Are There Other Therapies To Treat Symptoms Of Depression
There are other treatments your doctor may consider. Electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, is a treatment option for people whose symptoms don’t get better with medicine or who have severe depression and need treatment right away.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, involves using a noninvasive device that is held above the head to induce the magnetic field. It targets a specific part of the brain that can trigger depression.
With vagus nerve stimulation, or VMS, a pacemaker-like device is surgically implanted under the collarbone to deliver regular impulses to the brain.
Signs To Notice When Feeling Depressed
When you feel depressed, you may experience one or multiple symptoms of depression. Such feelings are persistent, and its not easy to shake them off. Since symptoms affect people differently, they should be a red flag to see your doctor or mental health professional.
According to the American Psychiatric Association, signs of depression may include the following:
How Can I Help A Loved One Who Is Depressed
If someone you know has depression, help them see a health care provider or mental health professional. You also can:
- Offer support, understanding, patience, and encouragement.
- Invite them out for walks, outings, and other activities.
- Help them stick to their treatment plan, such as setting reminders to take prescribed medications.
- Make sure they have transportation to therapy appointments.
- Remind them that, with time and treatment, the depression will lift.
Take comments about suicide seriously, and report them to your loved ones health care provider or therapist. If they are in immediate distress or thinking about hurting themselves, call 911 for emergency services or go to the nearest hospital emergency room.
Recommended Reading: What Stones Are Good For Anxiety And Depression
Why Does Depression Cause Disability
Many people think the symptoms of depression are based largely with mood: lack of pleasure negative outlook and low self-esteem
This can be the case for someone with mild depression, which often responds quite well to talk therapy.
Severe depression is a different situation.
If you have severe depression, it can cripple your energy levels, your ability to focus, your appetite to fuel your body, and your sleep patterns.
There are profound biological changes that happen within you, including changes in hormone levels, sleep cycles, and brain structure.
When this happens, it can be impossible to get out of bed, much less have a productive eight-hour workday.
So if youre suffering from depression, your whole body is going through it as well.
Get A Handle On Your Household Chores
Depression can make it difficult to complete household chores, such as doing the dishes or paying bills.
But a pile of paperwork, the stack of dirty dishes, and floor covered in dirty clothes will only magnify your feelings of worthlessness.
Take control of your daily chores. Start small and work on one project at a time. Getting up and moving can help you start to feel better in itself. But, seeing your progress in the home can be key to helping you feel better.
Also Check: I Feel Irritated And Depressed
Causes And Risk Factors
Depression is not a mood you can just get over. It is a disease in which the brain ceases to register pleasurable activities, says Angelino. Indeed, MRI studies with depressed people have found changes in the parts of the brain that play a significant role in depression.
Women are about twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with depression. Youre also more likely to develop depression if you are between ages 45 and 64, nonwhite, or divorced, and if you never graduated high school, cant work or are unemployed, and dont have health insurance. Other risks for depression include factors such as these:
- Experiencing stressful events in your life, such as losing your job, having problems in your marriage, major health problems, and/or financial challenges.
- Having a bad childhood, such as one involving abuse, poor relationships with your parents, and/or your parents own marital problems.
- Certain personality traits, such as getting extremely upset when youre stressed.
- A family history of depression, which can increase your own risk three or four times.
Depression is far more common than you might think, with nearly one out of 10 adults depressed at any time, about half of them severely.
How Can Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Help With Depression
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or CBT is one of the most effective psychological treatments for depression. CBT uses cognitive and behavioural strategies to help target the thoughts, feelings and behaviours associated with depression. All of our online programs use CBT strategies.
Click below to see if our online CBT program can help you tackle your depression to improve the way you feel.
Cognitive strategies to help with depression
Cognitive Strategies
People who are depressed generally have a negative thinking style. They often think of themselves as worthless and that the world is bad or unfair, and they have little hope that their lives will improve in the future.
When something bad happens, people with depression often blame themselves, but when good things happen, they tell themselves they are just lucky. They are also less likely to recognise and appreciate positive events when they happen, and instead are more tuned into the bad things in their lives and brood over those events.
The cognitive strategies in CBT can help people identify and correct this biased way of thinking. These strategies identify and challenge sometimes hidden assumptions and beliefs, and can reframe the way they think about life.
When people with depression are able to reframe their thoughts, they are able to recover from failures more effectively and recognise and take credit for the good things in their lives. Having these skills has been shown to reduce relapse and a recurrence of depression.
Also Check: Va Rating For Major Depressive Disorder Recurrent Moderate
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.
Causes And Treatments Of Depression
Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Depression can have many causes, all of which are complex and can be difficult to understand. In some cases, feelings of depression can be clearly connected to an experience in someones life, such as a tragic loss or a violent event. Other people may be aware they have afamily history of mental illness and, as a result, may not be caught off guard by a diagnosis of depression.
However, some people become depressed and dont know why. They may feel they do not have a reason to be depressedespecially if they perceive their life as being good or easy compared to others.
The pressure to explain or justify how they feel can make depression worse and may prevent people from getting necessary treatment.
Read Also: Is Depression Rage Turned Inward
What Can Cause Depression And Anxiety
There is some research that states genetics is related to depression while that may have some truth in it, we know there are still solutions.
Other reasons that cause depression can be abuse, a traumatic event, major life changes, a sudden illness, some personal problems, hormones, and even some medications that have been known to cause both anxiety and depression. It’s one thing to know about your risk factors but it’s more important to know you can be in control of drastically changing your life by taking specific actions to help eliminate anxiety so that you don’t have a relapse of depression.
When To Get Professional Help For Depression
If youve taken self-help steps and made positive lifestyle changes and still find your depression getting worse, seek professional help. Needing additional help doesnt mean youre weak. Sometimes the negative thinking in depression can make you feel like youre a lost cause, but depression can be treated and you can feel better!
Dont forget about these self-help tips, though. Even if youre receiving professional help, these tips can be part of your treatment plan, speeding your recovery and preventing depression from returning.
Also Check: Celebrities With Major Depressive Disorder
What To Do When Youre Too Depressed To Work
Are you too depressed to work?
Everyone gets sad from time to time, but the major depressive disorder is a serious mental illness
If you have DMM, there are massive consequences.
Your symptoms of depression can be crippling, and the statistics back it up!
The World Health Organization lists depression as the leading cause of disability worldwide.
If youre having trouble working during a depressive episode, dont beat yourself up over it. This is not something you can snap out of with willpower.
Mental health issues can be just as detrimental to your ability to work as physical health conditions.
Thankfully, there are options available for what to do, to get you back on your feet and confident at work.
What Can You Do For Depression At Work
First, dont beat yourself up.
This is not a character flaw or weakness. It is a medical issue that requires treatment.
If this isnt your first go-round with depression and anxiety, you may have some tools at your disposal for positive mental health and well-being.
Maybe youre on antidepressants keep taking them, or speak with your doctor about adjusting your dosage.
Ask your therapist to coach you through your bad periods while working they may be able to meet with you during your lunch break or over email.
Don’t Miss: How To Help Someone Who Is Lonely And Depressed
Do The Opposite Of What The Depression Voice Suggests
The automatic, unhelpful voice in your head may talk you out of self-help. However, if you can learn to recognize it, you can learn to work through it.
If you believe an event wont be fun or worth your time, say to yourself, You might be right, but itll be better than just sitting here another night. You may soon see the automatic thought isnt always helpful.
When Does Low Mood Become Depression
We all have times when our mood is low, and we’re feeling sad or miserable about life. Usually these feelings pass in due course.
But if the feelings are interfering with your life and don’t go away after a couple of weeks, or if they come back over and over again for a few days at a time, it could be a sign that you’re experiencing depression. See our page on the symptoms of depression for more information.
Recommended Reading: Blood Test To Determine Depression
Points To Make When Seasonal Depression Hits
When seasonal depression strikes, you might not feel like talking on the phone or visiting with others. Ironically, this is the most critical time to reach out to others.
Tell your adult children about your lack of appetite and difficulty in sleeping. If you’re having any brain fog or memory loss, that’s a critical point. They may need to help you get to doctor appointments, remember to pay bills on time, or manage medications.
Tms Therapy For Depression
If youre suffering from major depression that has been resistant to therapy, medication, and self-help, then TMS therapy may be an option. Transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy is a noninvasive treatment that directs recurring magnetic energy pulses at the regions of the brain that are involved in mood. These magnetic pulses pass painlessly through the skull and stimulate brain cells which can improve communication between different parts of the brain and ease depression symptoms.
While TMS may be able to improve treatment-resistant depression, that doesnt mean its a cure for depression or that your symptoms wont return. However, it could provide sufficient improvements in your energy and drive to enable you to begin talk therapy or make the lifestyle changessuch as improving your diet, exercising, and building your support networkthat can help preserve your depression recovery in the long term.
You May Like: Best Natural Medicine For Depression
It Doesnt Make Moral Sense
Self-rule leads to relativism and subjective morality. When you do not give your allegiance to God, but instead decide you will live by your own set of rules and standards, everything becomes subjective. There is no longer any objective morality or truth by which to stake a claim.
The even bigger issue is that when I am at the center of my moral system, my moral system, which is based on self, leads to choices based on selfishness.
Godâs system is based on unconditional love. The entire climax of the biblical story is even while we were in rebellion against him, he took our punishment, bore our pain, and died in our place on the cross. He loved us self-sacrificially he didnât do what was best for himself but chose the thing that was the most selfless loving thing he could have done.
Something in us knows selfless love is deserving of honor. The scriptures say it is only when we mimic this selfless love of Christ that we are able to find our life and experience the richness he created us to experience in the community. It was only by sacrificial love that he could turn our hearts away from selfishness to see the beauty of his ways.
Lawlessness, self-determining morality, and subjective morality lead to evil because they, by definition, stem from selfishness/self-focus.
The center of self-rule is selfishness. You are basing your morality on yourself and the central decision-making factor is what you want, not what is best for others.
Know That Today Isnt Indicative Of Tomorrow
Internal emotions and thoughts can change from day to day. Tracking experiences through journaling or keeping a mood diary can help to remember this.
If you were unsuccessful at getting out of bed or accomplishing your goals today, remember that you havent lost tomorrows opportunity to try again.
Give yourself the grace to accept that while some days will be difficult, some days will also be less difficult. Try to look forward to tomorrows fresh start.
Also Check: Bipolar Depression And Anxiety Treatment
Common Signs And Symptoms Of Depression
Here are some common signs of depression you may experience.
How you might feel
- guilty, worthless and down on yourself
- isolated and unable to relate to other people
- finding no pleasure in life or things you usually enjoy
- a sense of unreality
- avoiding social events and activities you usually enjoy
- self-harming or suicidal behaviour
- difficulty speaking, thinking clearly or making decisions
- losing interest in sex
- difficulty remembering or concentrating on things
- using more tobacco, alcohol or other drugs than usual
- difficulty sleeping, or sleeping too much
- feeling tired all the time
- no appetite and losing weight, or eating too much and gaining weight
- physical aches and pains with no obvious physical cause
- moving very slowly, or being restless and agitated.
“It felt like I was really tired, all the time. I had no energy or emotion about anything.”
What To Do If You Are Depressed: A 15
If you are depressed, then you have hit the right page. Here is a detailed guide for folks who are depressed. The blog covers everything you need to understand and deal with your mental illness.
I often get letters from individuals who are depressed asking me what they should do. If you go on sites like WebMD, they will tell you that depression is a serious medical condition and that you should consult with your doctor. As such, I will assume you have already heard that piece of advice. Here, I attempt to offer folks something more.
What follows is a 15-stept blog series that I have developed to serve as a guide for folks who are feeling depressed or who think they might be and are wondering what to do about it. It is written mostly from a self-help perspective. You do not need to be in therapy . It is probably best suited for folks in the mild-to-moderate range of clinical depression and who have enough mental energy to read and think things through.
These are the guides for doing things differently in the areas:
- Behavioral activation
- Fostering healthy habits and lifestyles
- Attending to your biology
- Learning to engage in adaptive thinking
- Developing a value-based philosophy of living
Although this blog series has many episodes, it does have a primary take-home message. It is as follows:
How does one find a path to positive investment? To guide the process we will be using the three As
Recommended Reading: How To End A Depressive Episode