Treatment Approaches

There are several major approaches to the treatment of clinical depression,

each focusing on one of the four classes of symptoms of depression. Psychoanalytic

therapists believe that the cause of depression is emotional: underlying

anger that stems from some childhood loss and that has been turned

inward. Psychoanalysts therefore treat depression by helping the patient to

identify the cause of the underlying anger and to cope with it in an effective

manner.

Psychiatrist Aaron T. Beck views depression primarily as a cognitive disorder.

He holds that depressives have negative views of self, world, and fu

ture, and that they interpret their experiences in a distorted fashion so as

ture, and that they interpret their experiences in a distorted fashion so as

to support these pessimistic views. A related cognitive model of depression

is that of Martin E. P. Seligman. He argues that depression results from the

perception that one is helpless or has little or no control over the events

in one’s life. Seligman has shown that laboratory-induced helplessness

produces many of the symptoms of depression. Cognitive therapy for depression,

which Beck described in 1979, aims at helping depressed patients

identify and then change their negative and inaccurate patterns of

thinking.

Behavioral therapists view depression as the result of conditioning. Psychologist

Peter Lewinsohn suggests that depression results from low amounts

of reinforcement. His behavioral therapy for depression aims at increasing

reinforcement levels, through scheduling pleasant activities and improving

the patient’s social skills.

Biologically oriented therapies exist as well. Two classes of antidepressant

medications, monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and tricyclics, are effective

both in treating clinical depression and in preventing future episodes

of depression. Electroconvulsive (shock) therapy (ECT) has also been

found to be effective in treating severe depression. Although the reasons the

biological treatments work have not been conclusively identified, it is thought

that they are effective because they increase the activity or amounts of

norepinephrine and serotonin, two neurotransmitters which are important

in the transmission of impulses in the nervous system.

ture, and that they interpret their experiences in a distorted fashion so as

to support these pessimistic views. A related cognitive model of depression

is that of Martin E. P. Seligman. He argues that depression results from the

perception that one is helpless or has little or no control over the events

in one’s life. Seligman has shown that laboratory-induced helplessness

produces many of the symptoms of depression. Cognitive therapy for depression,

which Beck described in 1979, aims at helping depressed patients

identify and then change their negative and inaccurate patterns of

thinking.

Behavioral therapists view depression as the result of conditioning. Psychologist

Peter Lewinsohn suggests that depression results from low amounts

of reinforcement. His behavioral therapy for depression aims at increasing

reinforcement levels, through scheduling pleasant activities and improving

the patient’s social skills.

Biologically oriented therapies exist as well. Two classes of antidepressant

medications, monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and tricyclics, are effective

both in treating clinical depression and in preventing future episodes

of depression. Electroconvulsive (shock) therapy (ECT) has also been

found to be effective in treating severe depression. Although the reasons the

biological treatments work have not been conclusively identified, it is thought

that they are effective because they increase the activity or amounts of

norepinephrine and serotonin, two neurotransmitters which are important

in the transmission of impulses in the nervous system.