TREATMENTS OF DEPRESSIVE ILLNESS OR DEPRESSION

TREATMENTS OF DEPRESSIVE ILLNESS OR DEPRESSION

There are two points of attack in treating depressive illness- both being necessary for success.

1.      Treat the Body                                   2. Treat the mind (brain)

There are four main areas from which to attack depression.

Support System

            Friends, Church or Community Leaders – Family Members – Health Care Professionals

Medication

·         Obtained through appropriate medical services including primary care physician

·         Many, many kinds.  If one doesn’t work, or quits working, work with health care giver for find something that does work.  This can take a long time, but eventually worth it.

·         Medications can cause spiritual numbness or leveling out of peaks and valleys which can preclude some spiritual feelings.  If this is taken into consideration, one learns to have a successful spiritual lifestyle in spite of this.  More on this in another post.

·         Everyone reacts differently to different medications.  Just as it takes some experimenting to get the correct dose and type of blood pressure medication, you need to experiment (under medical care) for the correct type and dose of depression medication.

·         Some Rules of Medicating;

1.      Take Antidepressant medications as in prescription directions, religiously.

2.      Give the medication 4-6 weeks to work before you will see a noticeable effect, unless you are having very bothersome side effects.

3.      Normal side effects, (dry mouth, nausea, sleepiness, or insomnia) usually go away after a few days or weeks of taking medication.

4.      Continue taking medication EVEN IF YOU FEEL BETTER, until the doctor instructs you differently

5.      Do not stop taking your medication without checking with your physician.

6.      Antidepressants are NOT addictive

7.      Continuous treatment for at least 6 months greatly reduces the risk of relapse.

8.      If you have questions about your medication, call your health care provider.

9.      Don’t skip taking medications – even when you feel better.

10.  Show up for all health care appointments.

Counseling

·         Current treatment often includes cognitive therapy which helps depressed individuals focus on their distorted thought patterns and learn how to break those patterns.

·         Church and Family Services.

·         Spiritually qualified and authorized leaders.

·         Counseling can help you understand your problems and develop ways to work through them.

·         Counseling can give you tools to lessen the effects of diathesis based depression.

·         Make sure you find a counselor or therapist you feel comfortable with.

·         Counseling takes time to work.

·         Short-term counseling or classes can be very effective.

·         Counseling via self-help books can also be very effective.

Self-Help

First Aid Kit  (This is a chart that will follow in another Posting)

Self-Help Books

Spiritual Help

Appropriate Classes

ULTIMATE RESPONSIBILITY FOR DEPRESSIVE ILLNESS OR DEPRESSION

The ultimate responsibility for depression is with the person suffering from depression.  Family members, friends, and professional care givers can support, give advice, empathize, encourage, talk, provide medication, provide information, etc., but each individual is ultimately responsible for getting better.  It is very easy and convenient to blame depression on situations and people, and sometime they are the triggers, but getting better is up to the depressed individual.  No one else can FIX YOU!