My research question for this paper is, what are the many treatments for depression and

why do different treatments work for some people and not others? I’ve always been really
interested in mental health, but I became much more interested in it when I became personally
affected by it. I have lots of people in my family as well as myself and a friend that are very
much affected by depression and mental health illnesses in general. When my grandma died in
2018 by suicide, that was a huge driving force in my interest in mental health and researching all
about the treatments of depression and also what goes on in our brains to cause depression as
well as other mental illnesses. I find all of that so interesting which is a big reason that I chose to
research this topic.

The treatments for depression have definitely changed over the years as we’ve learned
more about what depression is and what really goes on in the brain when you have depression.
Science has also advanced and we’ve been able to really pinpoint the things that are productive
in reducing people’s depression. People also used to think that depression was something caused
by a demon which we obviously have learned now is not true. A lot of the treatments for
depression, like I said, were very different then they are today, for example they thought that
bloodletting was a good way to treat depression, which is obviously not the case
(Schimelpfening P. 1-11).

One of the key points I learned was that there are many different types of depression, for
example, there is anxious distress depression, which means it’s depression along with a lot of
restlessness and worry in an excessive amount. Another type of depression is mixed features, this
is when depression is simultaneous with mania, and the last one I’m going to mention is seasonal
depression, because I feel that this is a pretty common type. Seasonal depression is when your
depression flares up when the seasons change and when you don’t get enough sunlight. Also, on
this website I learned the different types of treatments, which is a pretty key point in my
research. First thing is medicine, there are several effects that can come from taking medicine,
but overall it is a very effective method in treating depression. Another treatment is called
psychotherapy or talk therapy, this treatment is essentially the thought that you can talk your way
through your depression by sharing what you are feeling. There are also two types of depression
treatments that are more of a last resort for depression treatment. Electroconvulsive therapy is
electric currents being passed through the brain which impacts the function of your brain causing
relief for depression. And finally, the last treatment is Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, which
is a treatment they use if antidepressants aren’t working. TMS is when they place a coil around
your head that sends pulses in your brain that stimulate nerve cells.

Looking at my next website, some of the key points are how important the many different
kinds of therapy are. For example, interpersonal therapy is based around relationships and how to
improve your relationships. Another type of therapy is cognitive behavioral therapy which is a
therapy that is designed to help you change your behavior or negative thought, and the last type
I’m gonna talk about is psychodynamic therapy, this is the therapy that you often see in TV
shows and things. It’s where they root your depression back to events that happened in your past.
This website also talked about medication in a very similar way as the last website, again, there
are several side effects and things that you have to remember when taking medication for a
serious mental illness. A treatment the last website never mentioned was Vagus Nerve
Stimulation, VNS is when they send electric pulses through the Vagus Nerve, VNS also often
includes planting a chip in the person's chest.

Looking at the next website, some key points are again the types of treatment, like,
Psychotherapy or Talk Therapy. Another thing that is a really good idea with depression is a
support group, which this website recommended as a good idea. A support group can be helpful
to talk things through and share exactly what you are feeling. Also on this website they brought
up experimental treatments, first one being ketamine, which has a new model that is good for
treating depression and another type of treatment is deep brain stimulation.

Lastly, the EBSCOhost article that I read had some really good key points which
included many different treatments and ideas again like the Experienced Sampling Method, this
method looks at the effects of smartphones, behaviors, etc. this article was really interesting and
insightful. I was very surprised by a lot of things in this article as well, like how much our
smartphones can really affect our mental health in general.

I feel like a big misconception with depression is that medicine alone is going to solve all
your problems. Usually to feel even somewhat happy, you need to take medicine, get exercise,
and go to therapy. Everyone has different treatments that work best for them, but you usually
have to combine some things and not just rely specifically on medicine.

To answer my research question, some different types of treatments are psychotherapy or

talk therapy, psychodynamic theory, medicine, etc., as for why different work for some people
and not for others, I haven’t really found the answer to that in my research so far.
 Depression (major depressive disorder). (2018, February 03). Retrieved March 06, 2021,
from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/diagnosis-treatment/drc-
20356013

DEPRESSION: Out of the Shadows (PBS 2008) - the Best documentary ever [Video
file]. (2017, December 01). Retrieved March 06, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=8jGdbwHYrHY

https://www.nami.org/About-Mental-Illness/Mental-Health-
Conditions/Depression/Treatment

Riese, H., et al. “Personalized ESM Monitoring and Feedback to Support Psychological
Treatment for Depression: A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial (Therap-I).” BMC
Psychiatry, vol. 21, no. 1, Mar. 2021, pp. 1–11. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1186/s12888-021-03123-3.

Schimelpfening, N. (n.d.). Do you know about all the treatment options for depression?
Retrieved March 06, 2021, from https://www.verywellmind.com/treatments-for-depression-
1065502

Wang, Shiyu. “Causes and Treatment of Adolescent Depression.” 2020 International

Conference on Public Health and Data Science (ICPHDS), Public Health and Data Science
(ICPHDS), 2020 International Conference on, ICPHDS, Nov. 2020, pp. 360–363. EBSCOhost,
doi:10.1109/ICPHDS51617.2020.00078.