Diagnosing Depression

Share |

Diagnosing Depression

It is unfortunate that there is no test known to detect depression. A diagnosis is generally made if an individual suffers from a persistent low mood. This low mood has a tendency of affecting the everyday life of an individual. If one encounters five or more symptoms for a period of two weeks, they are diagnosed as suffering from depression.

When seeking treatment for depression your general practitioner can most commonly treat you if you are suffering from depression. Often one may have to seek the help of a counselor, which are attached to GP surgeries. If one's diagnosis is found to be unclear, or the individual seems to be particularly ill, The GP may prefer to send the individual to a psychiatrist. Often there are community psychiatric nurses that may be referred by an individual's GP or psychiatrist. Others suffering from depression may be seen by psychotherapists.

Often humans experience bad times in their lives. At times one may be able to sit down and down with a friend or neighbor and talk through the problem. There are often times when that isn't enough, and one may need to seek professional help. Just remember that depression is treatable. Treatment may include medication as well as psychotherapy.

You may wonder what psychotherapy is. This is being able to simply talk to someone or your doctor about your problems or situations, which can help to a great degree. It is always better to talk your problems out, than to keep them bottled up inside of oneself. If you should need formal psychotherapy counseling, that would include cognitive behavioral therapy; interpersonal psychotherapy; or psychoanalysis.

Psychotherapies are very effective just like medication if taken properly. For more severe cases of depression, medication is just likely to be needed, but is supplemental with psychotherapy.

The type of therapy depends on the problems one may be suffering from. This is the doctor's call. There has been no indication that one therapy is better than another.

Antidepressant medicine is used to help correct one's low mood, and any other problems one may be suffering from during one's episode with depression. They don't change one's personality and they are not addictive.

There have been many new antidepressant drugs in recent years. The main advantage to these medications is that they tend to have fewer side effects than past drugs and they seem a lot more pleasant in taking. Your doctor will choose the correct medication for you and your particular symptoms. Antidepressants do act on the chemicals in the brain in trying to correct the abnormalities which may be causing one to suffer from depression.