Clinical Roundup: Selected Treatment Options for Depression

Abstract

Estimates indicate that > 350 million people are affected by depression worldwide. 1 While conventional medicine defines depression as a neurochemical disequilibrium disorder, treating it with psychoactive drugs, such as neurotransmitter reuptake inhibitors, 2 complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) finds different causes for depression and, therefore, its treatment. Approximately 10%-20% of patients' conditions respond poorly to conventional therapy or the conditions are nonresponsive. 3 Thus, we report some CAM interventions with which we have seen good results in our clinical practice by combining them in an individualized way according to each patient's needs.Acupuncture-A significant beneficial effect of acupuncture is that it can reduce the severity of depression. One metaanalysis showed that acupuncture and electroacupuncture as monotherapies had similar effects, compared to usual medication, 4 although when either of these therapies were combined with antidepressants, the results were no better than medication alone. 5

Whole Medical Systems versus the System of Conventional Biomedicine: A Critical, Narrative Review of Similarities, Differences, and Factors That Promote the Integration Process

“…Main topics with regard to WMS practice methods pertain to the development of whole system diagnostics and interventions; the development and application of quality control systems for individualized diagnostics and treatment and the use of multidisciplinary complex interventions [80]; the role of protocols, guidelines, and expert knowledge in clinical practices of a whole system approach [81]; and the use of double (conventional and WMS) diagnoses.…”

Body psychotherapy for the treatment of severe mental disorders – an overview

“…Röhricht, Gerken, Stupiggia, & Valstar, 2013;Röhricht, Butler, et al, 2014). In the following, the disorders are introduced in relation to their distinctive, disease-related characteristics.…”

“…In the extreme case of a dynamic psychotic derailment, the body can be experienced as dying or dead. Comorbid symptoms of anxiety are often related to the body in the form of hypochondriac complaints, when in extreme cases patients voice the conviction, that they are severely (or even terminally) physically ill. General principles in body psychotherapy for depressive disorder have been identified, encompassing the following main components (Röhricht, Butler, et al, 2014):…”