Is depression treatable, then? Is it curable?
“Depression is treatable. However, it requires holistic care, you can’t just treat one part. You can’t just treat the symptoms. When faced with patients with mental problems, the therapy is not just about getting rid of the physical symptoms, but their mental condition must be treated as well. The target is not just to make the depression ‘go away’, but it’s ultimately to return the patient’s functionality to a level that they enjoyed before their sickness. For example, the teacher can teach again, the student can study again, the housewife can take care of the household again, etc.,” dr. Santi said.
Three Methods of Treatment
Depression treatments follow three methods: pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy, and electrotherapy. Pharmacotherapy uses antidepressants to treat brain damage; psychotherapy covers cognitive behavior therapy and supportive therapy; and electrotherapy uses neuro-feedback, (brainwave stimulation) and transcranial magnetic stimulation.
“The anti-depressants used in pharmacotherapy are not addictive. Depression medication is prescribed, according to the severity of the illness. The doctor will adjust dosages and types of medicine according to the condition and disruption stage suffered by the patient. They may even stop prescribing medication if necessary. Again: doctors will stop prescribing your medication when you’ve recovered. In other words, medication is not used in perpetuity,” dr. Santi said.
How and why does depression occur?
“Nobody knows the cause, even now. There are multiple hypotheses and theories: some are related to the role of neurotransmitters, the chemicals in your brain that stabilize the brain’s modulations. Others are related to damage or sickness in some parts of the brain, most likely the hypothalamus or the amygdala. Other theories believe that the cause is psychosocial, i.e. psychological burdens caused by social treatment from family and neighborhood in the past affects brain structure, causing the atrophy of the outer and frontal parts of the brain and disrupting the connectivity of brain cells,” reported dr. Exnacius Anang Widyanta, Sp.KJ, M.Sc., psychiatrist practicing in Ngesti Waluyo Christian Hospital, Temanggung.