Treating Depression

Globally, an estimated 5% of adults suffer from depression*

Diagnosis: Many individuals experience depression. Depression as a disorder can include sad or irritable mood, loss of interest in doing enjoyable activities, increased or decreased appetite, trouble sleeping, difficulty concentrating and suicidal ideation.

Causes: Depression can be caused by multiple factors including biological factors such as genetics, brain chemistry, hormones, situational factors, psychological factors such as thinking patterns, loss, and stress. 

Treatment: When treating depression, it can be helpful to use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to change unhelpful thinking to more rational and helpful thoughts to improve moods and behaviors.  Sometimes talk therapy can be sufficient to help a patient improve depressed mood. In other cases, a combination of medication management and therapy is helpful. I work with clients to consider behavioral strategies to start to change the depression cycle (which involves feeling depressed, not wanting to engage in tasks or enjoyable activities, which then leads to increased isolation and depressed mood).  Sometimes forcing ourselves to engage in a small task or activity can lead to an improved mood to start to break the cycle. Together we will determine the types of cognitive distortions, negative self-statements or negative core beliefs that may be involved in maintaining the depressed mood. I teach clients to change irrational and unhelpful thoughts to more rational and helpful thoughts.  

Evidenced Based Practices: Cognitive behavioral therapy and EMDR are helpful evidenced-based methods for treating depression.

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*from the World Health Organization Depressive disorder (depression) (who.int)