Drug-free treatment for depression

Posted onApril 20, 2021

Depression responds fairly well to treatment. About 80% of patients who received appropriate effective treatment recovered from depression completely. Non-drug treatment is an essential part of the treatment of this disorder and is usually carried out through psychotherapy. The following methods are used to treat depression without medication:   

  •  Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy – lectures, trainings, assignments, keeping an observation diary, monitoring your state and well-being. With this therapy, a person learns to control his behavior and change it;   
  •  Art therapy. Art therapy . This includes drawing, modeling, music, cinema therapy . This method contributes to the displacement of the patient’s experiences; 
  •  Body-oriented psychotherapy treats depression through contact with the body; 
  •  Transactional analysis – description and analysis of human behavior;  
  •  Special breathing exercises;
  •  Psychoanalysis. Dealing with experiences related to childhood, mental trauma;  
  •  Existential-humanistic psychotherapy. The psychologist helps to characterize your lifestyle, identifies the features of building relationships with others, assists in changing your behavior and lifestyle;   
  •  Gestalt therapy – is based on the principles of focusing consciousness on reality;   
  •  Neuro Linguistic Programming;
  •  Psychological counseling;
  •  Hypnotherapy;
  •  Light therapy .

Light therapy , aimed at changing the violation of the patient’s biological rhythms , is very effective . Researchers have shown that biological rhythms can be changed by exposure to high-intensity light. It turns out that bright and prolonged exposure to light has a positive effect on the centers of circadian rhythms, there is an inhibition of melatonin secretion in the pineal gland, a change in the concentration of cortisol and ACTH in the patient’s blood, synthesis of catecholamines, and a sympathicotonic and parasympathicotonic effect. Thus, there is a fight against the symptoms of the disease. To obtain the desired therapeutic effect, a room illumination of at least 2600 lux is required . The required illumination is achieved by using incandescent lamps, which are located on the ceiling of the room at a height of about 2.5 m. As a rule, 27 incandescent lamps of 200 W are used. It has been proven that the effectiveness of treatment increases if the walls of the treatment room are painted white or green, with maximum body exposure. Before prescribing this treatment, the patient is thoroughly examined. During the session, patients can freely walk around the room. The positive effect of therapy depends on the intensity of the regulatory function of the cerebral cortex and the stabilization of the activity of the autonomic system. For the treatment of this disorder , special tabletop devices are used.                       

Since depression is very difficult to cope on their own, especially when it comes to these forms of depression as severe. Therefore, if you feel that you are starting to get sick, contact a qualified specialist. The variety of methods allows you to effectively deal with the symptoms of the disorder, and thorough diagnostics contributes to successful treatment.      

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