When people talk about someone being “depressed” most often they are referring to what medical professionals term “unipolar depression”. Other terms used to describe the condition are “clinical depression”, “major depressive illness”, and “major depression with melancholic features”. Regardless of the name, all these refer to the same illness located in the same region of the brain, damaging the same cells and causing the same chemical imbalances. Other conditions that also have “depression” in their name for example “bipolar depression” are very different in the cells and chemicals affected.

Over the last several decades medical research has established a definite genetic link for unipolar depression. If one of your parents and other members of your immediate family are afflicted with unipolar depression you have a one in five (20%) chance of suffering it yourself. Should both parents have the depressive gene your odds of being depressive as well fall to one in two (50%). But even when no one in your family suffers from unipolar depression, or has the genetic marker, the genes can and do show up spontaneously.

Just how important this genetic component is has been proven by studies that focused on people with identical genes (twins) but, for a variety of reasons, were raised apart by different parents. These studies concluded that, if both twins had the depression gene, both individual were most likely suffering from unipolar depression regardless of the different life experiences and conditions.

The genes that have been identified as causing unipolar depression act by causing the brain to over react to stress stimulation. It is normal for everyone to secrete a steroid stress hormone into the body and certain chemicals into the brain when faced with a stressful situation. Although this process is completely normal, those who suffer from unipolar depression don’t turn off these hormones and chemicals when the stress is past. And when these substances remain at high levels for too long a time, they cause severe damage to healthy brain cells which is a major contributing cause to the disease.

For example, athletes who perform at high levels often release steroid stress hormones to meet a physical challenge such as catching a pass or hitting a baseball in a pressure situation. This happens for just a short period of time, once the immediate challenge is past the athlete’s body turns off the stress response and the body reverts to its normal state.
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In those people who carry the genes responsible for unipolar depression these responses to stress are not able to be turned off. All the normal stresses of everyday life cause large amounts of the steroid stress hormones and other chemicals to flood the brain and this overload causes severe damage to otherwise healthy brain cells which eventually brings on unipolar depression.

Depression doesn’t happen overnight. We’re not tiptoeing through the tulips feeling gay and frivolous one day, and the next, lying on our backs, overcome by crippling depression. Neither do our neurotransmitters suddenly decide to go completely off the rails.

The truth of the matter is that depression is caused by our thoughts. The whole point of this article is to show how we become depressed originally. We’ve looked at symptoms, we’ve examined what we feel like when in the grip of depression; how we are quite unable to pursue our hobbies or even work. We simply want to sit or lie there, and when we move, all we feel is pain.

But everything has to have a beginning and depression is no exception. It’ll probably start off with an unresolved worry. Something that nags at us, and worse, something we can’t let go. It’s probably in the backs of our minds for a considerable time, and may be anything. But something for which we simply can’t find an answer.

Let’s suppose we’re an archaeologist. We’ve been asked to give a talk to the local archaeological club about the site of a known battle some five miles away that took place in the 6th. century.

Now, you’re a professional, not only in archaeology, but you also hold professorships in ancient and medieval history. You’ve excavated the remains found on the battlefield, formed your conclusions and together with your wide knowledge of history, you’ve put together what almost certainly occurred.

You know a lot more than your listeners, who are merely keen amateurs. The lecture finishes and on the way out, you happen to overhear someone say; “Yes, wasn’t a bad lecture, but he was talking a load of rubbish about the final outcome.”

You recognize the person as someone who’s never short of a criticism about anything, but his remark stings you. You happen to see him in the pub later on, but instead of going over to him and politely saying that you overheard his remark, found it interesting and would like to discuss it further, you simply let it fester.

You know perfectly well that he’s wrong, that if you spoke to him you’d have no trouble in pointing out the error of his ways, but the remark simply sits in your mind, rolling back and forth and like a snowball, becomes bigger and bigger. There’s no solution, simply because you haven’t allowed there to be a solution.

It would be so easy to lay the matter to rest, but instead you simply ruminate on it and prove that depression is caused by our thoughts. The slight caused by this person becomes larger and larger in your mind, until it even affects your sleep.

You find yourself dreaming excessively. Far too much R.E.M. sleep and consequently awake in the morning, exhausted, because you haven’t had the restful sleep your body so urgently needs.

If you keep on along this path, then things can only worsen and before you know it, you have full-blown depression.

Many people who suffer from mood swings and who are feeling down, often need motivation. How to help motivate these people is the aim of this article.
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A pretty typical scenario is where a partner is either subject to mood swings or is just totally withdrawn. It sometimes seems that you are living on your own and anger, resentment and loneliness will probably make you depressed as well. It seems that there is no way out. So, how can you help motivate a person like this?

These depressed people need motivation because apathy and fatigue are major symptoms. Just by suggesting a visit to a professional for help may actually seem like a daunting task to a depressed person. After all, they are locked into a vicious circle of negativity and hopelessness and have self esteem which is at an all time low. This is not helped either by physical symptoms of pains and aches, because depression can manifest itself in very dramatic physical ways. That may convince the person he or she is really ill and they will sink further into a deeper depression.

The first step to help motivate a depressed person to actually do something is to gently persuade them that have a problem. If you can do that, you can build on ways of helping by giving practical support. That means helping him or her to find a suitable therapist or doctor and of course, accompanying them on the visit.

The second step is to offer love and support 24/7. It really seems a gigantic task when you have to be the loving, cheerful and patient partner while you may be met very often with hostile silence, anger, resentment and also hopelessness. It often seems that you are the one who will need motivation, just to keep going.

The third step is to be an active partner in the sense that you will always encourage some kind of pleasant activity and support them in making certain lifestyle changes which will help motivate both of you. Looking at exercise programs and doing them together are useful ways to bond. Taking part in therapy when necessary and helping him or her stick to the treatment are all useful ways you can help.

More and more people are seeking out treatment for depression in the U.S. In the past 15 years, the number of patients being seen has doubled, to 25 million. A sizeable minority of people will battle severe depression at least once – one in four women, and one in eight men. With so many people seeking treatment, it can be hard to find the right therapist for you. How do you choose the right one?

One friend told me to treat it like a shoe buying excursion: try them on until you find a fit. Several other friends who have been in therapy have also given me some suggestions, and here are the criteria that I have heard and found useful in my own search for the right counselor.

• Good listener. Above all, you want to choose a therapist who is a good listener. They should listen more than they talk. Many patients report that this isn’t the case, and that they feel like their therapist doesn’t listen to them. You are paying this person to listen to you, don’t accept one who won’t.
• Open-minded. If you feel like your therapist is judging you during your session, this is not a good sign. You don’t want to have the therapist who is supposed to help you be more positive about yourself making you feel worse instead. You can end up with feelings of unworthiness and lower self-esteem if your therapist is judgmental. Time to switch therapists!
• Helps you find your strengths. Sometimes it is not just about what is wrong, but what is right. Pick a therapist who can help you find what is working in your life, and what strengths you have that you can develop further. This helps self-esteem.
• Holds off on the meds. Many patients report that their therapists were quick to medicate them. Often, therapists wrote out prescriptions during the first session.

Ideally, you have chosen a therapist who will not be in such a hurry to medicate you. You want a therapist to take more time getting to know you so that they can better gauge what medications you need and in what doses.

Sometimes you are just going through a tough time and need help to get you through. Other times it may be just a sympathetic ear you need, someone to talk to. Therapy can provide these things. For it to be beneficial though it is important to choose the right therapist for your needs. You should take a bit of time to shop around before committing to one for treatment.

A friend of mine had to be admitted to hospital and was given ECT as she was on the verge of a mental collapse after her boyfriend left her. The results of that severe depression treatment were long lasting and devastating and she became a bitter and rather difficult person. I must say that this was forty years ago and I wonder what therapy she would be given now. Maybe things have not changed that much.

You can imagine our surprise when her ex boyfriend appeared on Facebook and they now correspond regularly. My friend has taken a philosophical view and has forgiven him. So, there is a sort of happy ending to a rather dramatic story of severe depression treatment.

Severe depression treatment has to take into account many of the rather dramatic symptoms which can be present. There can be complete isolation, suicidal thoughts, paranoia and manic episodes. The feeling that the person is completely detached from every living contact around him or her is one of the greatest challenges in contemplating any alternative treatments for severe depression.

How to deal with the symptoms is nothing short of a enormous challenge. There are voices which take over the person and paranoia and schizophrenia are quite common co-morbid disorders. The patient becomes obsessed and persecution mania can set in so that she feels that she is being spied on all the time.

While anti depressants, psychotherapy and some lifestyle changes can all be part of severe depression treatment, there are other things to consider too. Looking at the alternative treatments for severe depression, it does seem that the anti depressants give the best results in the short term. But they come with heavy side effects such as a loss of sex drive, sedation and other problems. In fact the warnings on the boxes of these medications are the black box ones, which is in fact the maximum warning that the FDA issues.

As the patient comes out of the depression, the alternative treatments for severe depression can be examined and considered. These can range from ECT, psychotherapy and counselling and also herbal remedies. As regards the latter, I have prepared a website outlining how this treatment should never be overlooked. While there are lots of studies on St. John’s Wort also abbreviated to SJW, there are other herbs such as Passion Flower, Gingko Biloba which been proved to be invaluable in the treatment of depression generally.

It may surprise you to know that as many as one person out of every ten suffers from some form of major depression, and of the many millions of sufferers spread across the world, less than 20% receive adequate help or assistance. The WHO, (World Health Organization), states that depression is the world’s fourth largest illness, and it is the greatest root cause of a number of serious disabilities. Depression treatment is an essential, although the types of treatment are both numerous and diverse, and finding the right kind of treatment that will benefit you most, can be quite difficult.

However, if you yourself suffer from depression, or bipolar disorder as it is sometimes known, and you are considering finding help, then you have already taken the first very significant step towards finding a depression treatment that will help you to put your life back again. One of the most common problems that manic depressives face is one of denial. Overcoming this denial is key. Only then will you be able to go about finding professional depression help.

The beginning to finding a cure for most people begins with their own doctors. Doctors have a wealth of experience of dealing with patients suffering from bipolar disorder. In some very severe cases, prescribed medication can help. However, prescription drugs are very invasive and often expose those that take them to unpleasant side effects. There is also a very great fear amongst the medical profession that it is all too easy to become unhealthily dependent on these drugs.

But depression treatment does not have to be drug related. Your doctor may recommend joining a therapy group, and this sort of group activity is known in many cases to provide depression help and support.

The most successful depression treatment, and one that is gaining more and more recognition, both within the medical fraternity, and amongst depressives themselves, is professional counseling. When you embark on a course of depression help via counseling, you will be getting the best analytical support from a trained qualified counselor; someone who knows all there is to know about the various types of depression, what causes depression, and how it can gain the upper hand; but most importantly of all, how to dig down to understand the root cause, and once this is identified, how to go about treating it and getting your life back on track again.

Group therapies can be helpful, and they certainly give you the comfort of knowing that you are not alone, and you can share your experiences with your peers. However, whilst that may help you to come to terms with your condition, it is not a depression treatment as such. It does not tackle the cause; it is directed more to helping to deal with the symptoms; but whilst this is an important depression help tool, it is identifying and treating the cause that will lead to recovery; and that is exactly what professional counseling does.

Your councilor will be able to bond with you in a way that no one else can. Professional councilors are highly skilled practitioners who can gently help you to seek out the underlying cause of your depression, but more importantly, they are have a wealth of knowledge and experience in leading through the tortuous mental mine field, and to put you on the road to recovery, and eventual cure.