Treatment for Severe Depression

Depression disorders can be very disabling and ranked first amongst all psychiatric disorders for taking up years of one’s life to adjust due to the disability. According to the World Health Organization, depressive disorders ranked third in terms of disease burden. The probability of you suffering depression after one episode is 50 percent, and it is 70-80 percent after two episodes. Depression is usually also co-morbid with anxiety. A depressed individual’s perception, interpretation and recall of events are usually negatively biased. They often have to fight with their negative inner content and unhelpful cognitive process. Rumination is also a common characteristic of depression that evokes further vicious circles from the primary symptoms to self-defeating thoughts about the depressive symptoms. For severely depressed individuals, more of the behavioural strategies might be suitable in the early course of therapy, before really getting into the cognitive model.

Even though it might feel gloomy right now, with various psychotherapeutic tools, we can tackle all the challenges that your mind is throwing at you. There is light after the storm!

References:

Johnsen, T. J., & Friborg, O. (2015). The effects of cognitive behavioral therapy as an anti-depressive treatment is falling: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 141(4), 747-768. doi:10.1037/bul0000015.

Kennerley, H., Kirk, J., & Westbrook, D. (2017). An introduction to cognitive behaviour therapy - Skills and applications(3rd ed.). London, England: Sage Publications