Have you been wondering if you are experiencing depression? Or have you been curious about managing depression? In this post I’m going to go over what depression is and help you identify what options are out there to treat depression.
If you already know you want to reach out to a mental health professional for support but need guidance on picking the right person, scroll down towards the bottom of this post under the header “Choosing the Right Mental Health Professional and Improve Your Overall Functioning,” for a quick interview guide when reaching out.
Depression Defined
What is depression? More often than not, depression is often misunderstood as solely a symptom of feeling sad. And while it is true that one of the symptoms of depression includes sadness, did you know that depression can manifest without feeling sad or blue?
According to the DSM-5, depression must include at least feelings of depression OR loss of interest or pleasure. Other main symptoms of depression include:
Decreased or loss of energy
Decrease ability to concentrate or loss of ability to focus
Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep (insomnia), or sleeping too much
We all can experience momentary feelings of sadness or times where we are not feeling or at our best, and those experiences in and of themselves may not give you a clinical diagnosis of depression. But if these symptoms have been occurring for at least 2 weeks and are causing concern with your work, relationships, and productivity, you may potentially meet criteria for depression.
If you’re concerned that you may be experiencing clinical depression or meet criteria for a diagnosis of depression, I encourage you to seek the help of a mental health professional who can help clarify what you’re experiencing through a formal evaluation. Prior to scheduling clients, I provide a 20 minute free consultations to help you clarify what kind of treatment may be helpful and ensure we are the best fit.
Depression Treatment
If there is one takeaway from this article it is that depression may be treatable with a combination of evidence based treatments including psychotherapy and medication. When symptoms of depression come on, it can feel overwhelming and feel like there is little that can be done to return to your baseline, but I’m here to offer you assurance that you can effectively manage symptoms of depression.
Depression may be treatable with a combination of psychotherapy and medication.
The research shows that the best approach to treating depression is combining both psychotherapy and the judicious use of medication.
Psychotherapy such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for depression focuses on building sustaining and long-lasting skills to help you identify thoughts and patterns that may be getting in the way of a balanced life while the judicious use of medication can help you improve both energy and focus, so that you can achieve your goals you have set in your life. When embarking on a self-care journey you will be able to develop effective coping strategies through psychotherapy and optimize your well-being with a personalized and low dose medication regimen. Combining medication management and psychotherapy is the gold standard for the treatment of depression.
Choosing the Right Mental Health Professional and Improve Your Depression
Depression can be a silent killer and you may struggle with depression for weeks, months, or even years before knowing that you are depressed. If you are reading this, you may have come to the decision to seek out support from a professional. How do you decide which professional would be the best in terms of offering you guidance and support? With all the above in mind, here are three questions you can ask in choosing the right clinician:
What mode(s) of psychotherapy do they implement in session? As I mentioned, there are multiple, effective treatments for depression. By asking a prospective clinician this question you can get a sense of the kind of psychotherapy that would be employed in your sessions.
Are they able to offer medication consultation or do they have a colleague that they can refer you to if you are considering medication management? There are multiple types of mental health clinicians that can offer you support and this following description of clinicians are by no means an exhaustive list of mental health professionals, but in general:
Psychiatrists and Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners offer both psychiatry (medication management) and psychotherapy in their practices. Some offer only psychotherapy, some offer medication management only, and others offer a combination of both.
Psychologists, social workers, and marriage/family therapists are mental health professionals that offer various modes of psychotherapy and emphasize which type of therapy will depend on their training.
How often will they meet with you and for how long? Now this question is somewhat of a “ fortune-telling crystal ball,” question. A 20 minute phone consultation may not be enough time for either you or the mental health professional to come up with a treatment plan that will fully be able to predict this but asking this question will give you a sense if the clinician offers long-term or focused, short-term treatment.
These 3 questions are a great way to have a focused phone consultation to help you identify whether or not they will be best fit in supporting you. Depression may be something you have been experiencing daily, give yourself credit for all that you are doing to cope, but know that you do not have to deal with it alone.
If you are not quite ready to reach out to a mental health professional just yet, here is an evidence based self-help workbook that can be helpful in managing depression. I have used this mode of psychotherapy countless times in supporting my clients who experience depression:
The Cognitive Behavioral Workbook for Depression: A Step-by-Step Program
As always, I’d like to be clear that this blog post isn’t intended as professional counseling or clinical advice. If you’re in need of support, please consider reaching out to me or another professional for a formal evaluation.
Be well,
Greg Roussett NP
Greg Roussett is a board certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner offering treatment for depression. He is a cognitive behavioral therapist, psychopharmacologist, and offers a combination of psychotherapy and medication management to individuals experiencing depression. His office is located in Rockridge in Oakland, CA. One of his primary specialities is working with those looking for help with depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbances. Book a free phone consultation by clicking here.