Psychotherapy: There are different types of psychotherapy. The goal is for the patient to develop problem solving and coping skills. Particularly effective for treating depression is cognitive behavioral therapy, which helps one recognize and break distorted, negative patterns of thinking. Interpersonal therapy can be very effective when difficulties with personal relationships or other issues are contributing to the depression.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Depression causes negative thinking, and negative thinking reinforces depression - in a sense, the person becomes ‘trapped’ by a self perpetuating vicious cycle of negative thoughts, negative emotions, and negative reactions.

Fortunately, habitual negative thinking can be effectively challenged and dealt with.

Cognitive Behavior Therapy is not the same as "positive thinking." Positive thinking usually doesn't work well - if you don't believe the positive statements you are telling yourself you won't end up feeling much better.

Cognitive behavioral therapy teaches people to recognize distorted thought patterns, the way that these thoughts make them feel, and how to react appropriately to them.

Cognitive therapy is about learning to think rationally. Many depressed people believe they do think rationally - e.g. they may think that everything 'sucks' and reinforce this belief by taking notice of anything negative - people get sick, people die, people in the world are starving. They filter out anything positive. Because being depressed robs people of their ability to enjoy life, it is understandable that this happens.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can also help improve self-esteem. People who are depressed often have low self-esteem. Low self-esteem is often a result of distorted thinking. Those who are depressed may focus on and things they don't like about themselves until they are blown way out of proportion. One small failure may be seen as confirmation that they are failures. They may believe that they feel inadequate because they are inadequate.

There are many types of irrational thinking and learning to identify and challenge them all takes time and practice.

Which comes first - Depression or Distorted Thinking.

Distorted thinking can exacerbate depression. This does not imply that a person causes his or her own depression. Negative patterns of thinking are often the result of depression. When one is suffering from depression, he or she sees the world through different eyes. When one has lost the ability to enjoy life, all that’s left to see is negativity.

If you believe that depression is simply caused by a chemical imbalance, you may not see the point in any type of psychotherapy. But depression is a complicated illness. Medication doesn’t usually bring about a full about a total remission of depressive symptoms and statistics show that the combination of medication and psychotherapy is most effective.

It is one thing to restore ‘normal’ chemical balance in the brain, another thing to break a habit of negative thinking. Cognitive behavioral therapy can ease suffering and speed up recovery.

Interpersonal Therapy

Family problems, relationship problems, or any personal issues will exacerbate (or may trigger) depression. Depression can also cause or contribute to relationship difficulties. Talk therapy, whether from a psychologist, psychiatrist, or counselor, can help one learn to solve or deal with personal problems.

Ask your family physician to recommend a therapist. An initial consultation with a therapist will help determine if he or she is compatible with the patient and allow the therapist to explain what to expect from therapy and answer any questions the patient has. A patient should like or 'click' with a therapist for best results. This type of therapy usually lasts for several months.

The insights and coping skills developed during psychotherapy can help prevent or reduce the intensity and duration of future episodes.

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