Page 14 - Seniorstoday August-2023 Issue
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Treatments symptoms is urgent, brain stimulation
Depression, even the most severe cases, can therapy may be an option to explore.
be treated. The earlier treatment begins the
more effective it is. Depression is usually Psychotherapies
treated with medication, psychotherapy, or Several types of psychotherapy (also called
a combination of the two. talk therapy or counseling) can help people
with depression by teaching them new
Medications ways of thinking and behaving and how to
change habits that contribute to depression.
Telehealth for mental health services,
which offers an alternative to in-person
therapy, has made it easier and more
convenient for people to access care in some
cases.
Brain stimulation therapies
If medication or psychotherapy does not
reduce symptoms of depression, brain
stimulation therapy may be an option...
There are now several types of brain
Antidepressants are medications stimulation therapy, some of which have
commonly used to treat depression. They been authorized by the FDA to treat
work by changing how the brain produces depression.
or uses certain chemicals involved in mood Although brain stimulation therapies
or stress. A medication that has helped you are less frequently used than medication
or a close family member in the past will and psychotherapy, they can play an
often be considered first. important role in treating mental disorders
Antidepressants take time—usually 4–8 in people who do not respond to other
weeks—to work it is important to give treatments. These therapies are used for
a medication a chance to work before most mental disorders only if medication
deciding whether it’s the right one for you. and psychotherapy have either failed or
If you begin taking an antidepressant, are acting very slowly. Very often, they are
do not stop taking it without talking to a used alongside these treatments.
health care provider. Sometimes people Brain stimulation therapies act by
taking antidepressants feel better and stop activating or inhibiting the brain with
taking the medications on their own, and electricity.
their depression symptoms return. The brain stimulation therapies with the
Some people may experience treatment- largest bodies of evidence include:
resistant depression, which occurs when Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
a person does not get better after trying Repetitive transcranial magnetic
at least two antidepressant medications. stimulation (RTMS)
If treatments like medication and Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS)
psychotherapy do not reduce depressive Magnetic seizure therapy (MST)
symptoms or the need for rapid relief from Deep brain stimulation (DBS)
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