Nothing feels lonelier than being diagnosed with an illness. Hearing the words, “You have depression” can be the loneliest of all. Strike back by creating a supportive network.
What is a support network? Support comes in many forms. The basic premise here is to offer something that you have to help someone else. A person searching for cures for depression can use a lot of support. Some suggestions include:
- Support groups
- Friends network
- Church membership
- Therapist
- Family
These are in no special order. Your first line of support will probably be your family. They are the ones who love you the best and will want to do whatever they can to help find your cures for depression. Talking to them about your feelings and also studying up on depression together strengthens your bond over this condition.
Your doctor may advice you to seek additional help by talking to someone like a therapist. A therapy professional in psychotherapy will tell you that part of your success hinges on the relationship that you forge with them. You both trust each other to tell the truth about depression in your sessions.
Local support groups are places where others like you can meet and discuss issues on a weekly, biweekly or monthly basis. Simply knowing that you are not alone is like a weight being lifted from your shoulders. You don’t have to deal with it alone. In support groups, you have an outlet with no repercussions.
Your local church can also be a strong support in your life. Your faith can help you to deal with a number of things. Besides, a church is a welcoming community that shares their lives through their faith.
Friends are often underestimated. When the chips are down, the good ones come through. Call on your friends for a chat, a cup of coffee, dinner or to see a movie. They can ask you to venture out but also be strong enough to ask them for help when you need it.
Support is often the difference between hopefulness and helplessness. Create a support structure that works for you.
Along with more traditional forms of treatment, behavioral modification has shown to help many who suffer from depression. It is a complementary therapy that many turn to as a form of self help.
The broad term for the category of therapies encompassing behavioral modification is psychotherapy. This is not something you’d see going on in the back room in one of those low-budget horror flicks. It is a form of talk therapy designed to help you to recognize your depression for what it is.
You’d be surprised how many people are in denial. They classify their depression as a bad case of sadness that will eventually pass. They don’t want to be labeled by depression.
They don’t realize that the way not to be labeled is to find help.
Here are the basics of behavioral modification.
- You and your therapist will discuss your condition. They will find out your symptoms, what you feel from day to day and how you view your depression. All of the answers you give are clues to helping them to find a complementary treatment for you.
- One form of psychotherapy is cognitive behavior therapy. This therapy teaches you to recognize when you are slipping back into depression and how to use your behavior, thinking and words to influence the outcome.
Cognitive behavior therapy involves:
- Working with your therapist to decide on what the outcome of treatment will be.
- Learning to recognize what events trigger you to relapse into depression.
- Modifying your thoughts, words and actions from negative to positive in order to cope successfully and not relapse.
What you get out of therapy largely depends on you. Psychotherapy treatments are usually highly structured to give you the safety and confidence to keep pursuing it. Along with medical treatment, hopefully you will find a prescription for successful management.
Find out more on how to live your life Depression Free.
Depression is an illness. As such, you may be at risk for it in your life. This doesn’t mean that you will develop depressive symptoms, but that you might want to increase your awareness of the condition.
Depression has been characterized as feeling the “blues” but that is not an accurate description. The “blues” can be chalked up to having a bad day or the aftermath of an argument. Neither of these situations has anything to do with depression. Once you have a pep talk or shake off the feeling, your mood and attitude returns to normal. With depression, it does not.
If you are a woman, guess what? You are more at risk for depression. No one knows why in particular. Women are prone to postpartum depression after giving birth. Since many women also chalk their feelings up to “the blues,” the number of depressed people of the female sex is probably higher that reported.
Another risk factor is socioeconomic status. It is believed that if you are poor, you are more likely to develop depression. That is not to say that everyone who is of below average means will also have this issue. There are other factors surrounding your financial status that play a part.
Substance abuse plays a part in developing many conditions not the least of which is depression. It could be the side effect of the drugs or the aftermath of getting clean when you realize how you have lived while abusing drugs. The term “drugs” here is not just illegal substances but also abuse of prescription medications such as narcotics and sleeping pills.
Now, we come to family history. You have a greater risk if someone in your family has suffered or is suffering from a depressive condition. But, that is not set in stone. Simply being aware of your risk can help you fight it.
Are you at risk? Talk to your family doctor to find out more and what you can do to help yourself.
Much has been made of ‘happy pills’, with drugs such as Prozac becoming a household name in the 1990s. Antidepressant drugs have been around for half a century, with new types regularly being developed. They are as controversial as they are widely used.
Apart from potentially unpleasant side effects, they have been described as overrated and over-prescribed. A key criticism is that they target the symptoms of depression without addressing the causes. That is certainly true, but antidepressants have their uses in modern medicine and mental health treatments, although many professionals no longer use them as a first line of defense against depressive illness.
Types of Antidepressants
Although there are many classes of antidepressants, three are most commonly used. All work in much the same way, by affecting the chemicals known as neurotransmitters. Those chemicals include serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine (noradrenalin), which are all implicated in mood regulation.
- Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) are the oldest kind, dating back to the 1950s. They have largely been replaced by newer kinds with fewer side effects and lower overdose potential. Imipramine, clomipramine, trimipramine and amitryptiline are all TCAs (brand names include Anafranil, Tofranil, Surmontil). They are still occasionally prescribed when the need arises.
- Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). These are now rarely prescribed because of negative interactions with other drugs and with foods containing tyramine (including red wine, some cheeses, Marmite/Bovril/Vegemite).
- Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). The most used these help to build up serotonin levels in the brain. Serotonin is linked to mood as well as appetite, and low levels have been implicated in chronic pain syndromes. Well known SSRIs include fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil/Seroxat) and sertraline (Zoloft).
Antidepressants are often in the headlines due to real and supposed side effects and questions about their effectiveness. Some argue that they are little better than placebos. Anyone opting for antidepressant drug therapy should discuss the pros and cons with their doctor. Antidepressants alone may not solve the problem and are often taken as one arm of a wider-ranging treatment program that can include counseling and lifestyle changes.
Who Else Wants To Be Free From Depression Without The Use of Medication?
