Saturday, April 14, 2012

Can Depression Be Cured | Treatments?

When talking about depression -- treatments and other ways to get over this disorder are some of the major topics that are often discussed. Can depression be cured? Fortunately, with the right psychotherapy, or antidepressant medication, or a combination of both and other helpful treatments -- most of people with this disorder (about 80 percent) can be treated successfully, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

If you feel some symptoms of depressive disorder, the big questions are what you should do and what is a kind of treatment that you should take?

And if you still in doubt and don’t know to whom you should ask for help, below is a helpful list (from the National Institute of Mental Health) that you can contact to find help for your depression:


Treatments and medicines!

There are some common treatments and medicines to get over your depression (talk with your doctor to find the right one to cure or treat your depression), which may include:
  1. Medications! When it comes to cure depression, one of popular medications is antidepressant. And there are some types of antidepressants, which can include; MAOIs (Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors), atypical antidepressants, SNRIs (Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors), tricyclic antidepressants, NDRIs (Norepinephrine and Dopamine Reuptake Inhibitors), and SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors).
  2. Psychotherapy! It is a kind of therapy (psychological counseling). With this way, you get to know and explore more what are actually factors (triggers) or causes of your depression. Furthermore, psychotherapy may also help control your depression symptoms. But sometimes this therapy may not be helpful enough to cure severe depression. Your doctor or psychiatrist may recommend some types of psychotherapy -- one of the most common types is cognitive behavioral therapy!
  3. ECT or Electroconvulsive Therapy! It is a kind of therapy that uses safely electrical currents to be passed through the patient’s brain. ECT is one of the most common ways to cure severe depression.
  4. Other less common treatments that are usually needed when the standard treatments fail to treat may include; transcranial magnetic stimulation and vagus nerve stimulation!
Can depression be cured with alternative medicines?

There are also some home-remedies (alternative medicines) that are believed can treat depression -- though there is no conclusive proof or evidence that these options will be effective to cure moderate or severe depression.

But in fact, there are many people who have opinion that alternative medicines are relatively friendlier to cure their depression.

Some of popular alternative medicines may include:

Alternative therapies

Many experts believe that the harmony balance between body and mind is so important to keep healthy. This is one of reasons why some alternative therapies may be helpful to cure a depression, because they can promote relaxation and reduce stress.

And some of mind-body therapies that may be effective for your treatment to cure your depression may include; massage therapy, mediation, acupuncture, guided imagery, and yoga!

Herbal supplements

A combination the right one of alternative therapies and the right one of herbal supplements may be effective to cure a depression.

Some popular herbal supplements to treat depression may include: St. John’s wort (the most popular herbal supplement), SAMe (it is a kind of synthetic chemical that naturally occur in the body), omega-3 fatty acids, and folate.

Almost herbal supplements are usually labeled with ‘dietary supplement label’. This means most of them are not monitored by the FDA. Therefore, to be safe -- you should consult first with your doctor before taking any kind of these herbal supplements. Don’t forget to also discuss first with your doctor before dealing and doing a kind of alternative therapy to cure your depression!
__________
Reference: MayoClinic and WebMD
Image credit to ‘Getty Images’ for illustration