I read some good articles at SD occasionally...link below is not earth-shattering news but it highlights the components of depression succinctly. Cognitive therapy to my mind offers the brightest hope for most people, rewiring the way we think. Of course some of us absolutely need some pharmaceutical help along with therapy. But there is no silver bullet, that much is clear.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...1103143518.htm

[missbelle]

Originally Posted by gulas

I read some good articles at SD occasionally...link below is not earth-shattering news but it highlights the components of depression succinctly. Cognitive therapy to my mind offers the brightest hope for most people, rewiring the way we think. Of course some of us absolutely need some pharmaceutical help along with therapy. But there is no silver bullet, that much is clear.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...1103143518.htm

yes I was one who needed meds..you could talk to me till you were blue in the face but the only thing that helped was meds. I have been on them 22 years and probably could have used them 20 years before that!!

[Rohag]

Thanks Gulas! Brief excerpts:

Originally Posted by Science Daily based on the November 2011 issue of Human Brain Mapping

• ...a team from the Centre Émotion-Remédiation et Réalité Virtuelle (Center for Emotion Remediation and Virtual Reality, CNRS / UPMC / CHU Pitié Salpêtrière) has investigated the amygdala, a part of the brain that is hyperactive in individuals suffering from anxiety and depression.
• ...it is accepted that the short form of the [5-HTTLPR] gene triggers a more intense activation of the amygdala, also known as the cerebellar tonsil, a brain structure involved in emotions and in the recognition of danger signals.
• Extrapolated to the field of depression, these results also suggest that psychotherapy -- in particular cognitive therapy, which consists in helping depressed patients to perceive the world differently -- could have diverse cerebral effects depending on certain genes.

Thank you for the excerpts!