Standard Depression Treatments

The vagus nerve stimulator is the first treatment approved for serious depression that hasn't responded to other remedies. Clinical depression, which ranges from mild to severe, affects an estimated 19 million Americans each year. In some cases the disorder gets better without treatment.

Typically depression is treated with one or more of the following:

· Talk therapy Used alone for mild depression, often combined with medication for moderate cases. Includes long-term psychotherapy or short-term cognitive behavioral therapy. Psychotherapy alone can help about 50 percent of patients.

· Drugs Dozens of medications -- antidepressants, anti-convulsants and even anti-psychotics -- are used to treat depression. Antidepresssants alone work for about 50 percent of patients; when combined with talk therapy, antidepressants work for about 75 percent.

· Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) also known as electroshock. Reserved for the most serious or acutely suicidal patients. Under general anesthesia, electrical current is applied to electrodes attached to a patient's scalp, inducing a seizure. Confusion and memory loss are common. Studies have found ECT to be 80 percent effective after six to 12 treatments, but the antidepressant effects are often temporary.

Sandra G. Boodman

Sources: T. Byram Karasu, American Psychiatric Association, National Mental Health Association