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.
By: Robert William Locke
http://www.improve-your-mood.com/
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