Treatment for Depression and Anxiety

Major Depressive Disorder, or MDD, is one of the most common mental health concerns in the world. Depression is more than just temporary sadness. It is a persistent feeling of sadness that is often accompanied by feelings of hopeless or worthless, low motivation, frequent fatigue, irritability, anger, difficulty with concentration and attention, and thoughts of suicide. Depression can impact several aspects of life - it can be disruptive to relationships, cause changes in sleep and appetite, and negatively impact your performance and engagement in work, school, or leisure activities. Depression can be caused by external/contextual factors such as stressful events (exogenous depression), internal factors like genetics and brain chemistry (endogenous depression), or a combination of the two.

Depression

Anxiety

Anxiety is a natural and common emotional response to stress or perceived threats. It's our body's way of preparing to deal with challenges. However, when anxiety becomes excessive or chronic, it can make it difficult to be present in your life. The discomfort of being on edge, irritable, and restless can take your mind away from the people and activities that are important to you. In severe cases, anxiety may cause you to avoid situations that cause anxiety. While avoidance may seem like a useful coping strategy, we know that avoidance can serve to prolong or even exacerbate anxiety. For this reason, treatments for anxiety will focus on alleviating the root cause of the worry without avoiding it. Sometimes this means identifying and challenging unhelpful or painful thoughts, at other times this means learning to accept, process, and cope with situations that are beyond our control.

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) - Through CBT, you will develop awareness of the relationship between your thoughts, emotions, and actions, using this awareness to make meaningful changes that improve your mood.

  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) - ACT in a mindfulness-based cognitive therapy that promotes psychological flexibility - a phenomenon that allows for healthier relationships with our emotions and more space for conscious, deliberate action. ACT will ask you to explore and connect with your personal values, positing that connection with values increases satisfaction and distance from values causes unnecessary pain.

  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) - DBT focuses on improving wellbeing by targeting four skill area: 1.) Distress Tolerance, 2.) Emotion Regulation, 3.) Interpersonal Effectiveness, and 4.) Mindfulness.

  • The Unified Protocol - The Unified Protocol is a transdiagnostic treatment - that is, it is effective at treating a variety of problems in living. This approach focuses on the psychological processes that underpin depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, PTSD, and emotional dysregulation. The Unified Protocol focuses on identifying and changing the patterns of avoidance and rigid thinking that contribute to emotional challenges.

Treatments for Depression and Anxiety

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