Treatment for depression

People who suffer from depression often feel like there is no hope when it comes to finding a solution for how they feel. However, it is important for people who suffer from depression not to get discouraged. There are a number of treatment options that can help a person overcome feeling depressed. The first, and most important step is recognizing you have a problem and are willing to seek help. It is often very difficult for a person suffering from depression to overcome the condition on their own.

The available treatment options for depression include psychological counseling and medications such as antidepressants. Sometimes, people may benefit from both medication and psychological counseling.

Medications:

·         Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Usually the first prescribed medication. SSRIs are usually safer and have fewer side effects than other types of antidepressants. Examples of SSRIs include Prozac, Paxil, Pexeva, Zoloft, Celexa) and Lexapro.

·         Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). Examples of SNRIs include Cymbalta, Effexor XR, Pristiq, Khedezla and Fetzima.

·         Norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitors (NDRIs). Examples of NDRIs include Wellbutrin, Aplenzin, and Forfivo XL. This type of antidepressant is one of the few that is not frequently associated with sexual side effects.

·         Atypical antidepressants. Examples of atypical antidepressants include trazodone and Remeron. They are usually taken at night because they have a sedating effect. Examples of atypical antidepressants that have been released more recently include Brintellix and Viibryd.

·         Tricyclic antidepressants. Examples of tricylic antidepressants include Tofranil, Pamelor, amitriptyline, Doxepin, Surmontil, Norpramin and Vivactil. These medications are often very effective, but tend to cause more-severe side effects. These are usually not prescribed without trying an SSRI first without improvement.

·         Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). Examples of MAOIs include tranylcypromine (Parnate), phenelzine (Nardil) and isocarboxazid (Marplan). These may be prescribed, typically when other medications haven't worked, because they can have serious side effects. MAOIs require a strict diet because of dangerous interactions with certain foods.

Psychological counseling is helping because it allows you to talk to a trained professional about your problems and finding a solution to them. Psychological therapy may include cognitive behavioral therapy, or interpersonal therapy. Therapy can help a person do the following: adjust to a crisis or other current difficulty, identify negative beliefs and behaviors and replace them with healthy, positive ones, explore relationships and experiences, and develop positive interactions with others, find better ways to cope and solve problems, identify issues that contribute to your depression and change behaviors that make it worse, regain a sense of satisfaction and control in your life and help ease depression symptoms, such as hopelessness and anger, learn to set realistic goals for your life, and develop the ability to tolerate and accept distress using healthier behaviors.