Health care providers can take care of depressed people. A physician, for one, has also training in treating psychiatric disorders. The same goes with the physician assistant and the nurse practitioner. If the case is severe, these health care providers will automatically refer the patient to mental health specialists.

The mental health specialists are composed of the following: psychiatrist, psychologist, a psychiatric nurse specialist and even a social worker.

The psychiatrist offers treatment and diagnosis for mental and psychiatric patients. A psychologist, on the other hand, is trained for counseling, psychological examination and psychotherapy. The social worker knows counseling to a certain degree, whereas a registered nurse who has taken masterals in psychiatric nursing can help out the patient.

Before the diagnosis can be made, the health care providers or mental health specialists will ask the patient on the following: symptoms, overall health and medical and mental history of the family. A physical exam will be carried out as well as some lab tests.

Depression, being an illness, requires tremendous emotional support from the family. A family member must accompany the patient on doctor visits to give the latter a boost.

During the course of the visit, the doctor will figure out if the case is severe, mild or moderate. Depression is severe if the person experiences all the symptoms and if it keeps him from doing all his daily activities. Moderate, if the person has a lot of the symptoms that it hampers his activities. It can be categorized mild if the person has some of the depression symptoms and if he needs more push to do all the things he needs to do.

No one must underestimate depression. It is a real illness, and therefore the patient needs all the help and attention he can get.

As said earlier, you are not alone in this problem. Fortunately, depression, of all psychiatric illnesses, proves to be one of the most treatable. With proper care, more than 80 percent of those suffering from major depression experience significant improvement. Even those suffering from severe depression can helped. Here are some treatments for depression problems:

Psychotherapy There are many types and methods of therapeutic approaches used for treating depression. The most common types are behavioral therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, rational emotive therapy, and interpersonal therapy. Approaches also include psychodynamic and family approaches. Both the individual as well as group modalities have been used commonly, but these depend on the severity of one's depression, the financial resources of the person, and resources that are available locally.

Arguably the most prominent therapy in treating depression, the cognitive behavioral therapy is commonly used for handling the condition. There has been extensive research and medical studies that conducted to check or assess the safety as well as the effectiveness in treating depression using this type of therapy.

Considered the father of cognitive behavioral therapy, many written studies and books support this type of therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy uses simple techniques that focus primarily on the patient's negative thought patterns. These negative thought patterns are also known as cognitive distortions. A person suffering from depression may from time to time use these cognitive distortions, igniting the condition.

The therapy starts with the establishment of a supportive and warm environment for one suffering from depression. Making the patient learn about how his or her depression problem may be a result of thinking in cognitive distortions is generally the next step. The types of faulty logic and thinking are also discussed in this step (such as "everything or nothing logic," "blame mis-attribution," "overgeneralization," among others) and the person being treated is encouraged to start taking notes of the thoughts he or she has been having as they happen throughout his or her day. This is conducted for the person to understand and realize how often and common this kind of thoughts are occuring.

In this type of therapy, the emphasis is mainly placed on realizing the thoughts as well as the behaviors that are associated with the depression problem rather than on the emotions themselves. The rationale for this emphasis is that is strongly believed that by altering one's thoughts and consequently, behaviors, his or her emotions will most likely change as well. Because of this type of therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy is often short-term (generally lasts up to a dozen sessions or two only) and best suits people that are experiencing some kind of distress that is related to the depression they are having. Individuals that are able to handle a problem using a perspective that is unique and therefore are most likely cognitively-oriented could also do well under this approach.

Interpersonal therapy, on the other hand, is also a therapy on a short-term basis used for treating depression. In this type of treatment, the focus usually lies on the social relationships of the patient and determine ways in improving these relationships. It is strongly believed that in order to improve the overall well-being of a person (or the patient in the case); he or she needs to have a stable and good social support.

When a person's relationships become unhealthy, the person would most likely suffer from this problem. This therapy approach then seeks to enrich one's skills in social relationships, expression of his or her emotions, assertiveness, and communication skills. This type of approach is usually done individually but sometimes can be used also in a setting for group therapy.

Many individual approaches would place importance more on the patient's active personal involvement in recovering from depression. Persons being treated under an individual approach are usually enticed and encouraged to finish homework assignments between sessions. If the person is not capable yet to join in therapy sessions actively, then his or her therapist could be the one to first provide the patient an environment that supports him or her until the medication starts to help improve his or her state of feelings and mind.

Psychodynamic or psychoanalytic approaches in treating depression currently do not have much research to recommend their use. Although there are some therapists that might use psychodynamic theory in helping conceptualize a patient's personality, there are some issues raised on how this could prove to be an effective and efficient depression treatment.

Couples or family therapy could also be considered if the depression of the patient directly affects family relationships. These types of therapy focus on the interpersonal relationships among family members. In addition, these approaches seek to ensure good communication in the family. The roles of the family members in a patient's depression could be examined. Education about the depression problem in general might also be used as part of the family therapy.

Medication The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved numerous medications for treating depression. These drugs have been sorted into classes; each medication has a unique chemical structure which acts on various chemicals present in the brain.

It is necessary to remember that all medications approved by the DFA to treat depression are effective and recommended - they just do not work the same effect for everybody.

You might want to closely work with the doctor in determining which drug is the best for your condition. Sometimes, conditions may involve having more than just one medication; some work with a mixture of medications. This is important: Do not change your medication or discontinue your dosage without asking your doctor.

Teen depression comes in two forms. It can be a simple episode in which they are upset because of a break up. Or, it can come in a constant, heavy depression that can and does destroy lives. There are many things that you, as a parent can do to keep your child out of this condition. Teen depression is serious and should be handled in the right way.

What Are The Signs?

Knowing some of the signs of depression is necessary. All parents should keep a look out for these conditions.

• Pulling away from the things that they used to love to do.


• Not eating well. While they may eat normally, they may lose weight. Or, they may not be eating at all.


• Not sleeping well. Waking up still tired is not okay.


• Pulling away from friends and social situations. This is a key sign of teen depression. Teens are social creatures and need constant interaction. If they are not allowing it to happen, they may be depressed.


• The blues that last. While everyone feels bad sometimes, teens with depression feel bad most of the time. You need to get them some help in these cases.
  

This article is aimed at helping people who are often in a state of depression. I have had many of periods in my life where I have found it difficult to carry on and where in truth I have wished that my life would just end.

Depression affects people in many different ways. From a personal note it affects my sleep patterns and makes the smallest things irritate me. I have even been sick in the morning after spending the night worrying about my present situation.

Most of the time I am not so much depressed at what is happening now but am fearing what might happen in the future. This fear may be about financial matters, a social occasion, health or about my family.

I had basically had enough of constantly being depressed, about being in fear of the future and needed to learn about how to control my depression.

After seeking inspiration from a variety of sources, I had what I hoped was enough ammunition to keep my fears and phobias at bay. I will at times have an off day where I feel quite low and this is where I use my new found knowledge.

How to control your depression

I am a very quiet person and I like to keep myself to myself. Some would say that I border on being a loner, which I would quite agree with. Too many people have hurt me throughout my life and to tell you the truth I prefer being on my own. I am not a peoples person.

I also like to keep my problems to myself. This was my biggest failure, what I needed to do was to talk through my problems and fears with somebody else, a member of my family for example.

This was not easy for me to do and it took a great deal of courage to talk to anybody about the areas of my life which made me feel depressed. I did however go down this route and it did have a positive effect. To talk about my problems was like taking a weight off my shoulders.

The person I confided in was my father. He listened and then came back with some superb advice and a couple of suggestions of what I could do.

This is my second piece of advice. We need to spend less time worrying and more time seeking solutions to our problems. We need to ask ourselves why we are depressed and what can help us to remedy our issues.

My father also stated that I should only do things and go to places that I wanted to. I have always found it hard to turn down invitations to for example a party and have found myself often somewhere that I do not in reality want to be.

He also told me about one of his friends. His name was Mike and he had just been diagnosed with cancer. The doctors had told Mike that he only has a maximum of six months to live and he is only fifty-nine. He asked me to imagine how he must be feeling.

I went home and thought about Mike, I was sure that he would love to swap shoes with me. It is not just about Mike, he has a wife and three children, what must they be going through. I started to appreciate my own health and that of my family a bit more.

By opening up and talking about why I was depressed was the best thing I ever did and is something I will continue to do. My dad certainly helped me to think in a more positive way.

This advice I am sure will not help every person who is depressed as depression is an illness. It has however helped me and I am hoping it will be of benefit to others.

While it is arguable that depression is not always preventable, there are many cases, when using the following ideas, will keep you in good spirits - most of the time. Unfortunately, we cannot be happy all of the time, but there is something we can do about it.

Working with a variety of clients over the years, I have seen how Yoga and exercise changed, and continue to change, them for the better. It is a well-known fact that endorphins are produced from a variety of exercise routines, including gentle Hatha Yoga.

Endorphins reduce stress and enhance good moods. Just that information alone is enough to start an exercise program, but weight control, muscle-tone, circulation, flexibility and a variety of other health benefits, should be an incentive to start a mild exercise program.

If you have been inactive, I suggest a beginner Yoga class with a very mild-mannered Yoga teacher. Without pushing this any further, let’s look at other options to start, and things to avoid.

Participate in social activities, support groups, senior centers, or local church activities. The activities could be in your local mosque, temple, or shrine, as well. There is always an activity that you can find around any religious center.

You could also join a league for golf, tennis, fishing, bowling, bocce, or any other activity where people gather to share a few laughs. Take competition in stride, and don’t take anything too serious.

Many social groups also function as support groups. The collective activity is good for all involved. Stay away from “alcohol drinking” clubs. This is not just bars, or nightclubs, but local clubs, who organize for the common good, and then, routinely get together to drink.

There is a conflict here, in that alcohol is a depressant, and if you are prone to depression, this is not a good combination. On top of that, there are plenty of health problems that accompany alcohol abuse.

Substance abuse is not a solution to depression, and you won’t find a purpose in life through it. So, let’s keep it simple and stay away from drinking alcohol - altogether.

If your friends and family abuse alcohol, they need counseling, and you will have to look outside your normal circles to get guidance. You need to surround yourself with positive and energetic people.
Also, don’t hang around your house too much, especially in dark or unlit areas. Get outside, take a walk, go shopping, get a little sunlight, and if you are in the house all day, open the curtains during daylight hours. If you have a sunroom to relax in - that’s good, too. Lack of sunlight can cause elevated levels of melatonin, which is sometimes called the “sleep hormone.”

Lastly, visit the self-improvement section of your local bookstore. It is a hidden treasure within itself. This is a great reason to leave the house.

Audio books are also good for traveling in your car or listening to in your sunroom. Pick out books that really captivate your imagination. If your local bookstore has CD’s, you may want to pick up some relaxing music for your ride home.