If you know me, you will know that I have somewhat of a bias against medical treatments for depression for the general population in times of difficulty. Having been raised by a single parent struggling with the disorder herself, I have seen the greatness drugs can do for those suffering with depression. It’s short-lived, however. After a while, the brain gets used to these drugs and often meds have to be constantly shifted around as it habituates.
It makes sense, though, that people would think a pill could get rid of their depression. When you have a headache, what do you do? Take a pill and wait for it to go away. When you have high blood pressure, what do you do? Go to the doctor, have some tests done, get the medicine and wait for it to get better. Medicine allows one to continue their lifestyle while it [the medicine] targets the specific problem. The problem with drugs is that it often has horrible side-effects, especially drugs for mental health. And that is what the drug companies don’t necessarily want you to think about.
Studies have proven, however, that there are just as.. if not MORE effective treatments for depression than medical ones. Exercise alone has been shown both at the behavioral level and the molecular level to have profound positive effects. At the neuronal level, excercise can generate new neurons, or brain cells, and has positive health effects on other body systems. Exercising three times per week for 30 minutes is just like taking that “happy pill” just without all the nasty side effects.
One of the most effective treatments currently for depression is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. This treatment program works to first identify the negative thoughts that come fast and automatic in our minds. Once these can be identified, the therapist will work to challenge these thoughts using probability measures and reality testing by role play and exposures. Medicine seems to have a better effect in immediate results, but it seems as though CBT is the most effective treatment when it comes to thinking long term. Here’s just one study giving support.
Hey Grey, I didn’t realize that users of SSRI’s can habituate to them. Where did you read about that? If you want to add citations to the factual content you present, you can use http://scienceseeker.org/ or http://researchblogging.com/ to generate citations for journal articles or textbooks. This will also mean that when you use the citation in your post, it will be cross-posted to these sites!
I guess “habituate” wasn’t an entirely clear way of putting it. Some populations stop seeing effects from their SSRI’s after a period of time after using them. Some call it “Prozac poop out” or “Poop out,” but this problem can often be fixed with a change in medicine.
Also, thanks for the links! I love how there are so many resources to making blogging so easy!
I like the direction that you are going here! This is absolutely a topic of interest to me as well. In fact, I was just given a book from a friend (who is in gradschool in Boston – one of her professors who she also works with in lab specializes in it and he wrote this book) about the positive effects of exercise on depression and anxiety. I will let you know how it is
Really interesting stuff, Grey! I definitely agree with the effectiveness of alternative medicines. It’s crazy how much everything you do can make a difference!