Talk Therapy for Depression
Depression is a common but complicated disorder that has many causes and triggers. Although medications and deep brain stimulation techniques are highly effective at alleviating depression symptoms, depression is a disorder that requires integrated treatment methods. For depression sufferers to adequately manage their symptoms and prevent a recurrence of the disease, talk therapy needs to happen alongside any medications or deep brain stimulation techniques that a patient uses. For patients with mild depression, sometimes talk therapy is enough to alleviate their symptoms.
What is talk therapy?
Talk therapy, or psychotherapy, is a treatment method for many different psychological disorders and emotional issues. Patients are guided by a trained and experienced therapist to learn about their symptom triggers, and how to develop healthy coping mechanisms for dealing with their disorders or emotional issues. For patients with mild to moderate depression, sometimes talk therapy is all they need to manage their symptoms. Usually, doctors will only use therapy to treat teenagers and children with depression as the first line of defense.
Psychologists Wilhelm Wundt opened the first talk therapy clinic in 1879, although many of its techniques existed before to help psychiatric patients and patients under emotional distress. Since the late 1800s, the methods used in talk therapy have evolved to include more refined and tailored plans for helping patients, including cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy.
What do patients learn in talk therapy?
Talk therapy sessions are tailored to each patient. For treatment to be most successful, therapists must guide the courses to meet the individual patient’s unique needs. Because disorders like depression are so complex and varied for each patient, patients need an experienced therapist who knows how to customize sessions to their particular concerns. One-size-fits-all does not work when it comes to psychological treatment. In talk therapy, patients may learn the following:
- How to define and reach their goals.
- Gain an understanding of how their condition works and how to manage symptoms.
- Learn how to overcome their fears.
- Learn how to cope with stress in healthy ways.
- Establish daily routines.
- Identify triggers and how to cope with them.
- Make sense of traumatic events.
- Improve personal relationships.
- Develop plans for coping with stressful situations.
- Understand why certain things may trigger symptoms and learn what to do.
- End maladaptive coping habits.
- Learn how to separate their personality and identity from mental health symptoms.
What is the most effective type of talk therapy for depression patients?
Cognitive behavioral therapy is the most effective type of talk therapy for depression patients. CBT is focused on uncovering maladaptive thinking patterns and beliefs, and evaluating them in a different, more realistic light. CBT gives patients the tools they need to understand their triggers and how to cope in healthy ways. This type of therapy is also valid for treating eating disorders, anxiety, and PTSD.
How can talk therapy help depression patients?
The symptoms of depression will manifest as physical, emotional, mental, and behavioral changes in the patient. One of the most common symptoms of the disorder is a pervasive feeling of self-loathing or low self-esteem. These feelings often influence the patient into thinking patterns of automatic, reflexive thoughts that are negative and maladaptive. For example, depression sufferers may feel like the world is an unsafe place full of harmful people, which can lead to isolation and social withdrawal. They may feel and think that life isn’t worth living and that nothing they do matters. These thoughts can manifest as suicidal ideation, self-harm, failing to perform self-care, or missing work or school.
In talk therapy, these types of harmful, automatic thoughts are addressed. With guidance from a trained therapist, patients can look at and re-evaluate these thoughts from a realistic perspective. When these symptoms are resolved in a safe, confidential place like therapy, patients can begin the hard work of changing their behaviors once they acknowledge and deal with these maladaptive thoughts.
Also, depression can cause people to turn to drugs or alcohol to cope with their symptoms. Co-morbid substance use disorder is especially pronounced among depression sufferers who’ve never gotten treatment. These people may not realize that their symptoms are part of a treatable psychological disorder. When they feel the need to withdraw socially, they may turn to alcohol to make themselves more outgoing, or to numb suicidal thoughts. Depression can also zap a person’s energy, and they may turn to amphetamine drugs to feel more energetic. About 20% of people with depression also have a substance use disorder.
When depression patients start going to talk therapy sessions, a therapist can help them address these symptoms and urges to use drugs or drinking to cope. Therapy gives patients a safe place to talk about their feelings and history of drug abuse, and a therapist can also refer them to drug or alcohol abuse counseling. Depression sufferers who also abuse drugs or alcohol can worsen their depression symptoms. It’s crucial that depression patients avoid problem drinking and drug use.
How effective is talk therapy for treating depression?
In studies involving depressed patients, patients who were treated with antidepressants only showed a significant reduction in depression symptoms after eight weeks of treatment, more so than patients who were treated with talk therapy alone. However, after 16 weeks of treatment, talk therapy-only patients experienced the same reduction in symptoms as patients who were treated with medication. Also, undergoing 16 weeks of talk therapy treatment for depression was also associated with a significantly decreased rate of relapse.
About 30% of depression patients will not respond to medications or talk therapy alone. In these cases, deep brain stimulation techniques such as ECT and TMS are highly effective at treating stubborn cases of depression. However, patients who experience the highest success rates with TMS also participate in talk therapy.
Depression is one of the most disabling mental health disorders in the world, but there is help for patients with severe depression. Please contact Pulse TMS today to explore your options for treating depression with highly effective and non-invasive TMS.