I started learning about patterns of recovery when my mother survived two heart attacks but died twice before her death. That’s the way she saw it. Her heart stopped both times, but she fought her way back. The second heart-stopping attack occurred during an operation for a different problem. She was 94. I only learned […]
Depression Treatments
Martin Seligman’s Approach to Cognitive Therapy
Many people with depression believe that nothing good will ever happen for them. The norm is failure and disappointment, the exception is success, and when something good does happen, it doesn’t count. This is just the sort of inner belief and self-talk that cognitive therapy addresses, and one of its leading advocates is Martin Seligman. […]
Healing Depression through the Emotional Brain
I’ve tried many methods for treating my own depression over the years but have most consistently relied on medication and psychotherapy. Most of the therapies I’ve tried, however, have not produced lasting relief from the illness. I think that’s because they often miss the emotional core of depression. Instead of taking it on directly, most […]
What Can Help Prevent Depression Relapse?
Depression has an especially cruel season called relapse. It always happens after the worst seems to be over; hope like sunlight is restored; life without depression is in full bloom. Then suddenly it’s winter again. The more often it happened to me, the more impossible the goal of recovery seemed to become. I was surprised […]
Ending Antidepressant Treatment
After about 18 years of non-stop, mostly ineffective antidepressant treatment, I’ve brought this long experiment to an end. I had been wearing Emsam patches for the past six years, but I’ve been fairly sure for some time that they had stopped working. It seems I was right. Getting off the drug has made no difference […]
Taking Emsam: A Different Kind of Antidepressant
Since I’ve written several posts on my growing worries about antidepressants, I thought I’d tell you about the one I’m taking now. Emsam has worked for me longer than any other, and the dietary restrictions it requires have been a small price to pay. Among antidepressants, the MAOI class has been relegated to 3rd or […]
How Well-Being Therapy Works
The need for an innovative treatment like Well-Being Therapy hits you hard when you learn a bit about relapse. It happens – a lot. In fact, the majority of people who recover from depression will relapse in the months or perhaps years following the end of symptoms. Medications don’t prevent it, neither does cognitive behavioral […]
What Doctors Do When Depression is a Pain
I’ve had my share of problems with pain as well as with depression, but it never occurred to me to link the two until recently. Apparently, that’s true for most people with major depression, especially if physical pain is the first sign of the illness. They know they’re in pain, and depression is the last […]
