Summary Treatment for Depressive and Bipolar Disorders

Treatment for Depressive and Bipolar Disorders Chapter 8 Treatments for Unipolar Depression (part 1) • Around half of persons with unipolar depression (major depressive or dysthymic disorder) receive treatment from a mental health professional each year • Access to treatment differs among ethnic and racial groups • Many other people in therapy experience depressed feelings as part of another disorder • Much of therapy being done today is for unipolar depression Treatments for Unipolar Depression (part 2) • Psychological approaches – Psychodynamic therapy • Unipolar depression results from unconscious grief over real or imagined losses, compounded by excessive dependence on other people • Psychodynamic therapists seek to bring these issues into consciousness and work through them – Free association – Therapist interpretation – Review of past events and feelings