Have you been diagnosed with clinical depression? Do you want to get help? This week we are talking with Dr. Jane Rubin about how therapy can be helpful in relieving clinical depression.
How Would You Describe Clinical Depression?
When people talk about clinical depression, they’re usually referring to what mental health experts call Major Depressive Disorder. This is a severe form of depression that involves a depressed mood and having little interest in most activities of daily life, almost every day. It’s different from less severe forms of depression in which these feelings come and go. Major Depression is also accompanied by symptoms such as
Insomnia or hypersomnia
Weight loss or weight gain
Fatigue and loss of energy
Feelings of worthlessness
Inability to concentrate
People who are suffering from Major Depression almost always benefit from anti-depressant medication. In fact, in my experience, most people who are experiencing Major Depression can only really use therapy effectively once they’re taking a medication that works for them.How Do Medication and Therapy Work Together?When people are depressed, they often attribute their depression to difficult situations in their lives, such as problems with their families, their relationships, or their jobs. Once the medication takes effect and they feel better, they recognize that these problems weren’t the cause of their depression. However, these problems don’t go away when the medication takes effect. This means that, once the biochemical aspects of the depression are being successfully treated with medication, and the most severe symptoms of depression have receded, people are able to address the problems in their lives that they couldn’t address when they were using all their mental and emotional energy to combat their depression.I’ve had patients who experienced significant trauma in their families. As long as they were feeling depressed, they couldn’t address the difficulties they had with their families. They simply felt overwhelmed and powerless. Once the medication took effect, they could see the situation more clearly, stop blaming themselves for it, and come up with effective strategies for dealing with the difficult people in their lives.
How Does Clinical Depression Form?
We don’t know. A psychiatrist colleague of mine has told me that we don’t even know why anti-depressant medications work. We just know that, for many people, they do.My best guess is that people who suffer from clinical depression have a biological predisposition for it but that that predisposition has to be triggered by some environmental factor in order for people to actually become depressed. Certainly, many patients I’ve seen who have clinical depression have a family history of it. We just don’t know enough about the brain to know why people become clinically depressed.
What Changes Have You Seen in Patients?
When people are severely depressed, it’s very hard for them to use therapy in any way that’s helpful to them. They feel so overwhelmed and hopeless that they can’t imagine feeling any better and they feel completely unable to take any steps to improve their mood or their daily functioning. All of their energy just goes into trying to get through the day. The main change I’ve seen is that, when medication works, people with clinical depression are able to use therapy just like anyone else. Their sense of hope returns; they’re able to think clearly, and they have the emotional energy to work on their problems.
What Would You Recommend to People Considering Therapy?
It’s like the old Nike commercial: “Just do it!” When you’re feeling hopeless, the most difficult thing is to resist that feeling just long enough to make the call to set up an appointment.Depression can be very emotionally isolating. It can feel like no one understands how bad you’re feeling. It can feel like you’re a burden to other people. Once you start treatment, you’ll have someone on your side that will be there to support you through every stage of the healing process. Even if, right now, you find it impossible to believe that things can get better, pick up the phone and make an appointment. The road to feeling better can sometimes be long and difficult, but, if you take the first step, you’ll reach your destination.Click to learn more about depression therapy and treatment with Jane Rubin, Ph.D.Jane Rubin, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist in Berkeley, California. She works with individuals in Berkeley, Oakland, the East Bay and the greater San Francisco Bay Area who are struggling with depression and anxiety. She also specializes in working with people who are trying to find meaning and direction in their lives.