Depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the United States. Research suggests that genetic, biological, environmental, and psychological factors play a role in depression.
Risk factors for depression can include:
- Personal or family history of depression
- Major negative life changes, trauma, or stress
Depression can happen at any age, but it often begins in adulthood. Depression is now recognized as occurring in children and adolescents, although children may express more irritability or anxiety than sadness. Many chronic mood and anxiety disorders in adults begin as high levels of anxiety in childhood.
Depression, especially in midlife or older age, can co-occur with other serious medical illnesses, such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, chronic pain, and Parkinson’s disease. These conditions are often worse when depression is present, and research suggests that people with depression and other medical illnesses tend to have more severe symptoms of both illnesses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also recognized that having certain mental disorders, including depression and schizophrenia, can make people more likely to get severely ill from COVID-19.
Sometimes a physical health problem, such as thyroid disease, or medications taken for an illness cause side effects that contribute to depression. A health care provider experienced in treating these complicated illnesses can help determine the best treatment strategy.
How is depression treated?
Depression, even the most severe cases, can be treated. The earlier treatment begins, the more effective it is. Depression is usually treated with psychotherapy, medication, or a combination of the two.
Some people experience treatment-resistant depression, which occurs when a person does not get better after trying at least two antidepressant medications. If treatments like psychotherapy and medication do not reduce depressive symptoms or the need for rapid relief from symptoms is urgent, brain stimulation therapy may be an option to explore.
Quick tip: No two people are affected the same way by depression, and there is no “one-size-fits-all” treatment. Finding the treatment that works best for you may take trial and error.
Psychotherapies
Several types of psychotherapy (also called talk therapy or counseling) can help people with depression by teaching them new ways of thinking and behaving and helping them change habits that contribute to depression. Evidence-based approaches to treating depression include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and interpersonal therapy (IPT). Learn more about psychotherapy.
The growth of telehealth for mental health services, which offers an alternative to in-person therapy, has made it easier and more convenient for people to access care in some cases. For people who may have been hesitant to look for mental health care in the past, virtual mental health care might be an easier option.
Medications
Antidepressants are medications commonly used to treat depression. They work by changing how the brain produces or uses certain chemicals involved in mood or stress. You may need to try several different antidepressants before finding the one that improves your symptoms and has manageable side effects. A medication that has helped you or a close family member in the past will often be considered first.
Antidepressants take time—usually 4–8 weeks—to work, and problems with sleep, appetite, and concentration often improve before mood lifts. It is important to give a medication a chance to work before deciding whether it’s right for you. Learn more about mental health medications.
New medications, such as intranasal esketamine, can have rapidly acting antidepressant effects, especially for people with treatment-resistant depression. Esketamine is a medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment-resistant depression. Delivered as a nasal spray in a doctor’s office, clinic, or hospital, it acts rapidly, typically within a couple of hours, to relieve depression symptoms. People who use esketamine will usually continue taking an oral antidepressant to maintain the improvement in their symptoms.
Another option for treatment-resistant depression is to take an antidepressant alongside a different type of medication that may make it more effective, such as an antipsychotic or anticonvulsant medication. Further research is needed to identify the role of these newer medications in routine practice.
If you begin taking an antidepressant, do not stop taking it without talking to a health care provider. Sometimes people taking antidepressants feel better and stop taking the medications on their own, and their depression symptoms return. When you and a health care provider have decided it is time to stop a medication, usually after a course of 9–12 months, the provider will help you slowly and safely decrease your dose. Abruptly stopping a medication can cause withdrawal symptoms.
Note: In some cases, children, teenagers, and young adults under 25 years may experience an increase in suicidal thoughts or behavior when taking antidepressants, especially in the first few weeks after starting or when the dose is changed. The FDA advises that patients of all ages taking antidepressants be watched closely, especially during the first few weeks of treatment.
If you are considering taking an antidepressant and are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or breastfeeding, talk to a health care provider about any health risks to you or your unborn or nursing child and how to weigh those risks against the benefits of available treatment options.
To find the latest information about antidepressants, talk to a health care provider and visit the FDA website .
Brain stimulation therapies
If psychotherapy and medication do not reduce symptoms of depression, brain stimulation therapy may be an option to explore. There are now several types of brain stimulation therapy, some of which have been authorized by the FDA to treat depression. Other brain stimulation therapies are experimental and still being investigated for mental disorders like depression.
Although brain stimulation therapies are less frequently used than psychotherapy and medication, they can play an important role in treating mental disorders in people who do not respond to other treatments. These therapies are used for most mental disorders only after psychotherapy and medication have been tried and usually continue to be used alongside these treatments.
Brain stimulation therapies act by activating or inhibiting the brain with electricity. The electricity is given directly through electrodes implanted in the brain or indirectly through electrodes placed on the scalp. The electricity can also be induced by applying magnetic fields to the head.
The brain stimulation therapies with the largest bodies of evidence include:
- Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
- Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)
- Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS)
- Magnetic seizure therapy (MST)
- Deep brain stimulation (DBS)
ECT and rTMS are the most widely used brain stimulation therapies, with ECT having the longest history of use. The other therapies are newer and, in some cases, still considered experimental. Other brain stimulation therapies may also hold promise for treating specific mental disorders.
ECT, rTMS, and VNS have authorization from the FDA to treat severe, treatment-resistant depression. They can be effective for people who have not been able to feel better with other treatments; people for whom medications cannot be used safely; and in severe cases where a rapid response is needed, such as when a person is catatonic, suicidal, or malnourished.
Additional types of brain stimulation therapy are being investigated for treating depression and other mental disorders. Talk to a health care provider and make sure you understand the potential benefits and risks before undergoing brain stimulation therapy. Learn more about these brain stimulation therapies.
Natural products
The FDA has not approved any natural products for treating depression. Although research is ongoing and findings are inconsistent, some people use natural products, including vitamin D and the herbal dietary supplement St. John’s wort, for depression. However, these products can come with risks. For instance, dietary supplements and natural products can limit the effectiveness of some medications or interact in dangerous or even life-threatening ways with them.
Do not use vitamin D, St. John’s wort, or other dietary supplements or natural products without talking to a health care provider. Rigorous studies must be conducted to test whether these and other natural products are safe and effective.
Daily morning light therapy is a common treatment choice for people with seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Light therapy devices are much brighter than ordinary indoor lighting and considered safe, except for people with certain eye diseases or taking medications that increase sensitivity to sunlight. As with all interventions for depression, evaluation, treatment, and follow-up by a health care provider are strongly recommended. Research into the potential role of light therapy in treating non-seasonal depression is ongoing.
Retrieved from: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/depression