Depression Therapy Techniques

Formerly known as spleen or melancholy, clinical depression is one of the most serious mental and mood disorders currently recognized by the DSM IV. There are many different types of depressive disorders, and as many diverse theories as to what may cause each different type, each with a wide variety of treatment methods. Each widely-practiced method has its merits and its limitations, and these must be weighed by a professional to determine a patient's best options.

Psychotherapy

• The most common starting point for the treatment of a newly-diagnosed case of depression is the wide body of theories known under the umbrella term psychotherapy. Psychotherapy takes widely different forms, but the most common shared thread among the practices is allowing the patient to receive mental help from a mental health professional or group of more than one. The most widely studied practice is cognitive behavioral therapy, in which the patient is taught a number of self-employable cognitive and behavioral skills to help her with mood difficulties.

  Other practices include mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, a recent area of study effective for individuals who've had more major depressive episodes; interpersonal psychotherapy, which focuses on interpersonal triggers of depression; and psychoanalysis, a controversial treatment that focuses on the unconscious. According to Nice.org.uk, psychotherapy is the most preferred treatment method for patients under eighteen years old.

Medication

• There is a very wide variety of antidepressant medications to choose from if a case of depression proves too difficult to manage by psychotherapy alone. Ideally, medications would be administered in coordination with other therapeutic methods like psychotherapy. Some common antidepressants are Zoloft, Lexapro and Prozac, though serious and resilient cases of depression may require more serious medications like tricyclic antidepressants. However, these often have more side-effects. There is a fair amount of controversy associated with antidepressants, and according to Psycnet.apa.org, their effects are not significantly different from a placebo.

Alternatives

• There are a number of alternative methods for treating depression. In the most serious cases, electro-convulsive therapy, in which the patient is electrically stimulated while anesthetized into having seizures for therapeutic effect, can prove to be a last resort. According to NCBI.com, ECT is one of the most effective short-term treatments for depression, though how lasting its positive effects are is a contentious issue. Other alternative methods include herbal remedies like St. John's Wort, ambient treatments like bright light therapy, ionic treatments like zinc or lithium or basic personal changes like diet and exercise, sleep, meditation, and religion.