Depression is a serious mental health condition that can significantly impact various aspects of someone’s daily life, interfering with their ability to work, maintain relationships, or participate in activities they once enjoyed. However, it’s important to remember that depression is treatable. Empathetic mental health professionals can help determine which treatments are most appropriate for your symptoms, but depression often responds well to a combination of therapy and medication.
How Depression Affects Daily Life
Depression often leads to significant changes in a person’s daily routine and habits. This can include:
- Changed sleep patterns: Many people with depression struggle with sleep issues, either trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, or sleeping too much.
- Difficulty concentrating: Depression can make it hard to focus and make decisions, affecting performance at work or school.
- Reduced interest in activities: Things once enjoyed might no longer bring pleasure, leading to withdrawal from hobbies and social activities. You might think, “what’s the point?” or have less motivation and energy to spend on these activities.
- Physical symptoms: Sometimes depression can come with unexplained aches or pains, like headaches, stomach problems, or joint pain.
- Strained relationships: Interactions with family and friends can become challenging due to irritability, social withdrawal, or feelings of worthlessness.1
- Impaired judgment or decision-making: Depression can leave people with brain fog, impairing judgment and making it more difficult to make decisions.
- Altered eating habits: Some people may lose their appetite, leading to weight loss, while others might eat more and gain weight.
- Suicidal thoughts: Suicidal thoughts should always be taken seriously and addressed as soon as possible.
If you are feeling suicidal or experiencing a mental health crisis, please reach out for immediate support by contacting your local emergency services, visiting your local emergency room, or calling/texting the National Crisis Hotline at 988.
How Depression Treatment Can Help
At New Directions Mental Health, our approach to depression treatment is tailored to your individual needs. Depending on your needs and goals, depression treatment can include the following:
Therapy
Therapists treating depression often use a multifaceted approach, pulling from modalities like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), interpersonal therapy (IPT), and other forms. Therapy can help people understand the connections between their thoughts, feelings, and actions, then start making changes to improve symptoms.
Group Therapy
Group therapy sessions offer a supportive environment to share experiences, learn from each other, and build connections with others who understand. Depression is often isolating, so group therapy can be a way to start reconnecting to others who understand what you’re going through.
Medication Management
A psychiatric provider can determine whether medication would help mitigate symptoms, then provide a prescription, adjusting medication and dosage as necessary. Depression can be caused by altered brain chemistry, so boosting neurotransmitters responsible for mood and energy can be a powerful part of treatment.
TMS Therapy
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) therapy is a non-invasive treatment that uses magnetic pulses to stimulate areas of the brain associated with depression. It can be used in addition to other therapies or as an alternative to medication, as it typically comes with very few side effects.
Spravato®
If you don’t respond well to medication, Spravato® could be the alternative that finally makes a difference in how you feel. Spravato® is an esketamine-based nasal spray that boosts glutamate, increasing the brain’s overall ability to regulate mood and energy.
Call New Directions Mental Health for Depression Treatment
New Directions Mental Health is committed to providing our neighbors with high-quality care. We have served the southwestern Pennsylvania community for 50 years, taking a personalized and compassionate approach to mental health care.
If you need help managing your depression, contact New Directions Mental Health at 724.374.7414 today for more information about our depression treatment.
Source:
- Aleksandra Kupferberg, Gregor Hasler. (2023). The social cost of depression: Investigating the impact of impaired social emotion regulation, social cognition, and interpersonal behavior on social functioning. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports 14, 100631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadr.2023.100631