Stress and Depression

Which doctor treats depression: a psychologist or a psychotherapist?

If a person is sick and suspects that he is depressed, he begins to look for information about which doctor treats depressionwho exactly needs to be addressed.

Probable causes of the disease

Depression may occur against the background of various traumatic events of the human psyche.

For example, the death of parents or a beloved dog. This depression is also called reactive.

In addition, depression can occur on the background of the effects of hormones. A prime example is prenatal or postpartum depression.

How to recognize?

Depression is disease of the whole body. Depression has typical symptoms. Signs of these are very diverse and they can vary depending on what kind of disease will take. We list the possible manifestations of depression.

Emotional manifestations:

  • anguish, depressed mood;
  • anxiety, the expectation that misfortune must happen, a feeling of inner tension;
  • high irritability;
  • increased guilt, it is possible that a person often blames himself for what is happening;
  • self-satisfaction, reduced self-esteem and self-confidence;
  • anhedonia, that is, a person no longer feels pleasure from the fact that earlier this pleasure gave;
  • reduced interest in what is happening around the person;
  • in the case of deep depression, the ability to experience any feelings in principle is lost;
  • often depressive disorder is combined with symptoms such as anxiety about the health and fate of loved ones, as well as the fear of appearing untenable in people.

Physiological manifestations:

  • a sick person is disturbed in sleep, it can be both insomnia and increased sleepiness;
  • appetite is disturbed, a sick person can stop eating altogether or begin to overeat;
  • intestinal function is also impaired, which manifests itself as constipation;
  • reduced need for sex;
  • fatigue increases, a person experiences weakness;
  • a person experiences pain in the body.

Behavioral manifestations:

  • a person becomes passive, it is difficult for him to engage in purposeful activity;
  • a person tries to avoid contact, becomes prone to solitude, loses interest in other people;
  • a person refuses entertainment;
  • problems with alcohol begin, a person, among other things, is abusing psychoactive substances.

Mental manifestations:

  • it becomes difficult for a person to concentrate, concentration of attention decreases;
  • there are difficulties in making decisions;
  • gloomy thoughts about themselves and their lives, as well as about the world as a whole, begin to prevail;
  • the future is bleak, the prospect is absent in it, there are thoughts that life has no meaning;
  • in severe cases, suicidal thoughts may occur;
  • a sick person is visited by the thought that he is not meaningful to the world, nobody needs and is helpless;
  • thinking in a sick person slows down.

In order to be able to make such a diagnosisas depression, it is necessary that the listed symptoms are observed in a patient for at least two weeks in a row.

About the mechanisms of depression, symptoms, treatment with medication and psychotherapeutic methods:

Do I need to ask for help?

For help contact, of course, is necessary. At the moment, the situation is that people are afraid of psychiatrists. There is an opinion that a psychiatrist is addressed only in very neglected cases, when a person puts a pillow on his head and sees himself as Napoleon.

Depression, at times, seems to be a very minor disease. Besides people afraid of going to a psychiatrist. There is a fear that a psychiatrist will register and ruin a person’s life, because in many situations a certificate from a psychiatrist is required that a person is not registered.

This fear is not worth it. After recovery, people are removed from the register and the treatment will not affect the future.

Where to go first?

To which doctor go with depression? First of all, it is worth contacting the IPA at the place of registration. it is free.

There you can find a psychiatrist. In consultation with the doctor can be treated as at the day hospital, and at the full hospital.

Due to the fact that depression is not a socially dangerous disease, forcefully in the medical institution no one will not hold. All studies and treatment options will be conducted with the consent of the patient.

Where does depression come from and should it be treated? Find out from the video:

What diagnostic methods will be conducted?

A psychiatrist will talk to a person who has asked for help. will ask about the state in the last two weeks. The doctor will also be interested in the whole life of the patient. The survey occurs when using special questionnaires.

Now there are also instrumental and hormonal methods for diagnosing depression.

Who treats?

Psychologist treatment for depression not engaged. The main specialist who treats this disease is a psychiatrist. A psychotherapist helps a psychiatrist in treating a patient.

The psychiatrist treats the disease, and the psychotherapist supports the healthy part of the patient’s psyche. In other words, a psychiatrist helps to become less sick, and a psychotherapist helps to become more healthy. Exactly working togetherThese two specialists help the patient to overcome the disease.

It is important to note that the patient should work with two different specialists.

Often the psychiatrist also has the qualifications of a psychotherapist.

But with such qualifications The specialist leads the patient either only as a psychiatrist, or only as a psychotherapist.

Depressive states: how to treat it and for how long? Find out from the video:

What treatments and drugs can be offered?

Psychiatrist prescribes drug treatment. In this article will not be given the names of drugs that may appoint a doctor. This is due to the fact that the drugs are completely prescription, they cannot be used independently.

Can wrong to calculate the dosage drugs that entail negative consequences. Depression medications must be purchased with a prescription and only after visiting a doctor.

A psychiatrist usually prescribes antidepressants and antipsychotics. These drugs affect the brain by holding serotonin, the hormone of happiness.

Patient treatment, along with a psychiatrist, the psychotherapist is also involved.

What is psychological help?

Psychological help for depression may be general advice, which competent to give a psychologist.

Among these tips can highlight the following:

  1. You can not isolate yourself in the current problem, it is important to talk about your condition to your relatives.
  2. It is necessary to monitor your diet, in addition, it is important to monitor the daily routine, sleep hygiene, and hygiene in general.
  3. You should not drink alcohol and drugs, and medications should be used only after consulting a doctor.
  4. Need to do sports.
  5. It is important to find a hobby.

Psychotherapist techniques

The psychotherapist concentrates on the healthy part of the human psyche. It is the psychotherapist that allows a sick person to become more healthy.

The psychotherapist can use the following methods for treating depression:

  1. Rational psychotherapy. It is the most common. The psychotherapist at the sessions logically convinces the patient that his assessments of what is happening are erroneous.
  2. Psychosomatic psychotherapy. Such psychotherapy takes place with the help of psychoanalysis.
  3. Interpersonal psychotherapy. It is based on the “here and now” working principle. It is aimed at solving current problems.
  4. Non-directive psychotherapy. This is a system of influence on the human psyche and through the psyche on the organism itself. Often, such psychotherapy is defined precisely as an activity that aims to save a person from various problems.

Is it possible to cope on your own?

Do not resort to self-treatment depressed.

In the treatment of this disease, prescription drugs are used, which must be selected in a dosage suitable for a person.

In addition, the help of a psychotherapist is necessary and important. Thus, it is important to contact the mental hospital for help, and do not self-medicate.

Depression is not a terrible disease if you do not run it, of course. At the same time, it is important to remember that a psychiatrist and a psychotherapist help people cope with problems, rather than trying to aggravate the situation.

Is depression treatment possible? without medication? The answer in this video:

Watch the video: Psychotherapy for Depression (May 2024).