RECOVERY FROM DEPRESSION
Depression can range from mild to severe, from brief episodes lasting a few days to chronic lasting over many years.
For milder forms of depression, recovery can come in the form of:
Good self-care: diet, exercise, meditation, play
Social support
Support groups
Behavioral activation
Self-help books
For more severe depression, recovery starts with good assessment from a professional:
• Medical evaluation to rule out possible underlying causes (medical disorders, drug side effects, etc.)
• Mental health evaluation to develop treatment plan
Goals for depression treatment:
• Frequent contact with professional team to continuously re-evaluate and improve treatment.
• Fostering open communication of treatment preferences.
• Generally, (but not always) correct underlying problems causing depression first
• Avoid worsening of symptoms (e.g. stopping substances that worsen depression)
• Minimize (or utilize) side effects of treatment
• Treat aggressively: Remission of all depressive symptoms is the goal because research shows that when we do this, people function better and stay better longer.