Major Depressive Disorder Treatment: Everything You Need to Know

Major Depressive Disorder is one of the most common types of depression. When the term “clinical depression” is used, people are generally referring to Major Depressive Disorder. In this blog, we are going to review what Major Depressive Disorder is, some symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder, and Major Depressive Disorder treatment.

What is Major Depressive Disorder?

According to psycom.net, Major Depressive Disorder, also known as unipolar depression, is characterized by a persistent feeling of sadness or a lack of interest in outside stimuli. Unlike Bipolar depression, which has states of both depression and mania, unipolar depression is focused solely on the negative emotions and neurovegetative deficits a person might experience.

Symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder

Major Depressive Disorder, like all mental health disorders, exists on a spectrum.  Therefore, it affects some people more profoundly than others. For some, MDD may only affect them once in their life. For others, MDD is an ongoing battle. During episodes of Major Depressive Disorder, a person will experience symptoms most of the day, nearly every day. These symptoms include but are not limited to:

• Feelings of sadness
• Loss of interest or pleasure in normal things that once brought pleasure
• Feelings of hopelessness
• Feelings of emptiness
• Anger, irritability, or frustration
• Sleeping issues including insomnia or oversleeping
• Feelings of being tired or fatigue
• Feelings of anxiety and agitation
• Trouble concentrating or making decisions
• Feelings of worthlessness
• A fixation on past failures
• Recurrent thoughts about hurting yourself or suicide
• Problems such as back pain or headaches

While dealing with a few of the above are normal, for someone with Major Depressive Disorder, these symptoms will be severe enough to impede normal daily activities.

Can Major Depressive Disorder Be Cured?

Although Major Depressive Disorder can be treated, there is no “cure.” For a trained and licensed therapist, remission is the goal. Remission varies from person to person. Some people may have few to no symptoms remaining, while others may still experience some of the symptoms we reviewed above.

Major Depressive Disorder has a high risk of happening again, especially if depression or bipolar disorder run in your family.   According to the National Institute of Health,  at least 50 percent of people who have experienced Major Depressive Disorder will have additional episodes.  Many people learn via therapy that there are situations that can either trigger or worsen their depression and come up with strategies to minimize the impact of these events.  For others, it is challenging to determine what makes it worse or better so having a support network who understands you and your struggles is essential.

There is hope for anyone experiencing Major Depressive Disorder. By seeing a trained professional, they can create a custom Major Depressive Disorder treatment plan for you to reduce your symptoms and help prevent future episodes from happening.  This plan can include:

• Psychotherapy sessions
• Completing assignments given by your medical professional
• Taking the necessary medications
• Avoiding drugs and alcohol, which can worsen your symptoms

Get Major Depressive Disorder Treatment in Miami, FL

Depression can be a scary, debilitating time to go through for anyone. But there is hope!

Contact us today to learn how we might be able to help you close this chapter.

I’m Dr. Amy Boyers, a Clinical Psychologist in Miami who specializes in eating disorder treatment (all types including anorexia treatment, bulimia treatment, and binge eating treatment) and other long term conditions, including addictions, bipolar, and OCD. I offer personalized and sophisticated eating disorder treatment services, individual and family psychotherapy, family member support and education, in-home meal support, cognitive behavioral therapy, anxiety treatment, depression treatment, and much more.

I look forward to helping you obtain a brighter tomorrow.