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Depression Treatment
Everyone experiences temporary sadness and grief at times, but Depression is can be a mood disorder that persists and interferes with your everyday life. It doesn’t seem to go no matter what you do. If you have depression, you feel heavy. The world seems dark. It takes all the strength you have just to get through the day. You can’t sleep or sleep too much. You overeat or have no appetite. You don’t want to be around people. You have no interest in things you used to enjoy. You can’t concentrate. You cry for no reason. You’re very tired. You feel hopeless, irritable, anxious, or guilty.
Depression often begins in the teen or young adult years. It is common in women. Women often get depression in pregnancy and/or post-partum depression after childbirth. Some people get seasonal affective disorder in winter, which is a kind of depression.
Some common causes of depression are:
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Chemical imbalance
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Genetics – family history of depression or mood disorders
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Early childhood trauma
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Medical conditions - insomnia, chronic illness/pain, Parkinson’s, stroke, heart attack, cancer
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Substance abuse – alcohol and/or drugs make depression worse
Many People Need Depression Treatment
Depression is one of the most common mental health issues in the United States. According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, depression affects 17.3 million American adults - about 7.1% of the U.S. population age 18 and older - in a given year. Fifteen percent of adults in the U.S. will experience depression at some point in their life. The CDC estimates that around 19% of American adults have symptoms of depression in any given 2-week period. The CDC also reports that 1.9 million children ages 3 – 17 have depression requiring treatment.
But everyone doesn’t experience depression the same. Some people have severe and ongoing depressive episodes while others have mild and temporary episodes.
One in nine new mothers experience postpartum depression after they have a baby. If you’ve recently given birth, you might feel sadness or emptiness. Usually, those feelings go away after a couple of days. But if those feelings last longer than two weeks, you may have postpartum depression. It’s not your fault. It’s caused by changes in your hormones after pregnancy.
How Does Depression Treatment Work?
For decades, the standard treatment for depression has been drug therapy using serotonin boosters such as SSRIs along with talk therapy. However, in July of 2022, an umbrella study review was published that declared that there is no clear evidence to support that long-held theory that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance and best treated by serotonin boosting drugs. That leaves talk-therapy as the lone and best treatment.
One of our trained therapists can help you get to the root of what is causing your depression and give you techniques for coping with it and managing your emotions so that you are able to find joy, satisfaction, and hope again.
Working with a trained counselor will help you to identify the negative or false beliefs you are operating under and replace them with healthy, positive ones. You will explore your relationships and experiences, and develop positive interactions that bolster your sense of well-being. You will find better ways to cope with and solve your problems. You will identify issues that contribute to your depression and change behaviors that make it worse. You will regain a sense of control of your own life, which helps ease the symptoms of depression. And you will learn to set realistic goals and use healthier behaviors.
You’ve taken the right first step. You’re here on this website reading this page about getting help for your depression. A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. If you see yourself in the descriptions of what depression looks like, the next step for you is to call a good counselor. That is where Christian Counseling Associates comes in.
Take The Next Step
Whether you are suffering from clinical depression, or you are just “blue” and overwhelmed with sadness, depressed feelings, and heaviness, we can help. For a free consultation, reach out to us here or call 972-422-8383. The road to your new life is here, just take that first step.