Depression

So you’ve completely screwed up this time, you’ll be demoted by tomorrow, fired the day after tomorrow, lose your license, renounced by friends, homeless, sentenced to debtors prison, without even a glimmer of a future in sight. If or when you find yourself harboring this mindset, write about it in a “gloom and doom” journal. Yes, refer to it as this, for now. Just purchase a simple, blank, no frills notebook to record these “end of the world” thoughts and [...]

It robs those affected by it of their capacity to place their value and talents on display. Much like the stock market, for example, and the rhythm of life in general, depression is cyclical for most people who have it – bouts of short term duration for some, extended for others. And then there are those who remain mired in its depths very long term – folks on a path of steady deterioration sadly displaying a life not well lived [...]

Think of reactive depression as a maladaptive response to a specific external event or events. More formally from a DSM perspective, this is an Adjustment Disorder with Depressed Mood. Typical examples are difficulty adjusting to a recent divorce, being downsized from a job or the loss of a cherished loved one. Also, there are no measurably significant changes in physical functioning such as sleep patterns or appetite and energy levels with this depression type. […]

Get depressed clients thinking and behaving is such a way that they are better able to thrive. Encourage them to stop talking “overwhelm,” “the world’s out to get them” or “it’s somebody else’s fault.” That’s all negative nonsense which serves as a vehicle for self-sabotage, keeping them in the “doom loop.” Get them in the “success loop” by encouraging them to socially isolate less, improve their attitude and better understand the unrealistic aspects of their fears. All of these demons [...]

One of the films in the famous Star Wars trilogy was The Empire Strikes Back. Keep this in mind as we embark upon my story of: Serotonin and the Synaptic Sea. […]

The cultural bar for what is considered depression continues to get lower and lower. And fueled by direct-to-consumer-advertising, people are lured into a false sense of security when, as a result of antidepressants, they see presumably happier people dancing in green pastures or enthusiastically petting their dog in the backyard. Such is the lure of a pill for our ills. […]

In my 20-plus years of treating depression, I’ve identified 4 areas that are consistently problematic in the lives of depressed people. Here they are and how you can help. […]

A symptom of depression that can fly under the radar is social isolation. Isolation is the lead actor in the depression melodrama, ushering in the rest of the supporting cast – hopelessness, helplessness, self-absorption and a glass-half-empty type of existence. […]

For clients being prescribed an antidepressant for the first time, here are some important considerations: How the depression presents. There are some 12 subtypes of major depressive disorder, but none of them are reliable predictors of antidepressant response. Nevertheless, there needs to be a starting point for the selection process. For example, is the client’s depression accompanied by anxiety and insomnia or is it characterized by melancholia, hypersomnia and a vegetative state? In the first example, any of the SSRIs [...]