A Review of How Depression is Treated

 According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness or NAMI, approximately 16 million adults in America have had at least one major depressive episode within the last year (NAMI, 2017). Depression is the most common mental disorder and can affect those of any age, race, gender or socioeconomic status, although some groups are affected more than others. Many agree that women are more susceptible to depression as are those of a lower socioeconomic status. The symptoms of depression differ from one person to the next, but most commonly the symptoms include alterations in sleep, changes in appetite, feelings of sadness, decreased energy levels, and a lack of interest in things that were once enjoyable. The worst outcome of depression is suicide, with depression being the leading cause of suicide. Depression and its treatments have a significant monetary impact on our healthcare systems. Without effective treatment, patients continue to utilize the healthcare system to get help or require hospitalization due to the symptoms that are experiencing. Whitebird et al. (2013) identified barriers to improving mental health care as lack of resources, poor access to specialists, reimbursements, patient and physician attitudes, and the difficulty of measuring and standardizing care. The most widely used treatment modalities for depression are pharmacotherapy, which is the use of antidepressants, and psychotherapy, mainly cognitive behavioral therapy also known as CBT. There are many factors involved in deciding on the best treatment options such as the age of the individual and the type and severity of depression. While antidepressants are considered the most effective treatment, an argument can be made that CBT could be equally effective and is at times a better option