Posts Tagged ‘Psychotherapy’

Nothing feels lonelier than being diagnosed with an illness. Hearing the words, “You have depression” can be the loneliest of all. Strike back by creating a supportive network.

What is a support network? Support comes in many forms. The basic premise here is to offer something that you have to help someone else. A person suffering from depression can use a lot of support. Some suggestions include:

* Support groups
* Friends network
* Church membership
* Therapist
* Family

These are in no special order. Your first line of support will probably be your family. They are the ones who love you the best and will want to do whatever they can to help you recover. Talking to them about your feelings and also studying up on depression together strengthens your bond over this condition.
Your doctor may advice you to seek additional help by talking to someone like a therapist. A therapy professional in psychotherapy will tell you that part of your success hinges on the relationship that you forge with them. You both trust each other to tell the truth about depression in your sessions.

Local support groups are places where others like you can meet and discuss issues on a weekly, biweekly or monthly basis. Simply knowing that you are not alone is like a weight being lifted from your shoulders. You don’t have to deal with it alone. In support groups, you have an outlet with no repercussions.

Your local church can also be a strong support in your life. Your faith can help you to deal with a number of things. Besides, a church is a welcoming community that shares their lives through their faith.

Friends are often underestimated. When the chips are down, the good ones come through. Call on your friends for a chat, a cup of coffee, dinner or to see a movie. They can ask you to venture out but also be strong enough to ask them for help when you need it.

Support is often the difference between hopefulness and helplessness. Create a support structure that works for you.

Along with more traditional forms of treatment, behavioral modification has shown to help many who suffer from depression. It is a complementary therapy that many turn to as a form of self help.

The broad term for the category of therapies encompassing behavioral modification is psychotherapy. This is not something you’d see going on in the back room in one of those low-budget horror flicks. It is a form of talk therapy designed to help you to recognize your depression for what it is.

You’d be surprised how many people are in denial. They classify their depression as a bad case of sadness that will eventually pass. They don’t want to be labeled by depression.

They don’t realize that the way not to be labeled is to find help. Here are the basics of behavioral modification.

* You and your therapist will discuss your condition. They will find out your symptoms, what you feel from day to day and how you view your depression. All of the answers you give are clues to helping them to find a complementary treatment for you.
* One form of psychotherapy is cognitive behavior therapy. This therapy teaches you to recognize when you are slipping back into depression and how to use your behavior, thinking and words to influence the outcome.
* Cognitive behavior therapy involves: (1) working with your therapist to decide on what the outcome of treatment will be, (2) learning to recognize what events trigger you to relapse into depression, and (3) modifying your thoughts, words and actions from negative to positive in order to cope successfully and not relapse.

What you get out of therapy largely depends on you. Psychotherapy treatments are usually highly structured to give you the safety and confidence to keep pursuing it. Along with medical treatment, hopefully you will find a prescription for successful management.