Mental Disorders: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (SSRI)

Many people with depression have plenty different ways to treat their illness. There is medication, psychotherapy, group therapy, or more specific therapies, such as CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy). Before beginning any sort of treatment, it’s always best to go to a doctor for assistance. The doctor will be able to find the right path for treating the individual’s depression. More often, medication is what most people turn to when treating depression.

Now, before discussing anything else, it’s important to understand the origin of the mental illness. Neurotransmitters are the brain chemicals that send messages to other nerve cells. They affect many different aspects of a person's health. A lack of neurotransmitters can cause depression.

Serotonin is thought of “as a chemical that is responsible for maintaining mood balance.” Doctors may prescribe an SSRI to the individual with depression. SSRI stands for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. There are many SSRIs to choose from, Zoloft and Prozac are the two of the more commonly known medications. These are meant to increase the amount of serotonin in a person's system. Which will increase a person’s ability to better control their emotions and be more motivated. However, it's also believed that dopamine also has plays a large part on depression. This neurotransmitter dopamine is also another important factor of depression. “Dopamine could also be important in major depressive disorder. People with depression often exhibit reduced motivation, anhedonia (a decrease in pleasure from usually enjoyed things), and sometimes motor decreases as well. All of these are linked with

After all, no medicine is perfect. The common side effects of these are “fatigue, weight loss, apathy, insomnia, headaches and pupil dilation are among the other most-reported side effects.” Depending on what medication an individual is prescribed, the side effects may vary. They supposedly only occur within the first two weeks of taking them. However, not everyone experiences these side effects. In fact, there may be no side effects at all. It just depends on the person taking the medication and how their body reacts to it. It also depends on the certain medication that is taken. For example, Zoloft is known to have fewer side effects than most other antidepressants. It's also good to know that SSRIs are actually “relatively safe and generally cause fewer side effects than other types of antidepressants do.” Which is probably the main reason why they’re prescribed more often than other