Overcoming Depression

There are two major forms of treatment: Psychotherapy and antidepressant medications. Although both are important and each is effective in different ways, medications tend to be more popular for a variety of reasons. However, so-called “combination approaches” in which both forms of treatment are used are what most depression experts advocate.

Medications do two things reasonably well:

• Help manage physical (vegetative) symptoms, such as sleep and appetite
• Help raise the floor on depression so people don’t go so deeply into despair

It helps to be realistic, though. Thinking a medication can be a sole form of intervention overstates their effectiveness and suggests the problem is entirely in your biology, and not your circumstances. Medications can be helpful, but besides their often troublesome side-effects, no amount of medication can provide people with:

• better problem-solving skills
• better coping skills
• clearer thinking (cognitive) skills
• positive relationship skills
• a supportive network of friends

Psychotherapy can teach people the skills known to reduce and even prevent depression. These skills include:

• thinking clearly (as taught in cognitive therapies)
• behaving effectively (as taught in behavioral therapies)
• relating positively to oneself and others (as taught in interpersonal therapies)
• reducing vulnerability to relapses

Despite the fact that good treatments are available, most people who are depressed don’t seek help. Instead, they suffer in silence, struggling just to get through another day. It has been a major focus in Dr. Yapko’s career to encourage clinicians to make it easier for the people who need help to get it, and to encourage the people who need help to actively obtain it. Seeking out the help of qualified professionals is one avenue, and becoming an expert in learning how to manage your internal atmosphere (i.e., your feelings, moods, reactions) is another. Dr. Yapko’s informative, supportive, and even potentially life-changing books and CDs can help with both avenues for overcoming depression.