Depression is a psychological state of mind in which a person suffers from low mood and also the person becomes avert to regular activities. It is a widely used term in the modern World, and it is seen that depression is a common psychological problem among the post-modern generation, and it happens with frustration in the workplace, along with other things. There are many symptoms of depression like persistent sadness or the feeling of not being happy in anything, hopelessness in every sphere of life, Sometimes depression can bring a suicidal tendency to a person too. Fatigue, restlessness, insomnia, and other problems are regular occurrences in the case of depression too. Some of the other forms of depression are medically termed as personality disorder and adjustment disorder, which generally happens with depression (Santor 2008).
It is a shock to know that a recent study, Santor (2008), showed that 20% of the population in a developed country has been suffered from acute depression in some stages of their lives. It is a mental sickness and the psychological counseling of a depressed patient is one of the most important solutions that can be offered by a medical practitioner (Santor 2008). Also, the three most common treatments for depression are psychotherapy. This is the personal counseling of a patient with the doctor, and it is one of the very best processes. There is also the usage of “psychiatric medication and last but not the least, electroconvulsive therapy” (Shafer 2006). Electroconvulsive therapy is the process of giving electrical shocks to the mental patient.
In the case of a physician dealing with a mental patient, the most preferable way is the first option that is psychotherapy. In this way, the physician creates inter-personal communication with the patient and tries to solve his mental problems by giving different solutions. This type of treatment mainly aims to improve the sense of the individual by showing them what is well for him. There are some parts of the treatment like, relationship building with the patient, and after that free communication with the patient with the means of dialogues and other psychological processes. There are different schools of psychology but all of them focus on the well-being of the patient with making inter-personal communication with them, that is spoken communication with the patient. In this case, it has to be mentioned that in some countries, mental patients under the age of 18 are only allowed to use psychotherapy to cure their depression (Harter 2004).
The uses of psychoactive medications, which are medically termed psychiatric medication, are generally used to treat the mental disorder in an advanced state. It leaves an effect on the mental state, but sometimes these drugs leave a physical effect too on the patient. “Some of the adverse effects of the psychoactive medicines are like reducing the drug compliance of the patients” (Shafer 2006). They even create some serious side-effects too. Another very dangerous feature of the medicine is that if a person suddenly stops taking the medicine then the psychological illnesses for which he was taking those can return. One of the most used drugs among these is the anti-depressants and sometimes they can cause diseases like nausea, diarrhea, even the loss of sexual drive in the person.
Sometimes these medicines can make a person lose weight or gain weight heavily. “Stimulants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers are also different types of medicines and all of them have adverse side effects” (Shafer 2006). In the case of treatment of a depressed patient, the most widely acknowledged method should be psychotherapy and psychological counseling. The use of psychoactive medicines is not generally recommended unless the case is really serious.
References
Harter, S. (2004). Psychosocial risk factors contributing to adolescent suicidal ideation. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development 2004(64), 71-91.
Santor, D. (2008). Optimizing the ability of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale to discriminate across levels of severity and between antidepressants and placebos. Depression and Anxiety 25(9), 774-786.
Shafer, A. (2006). Meta-analysis of the factor structures of four depression. Journal of Clinical Psychology 62(1), 123-146.