The World Health Organization recently predicted that depression will become thesecond leading cause of disability worldwide in just five years. The ongoing discussion about mental health in the United States has largely centered on gaps in access to care, but — particularly for the nearly 20 percent of Americans who experts say will endure major depression in their lifetime — the effectiveness of current treatments perhaps needs to be a bigger part of the conversation.
The most prevalent treatment option for various types of depression combines psychotherapy — also known as psychological counseling — and the ingestion of antidepressants that quells symptoms like a lack of energy, low appetite, feelings of worthlessness, and slowed cognition and body movements. While experts tout the counseling portion as crucial in helping patients sort out their problems, some critics have concerns about the medication, citing antidepressants’ side effects — weird dreams, dry mouth, diarrhea, and decreased libido — and potential for abuse.
Those drawbacks of taking antidepressants, and the reluctance of some patients to continue their regimen, prompted neuropsychologist Dr. Greg Siegle to explore options that treat depression more like a physical ailment than a mental problem. Since 2005, Siegle’s research has reflected that mindset by focusing on the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex — the part of the brain that controls executive function, working memory, and cognitive flexibility.
[For more of this story, written by Sam P. K. Collins, go to http://thinkprogress.org/healt...-depression-therapy/]
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