If you struggle with anxiety and depression, you know how debilitating it can be. Some days it’s a struggle to leave the house. Some days, basic functions like eating and taking a shower feels completely impossible. Your illness can completely consume your life and well-being. Many people who deal with anxiety and depression feel a sense of guilt, that they aren’t strong enough to overcome their illness through will power. The idea that anxiety and depression can be overcome through mind over matter is about as accurate as assuming that you can think yourself out of cancer.
If your anxiety and depression are overtaking your life, there several types of therapy that will help you regain peace of mind and a good quality of life. There are types of therapy to meet varying needs and state of minds; only you can determine the best for your particular needs. You might need to try a few types of therapy before you land one that is successful for you. To help you on your journey to recovery, we’ve put together a list of common types of therapy for treating depression and anxiety:
Common Types of Therapy for Anxiety and Depression
- Interpersonal Therapy
Interpersonal therapy is a method of looking at and addressing the personal relationships that a person who struggles with anxiety and depression has. Many times, the root of a patient’s anxiety and depression stem from unhealthy relationships with key people in their life. If you go through interpersonal therapy, your therapist might help you develop a strategy for getting the relationship with your parent, child, sibling, or spouse more healthy and successful, which will have a positive impact on your state of mind. In some cases, your therapist might help you identify relationships that are toxic to your well-being and help you determine if the relationship should be ended. - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy identifies the path that leads to the negative thoughts and feelings behind depression, and helps the patient make changes to those actions. Sometimes depression and anxiety stem from getting “lost in your thoughts” and as you get carried away, you eventually lose a sense of reality (although it feels very real to you). When you walk through the thought process that fuels your depression and anxiety, you might recognize the monsters that perpetuate it aren’t as overwhelming as they feel. Therapists who provide this type of therapy will help you develop healthier thought patterns, that lead you to a positive outlook, and help you avoid the debilitating sense of depression. - Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy
This type of therapy is based on a model created by Therapist Jon Kabat-Zinn for reducing stress. It is very similar to cognitive behavioral therapy, but geared to people who chronically deal with anxiety and depression. This type of therapy is often successful for patients who have fallen prey to bouts of depression and anxiety repeatedly throughout their lives, to develop tools for avoiding the thought processes that lead them to this in the future. - Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
Dialectical behavioral therapy was developed to specifically treat patients with borerline personality disorder, but may be successful for all patients who deal with anxiety and depression. This type of therapy uses a combination of group and individual sessions to analyze the tenancies that created the patient’s depressive state of mind, and help them develop healthier mental outlooks. - Psychodynamic Therapies
Many times, a patient’s struggle with depression and anxiety are rooted in events that occurred in their childhood that they themselves don’t even recognize. Psychodynamic therapies help a person analyze the root cause of their internal turmoil, and identify factors that might be buried deeply in their sub-conscious mind, and then helps the patient process it to gain a healthy state-of-mind going forward. This type of therapy is successful in patients who are experiencing a lifelong struggle with depression and anxiety and are unsure of the root of it.
No one deserves to live with depression or anxiety. Being attacked by your own brain is a horrific experience and can ruin your life. There are many treatment options for people who struggle with this, and finding the best type of therapy or medication for your condition will help you manage your depression and anxiety and live a fulfilling life.
