Treatments for Depression
Depression is a mood disorder that affects your ability to establish social, occupational, and intrapersonal relationships.
It becomes debilitating because it features symptoms of consistent low moods, irritability, feelings of hopelessness, demotivation, and recurrent suicidal ideations.
Self-diagnosing or self-medicating depression can accelerate the distress you are feeling.
Related: Understanding Depression
The positive side is that depression is treatable. There are improvements when you engage in active change through being consistent with your recovery process.
Greater improvement is seen especially for depression in young adults. Here are different ways to treat or overcome depression:
Psychotherapy
Depression in young adults and the elderly is common. It might feel as if you are fighting alone or you’re left to your own but you're not.
Through interacting with a mental health professional, you can vent out what you feel in a safe space. They are fully equipped to help you manage your thoughts, feelings, and behavior.
Psychotherapists use specific types of therapy to treat depression such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Interpersonal Therapy, Social Skills Therapy, or Psychodynamic Therapy.
Psychological Medications
One sign of depression is that there is an imbalance of brain chemicals. With that, psychopharmaceuticals are developed to help balance your brain chemicals and hormones.
Certain types of antidepressants are helpful while others have side-effects. This is why it’s important that whenever you are starting medications, you regularly visit your medical doctor so that he or she can monitor you.
Changes in Lifestyle
There is a saying that ‘we are what we eat’, and that saying isn’t wrong. Certain meals play a role in mood and emotion regulation.
Apart from food, our ability to move around or exercise can also affect the release of certain neurotransmitters in our minds. Creating healthy habits that make you mindful of what you take in your body and mind can help build you up as you try to cope with depression.
Commonly, depression in young adults lessens if there is a change in your lifestyle. It can start by practicing sobriety — staying away from vices and unhealthy substances.
For the elderly, it’s important to understand that your body is not quite strong anymore and breaking habits can create a strain or shock in one’s health. Through every minor change, a big habit can be broken down and replaced with a healthier one.
Coping Strategies
For you to cope, self-help methods are helpful tools that can help you recover from depression.
The following are examples of healthy coping strategies:
- Joining depression support groups that let you talk to other people who are experiencing the same issues or symptoms you are experiencing.
- Subscribing in online psychological resources like newsletters, online programs, webinars, or websites that offer coping tools.
- Purchasing and reading self-help books that establish healthy coping strategies to help you learn about depression and apply helpful information in your life.
- Listening or watching documentaries that educate you about symptoms and treatments of depression.
Of course, self-diagnosing and self-medicating is not okay. But, it’s important to be self-aware. If you’ve been asking, “Am I depressed?” or “Will it always feel like this?”, then educating yourself is the first step of recovery.
Overcoming depression starts with understanding yourself and what depression is. The next step is for you to consult a mental health professional who is fully equipped to guide and help you understand what you are struggling with.
