Depression is one of the mental illnesses that can have serious effects on affected individuals. While some form of mild depression is normal and may not have serious effects, the major depressive disorder can have dangerous symptoms that may be difficult to cope with. People experiencing serious depression usually have difficulty in concentrating, loss of appetite, suicidal thoughts, and insomnia (Fennell, 2016). Depression is not merely a feeling of sadness but entails a complex and chronic combination of both physical and emotional in nature. Depression is increasingly becoming a common mental illness amongst many people, thus the need to find ways to overcome it (Issakainen & Hänninen, 2016). Many different ways can be used to overcome depression, and in most cases, these strategies can be difficult to handle, especially due to the serious symptoms that accompany depression. Some of the ways that have been used to overcome depression include maintaining strong social support, medication, and going for therapy services.
As depression continues to become a serious health problem in the United States due to the rising number of affected individuals, controversy exists over the effectiveness of different ways of overcoming depression. While some people argue that depression is a manageable condition that individuals can overcome by their own through social connection and a healthy lifestyle, others are of the contrary, viewing this approach as ineffective in helping affected individuals. There is also a growing concern over the need to access therapy and medication services (Greenberg, 2017). As a result, one side is for self-management for depression through lifestyle changes and having social network while the other side is for treatment methods through therapy and medication.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The proponents of therapy and medication as the best treatment for depression argue that people with a chronic depressive disorder are usually unable to control their own emotions and actions and thus the need to seek the services of a qualified psychotherapist to help them overcome. According to the reports by Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 90% of people with depression who have undergone through medication and counseling sessions have found these strategies effective (Freedland et al., 2017). Within six months of therapy and medication, clients report positive feedback. Therapy and medication offer a scientific mechanism to under- stand the cause of depression and then make out for a solution. This is contrary to the self-management techniques which have proved to be less effective in helping the patients.
The opponents of therapy and medication argue that most of these services are not readily available for the patients to access. Also, they argue that most people with depression are not aware of their situations and only think of it as a temporary sadness. This group views self-management techniques such as a healthy lifestyle and having a social network as the best alternative to live a depression-free life (Karp, 2017). Even though there exist programs to support the depressed in society, overcoming depression must first start with self-awareness and acceptance before one can recover (Goldstein, 2015). It is not possible to assist a person who is depressed until they first make an effort to understand and accept their situation.
An effective way of overcoming depression requires a combination of the social support programs, therapy self-management techniques such as healthy lifestyles and strong social network.
When one thinks of the various diseases that are threatening the lives of many people, one cannot consider depressions as a deadly disease. The reasons are because people think it is normal to be depressed and that the condition will fade away with time, which is not the case. Different studies that have continued to be undertaken by different researchers have confirmed that indeed, depression is a life-threatening disorder that has now been known to affect millions of people in most parts of the world. Therefore various methods and treatments involved in the process of treating depression will be analyzed in this proposal. These methods include Antidepressant medication (ADM) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).
In the late period of between the years the 1950s the field of medicine particularly the psychopharmacology was able to experience an explosive period where they were able to develop various drugs particularly for the complement of traditional therapy techniques. This is the same time they were able to invent the first antidepressant drugs known as monoaminergic agents (Gerhard, Wohleb, & Duman, 2016). The specific drugs that were used to treat the clinical condition of depression were by chance introduced right after the discovery of the tricyclic anti- depressant (TCA) reuptake inhibitors and the monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). However, most of these drugs were found to be associated with so many side effects that varied from different aspects. Another form of treatment that has been seen to be effective in acute treatment is antidepressant medication (ADM), which is directly aimed at providing symptom relief (Gerhard, Wohleb, & Duman, 2016). However, the negative side is that if people do not take care of themselves well, then they are most likely to experience a relapse. This is the main reason as to why most of the patients who have currently been treated with ADM advised continuing taking medication and therapies for an extended period of six months in order to make sure that the symptoms do not reoccur.
Most of the studies have shown that the emergence of new and improved drugs will continue to rise as time goes by. This is expected due to the lack of new drugs for the treatment of depression over a long period of time, but now the silence is most likely to be broken. In regards to depression, the situation might worsen if left untreated to develop into what is known as a major depressive disorder that is the severe form of mental disorder (Huang, Lane, & Lin, 2017). Traditional ways are not enough to ensure that proper diagnosis and treatment of depression is achieved and therefore, the need for ADM treatment. Therefore, the purpose of this review was to provide an appropriate discussion concerning the treatment procedures for depression as well as different medications available (Gerhard, Wohleb, & Duman, 2016). It was proven that the Dysfunction of glutamatergic neurotransmission plays a significant duty in the pathophysiology of depression. Previous studies have indicated that Ketamine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, has both rapid as well as lasting antidepressive effects. Just like ketamine, other potential antidepressants include glutamatergic modulators, such as sarcosine which have shown success in clinical trials. Another treatment that has been developed in addition to pharmacotherapy is noninvasive brain stimulation (Gerhard, Wohleb, & Duman, 2016). All these are new and improved ways that have shown successful results in the treatment of depression.
The most common behavior that has been widely tested is CBT or cognitive therapy, which is among the family of cognitive-behavioral interventions. Just like ADM, this method of treatment has been proven to be safe and efficient when it comes to the treatment of acute episodes of major depressive disorder. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy relies on the belief that depression is developed as a result of inaccurate assumptions and maladaptive information processing, which serves as the primary cause of depression. This theory dictates that when maladaptive thinking is corrected, then both the risk of subsequent symptom and acute distress will be reduced to their lowest level, and hence, the risk to depression will also be reduced. Unlike any other method, CT ensures that reoccurrence of the symptoms does not take place. Aaron T. Beck was the one who developed the CT model for the treatment of depression in the year 1960 (DeRubeis, Siegle, & Hollon, 2008). This model mainly aims at helping the patients to acquire their ability first to recognize the thoughts as well as images associated with depression hence provoking one's emotions. On the other hand, they are also able to distance themselves from the images as well as thoughts that might upset their emotions hence causing depression.
The results that were obtained from all the studies indicated that CT is more effective than ADM, especially when it comes to reducing acute distress in regards to a comparison that was conducted in the 1970s and 1980s. It also confirmed that CT is more reliable is its effects are more enduring 23-30. On the other hand, ADM was also proven to be effective, especially when it came to patients who began the trial with severe symptoms (DeRubeis, Siegle, & Hollon, 2008). Additionally, there was no enough evidence that proved that there was an enduring effect of CT32, but they were only proved to vary depending on the research as well as the therapist involved. In most of the studies conducted, the number of patients who portrayed severe conditions was under 30 per condition (Huang, Lane, & Lin, 2017). However, the numerous attempts conducted have not yet succeeded in proving whether the two affect different symptom domains differently.
Depression is one of the health issues highly ignored, unmedicated, and expensive to treat due to relation with mental illnesses. Most people with depression are not willing to seek medical attention. Other individuals are not even aware that they are suffering from depression because it is among the mental-health issues rarely discussed and acknowledged by the population. In addition, it is related to stigmatization, and most individuals would rather be quiet about the problem that search for help. Most people believe that depression is normal and part of life due to the failures and hardships they face. It is thus hard to convince individuals to seek help when they are stressed. The issue is worse among men who believe in masculinity and would not show their weak side by talking to therapists about their problems. Depression can be treated using antidepressants and therapy, and the two methods are expensive. It discourages most people, especially the economically-disadvantaged, to seek medical help as they cannot afford the cost (Brown, Murphy, Kelly, & Goldsmith, 2019). Since depression is not considered as a severe health problem, there are fewer services provided by the government. Therefore, most depressed people do not receive the assistance they require. Those who take the antidepressants are faced with side effects.
Antidepressant medication has side effects on the users, which may end up worsening their health. The antidepressant medication function by creating a chemical balance in the brain, thus regulating moods and emotions. However, the medication does not always work as expected, and there are dangers of increasing depression in some patients instead of reducing it. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), all the depression medication should have a warning label of the increased risk of suicide in young adults and children. Therefore, when children and teenagers are diagnosed with depression, therapy is recommended, those it may not be effective in regulating the moods and emotions of the patients. The antidepressants function by interfering with serotonin, a brain chemical responsible for regulating mood as well as mental clarity, digestion, sleep, pain, and other functions. Therefore, the common side effects the depression patients will experience after taking the medication are tremors, nausea, insomnia, anxiety, constipation, dizziness, sweating, weight gain, diarrhea, restlessness, dry mouth and others (Köhler-Forsberg, Lydholm, Hjorthøj, Nordentoft, Mors, & Benros, 2019). The antidepressants also have risks factors among individuals with bipolar conditions, pregnant women, individuals above the age of sixty-five and young adults. Creating awareness about depression to educate people about the condition, the help they can get, and side effects of the medication is challenging.
It is challenging to create programs about depression and educate people about the condition and side effects of the medication. The causes of depression in most cases are due to the life process of an individual, education, marriage, financial issues, work, and others. These are personal things, and when a person gets stressed over them, they prefer to handle them single-handled than confiding in others who will end up criticizing the individual. Some people think that if they talk about their issues, they will appear weak and thus prefer to keep their problems to themselves. Therefore, any program created about depression will end up failing as most society members are not willing to participate. The number of health care providers who specialize with depression and mental illness is also limited, and reaching to the entire community will be challenging (Seime & Vickers, 2006). Therefore, most people, even if they are willing, will not learn about depression and the help they can seek. It thus makes it hard to reduce the risks of depression in society.
Looking at the world today, the presence of depression has continued to be on the rise than before, and all the burdens are left on society. All the above researches have proven the fact that various inventions, as well as the discovery of new treatments, have continued to emerge where their effectiveness has been proven. The treatment is showing a positive, and a high number of recovery since the relapse is only less than two-thirds of the treated patients and full recovery state is of one-third of the treated patients (Huang, Lane, & Lin, 2017). Recent research such as neuroscience research has now provided the enhancement of the probability of matching patients with the treatment options that best fit for them. The studies also make it possible and easy to improve and reform the treatment options so that they can be more effective and efficient. How- ever, future studies, in addition to the current studies, should be conducted to identify potential predictors as well as other possible phenomena in regards to depression. This will, in a great way, help in imaging, cognitive, symptom, genetic, and patient-history variables that have been directly linked to the treatment of depression (Issakainen, & Hänninen, 2016). Therefore, there should be future development in regards to anti-depressive treatment. This proves that indeed, depression requires a combination of the social support programs, therapy self-management techniques such as healthy lifestyles and strong social network.
Effective ways to manage depression continue to stir debates among scholars and medical practitioners as various complexities accompany the condition. First, physicians find that most individuals experiencing depression fail to acknowledge or understand their condition and therefore fail to seek medical intervention. Consequently, their conditions worsen and lead to increased mortality associated with suicide. The controversy regarding the best form of intervention for patients with depression is thus one that has been critically discussed above. While some practitioners recommend medical interventions, others recommend self-management techniques to reduce depression symptoms.
Additionally, the use of medication has proven relatively ineffective in some instances based on the numerous side effects witnessed in patients. The proposers of the self-management techniques thus emphasize the significance of the lack of side effects that may worsen patient's conditions while consequently disregarding the fact that some patient's cases may be chronic. The text, therefore, recommends the general solution of the incorporation of both techniques to treat depression as this will maximize their effectiveness. Medical interventions ranging from the administration of antidepressants to the use of Cognitive Therapy approach, in conjunction with self-management techniques which include the involvement of the society should be considered as appropriate calls for action.
References
DeRubeis, R. J., Siegle, G. J. & Hollon, S. D. (2008). Cognitive therapy versus medication for depression: treatment outcomes and neural mechanisms . Macmillan Publishers.
Fennell, M. (2016). Overcoming low self-esteem: A self-help guide using cognitive behavioral techniques . Hachette UK.
Freedland, K. E., Lemos, M., Doyle, F., Steinmeyer, B. C., Csik, I., & Carney, R. M. (2017). The techniques for overcoming depression questionnaire: Mokken scale analysis, reliability, and concurrent validity in depressed cardiac patients. Cognitive therapy and research , 41 (1), 117-129.
Gerhard, D. M., Wohleb, E. S. & Duman, R. S. (2016). Emerging Treatment Mechanisms for Depression: Focus on Glutamate and Synaptic Plasticity. Drug Discov Today, 21 (3), 454– 464.
Goldstein, E. (2015). Uncovering Happiness: Overcoming depression with mindfulness and self- compassion . Simon and Schuster.
Greenberg, L. S. (2017). Emotion-focused therapy of depression. Person-Centered & Experiential Psychotherapies , 16 (2), 106-117.
Huang, Y., Lane, H., & Lin, C. (2017). New treatment strategies of depression: Based on mechanisms related to neuroplasticity. Neural Plasticity, 4605971. doi.org/ 10.1155/2017/4605971
Issakainen, M., & Hänninen, V. (2016). Young people's narratives of depression. Journal of Youth Studies , 19 (2), 237-250.
Karp, D. A. (2017). Speaking of sadness: Depression, disconnection, and the meanings of illness . Oxford University Press.
