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".
. . . people getting treatment for depression can feel better within a few weeks." (Dr
P. Price, PhD, Clinical Psychologist) |
Clinical Depression is a very emotionally
painful condition, it can distort our thinking and cause us to think that there is no way out of the difficulties we are in.
As a result our future can seem very bleak and hopeless, we think that we cannot endure this pain which we believe will go
on forever. But it is important to realise that this feeling of hopelessness and pessimism is part of the symptoms of depression.
It is the condition that is making it seem that there is no hope.
Research has indicated that negative
and pessimistic thinking is partly caused by the excess of stress related hormones. Once strategies like cognitive behavioural
therapy and medication (where applicable) have been implemented, they will help to change our brain chemistry. This positive
change in brain chemistry helps us to think more accurately, less pessimistically and helps us to find solutions to our problems
where we could see none before.
The future can seem so bleak at the moment but it is important to realise that this is just
a temporary problem and you are not always going to feel like this. There is realistic hope. You may be feeling awful today
but it is not going to be like this forever.
Consultant Psychiatrist and author of the book "Anxiety
and Depression", Dr Robert Priest, treated patients who were suffering a terminal disease and wanted to commit suicide. Once
their depression was treated the desire to end their lives by suicide lifted, even though they still had the terminal disease.
Depression is such a common condition that it is often referred to as the common cold of the mind. Fortunately it
is also one of the most treatable conditions that we can suffer, so it is vital to get treatment from your doctor as soon
as possible. Once you implement treatment then the emotional pain WILL lift and you will be able to resume your life without
being plagued by the ravages of depression and anxiety.
Recovery
Depression
is a serious and common health problem and recovery does not always go in a straight line there will be ups and downs, so
if you find your mood is more low than usual this does not necessarily mean the depression has returned. Our mood fluctuates all the time even in people who haven't got depression.
Many millions
of people have overcome their depression and so will you. Clinical depression
affects our thinking and perception and can cause us to feel as if we are alone, frightened, confused, helpless and hopeless,
worthless, a burden and a failure; but this is not so, we will talk more of how depression affects our thinking in a module
in cognitive behavioural therapy later in the course.
We think more
negatively and we are more pessimistic than we usually are. It is important to
realise this because it's the depression that causes us to think this way but this thinking is not accurate. Once your depression has been treated this depressed style of thinking will go. Depression is a very, very treatable condition. When we are
clinically depressed we think it is going to go on forever, but it won't. You
may be feeling awful right not but this will only be temporary. This hope is
based on reality not on wishful thinking. Many hundreds of millions of people
have been affected with clinical depression and have recovered, and so will you. There
has been a revolution in the treatments for depression in the past few decades, both in terms of antidepressant medication
and in talking treatments. If you are reading this page you have already started
on your journey of recovery. Half the battle in treating depression is identifying
we are depressed and going for treatment.
