Depression Treatments - Psychiatric Medications

Written by HealthyPlace.com Staff Writer

Kaprikel: I believe that my depression is probably situational, caused by unresolved grief. I find it very painful to discuss this in therapy, so I try to avoid it. How can I deal with this when its too painful to talk about?

Dr. Cady: Your insightful characterization of the source of your depression is excellent and augurs well for your eventually working through it. One thing that you might do, if you currently find it difficult to talk about, is to read every book you can find on dealing with grief issues. There are grief support groups to which you could belong, or attend, which might also be helpful. Many of these groups do not demand that you speak, so you could sit there, take it all in, and realize that you are not the only one with this type of problem. However, I cannot emphasize enough the need for an EMPATHIC, emotionally attuned therapist to work with. If you can find this sort of person with whom to work, the difficulty in "opening up", I suspect, will fade. Please try to find someone like this to work with. It will help, I promise!

whiteray: What treatment would be best for an individual with childhood originated PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) as well as likely hereditary depression?

Dr. Cady: For the PTSD from childhood - excellent, skillful psychotherapy to work through the issues (kind of like the "constructive anger" question we reviewed above.) For the "hereditary depression" - we can translate that, I think - if I read your question correctly - as a biological depression. My proposal would be a "full court press," psychopharmacologically speaking. I'm talking good, solid, rational, drug therapy, pushed up to the limit, and used in appropriate combination with therapy, if required.

David: I'm wondering if you know of any new antidepressant medications or depression treatments on the horizon that we should be looking for, that would help those with depression?

Dr. Cady: Raboxitene is a norepinephrine specific reuptake inhibitor which is used in Europe and is currently awaiting FDA approval in this country. Also, there is a great deal of excitement about the Corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) class of drugs which seem to have potent antidepressant effects. Finally, there is a great deal of interest in "Neuropetide Y" which seems to be a solid antidepressant in its action.

These and other developments can be researched by anybody including the lay public, at Pub Med - from the National Library of Medicine. Good luck.

David: I want to thank Dr. Cady for being our guest tonight and doing a wonderful job. We appreciate you sharing your knowledge, expertise and insights with us. I also want to thank everyone in the audience for coming tonight and participating. We have a large and growing community and you can usually find people interacting almost any hour of the day or night.

Dr. Cady: Thank you for the opportunity to be here, David.

David: Thank you again Dr. Cady and good night everyone.

Disclaimer: We are not recommending or endorsing any of the suggestions of our guest. In fact, we strongly encourage you to talk over any therapies, remedies or suggestions with your doctor BEFORE you implement them or make any changes in your treatment.

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