Finally, Ten Years Later, New Guidelines for Treatment of Depression

For the first time in the past ten years the guidelines for treating depression have been updated. The suggestions included the use of medication and therapy but also exercise and alternative treatments. But they are also encouraging the physicians to closely assess each patients symptoms and specialize the treatment directly for that patient.

Prior to the release of these updated suggestions, an independent panel not tied to the industry reviewed the guidelines for any bias. The result was the best way to treat depression. This review took five years. An interesting statistic is one in ten American adults suffer from depression. And of those suffering they qualify for meeting the criteria of major depressive disorder.

Talking therapy could help depression now and ward off susceptibility to future depression

There were a few notable highlights from the study including that talking therapy may actually reduce the symptoms of depression now and even ward off future depression. Helping the person not be so susceptible to depression in the future. Also they feel that modern, more current antidepressant medications are more effective.

The feeling is that if you have serious major depressive disorder talking therapy will be useful, but you will need these new antidepressants.

If you have major depressive disorder you will probably need medication

One surprising new guideline that resulted from this study is that depressions that are not effected by traditional treatment, may benefit from electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). This is when electrical currents are passed through the brain with the result of changing the brain chemistry and therefore causing it to be more receptive to treatment.

Electric Shock Therapy May be beneficial for resistant depression

Certainly ECT has been around for a very long time. It has indeed developed a bad reputation but mostly because of sensational books and movies. It is really very much like shocking someone's heart after they have arrested to bring them back into a living heart rhythm. Shocking the brain can bring it into a treatable brain rhythm.

There are some other treatments recommended for resistant depression. They include monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) and two new options. One being transcrannial magnetic stimulation, which is stimulating brain nerve cells by use of magnetic fields. And another is vagus nerve stimulation, which is the use of electrical impulses in the brain.

There are some new treatments for depression as well

Exercise was also addressed as showing a modest improvement in mood for the depressed. Aerobic and resistance training are helpful in this treatment.

The new guidelines also want the physicians to get more involved in their patients symptoms on a more in depth level. Rating those symptoms on a scale of one to ten. This should help doctors to be able to judge a treatments effectiveness. It might also help patients to hone in on their own feelings and emotions by having to analyze what they feel and how treatment is working for them.

Physicians are encouraged to analyze more closely what the patient is actually feeling

The new guidelines also address maintenance treatment. It is thought that some people are taken off their treatments too soon or too often. If a person has had three or more episodes of depression they should just continue on their treatment like a diabetic on life long insulin.

Maybe the most comforting results from the new guidelines is that a more serious concerned treatment of their symptoms is now being recommended. And there is a much wider range of treatments which really should give more people hope. People that suffer from depression or major depression or even resistant depression can now expect to get help and live a more productive life.

Source:

WebMD