Learn How to Treat Depression Without Medicine

Depression is an affective disorder that can make it hard for you to enjoy your day-to-day activities. It often begins when the person is inactive and unable to follow the routines. Depression is usually due to faulty thought processes, and your relationship with others as an individual is a prime indicator of Depression. Unresolved issues and unconscious feelings such as suppressed emotions, unresolved conflicts, past traumas, and negative self-beliefs can also contribute to the onset or maintenance of depressive symptoms. In most cases, individuals take the medication to cure without counseling or therapy sessions.

The role of Depression Counselling or Therapy is effective in treating Depression. The counselor or therapist helps the client regain confidence and enhance self-esteem. A counselor or psychologist helps them resume their daily chores in the desired manner. Depression is often due to faulty thought processes. The individual learns to alter maladaptive thought patterns and perceptions in therapeutic sessions. A variety of therapies treat such issues. While treating Depression in most cases, triangulation of the therapy techniques is applied rather than just implementing one particular method. 

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy 

CBT is a form of talk therapy with two components: The Cognitive and the Behavioural. The benefits of CBT might last longer. Depression tends to occur due to faulty behavior patterns and dysfunctional thoughts. Counseling can do wonders to replace dysfunctional thoughts with corrective ones. During counseling, the counselor will probe and help you understand your perceptions and which is workable in a particular situation. During the session, you evaluate how your daily routine and activities impact your mood. The Depression Counsellor will help you develop a plan of action by engaging in various activities. The Depression Counsellor will help you find goals and will challenge your misconceptions. The main aim of any Depression Counsellor is to make the client self-reliant and to find practical solutions to problems. 

Interpersonal Therapy

Your relationship with others as an individual is a prime indicator of Depression. In many cases, resolving the interpersonal relationship can help you recover from depressive symptoms. The primary basis is the difficulties and changes in relationships the person is experiencing. Clients learn to improve communication within those relationships or to change their expectations about those relationships. It is time-limited, and a course of 12 to 20 sessions is necessary for the acute treatment of Depression. Interpersonal Therapy helps us to understand not just the causes of Depression but also why it persists. 

Psychodynamic Therapy

It is one of the most traditional approaches to counseling. Many times, we are unaware of emotions that might create a problem. Adult behaviors and perceptions in intimate relationships shape interactions and the associated feelings and fantasies of meaningful connections with others, usually with parents and siblings. Children struggle with such opposing needs and feelings as closeness and separation, love and hate, and guilt over forbidden sexual or aggressive wishes.

The strategies that develop to contain unacceptable urges and impulses are called intrapsychic defenses. These defenses are set in childhood and have irrational conclusions based on childhood reasoning. They are well established by Adulthood. They operate automatically and unconsciously. They also clarify positive and negative internalized concepts of self and others.

Psychodynamic Therapy can be very intense and open-ended, as the client can clearly state what the person is feeling. Psychodynamic Therapy is critical when the individual employs a maladaptive coping strategy for a long time. In most cases, triangulation of the therapy techniques is applied rather than just implementing one particular method. Thus, each type of Therapy has its unique way of treating Depression. Medicines have their own set of side effects, as well as can be addictive, and the chances of relapse are at maximum, too. Nausea, drowsiness, weight gain, and sexual dysfunction are common side effects of medication.

So, it is preferable in case of low and moderate levels of Depression to indulge in an active lifestyle to overcome such feelings, like getting into a disciplined routine and having SMART GOALS, especially these goals should be short-term, taking care of your physical health by going for a walk or gym, eating a healthy diet, getting proper sleep, enjoying time with friends and family, challenging your negative thoughts, and trying something new or different.

The medicine is put into effect when Depression inhibits the person’s holistic growth. During that time, counseling works as a supportive measure. The length of time it takes for counseling to work in Depression depends upon the individual and the severity of their symptoms. Some people may experience improvements within a few sessions, while others may require longer-term Therapy. Counseling aims to help individuals learn new coping skills and make positive changes in their thinking patterns and behaviors, which can take time to develop and become a habit. 

It is crucial to work with a qualified and experienced Psychologist or Therapist to determine the best treatment course and set realistic expectations for the length of time it may take to see improvement. Thus, taking counseling along with medication can help you to increase your motivation level and also help you overcome or at least limit your distorted thinking. Hence, it becomes necessary for the clients to treat Depression effectively. An amalgamation of both medicines and counseling is required. If symptoms constantly exist for 21 days, a person should seek professional help for Depression Counselling. 

Dr. Nisha Khanna is a senior consultant counseling psychologist among the top psychologists in Delhi, NCR, and India. She deals in Depression Counselling. She provides online, telephone, and face-to-face counseling services. If you are in Delhi, India, or any other part of the World, you can approach us through any of these mediums. For details, visit Bye Tense or call us at +91–9818211474