How to Help Mental Depression

According to the Mayo Clinic, about 12 million adults in the United States suffer from depression in a given year. Depression does not discriminate against economic status, race, gender or age. No one is immune from the risk. If you seek treatment, the prognosis for depression is good. Depression, however, tends to get worse over time if left untreated.

Things You'll Need

• Current doctor and/or mental health professional

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Instructions

• 1

  Schedule an evaluation with a doctor or mental health professional to assess your symptoms.
  Sometimes depression is a symptom of another condition. Bipolar disorder and seasonal affective disorder, for example, are two disorders that share many of the same symptoms with depression.

• 2

  Participate in cognitive therapy or psychotherapy sessions.
  Your doctor or therapist will help you identify emotional issues you may have to help you change your thinking, behavior and how you relate to others so that you are able to function in a more healthy manner.

• 3

  Consider the use of prescription medication.
  According to the Mayo Clinic, many patients respond quite well with a combination of therapy and medication. There are several types of medications used to treat depression. SSRI, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, include medications such as Zoloft and Prozac. The Mayo Clinic also lists serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitors (NDRIs), combined reuptake inhibitors and receptor blockers, and tetracyclic antidepressants as other options. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) are often a last choice when other treatments have not worked. MAOIs tend to have more serious side effects. You will need a prescription from a doctor for these medications.

• 4

  Investigate other options.
  If therapy and medications do not work, consult your doctor for other options availble to treat depression. Depending on the severity of the depression, doctors may also recommend electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). According to the Mayo Clinic, ECT passes electrical currents through the brain to trigger a seizure. The Mayo Clinic also reports vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) "uses electrical impulses with a surgically implanted pulse generator to affect mood centers of the brain. The FDA approved this treatment in July 2005 for certain cases of severe or chronic, treatment-resistant depression."