What is Depression?
Depression is a mood state that is lowered below what would be considered a normal mood sate. It is also often characterized by a reduced inclination to be active, and it can have an impact on many aspect of a person’s life.
First, it can negatively affect the way an individual feels emotionally, triggering sad, anxious and even angry thoughts. Secondly, it can have a detrimental effect on the way a person behaves and may diminish the quality of interaction with others. It can even affect the way they feel physically and may cause real, measurable physiological pain and suffering.
An entire spectrum of emotional responses can result from this condition. Some of the feelings associated with depression include: restlessness, irritability, guilt, worthlessness, helplessness, hopelessness, emptiness, sadness and anxiety.
A broad range of behaviors can manifest themselves as a result of depression, such as: difficulty remembering information (especially fine details), inability to make decisions, concentration problems, overeating tendencies, appetite loss, and loss of interest in otherwise enjoyable activities. Other byproducts of the condition may occur including problems digesting food, pains and aches, energy loss, fatigue, sleeping in excess and inability to sleep.
If you or someone you know is suffering from depression, the first thing to recognize is that you are not alone. Depression is one of the most common ailments that human beings suffer from. There was a time when the medical field did not take the condition seriously, but today things have changed.
Depression has been recognized as a legitimate medical issue with measurable causes and official solutions. This comes as a relief to anyone who may have thought that depression just meant they were overly sensitive or emotional. If you suffer from depression, do not allow yourself to feel isolated. There are many who have this issue, and it is totally acceptable to seek professional help when depression gets out of control.
Treatment Options for Depression
The first step in treating depression is to assess it. This will include a look at the patient’s medical history, an entire assessment of the symptoms, and a physical evaluation. By understanding on the surface level how the depression is expressing itself, a professional can then begin to lay out treatment options and explain to the patient how those will work.
There are standardized questionnaires that can assist in determining the cause, type and severity of the depression, such as the Beck Depression Inventory and the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression.
How Do Residential Treatment Centers Treat Depression?
Depression can be treated through many methods. If the residential treatment center finds the condition to be linked with a mental disorder, the treatment options could include things like antidepressants or other medication, physical activity and exercise, pet therapy (also referred to as “animal-assisted therapy”), group therapy, psychotherapy, art therapy, music therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy.
The goal of residential treatment centers when dealing with patients who suffer from depression is threefold. The first part of their goal is to be welcoming and try to uncover what the core issue is that may be causing the depression that the patient is experiencing. Without knowing the root of the problem, it is hard to properly address it; so that is step 1.
The next part of the goal of a residential treatment center is to devise solutions on how to potentially fix the problem that caused the depression. If the problem is not fixable within the patient’s means, then acceptance of that fact and development of an ability to move on from the problem can be a replacement for fixing it.
The third and final part of the goal of a residential treatment center working with someone who suffers from depression is to help them find more ways to be happy. Through therapy, they can realize they are not alone and that in most cases whatever is wrong can be fixed. With optional medication, their depression can be reduced or alleviated entirely. This can be during a recovery period where the patient makes strides to improve their life.
Each case is different, in terms of how these steps are executed in particular. If you or someone you know is battling with depression, the first step is to contact a residential treatment center and ask them what to do.