Recently on PsychologyToday.com I
interviewed Dr. Thomas Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental
Health (NIMH).on how to treat depression.
That interview as been gnawing at me ever since. You see,
the advice he gave is pretty much what has been recommended for a decade or
more, that most people with mild to moderate depression are best treated with
an SSRI (like Prozac and Zoloft) and/or cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT.)
In my admittedly anecdotal experience, having been career
and personal coach to many people with depression, their most common experience
is that the drug yields some benefit, typically taking the edge off their
depression but often, the effect wears off. And the side-effects are often problematic,
for example, sexual dysfunction, flattened affect, nausea, and drowsiness. People
often go off the medication feeling unsure that the benefits outweigh the side
effects
And my clients’ typical experience with cognitive-behavioral
therapy is that it helps but, pardon the pun, it’s no magic pill.
Hard weight lifting and high intensity interval training. Finding something that puts you "in the flow". Supplements that increase nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Building habits of happiness one at a time. These have all worked for me.
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