Dealing with depression isn’t easy and to be cured from it one must follow an optimum treatment plan which is a combination of medication and psychotherapy.

Dr. Anjali Nagpal (Psychiatrist, Founder, Serenity Clinic) speaks about how the treatment for depression is layered and several factors need to be incorporated to treat it from its roots. Apart from medication, patients need to exercise, meet people, and also endeavour self-intervention.

She elucidates with an example: suppose that an area of your brain is wounded because of depression, then medication will help heal the wound. However, if the root cause of depression is cognitive errors, meaning faulty thinking patterns, we will not heal completely until these errors are rectified.

Cognitive errors could arise because of cultural beliefs that do not promote self-care and instead tell us that we are expected to live for others. Dr. Anjali impresses the importance of psychotherapy to rectify these cognitive errors stating that medication is only a partial fix, and so for comprehensive healing, therapy is crucial. She explains that therapy sessions with a psychologist will be required depending on the issue, and she also recommends maintaining a diary of thoughts to discuss with the psychologist.

Despite these measures, if the patient still suffers from depression, then it could mean that their depression is a recurrent disorder. In such cases, the patient might have to take a pill regularly for three to five years and on some occasions throughout their life. It could mean that the individual is deficient in serotonin and therefore requires a supplement. These are safe drugs that can be taken for a long term after consulting a doctor.

For further details please watch this video