crying in silence #2

Treatments for depression

Sometimes when we are going through a 'bad patch' in our life, it is enough to talk through our problems with a friend or relative. However, this may not be enough and we may need to seek professional help. The important thing to remember about depression is that it is treatable. There are many different types of treatment. These include medication and talking therapies (psychotherapy).

Psychotherapy

There are many different forms of psychotherapy.
Simply talking to somebody or your doctor about your problems is a form of psychotherapy and can help greatly.
It is far better to talk about your problems than 'bottling-up' your emotions.
More formal psychotherapy includes counselling, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) and dynamic psychotherapy or psychoanalysis. To read more about treatments click here.

As a general rule psychotherapies are as effective as medication for the treatment of mild depression. However, for more severe illnesses, medication is likely to be needed but this may be supplemented with psychotherapy.

Exactly which type of therapy a doctor recommends depends on the particular problems a patient is suffering from, the views of the patient and local availability of psychotherapy. There is little evidence to suggest that one form of therapy is better than another.

Medication

Antidepressant medication helps to correct the 'low' mood and other symptoms experienced during depression; they are NOT 'happy pills'.
Antidepressants do not change your personality.
Antidepressants are NOT addictive.

In the last few years there has been an explosion of new antidepressant medications. The main advantage of these new drugs is that they have fewer side effects than older drugs and so are more pleasant to take.

Your doctor will choose which medication to prescribe for you based on the side effects of the drugs and your particular symptoms. We do not fully understand how antidepressants work. However, they appear to act on chemicals in the brain to correct the abnormalities which cause the illness.

When taking medication it is important to remember:

to take your medication regularly.
you are unlikely to see any improvement in your symptoms for two to four weeks after starting the medication.
once you have started to respond, you should slowly improve over several weeks.
current World Health Organisation guidelines recommend that patients continue to take their medication for six months after having recovered. This is to prevent a recurrence of the illness when the medication is stopped.
antidepressants are effective for both treating episodes of depression and also for preventing further episodes of illness. Some patients who have had severe and/or many episodes of illness are therefore recommended to take medication for a long time.
stopping to take medication once you feel well is a common cause of a return of the symptoms of depression. You should therefore only stop after discussion with your doctor.
generally coming off antidepressants is not a problem, though usually you should gradually reduce the dose of the medication over a few weeks rather than stopping abruptly.

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