Depression

Learn about the effects and treatments of depression...

By the year 2020, depression will be the 2nd most common health problem in the world.1

Depression can wreak havoc on a person in various ways. The straightforward issue of feeling depressed day to day is difficult on its own. Yet, when depression goes untreated, it can become noticeable in nearly all aspects of one’s life. The constant mental strain depression brings also weakens the immune system making it hard to recover and fight off illness. Feelings of uncontrollable sadness may lead to self-medicating with alcohol and/or drugs. Although some may believe they can successfully mask their depression by drinking, this can lead to various illnesses and even suicide.

A wide variety of treatments can be used to alleviate the effects of depression. The amount of treatment options can seem overwhelming, however various options allow counselors and patients to try multiple methods until they find the right fit. The most common and highly effective treatment today is the use of anti-depressant medication and is often combined with psychotherapy, also known as talk-therapy.

Psychotherapy relies on the interaction between the counselor, their patient, and often the family. Counselors can use several different approaches of psychotherapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy and interpersonal therapy depending on the patient’s needs. In either type of therapy, the goal is similar. The counselor or psychologist is trying to give the patient psychological tools to compartmentalize emotions or events triggering depression in order to help create healthier patterns of behavior.

Medicating depression is a controversial issue for various reasons. One reason is the uncertainty of the efficacy of anti-depressants. There have been many studies showing placebos being equally successful in quieting depression. Secondly, there are often side effects associated with each medication; and, for various medications, individuals under the age of 24 have been shown to have an increased rate of.

A controversial treatment still in use today is electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). The technique of ECT has been improved since it was first used in 1937 to treat mental illness. The improvement of medical technology has allowed the effects of ECT to be better understood and monitored. Modern day use of this treatment is generally left to those who have severe cases of depression and have not seen improvements through other methods.

Sometimes it can take multiple attempts in order to get a handle on mental illness, this can cause a lot of frustration in the patient and their family. A counselor understands these feelings and can play a key role in keeping the client motivated to continue working towards a healthier way of life. Even when the right treatment is being used, those with depression need to actively maintain their mental health including improving one’s social skills. Counselors can help develop better ways to interact with friends, family and strangers.

Depression presents a multi-faceted challenge to counselors and patients alike. The more we learn about the brain’s functioning, the better we can treat the mental illness. Medications are consistently being produced and new drugs and changing formulas are allowing counselors and patients new options to try. Counselors and researchers are the key to furthering effective treatment methods and giving people suffering from depression hope for a brighter future.

Find out how you can become involved, request information from schools offering Psychology degree programs. Also, learn more about the psychology career licensing processes and what the requirements for licensure are: Psychology Career Licensure.

Resources:
1PBS Statistics