Psychotherapy

Question: I keep hearing that talk therapy, or psychotherapy is an effective way to treat depression. I am sick of talking about my depression, and just want it to go away. Is it really going to help if I talk about it? Will I have to be in talk therapy forever?

Answer: No, one of the biggest benefits of talk therapy is that unlike a medication, it does not just get rid of the symptoms, but it helps you self-solve the problem. In other words, it helps you recognize the things in your life that are leading you to depression, and what changes you can make to avoid episodes.

Psychotherapy, or "talk therapy" has been shown to be on of the most effective treatment options for those that suffer from mild to severe depression. Often, combined with medication, it can be used to get short term and long term results.

Talking to an expert is key. Just talking about your condition to friends and neighbors won't solve anything, but talking with a therapist about your condition can help resolve it. The only problem is that a therapist takes time to work with you, and help you express your feelings, and get relief. It is not an instant cure. If you are going to use this approach, plan on six months to a year and don't expect instantaneous results, as they won't happen.

Types of therapy to treat depression are not all the same, in fact there are several different options, the biggest are listed and explained below:

The first, and probably most used type of psychotherapy is called cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This type of therapy is used to help you identify and change the thought and behavior patterns that contribute to depression. The therapist will work with you to help you identify your depression triggers, and what negative thoughts you have that are escalating the episodes. Because thinking negatively and depression kind of go hand in hand, this therapy is designed to help sufferers challenge those negative thoughts, and look for more optimistic outcomes. If you are working at CBT, it will usually be a 10 - 20 week process. When you learn to cognitively change your thought patterns, your episodes will decrease.

Another type of therapy used to treat depression is interpersonal therapy. This is mainly for people whose depression is directly connected to emotional relationships. It is also a short term therapy where the therapist will help you identify how these troubled relationships are causing you to spiral into a depression, and help you recognize ways to avoid this.

The next, is psychodynamic therapy. This is a therapy that helps patients link their depression to traumas or issues from their childhood, or earlier in life, and helps them to move past this trauma so that they can be psychologically healthy.

Another approach is group therapy. One of the main problems with depression is feeling alone. Having a group therapy allows you to see that others feel the same way, and then work together to achieve better psychological health.

The goal of therapy is to help you recognize and overcome the causes of your depression, so you won't have to do it forever, or live with depression forever.