of talking face to face can be an enormous help to someone suffering from depression. Encourage the depressed person to talk about their feelings, and be willing to listen without judgment.

Dont expect a single conversation to be the end of it. Depressed people tend to withdraw from others and isolate themselves. You may need to express your concern and willingness to listen over and over again. Be gentle, yet persistent.

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Its Easier Than You Think

Defining Depression

Many folks confuse sadness with depression. Sadness is a natural state, a necessary part of living. Friendships end. Death steals loved ones. Life provides us with plenty of reasons to feel sad. Feeling sad is appropriate at such times and indispensable. The need to mourn, to feel sadness, is an essential part of what it means to be human. When we honor sadness, it provides us with essential space for self-reflection, and greater empathy and compassion. It also may compel us to recognize difficult truths or inspire us to make better choices.

Depression, however, offers no solace. It brutally assaults us and promotes hopelessness. This is because depression is not a pure feeling but an effort to ward off a complex mix of unwanted ones. Anger, frustration, irritation, and grief are feelings we tend to find intolerable we dont want to feel them. When were depressed, were engaging in a psychic battle to blot out these unwanted feelings. Common psychic defenses against painful feelings include denial , projection , rationalization or binge eating .

Unfortunately, as long as the true causes of our depression remain unaddressed, it will return again and again.

Hunt Down the Cause of Your Depression

Heres a list of the most common situations that often trigger depression:

Battling Depression

Body

Mind

Spirit

Is Depression Treatable

Yes, absolutely! Depression is one of the most treatable mental disorders. About 80 to 90 percent of the people with depression eventually respond well to treatment. Proper treatment helps control the disturbing symptoms and prevent further episodes of depression.

Sometimes, depression may be caused by an underlying health condition. So, the doctor may try to treat that condition, such as thyroid diseases or vitamin deficiencies, which may be causing the symptoms. Most patients with depression can be treated with medications and psychotherapy under the supervision of a qualified psychiatrist.

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How Effectve Is Therapy

Therapy is highly effective provided patients complete a prescribed course of therapy. Recent data show that only 10.6 percent of depressed patients haver ever received weekly therapy during their treatment period, which is typically 12 to 16 weeks. But when they do, therapy is more effective than medication over the long term and the effects are more enduring. Patients are less likely to need a second course of treatment and less likely to relapse. In fact, studies show that a single course of psychotherapy works at least as well as keeping patients on medication.