Treatment

There are two main types of treating depression (in extreme cases these are combined):

Psycho therapy:

This form of therapy allows a close relationship between the patient and the therapist. (a physician or psychiatrist with special training) The therapist helps the patient to get to the core of his depression, to understand the causes and how to live with a depression. Hereby the emphasis could lie on analytical therapy or on behaviour and daily life coping.

Medication:

This form of therapy relies on antidepressants; supplying the brain with serotonin and thereby stabilizing feelings and moods, helping the patient gain a positive notion. However side-effects (digestion, sexuality) may occur.

Other therapy forms:

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS):

For this therapy a magnet is used, which is situated on the patients forehead to create a magnet field in brain area. The magnet streams stimulate sleepy parts of the brain thereby having an antidepressant effect on the patient. Slight headaches might occur, but rarely do. This method is promising, successful and free of pain, but still has to undergo further studies before it can be applied in clinics.

Sleep deprivation:

Sleep deprivation can have a short time anti depressant effect. Patients suffering from depression usually have a mixed up inner clock, which tells the body to produce serotonin in the second half of the night and the early morning hours. This confuses the brains metabolism and the results are depression. By abstaining sleep this confusion and depression can be avoided. Needless to say the positive effect only lasts 1-2 days.