How to FIX DEPRESSION on your own

Sarah was a 39 year old lawyer with three kids life was good for her accomplishing and succeeding in all the things that she wanted in life her friends describe her as happy and caring but a relationship with her husband was a growing stale and she sees the text message on her husband's phone that made her heart start pounding her jaw clench and her hands start shaking it was obvious that her husband was having an affair accepting this reality was beyond difficult she even tried to salvage the marriage but the writing was on the wall her husband wanted a different life so it was over she was of course heartbroken and fell into a deep depression she could barely get more than two hours of sleep at a time consistently obsessing about how her life has been ruined she couldn't focus at work she stopped exercising started eating crappy food lots of ice cream drinking lots of wine she was so desperate to get better that she actually tried to change her husband's mind to come back pleading with him that she'll do more more for him but it just wasn't happening she was tormented with the guilt about all the ways that she thought she'd failed as a wife as a mother and as a person this went on for a few months and things weren't getting any better now between my encouragement as her physician and her family's encouragement she finally agreed to see a psychiatrist so she goes and sees a psychiatrist and she comes away with a prescription for an antidepressant medication as well as some Ambien to help her get some sleep and she started weekly Psychotherapy sessions within a few days she was sleeping better which helped her to feel less frantic and less overwhelmed but she was still distraught a few weeks later things started to turn around her mood started to improve she was able to stop the sleep medication and sleep normally on her own she was managing to focus Less on tortured ruminations and more on things that she could control she focused on projects that work in projects with her kids at home spent more time with their parents and hung out with their friends she made their decision to get outdoors more going on some hikes and made it more of a point to exercise three to four times per week started eating healthy focusing on foods that actually improve mood and overall brain function she decided to start intermittent fasting the 16-8 regimen finally she mustered up the courage to take the steps to finalize her divorce a few months later she was able to stop Psychotherapy and after a year she was tapered off the antidepressant medication and continued to feel well to the point that she started going on dates now Sierra's story demonstrates the success of modern Psychiatry the combination of medications and Psychotherapy not to mention the lifestyle changes of healthy eating and exercise it alleviated her depression and anxiety but also helped her cope with an extraordinarily stressful time in her life and then there's the kids to think about how are they impacted by this divorce increases their risk of experiencing mental health challenges of their own having a parent with severe depression also increases that risk treatment also improved her work performance the bottom line is that treatments can work and that's why it's important to encourage people to seek help to let them know that their suffering can end but if we're being honest here we have to acknowledge that treatment doesn't always work for everyone in fact Sarah's story is more the exception than the rule depression is one of the most common diagnosed and treated mental disorders in the United States about 1 in 10 adults in the United States experience at least one depressive episode and two-thirds of them received some form of treatment for it so what happens to all these people when they get treated for depression do they get better and do they actually stay better over the long term this study of over 400 people treated for depression tried to answer this very question they followed them for 12 years and they found that even with treatment 90 percent had persistent symptoms their symptoms would fluctuate some days were just better than others but the bottom line was that ninety percent of them were not cured of their depression as the statistics suggest many people go on suffering for years despite trying treatment after treatment whether it's different medications Psychotherapy group therapy meditation relaxation techniques positive thinking even transcranial magnetic stimulation TMS as well as ECT electroconvulsive therapy also known as shock therapy when someone is does not have successful treatment after multiple modalities they're said to suffer from treatment resistant depression though there are many more people who do find some relief but not in a complete or a durable way the fact that depression is the leading cause of disability in the world says a lot about how effective our treatments actually are so it's no wonder patients are frustrated by the ineffectiveness of mental health treatment they may hear stories like Sarah's and assume they're going to have those same results but if that doesn't happen they often come to the conclusion that the professionals treating them are incompetent or that they have the wrong diagnosis or that they haven't found the right medication only adding to the level of frustration not only have I seen this unfold in numerous patients but in my personal life my sister wasn't able to overcome her depression and her suicide still affects me to this day but I wish I knew then what I know now because maybe things would be different especially because the best treatment for depression almost never boils down to Simply taking a pneumonia medication the best treatment usually involves a multi-factorial approach a combination of things that are individually tailored for that person that's why when it comes to mental health it's Paramount for someone to not just get help but to get the right help to get the right psychiatrist to get the right therapist to get them the right support So to get them the right medication to get them eating the best food for their brain because maybe they like this food but not that food or they're allergic to this food but not that food and nutritional Psychiatry alone that's a topic that warrants its own video or probably a few videos even intermittent fasting can help with depression and to get that person also on the right exercise regimen to get them their best sleep relaxation techniques all of these things but in a way that suits them best and sets them up for the highest likelihood of overcoming depression when you combine these along with the promise of hope and having someone support them and holding them accountable for their actions that's when you're more likely to have success if you know someone who's suffering from depression please share this video with them and encourage them to get the right help now if you're interested in booking a consult with me and me possibly recommending some great psychiatrists be on the lookout for a link in the description below thank you

Channel: Doctor Mike Hansen

Views: 73,986

Keywords: DEPRESSION, how to cure depression, depression problem, depression meds, mental health, depression treatment, doctor mike, doctor mike hansen

Id: C_JkK4ifbQs

Length: 6min 37sec (397 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 15 2023