By Athlyn Green
Depression treatments have come a long way and offer hope to sufferers. Research has shed insight into the human brain and its functioning and has come to the rescue with flexible treatment approaches to combat troubling symptoms of depression.
The latest scientific evidence confirms that clinical depression is a medical illness, one that causes changes in the brain. Brain chemicals and their balance are affected and treatment for depression is tailored to address those underlying causes.
Armed with these insights, science has yielded newer depression treatments that offer fewer side effects. These are used in conjunction with traditional medicines that are still effective for those who may not respond to the newer medications.
What medications are available? Your doctor will first consider different factors when deciding on a drug therapy for you. He or she will determine your history, whether you have suffered bouts of depression in the past, the severity of your depression, and your age. Then he or she will decide on an appropriate treatment for depression for you.
Your doctor will draw from an arsenal of different antidepressants, SSRIs, tricyclics, or MAOIs, or additional drugs. These are all effective medications.
When depression treatments are in the early stage, your doctor may select a SSRI. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are a beneficial treatment choice because they do not present the same severity of side effects.
If you have tried a SSRI without tangible benefit, your doctor may choose a tricyclic antidepressant. This may be indicated if you have tried several different medications but have seen no appreciable improvement. A tricyclic may be called on if you are in the throes of a major depression.
MAOIs may be tapped as a last resort as treatment for depression. Use of monoamine oxidase inhibitors is fraught with potential dietary and drug interactions.
Drugs such as Wellbutrin, Effexor, Remeron, or Desyrel may not necessarily fit into drug classifications of antidepressants but these may be selected in depression treatments for you because the risk of side effects is reduced.
Thankfully, newer drugs have yielded a reduction in side effects and are used to effectively treat depressive disorders. Because long-term effects have not yet been established, you will want to discuss potential benefits and risks with your doctor, once a treatment for depression has been decided upon.
If side effects are a concern or if you find that you are sensitive to medications, an alternative approach is the use of natural remedies. Natural supplements are gaining in popularity as viable depression treatments and the good news is that their use is not attenuated with the side effects encountered in prescription medications.
Chamomile is effective in alleviating insomnia and anxiety and offers beneficial anxiolytic effects (anxiety reduction), valerian is used for mood disorders such as depression. Clinical studies suggest a neuroprotective effect associated with valerian extracts. Calcium and magnesium treat emotional and physical stress. Ginkgo biloba has been shown to increase the oxygen content to the brain, aiding in concentration and mental acuity, as well as its use for treatment for depression. Many beneficial vitamins and minerals, amino acids, enzymes, specialty supplements and additional herbal extracts are combined in herbal preparations, which are specifically formulated to improve, balance, and restore damaged neurotransmitters in the brain.
Science offers newer medications for depression and researchers have uncovered the exciting potential of substances derived from nature. Depression does not have to interfere with quality of life. New depression treatments offer help and hope.
Athlyn Green is an avid health enthusiast with an interest in natural remedies for treatment of health disorders. She has contributed to Treatment For Depression, a section of http://www.beat-your-depression.com dedicated to natural treatments and prescription drug alternatives for this disorder.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Athlyn_Green
Please note that these articles are supplied to our visitors as a courtesy. We are not responsible for their accuracy or content, nor are we responsible for or necessarily share the opinions and views of the authors.
