Remedies For Depression - Pros and Cons

Around nine percent of the American population or approximately nineteen million suffer from depression in any given one year period. Five to twelve percent of men or ten to twenty percent of women will likely be affected with depression. Because anyone can be affected with depression at some point of their lives, it is important to know the remedies for depression and their advantages and disadvantages.

Medication

Drugs that are used to treat depression are called the antidepressants. These medications work by normalizing the brain chemicals, called the neurotransmitters, which are naturally present in the human brain. These brain chemicals, such as the serotonin and norepinephrine, are the ones responsible for regulating a person's mood.

When it comes to the effectiveness of treating depression, antidepressants are said to be effective. However, these medications, especially the SSRIs and SNRIs, bring along undesirable side effects such as headache, nervousness, nausea, insomnia, dry mouth, constipation, blurred vision, drowsiness, and sexual problems.

When taking antidepressants, there are a lot of medicines and foods that should be avoided to prevent serious interactions. Therefore, drug remedies for depression may not suitable for some people. Aside from that, medications only provide temporary relief and not permanent cures to the sufferer.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy, or commonly known as the talk therapy, is one of the commonly used remedies for depression. This type of therapy involves talking to a psychologist and the regimen can either be short term or long term, depending on the severity of the disorder. Talk therapy is effective because it involves teaching the patient new ways of behaving and thinking to help them cope up with the depression.

The effectiveness of psychotherapy, however, does not last long, especially if the person's behavior or way of thinking changes. Aside from that, therapies may not be effective if the person is not comfortable talking to other people. Another downside of psychotherapy is that psychotherapy alone is not enough to treat depression. Because of this people and may need to combine psychotherapy with medication.

Electroconvulsive Therapy

Electroconvulsive therapy is only used when medication or psychotherapy fails to alleviate a person's depression. This type of therapy is also known as shock therapy because it makes use of an electrical impulse. Before performing the therapy, a muscle relaxant and anesthesia will be administered to the patient.

The downside of the shock therapy is that it can cause side effects such as disorientation, memory loss, and confusion. These side effects, however, are said to be short term only. In some cases, treatment may need to be extended to one year period for it to take effect.

Natural Cures

Natural remedies for depression have been manufactured to eliminate the undesirable side effects brought about by medications or shock therapy. These natural cures are made from natural ingredients and are said to be fast acting. So far, there are no known side effects with using natural cures for depression since the ingredients used are all-natural.

When choosing remedies for depression, make sure you choose the one that is fast acting, perfectly safe to use, has lesser side effects, and guarantees permanent cure.

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