Let us fight with Depression | Depression Treatment

Depression is classified as a mood disorder. It can be described as feelings of sadness, loss, or anger that hinder a person's everyday activities. People experience depression in various ways. This can disrupt your daily work, resulting in reduced time and reduced productivity. It can also affect relationships and some chronic health conditions.

The following are the conditions that can worsen depression:

1. Obesity
2. Diabetes
3. Asthma
4. Arthritis
5. Cardiovascular disease
6. Cancer

It is important to realize that sometimes feelings down are normal in life and can happen to everyone. Depression is a serious medical condition that can worsen without proper treatment and people who seek treatment start to see improvements in symptoms within a few weeks. 

What are the causes of depression:

The following are the possible causes of depression :

1. Family history: If you have a family history of depression or other mood disorders, you are at greater risk for developing depression. 
2. Early childhood trauma: Some events affect the way your body reacts to stressful situations and fear.
3. Medical conditions: Conditions such as insomnia, chronic pain, chronic illness, or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can put you at high risk.
4. Drug use: A history of drug or alcohol abuse may affect this depression risk.

Treatments for Depression:

Treatment is necessary to improve the quality of life because living with depression can be very difficult. So you should talk to the healthcare provider about possible options. Your symptoms can be successfully managed with one treatment or you can need a combination of treatments to work best.

These treatments can help you identify and change unexpected thoughts and behavior. The following are the types of treatment for depression:

1. Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy refers to talk therapy and there are many approaches to psychotherapy. The following are the therapies but sometimes they pull from multiple approaches to create a more specific therapy that is based on your specific treatment needs.

2. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT): 

CBT is a psychological treatment that recognizes our way of thinking and affects the way we act. CBT is one of the most effective treatments for depression and is useful for children, adolescents, adults, and older people.

It involves working with a psychologist to identify the ought and behavior patterns that are either making you more likely to feel depressed or are preventing you from getting better when you are experiencing depression. It helps to change your thoughts by teaching you to think rationally about common difficulties and enables you to turn negative or unexpected thought responses into a more realistic, positive, and problem-solving approach.

3. Interpersonal Therapy (IPT):

IPT is a psychological treatment that is based on the idea that relationship problems can also have a significant impact on someone experiencing depression. It focuses on problems in personal relationships and the methods required to deal with them.

It helps you to identify patterns in your relationships that make you more depressed. By Identifying these patterns you can focus on improving relationships and facing grief.

4. Problem-solving Therapy(PST):

Problem-solving therapy is a type of therapy that helps to identify and solve problems arising from life stress and also to reduce the negative effects of psychological and physical illness.

5. Social Skills Training:

Social skills training teaches you to build healthy relationships by telling you the ways to interact with others more effectively. The main goal of this is to improve their communication skills and build a strong social network such as building relationships based on honesty and respect.

6. Psychodynamic Therapy:

Psychodynamic therapy is a type of therapy in which you learn how your depression may be related to past experiences, unresolved conflicts, or unhealthy wounds. The therapist will help you to move forward in your life by addressing these issues.

7. Supportive Counseling:

Supportive counseling is not so structured as some other treatments and it mainly focuses on sharing whatever is on your mind. The therapists talk about your issues and support you and help you to overcome this problem.

8. Behavioral Activation:

Behavioral activation teaches you to avoid isolation and incorporate more enjoyable activities into your lifestyle. 

The goal of this therapy is to teach you to set goals and to increase positive engagement with your environment. In this way, you will engage in more enjoyable activities and it will reduce your symptoms of depression.

9. Family or Couples Therapy:

Family or couples therapy is used when depression affects others in the home. This type of therapy involves looking at your roles and expectations and also telling your loved ones about depression and its effects on you.

10. Medication

Most studies have found that medication is more effective when this medication is in conjunction with the therapy. The following are the medications that are commonly used for reducing the symptoms of depression:

1. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors: SSRIs are one of the most-prescribed medications for depression that is not only helpful for severe but also for non-severe depression. 
2. Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors: SNRIs is a type of antidepressant that is similar to SSRI but it is different because it blocks the body's reuptake of norepinephrine, another neurotransmitter involved in mood.
3. Norepinephrine and Dopamine Reuptake Inhibitors: NDRIs is a type of medication that helps to reduce the symptoms of depression by blocking both norepinephrine and dopamine transporters. 
4. Tricyclic Antidepressants: TCAs is a type of medication that is used to treat chronic depression that is also known as a persistent depressive disorder.
5. Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors: MAOIs is an older type of antidepressant and to take this you have to prevent yourself from dietary restrictions that cause high blood pressure.

Conclusion:

Finally, I can say that depression can cause many problems such as sleeping problems, difficulty in memory or concentration, irritability, and losing interest in activities. There are many treatments for this such as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Interpersonal Therapy, Problem-solving Therapy, and also many medications. But many lifestyle changes such as getting enough sleep, eating a healthy diet, getting regular physical exercise can also help to reduce the symptoms of depression. Depression can be temporary or it can remain for a long-term. Treatments can only make depression manageable but these treatments do not always relieve your depression completely.