Do you suspect that you or someone you love may be suffering from depression? Are you confused about treatment for depression and what it means to you? You are not alone as millions of people across the globe suffer from some form of depression. When you are first diagnosed it can be a scary feeling and you may not know up from down. This is completely normal and you are not crazy. Many people confuse having a mental illness with being crazy. The fact is being crazy often has nothing to do with mental illness at all. In fact the true definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. Does that sound anything like depression to you? No, I didn't think so.

Now with all the different medical knowledge in today's world there is no reason to fear depression. When treated properly most forms of depression can be held in check allowing those suffering to live completely normal lives. Only you and/or your doctor can truly determine which treatment for depression is right for you but just to get you started here are a few of the more common methods. There are many ways to treat depression and the types I'll go over here only represent a small sample.

The first type of treatment is likely the first on that comes to your mind. With national advertising becoming more and more common for pharmaceutical companies you have no doubt heard of antidepressants. These drugs can only be prescribed by doctors and are often quite expensive. Most insurance companies will cover this cost for you however. Although originally thought to be highly effective in treating depression there has been a certain amount of doubt cast on these drugs in the last decade and many argue that their benefits do not outweigh the harmful side effects. One of the most common of these side effects is weight gain. I find this ironic since depression can often be a result of low self esteem and what better way to lower your self esteem than to pack on twenty pounds.

The second types of treatment I'd like to tell you about are the alternative methods to treating depression. These can include natural cures such as herbs or changes in diet and many people argue these will actually result in better results. People who routinely fail to include omega 3 fatty acids in their diet are more likely to develop depression. There has also been a strong link shown between a lack of exercise and depression. A short walk or run a few times a week could be all it takes to relieve that little bit of extra stress before it builds into full blown depression.

There are many different types of treatments available in today's market and I would suggest you review each method before determining which route is the best for you.