How To Treat Depression
Most of us have our low times once in a while and that’s perfectly acceptable. What differentiates an ordinary low time from a clinical depression? Major depressive disorder is a condition that hinders you from performing your responsibilities. You don’t only feel sad. In clinical depression, there is a noticeable change in one’s ability to perform tasks, even those as simple as taking a bath.
Here are a few things you need to know about this condition that may help you determine whether or not you already need to seek help from a health professional.
Causes
Biochemistry of the brain. Neurotransmitters in the brain affect our mood. A change in the level of these chemicals greatly affect our well being. Dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin are some of the substances that regulate our mood.
Environment. Life situations directly affect our feelings. People use different coping mechanisms to deal with everyday struggles. How a person responds to a problem varies from another person. That’s why there are those people who can easily adjust to changes and those who can’t.
Physical symptoms
Changes in sleep pattern
Changes in appetite
Marked fatigue and weakness
Unexplained physical symptoms, like stomachaches and headaches, that aren’t relieved by treatments
Unexplained weight changes.
Behavioral and Emotional Symptoms
Anhedonia is the inability to feel pleasure in enjoyable things. This is the core feature of major depression and other psychological conditions.
Low mood that persists longer than 2 weeks
Feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, restlessness and worthlessness
Irritability
Difficulty focusing
Suicidal thoughts and actions
Treatments
treating depression
Cognitive Behavioral therapy (CBT) assesses your thoughts and feelings. Unhelpful and negative thoughts are identified and modified by finding more acceptable ways of dealing with these thoughts and emotions. This therapy follows the idea that how you feel and behave is related to how you think.
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) directs electrical impulses to the brain to alter its biochemistry. This is used to relieve symptoms of depression, mania, schizophrenia and other psychological conditions.
Drug therapy. There are 3 groups of antidepressant drugs. It will take about 2 to 3 months before a patient may experience the full effects of these medications.
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are the first line drugs for depression because the side effects of these drugs are more tolerable than the others. Examples of these medications are Fluoxetine (Prozac), Paroxetine (Paxil) and Sertraline (Zoloft).
Tricyclic Antidepressant (TCAs). If SSRIs don’t work, you’ll probably be prescribed with a medication under this group. TCAs are the 2nd line drugs for depression. Examples are Desipramine (Norpramin), Doxepin (Sinequan) and Imipramine (Tofranil).
Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs) are the 3rd drug of choice for depression. These drugs are used with great precautions as they have serious side effects and easily interact with other medications and foods. Patients prescribed with MAOI should avoid tyramine in their diet to avoid a fatal increase in their blood pressure. Some MAOIs are Moclobemide (Manerix), Phenelzine (Nardil) and Tranylcypromine (Parnate).
Prevention
Though we can’t prevent disappointments and other problems from happening to us, we can prevent ourselves from having clinical depression. Here are some ways you can follow.
Relax. If you’re feeling stressed out, find a hobby or an activity that will take your mind off your problems.
Talk to a friend. It’s very important to air out our thoughts and feelings. If there’s something in your mind, find someone who will listen to you.
Exercise is a good way of improving your mood.
Eat nutritious foods. To maintain a good biochemistry, you have to provide your brain with the nutrients it needs.
Sleep. Always make sure to have a good sleep every night to recharge your body and prepare yourself for the next day.
Meditate. Our minds and our bodies need some quiet time. Meditation gives to time to clear your mind and relax.
Struggles are a part of life, but it shouldn’t make you miserable. As one saying goes, “all the water in the ocean could never sink a ship unless it gets inside.” Likewise, all the pressures of life can never hurt you unless you let it in.