As human beings, we can assume that everyone may feel depressed from time to time, however, from a personal perspective, it is highly important to differentiate between bad mood, especially if it is a particular reason and depression. Every person may have a bad mood and feel devastated due to events that occur in his life. In this case, actions that aim to solve the problem along with positive emotions, optimistic thinking, and support from relatives and friends help improve a person’s condition.
In turn, depression is characterized by sadness, anxiety, feelings of worthlessness and helplessness, hopelessness, and pessimism as well, however, all these feelings do not necessarily relate to particular life events. For example, a person may have a good job, stable income, a loving family, and even a hobby and suffer from compulsive thoughts that deteriorate his mood and mental well-being. Although mild depression may be treated with the development of problem-solving abilities, positive thinking, the enhancement of optimism, and social support, deep depression cannot be addressed easily. In other words, it is impossible to say to a person with severe depression that he should just smile more, be optimistic, take sunbathes, and expect positive outcomes.
In this case, I believe that an efficient treatment should presuppose medications, especially when the factors of depression are not obvious, in combination with cognitive therapy. According to it, people are affected not by events but by a specific attitude to them. Thus, individual maladaptive thinking processes may lead to cognitive dysfunction and cause depression and other mental health disorders (Gautam et al., 2020). At the same time, cognitive therapy includes a wide set of practices and techniques that help change a person’s attitude to events and improve his mental condition.
Reference
Gautam, M., Tripathi, A., Deshmukh, D., & Gaur, M. (2020). Cognitive behavioral therapy for depression. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 62(Suppl 2), 223-229.