More than 260 million people around the world suffer from depression. Most people will experience some level of depression at least once in their lives. But when symptoms persist for more than a few weeks, it could be a sign that a depression recovery center is right for you.
Mental health plays an important role in your overall health and well-being. However, many people are afraid or ashamed to seek treatment for their depression – even though it’s incredibly common. There are many options for depression recovery that go beyond medication and therapy.
Depression can come in many forms and be caused by many things. Understanding the type of depression you have is important. A diagnosis will help you decide on the best treatment option.
Also known as major depressive disorder, major depression occurs when you feel depressed most days of the week.
Symptoms of major depression can include:
More than 260 million people around the world suffer from depression, and it’s the leading cause of disability globally.
Seasonal affective disorder causes major depression during the winter months when the days are shorter and tends to disappear in the spring and summer months.
SAD affects up to 3% of the general population.
Persistent depressive disorder occurs when depression lasts two years or longer. It’s sometimes known as chronic major depression.
Symptoms include:
It’s estimated that up to 30% of depression cases become chronic, with symptoms lasting several years.
Also known as manic depression, bipolar disorder causes extreme mood episodes. Individuals with bipolar disorder may go through periods of extreme highs (happiness) and periods of extreme lows (depression).
The low periods often cause major depression.
Situational depression is very common and similar to clinical depression. It’s a type of adjustment disorder that occurs during stressful moments in your life. In most cases, it’s triggered by a traumatic event, such as a major life change.
Depression is still largely a mystery to the medical world. However, it’s largely believed that this condition is caused by low levels of norepinephrine and serotonin. These two neurotransmitters are important for feelings of happiness and overall well-being.
But new research is finding that this may not be the only cause of depression. It’s theorized that depression may cause inflammation in the brain, or that inflammation in the brain may cause depression. This may explain why some people are not responsive to anti-depressants (they only affect neurotransmitters).
An estimated one-third of adults with depression don’t respond to treatment.
If you’re suffering from depression, help is out there. Medication, while useful and helpful for so many people, isn’t the only option.
Some people find that intensive treatment works best for their depression. Depression treatment centers can help you combat your depression head-on. These live-in facilities remove you from your current environment, so you can focus entirely on your recovery.
A depression treatment center is an intense form of treatment, but it can be highly effective if you can commit to it and are willing to make dramatic changes.
Many depression sufferers find some relief after attending a depression retreat. These retreats are similar to depression recovery centers, in that you are completely removed from your current environment. Your only job is to focus on feeling better.
Depression retreat centers are often located in beautiful, natural areas. They may incorporate natural and alternative therapies and treatments, such as:
Much of the focus is on self-care, which is a major component of wellness. There is some evidence that mindfulness meditation can help with depression symptoms, and retreats can be a helpful way to introduce depression sufferers to the practice.
Retreats focus on changing your diet, your self-care routine and your mindset. It’s all about loving and accepting yourself for who you are, which can be healing for many people. Self-awareness is another key component of the programs at retreat centers. Attendees learn how to become more aware of stress triggers and pick up on those signals in their body before they spiral out of control.
Although they are typically short-term, they can be highly effective.
Conventional depression recovery programs typically involves some form of psychotherapy and/or medication. In many cases, the two are combined. Therapy and medication can be an effective combination for some people.
In one study, at week 24 of treatment, the group that underwent therapy and medication treatment saw a 59.2% success rate compared to a 40.7% success rate with the medication-only group.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of therapy that aims to change your thinking patterns, moods and behaviors. The hope is that changing your overall outlook and thought processes will help ease depression symptoms.
CBT can be very effective for some patients. One meta-analysis of more than 100 studies found that cognitive behavioral therapy was effective for depression.
Depression recovery is complicated. There’s no one way to treat this condition, and no two people will respond the same to different treatment programs. If medication and therapy aren’t working for you, an alternative, such as rehab or a depression retreat may be more effective.
Depression is a very personal condition, and not surprisingly one of the most common conditions in today’s society. The constant demand for an individual’s time and attention, increasing debt, and uncertainty have made this one of the most highly medicated illnesses. Little time is taken to find a cure over a temporary solution to this condition. Often times “chemical imbalance” is used to validate this illness, we seek to address the cause of the imbalance to provide a cure.
While depression causes an imbalance to all body systems, The Bridge depression recovery center in Southern Utah attempts to address the cause of this imbalance and restore control to the guest and his or her system. This has been done repeatedly and successfully with guests of the depression rehabilitation program for over the last 14 years.
There are number of culprits that cause depression, some of which include: Poor diet, lack of exercise, mind/body imbalance, trauma, loss, medication, life events, genetics, and so much more. We seek the root cause of depression and cure it.
Depression recovery uses a combination of meditation and mindfulness, medication adjustment, healthy diet, personal training, massage therapy, mind-body alterations, and many other modalities to help you heal.
Each of the symptoms above are addressed as they can impact every individual differently. As those who suffer from depression know, it is a virus that affects all parts of the body, it can even have an effect on those around you.
The most common treatment for depression recovery is medication and many feel that this is the only option or solution to depression. Our holistic approach allows our team to treat depression cognitively, medicinally, nutritionally, and physically.
Many guests from our depression recovery center in St. George have returned home for years and continue to manage their depression recovery well with no medication. We would love to help you learn to recover from this debilitating condition with our comprehensive program.
In the case of depression recovery and medication, we believe that the right medication can be helpful to the right person, we also believe emphatically in the abilities of our guests. Exchanging “pills for skills” when possible has always been a strong suit of our program in depression recovery.
Please let us show you options for your depression recovery that you may never have thought were possible. We believe in you!
