Coping with Depression and Anxiety

When people think of clinical depression, they think of it as an actual psychiatric disorder rather than merely being “down in the dumps” for a while. The illness’s official designation is major depressive disorder, named so clinicians can distinguish it from depression that’s symptomatic of other mental illnesses. But the former term has the widest use among the general populace. The symptoms of clinical, depressive disorder major tend to take over people’s lives, sometimes involving physical manifestations like lethargy, weight gain, or loss of sex drive along with emotional symptoms like sadness, negativity, lack of self-esteem and concentration problems. In extreme cases, thoughts of suicide or self-harm are common.

Things we tend to think of separately, like post partum depression or seasonal affective disorder (SAD), are actually sub-categories of major depressive disorder. One of the distinguishing features of all the categories is that the pervasive low mood lasts for at least two weeks or even longer, and the patient experiences at least five of the typical clinical depression symptoms. That’s the point where it’s clear that this is more than simply being “a bit down,” and therapy and treatment become necessary.

Treatments usually recommended for major depressive disorder are medication, psychotherapy, or even electroconvulsive therapy in severe cases. However, many new treatments have been put forward in recent years, some of which haven’t yet gained complete legitimacy in the eyes of the public or in the estimation of physicians. One that has done so, though, is light therapy, now used to treat SAD. But other natural treatments, like the herb St. John’s Wort or the Chinese practice of acupuncture, have both proponents and critics undecided.

Getting treatment of some sort, though, is crucial. Whether it’s alternative, psychiatric or medical treatments, the person usually needs help to overcome or manage the illness. It is helpful if they can find a therapist who can make a thorough assessment of potential physical causes (genetic tendencies, or some other disease throwing the system out of balance), emotional triggers like bereavement, or a past history of trauma. When everything from alcohol to lack of sunlight to prior sexual abuse can swirl around the major depressive disorder, the sufferer is most fortunate if their doctor is part therapist and part sleuth, and can discover the right causes and recommend the right treatments.

Beth Kaminski is the co-author of Curing Your Anxiety And Panic Attacks which detailed stop panic attack as well as tips on the various anxiety disorder medication available at anxietydisordercure.com.