Why Depression Counseling Is Important

By Claudine Hodges


Microbe-borne illnesses can usually be successfully treated with medications because they follow a predictable pattern. Although depression is a serious disease, it cannot be spread between individuals, and a completely different pathway to recovery is necessary. That approach includes biological, psychological, social, and even spiritual considerations, and depression counseling plays a central role for millions of sufferers.

Although there is usually no problem identifying its victims, pinning down an exact cause of their problem can be problematic. There can be physical symptoms that mimic many other conditions, including fatigue, weight gain or loss, or digestive problems. Depression can be triggered by situations that include severe personal loss, relentless stress, or addictions and substance abuse, but those factors alone do not necessarily constitute disease.

Because the symptoms and causes vary from person to person, the most successful treatments rely on a combination of approaches. Many patients experience relatively rapid symptom relief when given antidepressants or related medications, but the results are not necessarily permanent. Some of these medicines produce well-documented and potentially unpleasant side effects that cause some patients to stop taking them.

Patients who experience lasting remission and relief have done so because the core causes of their condition have been addressed psychologically as well as physically. Medication alone is not a long-term solution for most, but only one part of a multifaceted program designed to help people understand their disease, and how personal behaviors complicate the issue. This approach stresses individual counseling, a term sometimes used interchangeable with psychotherapy.

Often referred to popularly as talk therapy, it directly addresses most of the specific issues commonly associated with the illness. It presents a variety of proven therapeutic choices tailored to depression, but stresses that people must choose the ones that best fit their needs. Counseling commonly leads to long-term psychotherapy, which gives patients the opportunity to gain a thorough understanding of their own motivations and resulting behaviors.

To achieve the best results, a variety of issues must be considered. Counselors help clients understand how their own thought processes work, and how those patterns can be altered using a cognitive approach. Relationships with other people are examined during interpersonal therapy, and their affects on mental health closely examined. Both counselors and psychologists present solutions, but their primary goal is to help patients to choose the most effective course.

That journey becomes easier when there is an environment that feels safe and inspires trust. Advisers offer proven ways to reduce intractable stress, and examine the role that others may play in triggering a depressive period. When making long-term changes seems like an impossible personal goal, counselors help people get back on track. They can also help patients cope with pharmaceutical side-effects of antidepressants.

People living in Port Charlotte FL who must deal with the causes, symptoms and solutions to depression benefit from a counselor who best understands their predicament, and who can make the personal connection that is crucial to getting better. The most successful approach does not rely on medications alone. The worst option is to do nothing and continue living with the problem.




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