How CBT works as a different option than antidepressants

You may be trying to find ways to improve your depression symptoms without antidepressants. It’s possible that cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, can make a difference. It’s one of the most common approaches to psychotherapy. It can be tailored to your particular depression symptoms. It should also fit your long-term mental health goals.

Your depressive emotions are the result of your thoughts and behaviors. That means they all work off one another to cause your symptoms. CBT is a therapy approach that focuses on adjusting your cognitive and behavioral patterns to reduce your negative emotions.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is often recommended for people with depression. It helps you to see how your unconscious thoughts lead to negative emotions and cause harmful behavior. It’s a cycle that causes your symptoms to feel never ending. CBT helps you take back control over your cognitive patterns to break the negative cycle.

How TMS can be used as a therapy for treatment-resistant depression

Now that we’ve discussed a potential therapy approach for major depressive disorder through psychotherapy, it’s time to discuss a breakthrough treatment option that can alleviate your depression symptoms. We prefer to use the term “breakthrough” as opposed to “alternative” for our treatments. They can work together and don’t have to be used as a replacement for one another.

Not all therapies refer to sitting in a chair and talking to a licensed therapist. In some cases, like TMS, therapy refers to a treatment that can alleviate your symptoms by focusing on your brain chemistry. TMS stands for transcranial magnetic stimulation. It’s a neurostimulation therapy that stimulates brain activity. It targets underactive areas of the brain.

TMS transmits pulses of magnetic energy to areas of the brain that are involved in regulating mood. The pulses change the neural networks to help reduce depression symptoms, such as pervasive feelings of loneliness and hopelessness.

TMS is often used as a breakthrough option for treatment-resistant depression, which means that the symptoms haven’t improved after at least two trials of antidepressants.

TMS has been life-changing for many Active Path Mental Health patients, with 79% experiencing at least 25% reduced depression symptoms and 56% of patients having their symptoms reduced by 50%. It’s possible to achieve remission from your disorder following TMS, with 33% of patients no longer experiencing depression symptoms.

Esketamine can be used as a therapy for treatment-resistant depression

Like TMS, esketamine is another depression treatment that can be used as a type of therapy. It’s a derivative of ketamine that comes in the form of a nasal spray, known as Spravato. It’s the only FDA-approved nasal spray for treatment-resistant depression in adults. Patients who use esketamine continue to take antidepressants alongside the spray.

Spravato treatment lasts at least eight weeks, with two weekly sessions in the first four weeks and once a week in the following four weeks. Then it’s up to your provider to determine how often it needs to be administered.

The results of esketamine prove why many people choose it as an option when their antidepressants aren’t reducing their symptoms. Approximately 70% of people who undergo esketamine treatment respond positively to the spray. Plus, 52% of those positive results have reduced depression symptoms after four weeks of sessions.

Active Path Mental Health can help you choose the right therapy for your depression

While antidepressants help many people manage their depression on a daily basis, they don’t work for everyone. That’s why you should consider breakthrough therapy treatments like TMS, Spravato and CBT to help you reduce your negative thoughts and emotions.

It’s important to note that all three of these options can be used concurrently with antidepressants, and it’s often recommended to do so.

Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment.