Attacking Major Depression With
Professional Treatments
by Jay
Miller
zone3
The patient’s depression was crippling. He was in an out of psychiatric
hospitals and could not work let alone function a normal life. All other
treatments had failed him until neurosurgeon John Smider performed and
operation. His skull was opened exposing his brain, in which they then
placed a battery operated "pacemaker." This pacemaker emits a rhythmic
electrical pulse which alleviates depression whithout altering the
thinking process or damaging the brain.
The operation was a success! The patient positive attitude soon
returned and he was able to return to work. “You saved my life,” he told
the doctor. “Now I can live a normal life.”
This man was one of many millions of americans suffering from chronic
depression, a disorder that created intense feelings of guilt,
helplessness and hoplessness. Many other symptoms of this disorder are
disturbances in appetite and sleep, constant fatigue, crying spells and
the inability to cope with life and derive pleasure from anything.
Only a very slight amount of people suffering from chronic depression
require surgical treatment with a "pacemaker." With most forms of major
depression trained professions can help the patient.
What treatments are available? There are a variety. Some suggest that
other methods do not work, and others suggest that multiple methods work
together. Why is this?
Some researchers feel that severe depressions are caused by a physical
defect in the body, such as a chemical imbalance in the brain, thusly
medication such as antidepressants are considered a viable method of
treatment. Others argue that the disorder results from faulty thinking and
that the mind creates the imbalance and can thereby rectify it. These
believe that the mind needs correction by “talk therapy,” psychotherapy.
While both methods have experienced some good results, neither of them has
the full answer.
Mind and Body Involved
The relationship between the mind and the body is a complex
relationship because of the close interplay between the mind and body.
Each and every patient is different and mental disorders can be very
complex. Only a trained doctor can make recommendations as to which
approach is best for the patient. It is recognized that within every field
of treatment there are often a wide range of practitioners. For example in
psychotherapy there are over 130 different reported approaches.
Talk Out Depression
When one is sufffering from major depression, psychotherapy or "talk
therapy" is one recommended approach. Since a depressed person usually has
greatly disturbed ideas, many have been aided by their talking to a
therapist. Such professionals may include psychiatrists, psychologists,
social workers and others with specialized training. Many have also found
great help in just talking with a caring friend of relative.
Armand DiMele, director of the Center for Psychotherapy, observes: “The
depressed person is protecting himself by shutting down his mind and body
and not allowing any stimulation. For example, when someone suffers a loss
such as a death, he may go into a depression rather than face the loss.”
The job of the counselor is to help the sufferer to face the feelings and
anxiety that come from such a loss. DiMele continues: “If the therapist
sitting with him can really nurture him through and tell him what to
anticipate in body sensations, then the person gradually realizes he can
cope with the emotion, and the depression lifts.”
Submerged feelings, such as anger, resentment and guilt, have often
bred depression. For instance, a psychologist employed by the New York
State Mental Health Department treated a 58-year-old woman suffering from
severe depression. She felt that God had abandoned her and that everyone
was talking against her. As this expert of 20 years’ experience began to
talk with her in a kindly way each week, he noticed that in discussions
about her family she never mentioned her mother, with whom she was now
living. He probed. In time she revealed that she felt that her mother, by
her neglect, was responsible for her beloved father’s recent death.
Gradually the counselor helped her to overcome this resentment, and her
depression melted away.
Since guilt is often a major symptom of depression, psychologists will
endeavor to eliminate it along with the patient’s feelings of
worthlessness. One woman became severely depressed when her child turned
rebellious. “I was never really a proper mother, was I?” she cried to the
psychiatrist. “That’s why she’s gone wrong.” The doctor helped her to see
all the good she had done for the child. The guilt then vanished—and so
did her depression.
However, the treatment of most cases is unsuccessful, according to Dr.
Ronald Fieve. He reports in his book Moodswing—The Third Revolution in
Psychiatry that not infrequently, after weeks, months and years of working
with a moderate or severe depressive, helping him to analyze his behavior,
“very little happened.”
Authorities in the field differ as to intensive psychotherapy’s
effectiveness. One of the reasons for this is that many doctors feel that
the chemical imbalance present in severe moodswings cannot always be
corrected by psychotherapy. They advocate the use of . . .
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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